03x10 - Bruno Family

[bunniefuu]

Tonight jo meets the bruno family...

Pleased to meet you. I'm jo.

With two teenagers... Hi.

Whatever. And two little terrors...

[Yelling]

These parents have their hands full... Aah!

And they're fed up. You just said this morning, "dad, if you let me color

My hair, I won't disrespect you."

Well, that's probably not true, because you're so mean to me,

No matter what I do. Mariah, who has cerebral palsy, craves her dad's affection...

While taylor can't stand him...

I hate you! Now just go in your room...

I hate you.

Mom needs time for mariah's therapy...

I am not done with mariah right now.

But bella and sam demand her attention. Stop.

I hate you! Can jo help mom and dad gain back some respect...

This little girl is trying to rule the roost.

Are you putting up with that? Are you?

And reconnect with their kids...

I'm just never gonna like my dad, I guess. Wake up, john.

How many more years are you gonna let this go on?

I just wanna ask if we can start over.

Or are the relationships doomed to fail?

I'll let you come out when I don't hear you kicking.

♪♪♪

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪ ♪ johnny ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪ ♪ johnny ♪

♪ Johnny ♪

Well, let's take a look

And see what family we've got this week.

Hi. I'm john... And I'm denise.

And we're the brunos, and we have four daughters.

Our oldest daughter is mariah. She's . Taylor is .

Why are you looking at me? What are you doing?

Isabella is . [Blows raspberry]

And samantha is .

Go, mariah, go!

[Denise] mariah has, um, cerebral palsy.

As a baby, she was not expected to survive.

She's our little miracle

And just gives us so much joy.

You like it?

Taylor... She's...

Well, go put a pair of shorts on

And take your choker off and we'll go for a bike ride.

I don't wanna go for a bike ride with you.

Me and taylor and our issues-- I'm--it's so far gone. I mean,

I don't know where to start. She has to have the last word.

That drives me crazy.

You look too hard with black hair. Okay, sorry.

If you feel that way, you don't have to look at me.

I hate you! Now just go to your room.

I hate you. Get up in your room.

I hate you.

Now this is really sad.

[Whining]

[Shouting indistinctly]

Sam is probably our whiniest child.

I want my... [Babbling loudly]

Shh. Stop...

My word.

[Shouts indistinctly]

Mom!

Isabella is very stubborn.

Pick up my food! No.

It's not in there!

Bella gets in one of her moods... I want it!

Bella, stop it, please. No!

It takes so much out of me-- physically, emotionally.

Get up. No!

No!

[Pounding on door]

That little girl's very angry.

When I have the girls all day, it's very overwhelming.

No! [Speaks indistinctly]

No! You sit in your chair...

And if you stay there, I won't throw any more away.

I just feel like I'm constantly yelling.

You guys, share your things!

Sam, get over here!

Why do you fight over everything?

This is ridiculous.

I don't want my kids growing up

Remembering me as the mom that... Cried every night.

Stop it!

Stop.

Please, supernanny,

We could've used you probably two years ago.

Supernanny, we cannot wait

Till you get to our home and help us.

Looks like this mom and dad need saving from their "princesses."

I'm coming!

♪♪♪

Hi. Pleased to meet you. I'm jo. Hi. I'm denise.

Come on in. Thank you.

Hi. Pleased to meet you. I'm jo.

Nice to meet you. My pleasure. I'm john.

Hi, john. What's your name?

She's a little bit shy. This is samantha.

Samantha. Hi, samantha.

Hi. What's your name?

Bella. Hi, bella. Pleased to meet you. I'm jo jo.

Say, "nice to meet you." Nice to meet you.

Hi. Hi. Pleased to meet you.

Hi.hi. Jo.

Taylor. Hello, taylor. Hi.

[Mariah] hi. What's your name?

Mariah. Hi, mariah. Pleased to meet you.

Hi.

Having jo be here is like a weight off my shoulder,

Because I just felt like, I don't know what to do anymore.

You got therapy this morning, mariah?

Yeah.cool.

She just had surgery.

Have you?

Where did you have surgery?

On your hip?

Oh, here?

And how is it? Is it getting better?

Yeah.good.

As I was observing,

I saw that it was time for mariah's therapy,

And as usual, denise gave it all.

So you do this every day, twice a day?

I try to do it three times a day.

Three times a day?

I learned from denise

That mariah's condition is mainly physical,

But in other aspects of her life,

She's kind of like every other -year-old girl.

[Denise] she's just right out of a cast,

So she's doing good. [Jo] are you feeling stronger every day?

Yeah.yeah.

Is it sometimes a situation where you could be at home,

Doing your therapy with mariah,

And literally have the girls as well,

And john's not around? Oh, yeah.

They act up because I'm so busy with her,

And she's in a walker, and I can't just leave her.

And if they start getting into something,

They know they can get away with it.

[Denise] I try to take myself and divide it

Between my children-- and the amount of time--

I do feel guilty that I spend so much time with mariah,

But I just have to tell myself it's the necessity,

Because it's for her good.

Good. You did those very fast.

You're swinging that around,

And I don't want you playing with this.

[Jo] mom had barely finished doing therapy with mariah

When bella, the -year-old, started swinging a bat

Around the area where they were working.

Stop!

No!

Don't make me chase you.

[Denise] isabella-- she just really is,

You know, very headstrong and wants her way.

Get in your chair.

What's the chair?

Get over there.

Get in there and sit there! Don't move.

[Isabella cries] the naughty chair.

You're gonna be end up sitting here all afternoon.

Sit. No!

Give me this. Give me this.

I just said not to swing it around. Fine! I won't.

No. You know what? You need to go upstairs.

No!no.

No! No! Trouble.

Bella was resisting, and I could see that mom

Was really starting to get worked up.aah!

[Denise] you stay in here.

You're gonna behave when you come out.

Why aren't you sharing with your things--

Stop it! [Screams]

You're done. You stay in here.

I want you to sit down. No!

For three minutes, I want you to sit here

And think about how you're gonna behave...[Cries]

Nicely.sit.

This is ridiculous that this little girl

Is arguing with her mother and fighting. [Isabella screams]

This shouldn't be happening. No!

[Pounding on door]

[Voice breaking] so I don't know what to do.

This is what she does.

And it's really hard... [Sniffles]

'Cause I'm exhausted.

Stop it.

No!

[Denise] bella, stop it. [Screams]

Okay, you're done. You're hurting me,

And I don't wanna be in here. No!

I gave you a chance.

And don't--

I'll let you come out when I don't hear you kicking.

[Pounding on door]

You're shaking. Huh?

You're physically shaking.

I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

[Pounding continues]

Coming up on...

You just said this morning, "dad,

If you let me color my hair, I won't say 'i hate you.'" That's probably not true,

Because you're still mean to me, no matter what I do.

With taylor getting all of dad's negative attention...

Do you hang out with dad much?

And mariah's left on the sideline.

She's your little girl. She wants her dad to hold her.

Do you think she needs your love any less?

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪♪♪

[Jo] in mom and dad's submission reel,

They told me that

Taylor and dad's relationship was really strained,

So I wanted to hear from the older girls. Do you hang out with dad much?

No, not really. No?

What about talking to dad? You know, like,

Can you sit down and have a chat,

A conversation like me and you are having now?

Um, not really. He usually ends up yelling at me.

Does he? What about?yeah.

He doesn't like the way I dress. He doesn't like how my hair is.

He doesn't like how I wear my makeup--just stuff like that.

And he'll always find something to yell at me about.

I don't know if we'll ever get to a point where we can, like--

Where I can talk to him about anything.

I'm just, like, done. I'm like,

Okay, we don't get along. That's just how it's gonna be.

'Cause if it's not something that he wants to hear,

He's just--he'll get mad.

Is that a true account? Yeah.

It's like he's not even, like, part of my life, kind of.

He's not part of your life?yeah.

Like, he doesn't really care, it seems like.

It's like taylor's numbed herself,

With regards to her relationship with john,

To protect herself.

I suppose if you could, it would be nice

To have your dad, wouldn't it?

You miss him?

[Jo] taylor definitely puts up a constant front,

But you can see that she really wants

Her dad's love and approval.

It didn't take long for me to see exactly how tense

Dad and taylor's relationship is.

Did you make up your mind yet? About what?

My hair. Your hair? No, not yet. I'll talk to mom about it tonight.

But I wanna know... I'll discuss it--

I wanna do it now. How many days in a row have I heard about your hair?

Every day for the past three months... Because you never answer me.

After a while, it gets annoying.

So I have to look how you want me to look?

No, you don't have to look how I want you to look.

I gave you my opinion. I like your natural color better.

Because you don't like it, I shouldn't be able to do it?

That's what you have parents for.

Sometimes you have to listen to them.

"Sometimes"? You never let me do anything.

I try. Believe me, I try.

But it goes in one ear and out the other ear for taylor.

Taylor, when you're years old and you're off at school,

You can do what you want. So I can't do anything?

Not when you're here. Not when you live here.

Taylor and dad have got the same temperament.

It's like two peas in a pod. Now I'm gonna probably hear it again, right?

Yes. Just drop it.

I am expressing myself,

But my dad just doesn't like it at all,

And then he just doesn't talk to me.

What is your feeling on her hair?

I'm sick of hearing about it. So am i.

So why don't you just say no, and "no" is it?

See, look, he's getting mad. He doesn't even let you talk.

Because--you know why?

Because this has been going on for how long? A year? No.

I know why you're not saying no.

Because when I'm at work, you hear about it all the time. No, because mom's nice.

And she just aggravates you, aggravates you, aggravates you.

Oh, mom's nice?

Just because I don't let you do something, I'm mean, right?

You just said this morning, "dad, if you let me

Color my hair, I won't say, 'i hate you'..." Because you're--

"'And I won't disrespect you.'" Well, that's probably not true, because you're still mean to me,

No matter what I do. Yeah, fine, fine. Go do it. I can't wait to see it. Go.

And I hope your hair falls out.

Whatever.

Whatever.

[Mutters] whatever.

[Jo] these guys just can't go on like this.

It's really damaging, and I'm ready

To sit john and denise down and sort this out now.

♪♪♪

You have a magnificent home, the pair of you.

Thank you.

I mean, everything is great on the outside.

But what about the inside?

I would like to talk about

Isabella's disrespect for you, denise.

I wasn't at all pleased.

What part are we missing,

When isabella isallowed to talk to you the way she does?

What are you guys doing that allows her to feel

That she can do it day in and day out?

Because somebody's not right.

I-i have to be doing something wrong,

Because I just... I didn't think I raised her that way.

She's not given any boundaries

Or any fundamental core values on a regular basis.

What's happening with your relationship

With taylor, john? Uh, we don't have one.

There it is. Bam--

"We don't have one."

You have a teenager daughter

Who actually hears from you that she's not pretty,

That she wears clothes

That are just punk-style goth clothes,

That her hair looks trashed,

Because it looks better when it's a different color,

But she's coming into her own--

Her own individuality, finding her own style.

You're damaging her self-esteem.

How many more years are you gonna let this go on?

Until your daughter reaches , ,

And you don't even know where she is,

Or who she's hanging out with?

Wake up, john! Wake up.

Everything she does right now

Is half from trying to express herself

And half because she's rebelling because you're suffocating her,

And it shouldn't be happening.

[Sighs deeply]

You know, it's an important relationship...

It most definitely is. The relationship a daughter has with their father.

Mm-hmm. I mean, I want my daughter to be close to me.

I want her to do things with me. I don't want her to hate me.

I don't want her not to come to me if she has a problem.

But we have to show her that she can come to us...i will.

And not blow up in her face every time she comes to talk. I will. I will.

That's one teenager.

Let's talk about the other teenager.

I'd like to see mariah being held

And not in that wheelchair all the time--some bonding,

Some physical contact.

John, I'd love to see you hold her.

She's your little girl. She wants her dad to hold her.

You think she needs your love any less?

You just get in your rut, in your ways,

And you need someone to hit you over the head.

So it was a hard one?

I'll let you know in six months.

I didn't think jo was gonna come down on us that hard,

But you never think you're that bad until reality sets in.

You know, she was just doing what she had to do.

I want % commitment from the pair of you,

Working towards making your family dynamic

A lot better than what it is,

So that everyone's a lot happier.

You both up for doing that?

Yes. Yeah?

Yes.yes.

Good. All right.

So, uh, we better get working then, right? Yes.

All right. Good.

Coming up on...

Bella and mom go at it tooth and nail...

Aah!

I hate you!

Then jo gets taylor to reveal her true feelings about dad.

Do you feel like he loves you?

I just wanna leave

And go live with someone else, I guess.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] the next day when I came in to start teaching,

As I walked through the front door,

I saw mom trying to discipline bella. I didn't bite you!

I'm out!

[Singsong voice] hey, boo-boo, you can't catch me.

I'd seen denise's attempt to discipline bella before,

And that had failed miserably.

So now it was time for me to teach her properly.

What needs to be put in place is discipline here,

Because this little girl is trying to rule the roost.

Now put your little girl in her place

And make sure she recognizes once and for all.

Because you know what? This is ridiculous.

[Jo] bella's been fighting mom for way too long,

And that needs to stop immediately.

Place her on there. Don't look at her.

Just walk away. Aah!

[Shouting indistinctly]

I hate the naughty chair.

Let me go!

Aah!

I hate you!

It was a very hard thing to do,

To see my child kicking and punching me,

Telling me, "I hate you."

I hate you.

She could do this all day long. This is gonna go all day.

Walk down the steps or you're gonna fall.

Denise, do not talk to her. This is not personal.

I don't think I should ever be in the naughty chair,

Because I don't start the fight usually.

When it comes to discipline, you're in control.

There's no negotiation.

Stop!

[Singsong voice] nyah, nyah, nyah, boo boo.

It was quite a long episode.

[Laughs] I mean, I felt like I went through a boxing match. I hate you!

[Crying] I wanna get up!

After a grueling two and a half hours

Of disciplining bella--

More than mom had ever lasted--

Bella realized that she wasn't gonna give up,

And she stayed put on that naughty mat.

You were put on the naughty mat

Because you misbehaved-- kicking, punching,

Throwing things, and that's unacceptable.

It was a sigh of relief

And a feeling of, "whoa, we did it."

I want you to say you're sorry

To your mother for your behavior.

I accept your apology.

I love you.

So now mom was learning how to deal with bella,

It was on to the next pair of fighters--taylor and dad.

I wanna talk to you about the relationship

That's going on between you and your dad.

I do believe there's room for the pair of you

To really connect here and to forgive one another

And move on and start afresh.

I wanted to allow her the freedom

To be able to say what was on her mind.

So I set up in the afternoon a video camera.

I want you to be brave enough to be able

To look into that lens if there's something

That you really feel you need dad to know.

I think there's things that he doesn't understand.

[Jo] I wanted to give taylor the opportunity

To not be interrupted by john

Or to feel threatened by his anger.

If I could ask my dad for one thing,

It's probably be to listen,

Because then he would understand, like, me, I guess.

Do you feel like he loves you?

Do you think he cares about you?

What things does he do or say to you

That make you believe that?

When he says he can't stand me and just screams...

Make me feel like crap.

Everything is negative.

[Sniffles] how does it feel living in this house

When he's this way? I don't like it.

I just wanna leave

And go live with someone else, I guess.

Coming up on...

Jo shows dad taylor's video... I'm just never gonna like my dad.

And I know that it's wrong and I should love my dad,

But I can't.

But will it help their relationship?

Just give me a chance.

You're my daughter.

I just wanna ask you if we can start over.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] later in the afternoon,

When mom was doing therapy with mariah,

Bella and sam were meant to be practicing a play,

But it was becoming difficult for mom

Just to focus her attention on mariah,

Because the girls kept butting in.

You need to go practice.

But I really-- but I am not done with mariah right now.

You need to do that for me.

Girls, I'm working with mariah right here. Sam?

I'm sorry, 'cause I'm gonna come in and interrupt.

Now you should say, "please, girls, you're doing your play."

Okay? "That's what I'd like you to continue doing.

"And when I finish with mariah's therapy,

We're gonna come in and we're going to watch it."

What I'd like you girls to do

Is go finish together making your play.

I am almost done with mariah, and then I'm gonna watch you.

Okay?

Off you go, sam. Bye!

Bye.

You're the one that has to stop that

And--and draw that line.

Mom was looking forward to watching the play,

But she wasn't going to stop and give them attention

Before dealing with mariah first.

Today we're gonna sh**t some pool.

You can use another ball to hit another one in.

There! See! You got 'em both in. Yay!

Yay! [Jo] all right!

All right, you're done.

You did an awesome job today, mariah.

Once denise had finished therapy with mariah,

As promised, denise called the girls in

So that she could watch the play that they had written.

[Isabella] where are you taking me? Let me go!

[Samantha speaks indistinctly]

Ha! I got out.

[Both giggle]

And then it's over. Oh, that was wonderful!

[Jo] well done.

[Jo] john's a good old guy.

He means well. He does well for his family.

But he's gotten a little bit rusty,

Considering he's got four girls in the house,

And he really does need to make amends

With his relationship with taylor.

Because I want the time alone with you... Okay.

Which I felt was important because what I do want to do

Is to watch this.

The truth is a very powerful thing.

It really is.

And there was john for the first time--

He was able to listen to her talk about how she truly felt.

[Jo] do you remember a time when your dad would play

With you and--and hug you and you'd have fun with him?

When I was or .

When was the last time he told you that he loved you? I don't remember.

He doesn't like the color of my hair.

He says he doesn't like it.

I'll walk by, and he'll just laugh.

And like, I don't care. I mean, you can do that,

But then he doesn't need to sit there and say,

"Oh, well, you looked better before

When you didn't--when you had your hair brown. When he says that,

What does that do for your self-esteem?

What exactly are you hearing? "You're ugly."

The whole thing was hard to hear and see.

I don't know. I just don't want him to be a part of my life.

I'm just never gonna like my dad, I guess.

And I know that it's wrong and I should love my dad,

But I can't.

Is there room for you to allow your dad to make amend?

I'll let him try.

Would it be nice?

Kind of.

[Jo] there wasn't much trust between taylor and john,

And I know that I've really opened that door

For the pair of them

To really come together and make amends.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Are you gonna let me talk to you?

[Taylor] I guess.

I mean, this was a wake-up call...

And I hope you know that I love you.

I just want to be the normal dad to you,

And, uh, just-- just give me a chance.

You're my daughter.

I just wanna ask if we can start over?

I'm sorry.

[Jo] they hugged one another,

And it was just a really great moment

Just to see them both connect.

[Sighs]

He walked away very quickly,

And I could see him wiping his eyes.

He came back down again, and his eyes looked all glossy.

I love you.

I love you, too.

It was like this weight had been lifted

Off of her shoulders completely.

So, dad, do you remember earlier on we were talking

About doing things with mariah

And more contact and stuff like that? [John] mm-hmm.

How about taking mariah for a swim? Okay.

The one thing that I hadn't seen

Was john really physically connect with mariah,

So this was a great opportunity to reconnect.

Kick your legs. Kick your feet.

There you go, there you go!

There you go. Go!

Go. Very good.

I'm hardly holding you.

I enjoyed it very much,

Because we don't get to do that too often.

Go ahead. Go.

That's it, that's it.

So it was really great one-on-one,

And just to see the gleam and the happiness in mariah,

'Cause it just carried over to me.

Good exercise. Yeah.

That's good exercise. Come on, kick, kick, kick.

I think the funny thing that happened today

Was that we'd spoke so much

About how mariah had missed the touch

From her father holding her,

But I think john realized today how wonderful it felt

To have his daughter put her arm around him.

[Jo] she said, "I wore myself out." Good.

Attagirl, mariah.

Come over here, 'cause jo jo's going now.

Okay, I'm going for a few days. Oh! [Cries]

All right? Don't go!

[Denise] when jo leaves, I think I can do it.

I have confidence in myself,

But I just have to realize that, you know,

Rome wasn't built in a day. We'll see how I do.

Bye, darling. Okay?

Oh, take care, yeah?

Keep moving forward, mate. Keep moving forward, okay? Okay.

It really hit me today when jo left, she was, uh,

Kinda like the security blanket for our family.

You'll do fine. I'll do it.

Okay, I'll see you soon. All right.

Take care. The brunos are coming along fine.

And let's just hope they keep on their progress.

Coming up on...

After watching her encounter with bella...

You ran across the street. A car coulda hit you,

And you went--isabella, I'm gonna talk to you

When you look at me and take this seriously. Okay, I will, I will, I will!

Mom is reduced to tears.

She will grind you down emotionally every day.

When "supernanny" returns.

But first, a tip from supernanny.

Parents, a star chart is a very simple

And easy-to-make chart that encourages children,

As it records the positive behavior and not the negative,

Allowing you both to focus on their success.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] before I left,

Dad had made some great strides with the older girls,

But now I was more intrigued to see how mom

Had gotten on with the younger ones.

So, denise and john, are you ready to take a look at the dvd?

Yes. Feel nervous?

Mm-hmm. Do you? [Laughs]

Let's go. Let's go. Okay.

What do you wanna do? [Speaks indistinctly]

Think of what you want to do, and let me know.

What do you wanna do?

Walk in your day trainer? Okay.

[Sam] okay, I'll get it.

Thank you, sam. Now what does she need?

What does she need when she stands in here?

Girls, if you wanna play, you need to go off to the side,

'Cause this is mariah's time to do her therapy,

And that's--then we can't get to the store.

Girls, you're not listening to me. [Speaks indistinctly]

You need to go in the other room.

This is mariah's time, please.

Okay. Clearly here,

There should have been the setup.

You didn't turn around and say,

"Right, guys, mariah needs her session."

"Okay, so mommy's gonna be doing mariah's session,

"You can go up in your rooms and play individually,

"Or together, you can play together,

But this space is mine and mariah's."

If you break that,

Then there are gonna be consequences for it.

The next clip we're going to see is dad and taylor painting.

I think it went well. Yeah? Let's take a look.

Is that big enough so far?

Um... I guess. Are you gonna fix the front of it, though?

Yeah, I'm just sketching it.

Okay, 'cause it looks like a swan.

It looks like a swan?

I don't want it, like, too small.

I won't. I'll do it. I can always make it bigger, too.

Wow! Look at this--

Listening, talking to one another,

Working together.

Way to go. It really wasn't hard.

How much did you love that?

Um, very much. We haven't done it in a long time.

You get your daughter back?

Mm, I think so.

It's good stuff, john.thanks.

Good stuff. Bella and sam on the naughty corner.

Let's take a look at this. I'm putting you in here because you left the house

Without telling me... I wanna put 'em where you won't find 'em.

And then I don't know where you are. I want my stuff!

And that is not allowed.

You ran across the street. A car coulda hit you.

And you went--isabella, I'm gonna talk to you

When you look at me and take this seriously.

Okay, I will. I will, I will, I will!

Look at me.

And be quiet, please.

Okay, mama.

Isabella, I put you in your time-out

Because you ran across the street.

What do I expect you to do

When you go outside?

No, you look at me and you talk clearly, please,

Or you're gonna stay here longer.

Sorry... [Mumbles]

I don't understand you.

Sorry for running across the street without asking!

I want an apology.

I said sorry a million times.

And it wasn't in a nice way.

Is that nice?

I accept that. Now go play nicely, please--

And you're staying in the house, please.

You get to the end

Of the naughty chair technique here,

And you can't even bear to hug her

Because you're so angry with her.

You're so angry.

But what you're really angry with is yourself.

You're angry that you put up with so much from her,

And unless you change it, denise,

It's not going to change.

Every day she is going to do that to you.

She can grind you down emotionally every day.

Before recognizing "I need to be firm, I need to walk away,

"I shouldn't be engaging in the confrontation,"

She should simply know she needs to behave herself.

She's years old, and she'll do as she's told.

You know?

That's the chair, full stop.

It's good you're feeling this way, denise,

Because it's going to bring you closer

To making decisions for yourself.

You are going to make really positive change in the house.

This is the stepping-stone today

That we will spend in being able to move you beyond that point.

I want to get beyond that point.

Okay, so let's carry on.okay.

Coming up on...

Can jo get denise to finally stand up to her girls?

Don't hit me. Excuse me--warning.

Are you putting up with that? No.

Are you? Then give her a warning. One more time you kick me,

You're going in the naughty chair.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪♪♪

This afternoon, I wanted to give denise some more coaching

On how she could keep bella and sam occupied

Whilst giving mariah therapy.

What you're going to do

Is the stuff that we mentioned on the dvd, okay?

Mommy's gonna work with mariah.

You're going to address it, okay? "I want you"--

Not "need"-- "I want you both

"To either go and play individually up in your rooms,

Or to play together, but this is my space with mariah."

If mom doesn't have the space to do her therapy with mariah,

Then mariah doesn't get her therapy. Full stop.

Girls...

Mommy's doing therapy with mariah by the pool table

'Cause she likes to throw the ball.

So you can take toys if you want...

And bring 'em in the other room.

You're going in the other room.

Watch this. Straighten up.

Lift her straight up, and pull, and up.

Sam, mommy's doing therapy, okay, with mariah. [Cries]

Look at her properly and tell her.

Sam, it is mommy's time to do therapy with mariah

For ten minutes. You need to go in the other room...

Listen to what mommy's saying. And play.

Let's pick out some toys...

Come pick out the toys. You pick out the toys, sam.

Bella, pick out the toys that you want to play with.

You heard mommy. No! [Cries]

Mommy's doing her ten minutes with mariah. [Whines]

What would you like to play with right now?

With a clear voice, look at me and tell me.

Don't hit me. Excuse me? Excuse me--warning.

Warning.

A warning--are you putting up with that?

No. Are you? Then give her a warning.

One more time you kick me,

You're going in the naughty chair. The gloves were off,

And this was the ultimate test for denise.

Let go of her, then. You've told her. Let go of her.

All right. You're not putting up with it.

You're not putting up with that behavior, okay?

You need to go in the other room and play with that, okay?

Doctor. Yeah, in the other room.

[Denise] I had jo next to me,

Guiding me through what I needed to do,

And it was exciting to know

That I was doing-- finally--the right thing,

Even though it was a very hard thing to do.

[Bella] sam, here they are.

Remember my space? Bella found the puzzle.

Go ahead in the other room. You guys can do your new puzzle.

Good. Off you go, then.

Go ahead in the other room, you guys. Go play, okay?

Like we did yesterday, remember? We had a nice time playing.

Thank you.

Oh, when the girls came back to test mom,

She wasn't having none of it.

Did you get it? Good job.

I definitely am gonna feel much more confident

And sure that, you know, I can do this,

And the kids are gonna listen to me.

You guys are playing very, very nicely together.

Okay, and you gave me my time that I needed.

So now we're gonna play something together.

Yay! Now can we play?

[Jo] I was really proud of denise.

That was a huge accomplishment for her.

She stayed composed, she stuck with it,

And for the first time,

Those girls respected

Their mother's space with mariah.

Thank you.

Now see? You can do it.

♪♪♪

There's been a lot of issues to tackle

Whilst I've been with the brunos.

But before I leave, I wanna make a real statement

About how important it is

That they all do something together as a family.

How's about shuffleboard?

How the heck she thought of that--the shuffleboard--

I would never have thought of doing that.

Fun game. Good, 'cause that's what we're gonna do as a family.

We're gonna go shuffleboard now. Fancy a game of shuffleboard?

If you're a family,

And you've got a child who has a disability,

It's so important to find creative things

That are gonna be fun for the whole family to do.

Mariah, you ready to play?

[John] all right.

Did you make it? There you go, bella.

Okay, taylor, now you do the black one.

She's like, "oh, no, I don't wanna do this. Oh, no."

Come on, you've got more than that. Go for it.

Push it! Watch out, watch out!

I love my whole family.

One, two, push. Two, push.

There you go. Good job, mariah.

I wish she can--one of these days, she can do it by herself.

Just stand there and grab the stick, and just play.

Ready? Push.

One, two, three.

There you go. Very good! Look at all the points you got.

You gotta give 'em credit that denise and john

Got the kids in the car, and they just went and did it,

You know? And I think that's what it's all about.

It's about picking a special day

Where you can all do things together as a family.

Recognizing, "what can we do that's new? What's fresh?

What can we get all the kids involved in?" And give it a go.

Wanna do another one?

Ha ha ha! Are you helping your sister?

Are you helping your sister?

[John] on three. One, two, three.

We got so caught up in our lives,

And here we have this limited amount of time,

You know, but to be able to know

That sundays are gonna be devoted to our family

And each week, let's try something new.

Let's try something that mariah can be a part of.

It's gonna be a great experience, and I know that

That's gonna help her improve as well.

Mariah, you did very well.

The younger ones did good as well.

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about, you know?

Just coming out and just trying different things.

It's worth it. Right?

[Jo] I wanna say good-bye to you all

Before you sit down and have dinner.

[Denise] it was very hard for me to say good-bye to jo.

She has affected each and every one of us

In a special way,

And for that, we are forever grateful.

Oh, thank you very much.

Well done. You did good.

Hmm? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Take care. You're welcome.

You, too. Thank you very much. Take care. You're welcome.

Taylor and I were on different planets,

And since jo's been here, we're like a father and a daughter.

[Cries] okay.

What's all these tears?

It really has been a long journey for the bruno family,

But they've managed to bridge relationships,

And they have more respect for one another as a family.

Bye, sweetie. [John] bye.

Keep in touch. Take care.

Bye. Bye-bye.

♪♪♪

You wanna swing, mariah? Okay.

[Denise] we'll never forget this whole experience.

It's just gonna stick with us.

You know, "this is what you need to be doing

To make your family what you wanted."

Is that high enough? Doing good, mariah.

Good posture.

I've seen a substantial amount of changes in isabella and sam.

It's--it's like night and day already.

Uh, very happy for 'em. You're pumping, huh?

[John] I've probably seen the biggest changes in denise.

I mean, it's like the world's lifted off her shoulders.

She's enjoying every minute of it.

One, two, three...

[Denise] now I know that I have the tools and the guidelines

And everything that I need

In order to have a loving family.

[Gasps] I see you!

Aw!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

We are now gonna start the band.

Someone has to sing.

Two weeks ago, taylor and I wouldn't even have been close

To having a normal conversation.

I respect taylor to the utmost now.

Can you enlarge that?

My dad's been, like, trying to talk to me

And spend time with me, and he hasn't yelled or anything.

Could you do that on my ceiling? Yeah, if you want me to.

It's gonna be all worth it in the long run.

That's the bottom line, period.

Ladies and gentlemen-- hold on.

Being able to do things as a family

Is a wonderful feeling. I mean, who doesn't want that?

Thanks for giving us a new life.

We're gonna talk about dogs and babies

Licking each other.

My mom married-- see? Right there.

But it wasn't fun,

Because I went to the store and got nothing.

My mom wouldn't let me. But do you understand?

I was another trip when I was up--

[John laughing]

Sorry.

[Laughing] finger in her nose.