02x05 - Cooke Family

[bunniefuu]

Tonight on "supernanny"...

Jo returns to the u.k. On a rescue mission

To stop a -year-old girl from tearing a family apart.

Meet the cooke family...hello.

Whose -year-old daughter meghann

Likes to be in charge... It's my show. I'll do what I like.

Terrorizing her sisters... Meghann!

Aah! Exploding...

And erupting at any given moment.

Now get out!

Does jo have what it takes

To quell meghann's expl*sive temper

Or has she finally met her match?

Get lost!

♪♪

♪ 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 ♪

Let's take a look and see what family we've got here.

Hi, we're the cooke family.

I'm denise. This is my husband paul.

We have three girls...

We really need supernanny.

We are in a very dark place at the moment.

Meghann can be very angry--

Um, lots of shouting, screaming, rudeness.

No, mom, get off me!

So disrespectful.

She knows what presses your buttons to get you angry.

Please don't shout at me like that.

Ask what I'm doing!

She will actually kick up and have a tantrum

Like a -year-old. I'm not hurting you.

You are! You don't know because you're not me!

Yeah, you are! Don't scratch me.

Mom, I can't believe you're puttin' up with this.

I get angry. I don't know how to nip it in the bud.

I don't know how to handle it.

Will you stop swinging it?

No! That's what you do with it!

That little girl's mouth.

We do shout at each other,

And we shout, she shouts, I shout.

Go and do your homework! Not unless you give it to me.

And it becomes a bit volcanic. Go and do your homework.

But it's mine.

Although the other girls behave badly...

I don't like them!

Right. Okay. Ouch.

Meghann tends to lead...

They will fight because they all want the control.

Ow! [Cries]

Now stop! What's all this hitting?

There's generally an issue when you go out.

I prefer to be at home and not be part of that... Group.

[Paul] I'm the one that tends to have the fun with them.

[Denise] I don't want to join in with them.

Give it to me,

And stop swinging it. It's dangerous.

I'm at my wit's end. I've got nowhere else to go. I'm...

I just feel I've failed. I need a miracle.

We want to be a complete family again, as well.

Bring us back together.

We want to be given a second chance

At being a happy family. Please, please help us.

You guys seriously need my help.

I'm on my way.

[Doorbell rings]

No! All right. You can all answer.

Hello. Hi.

Hello. Look who it is.

How are you? Hiya. Pleased to meet you.

Hi, how are you? Jo frost. How are you?

Very well, thank you.good.

Looking forward to meeting you.

When I first met jo, I was slightly in awe of her.

She has a huge personality,

And she seems to have an aura about her,

Um, and I really liked her.

[Jo] right after I arrived,

It was time to take the girls to school... Meghann.

And it didn't take long before mom and meghann kicked off.

Can I have the phone? Not you're "just doing" anything.

I want it back. Meghann, now!

Come here, please. [Meghann] no.

Give me the phone!no!

Just give me the telephone, meghann. Mom!

Meghann's just bit her mom

Because denise tried to take the mobile phone off of her.

It's become heated. There's attitude,

There's no respect,

And nobody's listening to one another.

I haven't touched your docking station.

Well, I gave it to you! You're supposed to touch it!

[Cries]

[Sighs] come on, erin, let's cross.

Come on, erin. [Erin cries]

Well done, mom. Just that--that's just...

Quickly, erin! There's a car coming now!

What are you doing?

There's a lot of shouting going on, and it's quite obvious

That the girls don't listen to denise whatsoever,

And she needs to get a grip on this. [Denise] meghann! Gabriella!

When paul got home from work,

He walked into a chaotic dinnertime.

Bet you're starved then, aren't you?

[Jo] the girls were demanding things

From mom and dad, and denise was totally stressed out.

Gabriella, can you sit up, please?

[Paul] all right, then, get her some water.

She's gonna eat her dinner, paul.

[Paul] she's not gonna eat. You need to sit down.

For goodness sake, gabriella, just eat, will you?

Well, ask nicely, then, and you'll get it. [Denise] don't be rude.

If you don't ask nicely, I can't get it.

Yeah, but you missed a word.

[Paul] denise and I aren't working well together.

Our family's not working 'cause we're not working together.

Would you say you have different parenting styles?

I would say we have.

Discipline is probably the way we differ.

Our tolerance is different.

My tolerance is so long.

Denise's tolerance is...

Seems to be more variable. I'm "three strikes, you're out."

And when you're out, you're out. With denise, it's more...

Warn, warn, warn and never carry out--

Never carry a warning through.

[Denise] I'm tired and I'm worn out...

[Paul] and this is--i don't have a problem with that.

I don't know if paul really understands how hard it is,

You know, from the moment I get up,

Um, just--just the logistics of three children,

Three breakfasts, three school uniforms--

Just getting three children out the door is quite stressful,

And paul doesn't have to do that very often at all.

[Paul] it's that when we try and discuss it like this,

It ends up being heated, and then we don't get anywhere.

The barriers go up.

Because I feel very defensive... Right.

And I do, as I've said to you earlier. I feel I've failed...

And i-- [paul] it's not a case of failing.

I know it's not, but I feel that, paul.

I personally feel I've failed my children.

I feel I'm not a good mother.

But you are a good mother, and you haven't failed them.

It's just, you... Then why do they walk all over me the way they do?

Coming up on...

The curtain falls on meghann's play.

Oh!

And denise and paul find themselves against the ropes.

She bites and pulls and slaps you,

And you take it

Like a punch bag. [Bell dings]

It's eye-opening. It really is eye-opening.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

Later that evening, meghann and her sisters

Had a little surprise for me.

They put on a play.

You go behind him, twit.

Pardon?

Twit, yes?

Hat. Wrong!

As soon as the curtains went up, it was game over.

[Paul] I thought we're still doing well, girls.

Oh, gabriella! How many children are there in it?

If things aren't going quite the right way

Or something's not quite working,

Meghann can get a little bit agitated.

Meghann, bed now, because you've just spoiled it.

[Paul] meghann. Meghann.

Meghann, do you want me to take you up, or are you gonna go?

You just spoiled it, meghann.

Meghann can be an angel

And can go to being a devil in a snap of the fingers.

She's very unpredictable.

I never know what's going to trigger meghann.

You spoiled it, meghann.

[Meghann] I didn't spoil it. Gabby shouted out.

Meghann started to get angry

With the other two girls, other sisters,

And that's why denise sort of put a stop to it.

And then we have all sorts of problems.

Meghann! Meghann! Will you listen to me?

Meghann!

Please don't talk to me like--

Meghann, I've told you before--

I'm your mommy, and you're my little girl.

I don't expect you to speak to me like that.

Please, meghann, do not speak to me like that.

They both have tempers that spiral out of control.

They're very much alike.

At the end of the day, there's one mom,

And there's a daughter,

And somebody has to be responsible,

And somebody has to be mom.

Hey. Are you all right?

[Sobbing] I can't take this.

And what is it right now you are feeling?

I'm really hurt and sad that my -year-old daughter

Can treat me like she is.

What is it that you want from meghann?

I want love from her, and I want her to hug me

And tell me she loves me.

I don't want her to shout at me and tell me she hates me.

It's clear that the friction between mom and meghann

Has just worn her down.

There needs to be change, and I'm about to do that.

When I first meet a family, I go in and I watch

The dynamics between the parents and the children. [Shouting]

It's not! It got ruined once!

You tell me not to shout. You shout.

And afterwards, I sit them both down,

And we discuss the issues that need to be addressed.

I'm not good at accepting criticism,

But knowing what jo's like, I know that I'm going to be able

To take that criticism from her,

Which is a strange place for me to be.

Three creative, beautiful girls.

Highly intelligent.

Strong-willed.

And you should be proud of that.

But... Where's the respect

From your three girls?

We don't have any--

They don't have any respect for us.

Their behavior,

Because of the lack of respect

They have for the pair of you is eye-opening.

It really is eye-opening.

Let's start with meghann.

She bites and pulls you and slaps you.

And you take it

Like a punch bag.

When you argue with meghann,

It must be like looking at yourself.

Because the pair of you

Are very alike in your personalities.

It's like watching two kids,

Because neither lets go.

You're both fighting for the last word.

How are you setting a clear, good example

To your children when you're telling them to stop shouting

When you're shouting yourself?

Why is it hard to discipline the girls?

Because there's so much confrontation and arguing,

And I just find it easier to ignore, maybe.

The pair of you haven't given them any boundaries,

So that when they overstep those boundaries,

There is a consequence for it.

It's "I'm gonna do this,"

"I'm gonna count to one, two and tickety-boo,"

Because nothing else happens.

It really doesn't.

You're not working together as parents.

You both walk on eggshells with one another.

Paul, you're too scared

To tell denise, really, what's on your mind.

Am I wrong?

No, you're not wrong.

Because if I explain how I feel, you'll get an adverse reaction,

And I feel that my feelings will be negated.

So I don't bother.

You don't do what parents and couples should do,

And that is support each other.

I know everything you're saying is true,

And that's why we're here.

And that's why we want to move on.

Yeah.

Exactly.

When you hear that we shout, so our children shout,

It's quite harsh, but it's true, I guess.

We are their role models,

And what they see in us is correct.

And if we shout, if we don't treat each other nicely,

Why should they?

Jo picked up on the fact that I don't always

Tell denise what's on my mind,

Which is, again, spot on.

Jo analyzed our family down to a tee.

Coming up on...

When meghann's reign over the household

Is seriously challenged, her claws come out.

Meghann. Meghann!

Meghann, no.

This is-- this is meghann angry.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] this family needs to set discipline and rules,

So on my first day of teaching, I'm about to lay these down.

The first one says, "no yelling or shouting."

There's no need to raise your voice or yell

Because it can be very upsetting.

Every household rule that gets broken,

There's a consequence for that.

And if they refuse to listen, and they carry on,

Then I want you to put them in that dining room,

Which is now gonna be called...

[Jo] the reflection room is a place where the girls

Can think about what they've done

And why they're in there.

If I behave like this, this is where I end up.

That is setting firm boundaries.

Last but not least, I brought out

The princess chart for the family.

Now this chart is princesses' castles.

And I've got these-- they're special ones...

They are princesses, but you know what?

It's princess gabby.

Yes. On my word, it's princess gabby.

[Paul laughing]

It's princess gabby!

[Paul] wow.

When you show mommy and daddy

That you behave yourself,

You're gonna jump up onto the pathway, okay,

Until you reach the doors of the castle.

Because when you reach the doors of the castle,

You get to do something that you want to do.

Come and talk to me if you've got something to say.

'Cause I'm not gonna talk to you across the kitchen, meghann.

Meghann had decided

That she was too grown up for the princess chart

And called it "sissy." No. No.

She wasn't having none of it.

Right.

Meghann?

Meghann...

Princess reward chart was absolutely beautiful.

But meghann didn't like it because it represented change.

She didn't want to be involved.

Come on. In you go.

Meghann usually gets away with this kind of behavior,

But this time I told paul to give her a warning.

And when she didn't listen,

She ended up in the reflection room.

When you go into the room, after a time,

Explain why you put her in there, okay?

Yup.

And say to her you want an apology

For that behavior.

And if she delivers a "sorry" that's angry--

"Sorry!" And she's really rude,

Say to her, "no, that's not good enough.

"I want an apology properly, which is, 'sorry.'"

If she doesn't, then she stays in there. Okay? Okay.

Certainly someone like meghann,

Needs to get an apology so she understands why.

'Cause when you get the apology, you say to them,

"You understand why you're in the reflection room?"

The behavior you're showing is really unacceptable,

And I want an apology.

I want a heartfelt "sorry," not just a "sorry."

How will meghann know how to give you a heartfelt "sorry"

Unless you have to show her?

Say to her, "look at me and say, 'i'm sorry...'" Look at me. Look at me.

So that she knows. Otherwise she won't know.

You need to look at me and say "I'm sorry" properly... [Grunts]

As if you mean it.

Well, I mean it, 'cause I don't know!

Meghann, no. No, no, no, paul.

No, we don't hit.

Paul, just follow through. Follow through.

Meghann, start with your proper apology to me,

And we can go and get your glass of water.

We can get the picture out of the bin,

And we can start again.

Wait a minute. That's led into engaging in conversation.

I want an apology for that behavior.

She's either gonna say she's sorry, or she's not.

[Grunting]

What was that, paul, that she said?

I don't know.

She doesn't like that, then she can sit in the reflection room

And think about that next, okay?

It's all right. It's okay. This is angry.

This is meghann angry.

Look. Angry.

Look, this is meghann angry.

But she needs to know boundaries.

She was very aggressive towards jo.

I didn't expect that.

But then, things are changing big-time in our house,

So that's very hard

For an or -year-old to come to terms with.

She's learning, and she knows that she can't

Get away with that unacceptable behavior anymore,

That there's gonna be a consequence.

She's gonna be in there all night, isn't she?

When meghann's next nine minutes were up,

Paul went in again to get his apology.

Meghann, I want an apology said nicely.

Now. And I want you to look at me when you say it.

I would say it until she came in!

Meghann.

Meghann.

Meghann, calm down, please.

Calm down. Calm down and listen to daddy, darling.

Calm down and listen to daddy.

Not unless you get lost!

Don't shout. I know you're angry.

I know you're angry, but listen to daddy.

Now sit down. Come on, sit down. Listen to daddy.

Listen to daddy.

Come on, sit down.

Yeah, not you! Now get lost!

Listen to daddy. I'm here with daddy.

No, you're not, 'cause you weren't here to begin with.

Know why I'm here with daddy? 'Cause I'm helping all of you.

Because I can.

You're not very helpful. You're really weird.

Sit down. Look at me now.

Look at me, or we're gonna be

Back where we started, aren't we?

Look at me and say "sorry" properly.

She can be incredibly rude. She can be very aggressive.

And unfortunately,

I took the brunt of meghann's temper.

But because it was the first time I was teaching that

With paul and with denise,

I felt it strongly that I should just ignore it.

Throughout this course, if she does decide to hit me

Or bite me, I'm going to be placing her in that room myself.

Where's mommy?

What's up?

Well, to see her behave like that with you--

I mean, I'm her mom,

And if she does that, it's not acceptable.

But it's--i'm her mom--

But for her to do that to you is just awful.

Well, why do you think she's doing that to me?

'Cause she's so angry, I suppose.

Well, why do you think she's angry?

Because you're trying to get control from her.

Not from her.

We're trying to make boundaries.

And she sees-- she's right.

She sees I've come in. [Toilet flushes]

I've got household rules in your home.

And she's like, "hold on a minute.

"I had free reign. I could do exactly what I want

"When I want it, and now I'm angry."

And this is the impact of the anger--

To scratch and to bruise.

The answer is to stay in control as the adult,

To be calm-- 'cause if you lose it,

Then you've got, what, really two kids.

There's nothing gonna be gained from two people that explode.

Nothing.

So one of you has to stay in control and calm,

And that is the adult.

It had almost been an hour

That meghann had been in the reflection room,

And paul was stillwaiting for an apology.

[Grunts]

Okay.

It took awhile to get meghann's apology,

But I'm really proud of paul.

He stuck with it, and he persevered.

It's very difficult,

Because you're often treading on eggshells around meghann

In case she's triggered.

You don't know what the trigger might be,

But there's always the worry that there may be a trigger.

[Crying]

[Speaking indistinctly]

She pinched gabriella.

I didn't pinch her! I hit her.

[Bell dings]

Well, regardless...

Denise found courage, and she sent meghann

Straight into the reflection room.

This was a major step for denise,

Because normally she avoids disciplining meghann.

[Jo] be positive. Be positive, okay?

Meghann, I want an apology. If you don't give me one,

You're going to have to stay...

Come here. Do you mean it?

I suddenly felt in control,

Which was an amazing place to be.

I haven't ever been in control of my children,

And I had just disciplined her,

And I'd done it properly.

Um...

And it felt good, it felt really good.

Coming up on...

Meghann's skating on thin ice

When she challenges jo's authority.

That behavior's unacceptable. I don't like it...

"Unacceptable. Unacceptable."

When you pinch me, I don't like it.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

Erin...

Meghann.

Meghann!

No, excuse me. Excuse me.

Meghann, that behavior's unacceptable.

I don't like it...

"Unacceptable. Unacceptable."

When you pinch me, I don't like it.

If you scratch me... Gabby, come here.

Or pinch me or punch me,

Or behave in a way that is unacceptable,

Then you will go back into that room.

"Unacceptable."

No back chat with me either. And that's your warning.

Meghann's having a real hard time accepting that her parents

Are supporting the changes in the house.

And as a result, she's blaming me

And taking all her anger and frustrations out on me.

Meghann, jo's just told you...

[Mocking tone] but it's good to have house rules.

And jo's part of the household at the moment,

And she's helping us to put them in place. No, she's not.

Meghann, that's back chat, and that's your warning.

If you want to talk to me again like that,

You going to go back in the room for nine minutes.

Meghann.

[Slam] yeah, I guess meghann's sort of under the impression

That when jo goes, everything's going to return to normal.

And then she'll be fine, and it's just

This woman's come and turned her life upside down.

[Gabriella crying] it is your fault, jo.

Why am I making you cry?

Is that what you think?

All right. Okay.

Meghann, would you like to talk to me about this?

No!

It's crucial that meghann grasps

That her parents are the authority figures here.

What she thinks is that I'm in the middle and creating this.

[Paul] now you listen. Jo has come here to help us,

And we will be a really happy family--

Listen to me. I'm not cross. Am I cross?

It will make us a much happier family.

And when she's gone,

We'll still be doing the same things.

Good night, meghann...

The plan for today was to work

On mom and meghann's relationship.

So I introduced the special thought box.

And I've come up with an idea that I think will help

Mommy and daddy understand and listen to you,

And also it will help you to be able to say

What's on your mind and how you're feeling, okay?

This box, okay--

It's a pretty box-- it's called the thought box.

[Jo] the thought box is there to encourage meghann

To express whatever is on her mind.

And that way, mommy can read your thoughts,

And you can discuss it.

Do you think that's a good idea?

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, marvelous.

The thought box is an idea to help meghann express herself.

There's a lot of anger going on in the household

Between meghann and her mother,

So it's important that meghann gets to express her feelings

And that her mother validates them.

Meghann and mom desperately needed a recipe

Of some good old one-on-one time together,

So I had a little something in mind.

[Jo] it would be really lovely...

[Gasps]

[Speaking indistinctly]

That's wicked.

Wicked!

How exciting to just see in meghann's face--

She was squeezing my hand and just so excited.

She's beside herself.

It's lovely to see her like that, and I'm excited, too.

[Laughs]

Let me tie it, mom, or they'll fall off.

What this will do

Is build up denise's confidence with meghann

So that she can enjoy spending time with her.

And so that meghann can understand

That not only will denise give her discipline,

But that she can enjoy

The pleasant times with her, too, and have fun.

You're doing really, really, really well.

I can't believe you're doing so well,

Considering you've never been on them. Whoops!

We had the most amazing time, just her and me,

And it made her feel special.

We had such fun, and we laughed,

And we didn't get cross with each other.

And yeah, it was a very memorable day

And such happy, happy memories.

[Jo] the girls are old enough

To take on some responsibility in the house.

So we decided that cleaning the rabbit cage

Would be a good chore to start with.

I think it would be a fantastic idea

That we should give you girls responsibility

So that you've got chores to do and tasks to do,

And then when you show mom and dad

That you can do that, and you do it very well,

You get rewarded for that.

[Paul] yep.

Good one, erin. That's a really good job holding that.

Pull them out.

[Meghann] erin, under. Gabby, under.

Please, please. Keep it nice.

If we do it really well,

We can all move up one on the chart.

That means you've got to cooperate. [Jo] when we finished,

The girls ran straight to the princess chart

To move their pictures up.

They seemed really proud of themselves.

[Paul] you're there, erin. You're number nine.

At the end of the day, a much happier and calmer meghann

Decided to share with mom

What she had written in her thought box.

"I got to go ice skating,

"And I've never been in my life.

"So thank you."

That is so special, darling.

Thank you for having a lovely day with me.

[Kisses]

I want to go again.

Oh, not tomorrow. I'll need to get my breath back.

By using the thought box, meghann and I can resolve

Any issues that may need resolving at the end of the day.

I don't want us both to go to bed on a bad note,

And I'm just hopeful that happy or sad thoughts

Can be discussed in a nice way,

And we can both go to sleep

Knowing that we love each other, and we feel happy.

That's lovely.

See you later, erin, okay? See you soon.

Bye, jo. Thanks very much.

[Paul] come on now. Go on around.

Keep calm, all right? Just keep calm.

Come here then. Give me a hug. [Denise] give her a hug.

No. You don't want to give me a hug?

Oh, meghann.

All right, then.

Well, listen, I'll see you in a couple days, okay?

Wave to me from the window. [All] bye!

See you later! See ya!

I think everything's going to be

A challenge for paul and denise.

I just hope that they remember all the advice

And the techniques that I've taught them

And make sure that they stick with it and do it.

Now that jo's gone, I feel confident

In the techniques that we've got

That we'll better carry on through.

I know I'm going to be tested,

But I'm quite confident I'm not going to get

In the same situation as I have in the past.

I do know I'm going to be tested.

Coming up on...

While jo's gone,

Denise finds herself in a battle for control.

[Meghann crying]

[Whistle blows]

[Meghann screaming indistinctly]

Minutes?

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

I've left the cookes for a few days.

They're gonna be on their own,

But I'm gonna be keeping an eye on them.

Can we just start? Because we've now got two minutes...

Meghann.

You see, you're getting cross

And trying to organize everyone, aren't you?

Don't shout at me, meg.

Meghann, that's your warning,

And you're gonna be in there.

Ow!

[Imitating erin] ow! Right, come on.

Meghann, reflection room, please.

[Jo] meghann is really feisty,

And she knows what buttons to push.

And boy, is she pushing.

In you go. Meghann.[Crying]

All right, you're coming down on the board, too.

But as the night goes on, meghann doesn't give up,

And she launches into a tantrum that lasts for hours.

You had your chance for your teeth...

[Screams] and you didn't do it.

[Crying]

[Paul] come on.

She just jumped at me!

Meghann, pajamas.

Now.

I can't believe it.

[Meghann] I want down! I want down! Down!

[Paul] no, we've done that. You're staying here. Come on.

[Meghann screaming and crying]

Keep calm, and they will be calm. [Meghann] no! No!

[Jo] denise's resolve to stay calm does not last for long.

If you don't go up to your homework now,

You're going down... [Crying]

[Jo] all three girls finding her weak spot,

Testing her patience.

With erin already in the reflection room,

Denise tries to discipline gabby.

Just sit still!

You're not looking at me. You know, I'm not gonna...

[Jo] denise's patience is wearing thin.

And I want you to sit on the chair

Without being silly and stay on the chair.

I don't expect this behavior!

Okay, now, gabriella, you're not going to have

Any friends home for the whole of next week.

Well, that's fine.

[Jo] denise, remember who's in charge.

You!

[Laughing] [jo] mom's lost it.

All my energy with the three of them,

And I'm just at the end of my tether with it

Because all I'm doing is going round in circles again.

[Jo] by the end of the week, denise is really struggling,

And another one of meghann's plays

Descends into chaos.

She hasn't ruined it!

Okay, meghann.

Stop it!

[Jo] the -minute rule goes out the window,

And denise makes up her own time for meghann's punishment.

Minutes.

I don't care how long I get in there!

[Jo] denise has forgotten everything I've taught her

About being calm.

Things have really started to unravel

In the cookes' household.

I need to get back straightaway

To get these guys back on track.

Good to see you. Give me a hug. How have you been?

I love the part where I come back with the dvd

Because it shows the parents

Exactly where they've gone wrong.

[Meghann] mom!

[Paul] I'm not talking about that now. I said no.

[Meghann screaming]

Calm down. Get your pajamas on,

And you can just stay here now.

Now you've just broken your own computer,

So don't worry about it.

Okay, she's lost it.

The anger's escalated, and meghann's blown,

But what was good that you did, paul--

You stayed calm in that situation.

You went, "all right, so you've smashed your computer up.

"That's your problem."

Okay, moving on. Let's look at the next one.

Sit in the car where you're at now.

[Screaming]

I want you to sit down, meghann! No!

We're going to the fire station.

I don't care where we're going.

Could you strap yourself in? No, I'm putting my shoes on.

Meghann, I'm not having that kind of attitude

Speaking to me like that.

Go away.

That is unacceptable, meghann.

Come on, give it to me, denise, because this is...

It's my tone of voice.

She's using the same tone that I'm using with her.

Children learn how to communicate with you

How you communicate with them,

How you talk. Don't want her to talk back.

I think she has said to me on occasion,

"Well, you shouted at me. Why shouldn't I shout at you?"

I mean, it's a fair comment, I guess.

You little...

[Crying]

Stop it!

Now minutes.

I don't care how long I get in there!

Minutes?

'Cause she bit me. 'Cause she did two things.

She bit me on the way down the stairs,

And she's hit someone upstairs.

Well, okay.

Reflection room-- one time, nine.

Nine minutes.

She comes out, she does something else,

Back in for nine.

Because otherwise, you'll find yourself in a situation

Where she feels she's serving life.

Well, she might as well do everything.

Sit on the chair.

But I want you to sit on the chair

Without being silly,

And stay on the chair!

I don't expect this behavior!

Okay, then, gabriella,

You're not going to have any friends home

For the whole of next week.

I don't care, 'cause I hate my friends. Well, that's fine.

She is so annoying you right now,

That you've taken it one step further

Just to get a dig in there

So that she'll hopefully cry,

So that you'll get some satisfaction.

She sat on that chair and said nothing,

And you drew herin because you'd had enough.

I think what's important to look at

When we look at this is just

How one thing leads to another

And how they actually feed off

Of you losing control of the situation.

And the impact of that is quite incredible to watch

And see how the girls respond to that.

I knew I had a part to play in issues that we were having.

It's a bit of a shock, but I've, you know, hands up.

I've accepted I was at fault.

Hopefully, we're going for strength to strength,

And we won't go back to where we were.

Coming up on...

It looks like meghann is coming around...

I bet it's just that you're calmer now.

Yeah.

But will she be able to change?

Get my badge off now! Meghann!

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

Did I do a good job?

On my return with the family,

I'd like to help them correct their mistakes

And to build on their successes.

It didn't take long before meghann fired up again.

[Denise] meghann!

[Crying]

Everything they do, I always get into...

[Wailing]

[Jo] and with that hit, denise followed the rules--

No warning and straight to the reflection room.

You know you're in here for hitting gabriella, don't you?

So go in very calmly, okay?

And say to her, "I put you in here

"Because of the skipping rope."

You don't want some big, long, long explanation, okay?

Short and sweet, very precise, very calm.

Kiss and cuddle, no grudges.

She goes and says apologies to whoever she hurt,

And then move on.okay.

Good girl. I do want an apology.

Skipping ropes... Go away.

Are really dangerous,

And if that had hit gabby in the eye,

It could have been a real accident, okay?

Let's go say sorry to gabriella now.

[Jo] I can see that denise is really trying hard

Not to lose her temper,

But the real test is can she stick with it?

Can you do an american accent?

No.

Can you do an american accent?

[Crying]

Meghann...

Get my badge off now!

Meghann, I'm not going to have behavior like this walking home.

When we get home, you're going to be in the reflection room.

No, I'm not. Then I'm going to be angry.

I know you're going to be angry now.

Hold on to the buggy and let's go home.

[Jo] mom's in control of the situation.

When the kids start to kick off,

She doesn't tolerate any of it.

She nips it straight into the bud,

And for that, she's gained a lot more confidence.

Meghann, you're not upstairs, darling.

You're in the reflection room, sweetheart.

I feel far calmer.

I have more patience with the children.

That in itself is such a result,

Because we've been in that position walking home,

And I've shouted out at her and got home and said,

"Get upstairs. I don't want to see you anymore."

Of course, that was an awful thing.

So that's a huge, huge step forward. Exactly.

I want an apology.

Meghann accepts the reflection room.

She doesn't argue, she will go in,

She will wait, she will apologize,

She will hug me, and we'll get on with life.

[Laughing]

With things more relaxed in the cooke household,

I found a gap where there was time to speak to meghann alone.

I bet mom doesn't shout as much now, does she?

I bet it's just that you're calmer now. Yeah.

I think so.

In the beginning,

Meghann felt absolutely threatened with the fact

That I had represented change to her family,

But now she engages me,

And she wants to show me what she's done

And what she's achieved,

And it just goes to show you that children do

Need boundaries and guidelines, and they respect you for it.

I heard through the grapevine that there was going to be

A special final performance for me tonight.

I just hope I get to see it till the end.

Listen, can you all sit down

And listen to mommy really carefully?

I can't wait to see your show. I'm so excited.

I know it'll be fantastic, but there are some rules.

I want no arguing.

Let's go. See you down there.

Oh, I've got family tickets! Family tickets!

[Meghann speaking indistinctly]

Oh, those dolls-- they always don't play.

Every year they're brilliant at it.

Come on, you haven't got the pom-poms, have you?

[Jo] oh, look. Wow! The costumes!

Good night!

I loved it. It was brilliant. Bravo.

Oh, fantastic!

Whoo!

[Denise] I'm so happy.

They've actually worked together,

And it was just like I've never seen the children, really.

You take care.

Okay? Keep it up, all right?

We will. Thank you so, so much.

Life for the cooke family is a lot better

Now that paul, denise and the girls are getting on.

Instead of shouting and yelling at one another,

They're going out as a family and having fun.

Ooh. Little emotional now. [Laughs]

Aw!

Life is so much nicer. I'm enjoying my children,

And I'm enjoying being their mom.

[Paul] we've seen the potential in what we can have

As a family now-- a really, super loving family

That has great fun together

And works really well as a complete unit.

And I think things can only get better.

In the past, there'd have been no way

We'd have come outside like this with the kids.

Denise wouldn't want to for fear of a flare-up

And all the rest of it.

Today's been lovely.

The children have been happy playing together,

Enjoying each other's company,

And meg's made it nice for all of us.

Things at home are certainly a hell of a lot better

Than they were before,

So denise and I are a lot more calm

In dealing with the girls.

Meghann and I seem much closer.

She seems more loving.

She seems more able to hug me for no apparent reason.

Because we don't dwell on any issues,

She's able to be more relaxed with me.

Life has improved so much in the last month.

Yeah, I mean, the fact that we could come out today...

And enjoy today, and we had no issues.

Bottom line is it's down to us.

The children will follow suit, but it's down to us,

And we're prepared to make that work,

And we will get there.

[Speaks indistinctly]

What happened?

I was... Just gently. I was going like that.

It's not really meant to stand on...

No, dad, I stood on it this morning.

That's all right. Okay, just so that you're all right.

Okay, come here. Sit down.

I'll sort it out. All right, come on. Come on.

It hurts!

I know. Let's lie down. It's gonna hurt.

But it'll get better.