04x06 - The Whipple Family

[bunniefuu]

ANNOUNCER: They're every parent's worst nightmare.

SCREAMING

Kids completely out of control.

SCREAMING

And taking over the household.

I will smack you.

These parents have reached the end of the road.

All right, enough, I don't care!

They're in desperate need of help.

Get upstairs!

They only have one alternative left...

It's time to contact Nanny .

This is Nanny . Can I help you?

From our team of world-class nannies

direct from Nanny Central,

the right nanny will be chosen.

They will then have one week to take our families

from living hell to a family bliss.

You're a waste of life.

Can these families be saved?

I'm going to call the police.

- No! - Anthony!

I don't love you.

What you do with those children is MY business.

Parents of America, help is on the way.

The nanny's here!

The nanny's here!

Who's your nanny?

Tonight, the Whipples are a blended family...

The fighting happens every day.

..having some trouble blending.

You guys do not have respect for your house.

I don't see a fix for it.

With five kids constantly fighting for attention...

Jessie was pushing my head.

..someone is sure to be left out.

AJ's the special one.

It's because you love her more.

Can Nanny Stella whip the Whipples into shape?

You're kidding me, Linda!

That's all next on Nanny .

CHILD SCREAMS

That's not even funny. You don't slam him down like that.

My name is Linda. I'm .

You and AJ need to clean your room anyway.

Didn't Linda tell you to do your clothes?

My name is Robert Whipple.

I am years old.

Robert and I have been married for almost six years.

Come on, guys. Just listen to your mother. Shut it down.

We're a blended family.

When we met, Robert had two boys, Dougie and Robbie.

And I had a girl, and we had two kids together.

It's pretty wild.

Robert and I were in the middle of saying our vows.

All I saw was arms going back and forth

and they were hitting each other.

Fighting happens at least every day.

There's constant chaos in the house.

SCREAMS

Cut it out.

Always something going on. Some devious behaviour.

- Ow! - Mommy!

BAWLS

Dougie's . He is a laid-back, quiet child.

You gotta ask him times to do things.

Robert, I swear to God, go.

Robbie is years old.

And he is our clown in the family.

Let him do it.

No, don't put it on his!

- Ow, she clawed me! - Good!

I came into the marriage with Jessie Marie, and Jessie is .

And she is the messiest child out of them all.

Her room is probably the biggest mess.

She'll come home and just throw all her stuff on the floor

and leave it until Linda cleans it.

I keep the door closed because if I had to see that every day,

I would go bonkers.

Then there's Alexandra, also known as AJ.

She's very smart, she's very manipulative.

I don't know what to do with her.

Alexandra and Jessie are in one room together

and they have some tough times.

There's a lot of jealousy over who's getting more of my time.

WHINGES

He hurt me.

And then there's Justin. Our three-year-old.

He's our little wild animal.

He runs around like a crazy kid.

He'll jump off tables and do all kinds of stuff.

The big issue with him is he won't sleep in his own bed.

He expects to sleep in our bed.

He just keeps coming back and forth like a ping-pong ball,

so we get no sleep.

My husband and I disagree

about the fact that I let Justin sleep in our bed.

Because I work all day,

when I come home, I want the kids near me.

That's one-on-one time that Justin and I get.

The biggest problems, I would say, with the kids

are they don't help out around here.

Why is that laundry basket still on the couch?

And to get them to do anything is a struggle.

My mom is upset a lot because there's so many of us

and she gets stressed because she works full-time.

I asked you to bring it down for me.

It's frustrating.

That's the last thing I wanna do, come home

and tell these kids what they have to do every night.

My dad always says that he needs a vacation.

Go check your rooms.

Listen to me.

Robert does know we should probably be stricter with them.

- Robert, get up. - I know he's right.

It's just that I don't wanna be that way.

I'd rather fool around.

My mom's really fun

because we have some food fights at dinner sometimes.

Dinner in our house is, I think, fun time.

Some people think I'm nuts, but I allow food fights.

But to me, it's fun.

The food fight, they take it to extremes sometimes.

Then it starts getting way too much and out of hand.

Yo!

When I say stop, it means stop.

There is no discipline.

We thr*aten a lot, but we never follow through with it,

it doesn't mean anything any more.

They don't take me serious,

but I'm the one having fun with them

and they'll remember that when they're older.

Cup. That's in the cup.

I think our parents need to maybe be more mature

about things.

They don't really care if we make the house a mess.

Hey, Dad. Stop means stop.

The reason we called Nanny

is my husband and I are working full-time

and to come home and be this frustrated every day,

it's not healthy.

I can see my health deteriorating,

and I'm getting older in life,

and I don't need to have this additional stress.

Daddy!

I want to be able to not drive home

with that tense feeling of,

"Oh, here we go again with these kids.

"What are they gonna do today?"

Nanny Stella,

your mediating skills are just what the Whipples need

to call a truce and become a family again.

- Hello. - Hi.

- I'm Nanny Stella. - Nice to meet you. I'm Linda.

Nice to meet you too.

Hello.

My first impression of the Whipple family was,

"Wow, there's a lot of children."

The first day is just about, you know, observations,

standing back and seeing what you guys do.

If you guys just wanna do what you normally would do

and I'll keep my eye on you.

Nanny seemed pretty nice.

You guys are free.

- Are you giving me a tour? - Sure.

I'll bring you down to the boys' room first.

- Whose bed's that? - That's Doug. My oldest one.

They just, pfft, throw their clothes on there.

I see that.

'What a mess. These boys don't even have sheets on their bed.'

This is Justin/office room.

Justin will not sleep in his bed, so he ends up in our bed.

Here's the girls' room.

You're kidding me, right?

This is actually clean.

There are times you can't even walk through here.

'This home is not respected.

'It doesn't look like the children do any chores.'

Clean your room.

What? I couldn't hear that.

- Clean your room. - I couldn't hear it.

'Why aren't the kids taking their mom seriously?'

Jessie, when we're done with this game...

..you and Alexandra are gonna put away some clothes.

- No.

- Or how about start with cleaning...

I don't think AJ will set foot in there cos she never does.

Well, worry about yourself.

The kids don't do anything around the house.

In my opinion, they're pretty lazy.

Go put tape on Robbie's mouth.

'Linda wants to stop Robbie from back-talking,

'so sends her youngest, Justin, to cover his mouth with tape.'

Let him do it.

No, don't put it on his!

CRIES: You're mean.

Self defence!

No, leave him alone now, leave him alone.

'It was mom's idea, but when the joke backfires,

'it's Robbie that takes the blame.'

Since you're not playing this game, why don't you start...

I'm watching. I am watching.

No, leave him alone now, leave him alone.

I want you and Robbie to put some clothes away.

Your father said so.

'I can't believe that Linda uses Dad as an excuse.

'I don't think she has any authority.

'Finally, the girls go and tidy up, but Mom has to supervise.'

SIGHS

How about I put you in charge

of picking up all the hair ties?

No, not "then you're done".

Jessie, you're not even moving! All the hair ties.

When Linda sent the girls to clean the room,

nothing really got achieved.

It actually looked more messy than when they started.

'I haven't been here long, and it's already getting physical.'

Hate you, AJ.

Hate you.

Hate you. Hate you.

Ow!

CRIES

'Jessie looks like she has a huge issue with AJ.'

Daddy, Jessie was pushing my head.

Jessie, do not hit your sister.

'Jessie is very upset and I want to know why.'

You're sad and she's sad, so what have you achieved?

I don't know.

Do you feel like this every day?

And what do you do about it?

Who do you talk to?

The fact that I had such a quick connection with Jessie

spoke volumes to me

that she wasn't getting any acknowledgement

from her parents.

Give me a hug.

I'm gonna help you fix it, OK? All right?

I promise.

'It doesn't take long before it becomes very obvious to me

'exactly what's happened here.'

AJ!

'Out of sight from the others,

'Mom sneaks one of her youngest, AJ, some cookie dough.

'It looks like AJ's getting special treatment.'

You just sneaked one kid in here to feed cookie dough.

Yeah.

Why's that?

I want some!

There's four other kids there.

Why didn't they get a choice?

It's all right. Have a think about it.

Oh, man!

Certain things started to unfold.

'Jessie and Robbie both look annoyed

'after seeing Linda's obvious favouritism towards AJ.'

This little girl is sitting here very angry

and giving me dirty looks.

Jessie complains to me constantly

that she thinks that I treat her and Alexandra differently.

And I say, "If I do that,

"it's because you're very far apart in age,"

and she sees that as I'm favouring her.

Is that true?

AJ is getting all the attention.

OK, and what did your mom say when you said that to her,

about your frustration?

There's a really big jealousy and resentment element

in the house towards AJ.

Jessie and Robbie are both very angry.

- Did you hit your sister? - No.

I think the biggest struggle for the family

is they're desperately trying to blend this family,

but they're not getting very far

because they don't actually have any idea of how to do that.

What were you saying about favourites?

He has a favourite.

In my opinion, makes it very clear to them,

and I just don't think that's right.

I don't think it's fair to Robbie,

cos Robbie's not a bad kid.

She has favourites too.

'If these parents don't modify their behaviour,

'nothing in this house will ever change.'

I think that Nanny Stella might be able to help my parents,

cos my mom sometimes has favourites

even though she doesn't notice.

'With so much resentment in this house,

'I'm not surprised these kids don't get along.'

Hey, Justin, let's make our own downstairs.

Let's go by ourselves.

- Without AJ. - Cos AJ's not allowed.

'The children are bullying AJ

'because they know she's the favourite.'

It's really sad.

No!

No.

'Despite all the crying, Dad is not paying any attention.'

It needs resolving because it's not healthy.

It's not OK to bully anybody.

It's time to observe dinner at the Whipple family home.

What, are you setting up the potato fight?

What's he setting up?

He wants to set up a potato fight.

You're having a laugh, right?

No. I swear to God.

One of the most disturbing things to me

was that for parents that are desperately wanting

to modify their children's behaviour,

they're very juvenile and childish themselves.

Mommy, can I throw that at Robbie?

Feel free to throw it at Robbie.

It became really apparent that they just were clueless.

For somebody to be having a tater fight...

By the time I got hit with the tater, I was over it.

Linda doesn't seem to have it in her head

that there is a happy medium

of finding a parenting style that works

where you can be a fun mom and still discipline your kids.

Ow! No hitting people in the face.

Sit down and eat.

'What a waste of food.

'There's tater everywhere,

'and these parents show no respect for this house.'

Please go get your pyjamas.

'It's bedtime with the Whipples, and Justin's the only one

'to get special one-on-one time with Mom,

'as he's put directly into his parents' bed.'

My impression of Justin,

Linda is trying to keep him a baby for far too long.

I think that it's unhealthy

for a three-and-a-half year-old boy

to be sleeping more with his mom than he does in his own bed.

It's not about Justin, it's not about her husband,

it's not about the way it makes the rest of the children feel,

it's how it makes Linda feel.

- Come on, close your eyes. - No.

It's going to be really hard to change Linda's behaviour

because Linda's really set in her ways.

First of all, this chaos that you live in...

It's crazy.

- It's not easy. - We're used to it.

The pair of you are very juvenile.

I cannot believe that you think it's OK

for that thing at dinner time.

Ow!

Oh, my God!

I'm just trying to understand, though,

why it's bad to have fun with your kids.

Throwing food across the living room?

You're kidding me, Linda.

That's not fun. That's disrespect.

Here you are, saying, "My kids won't clean their room,"

and you're throwing food across the house?

You're sending mixed messages.

I didn't think of it that way.

That's a good point.

I've sat with your kids today

and they've told me things that have absolutely broke my heart.

I've never been in a house where somebody didn't acknowledge

what's going on with their kids' feelings,

or validate it in some way.

Have you any idea how upset Jessie is?

I try to explain to her that she needs to understand

that she's not the only child in the house.

When you stood in the kitchen and said about his favourites,

you blew me away.

He has a favourite.

And I just don't think that's right.

The audacity of you, Linda!

Where do you get off, telling him about his favourites,

when your two little ones rule this house?

I honestly don't think I have a favourite child.

But what you're doing speaks volumes.

That is not fair.

Justin's, like, my last baby.

You can't keep him a baby forever, Linda.

Don't get upset.

You physically sleeping with him,

I think, is detrimental to everybody.

You've got to accept accountability

for what's going on here.

'This home is in dire need of some rules

'to get them back on track.'

Do you have any rules right now, do you think? - No.

- We really don't have any rules in the house.

We do tell the kids, "We want you to clean your room,"

and as you see, it's not effective.

First rule. Ready?

One warning, one consequence.

If somebody's fighting, one warning.

If it doesn't stop, one consequence.

For the younger ones, it's gonna be time-out,

and for the older ones,

it's gonna be removal of a privilege.

I'm doubtful about time-out.

I've tried time-out in their rooms, and it doesn't work.

Next rule.

Listen and acknowledge feelings.

Letting them know that you validate how they're feeling.

I have a surprise.

Feelings chest.

I've got this feelings box,

so if anybody's having a rough time,

they can come to the box and they can pick out a feeling

and they can tell the other person how they're feeling.

It'll probably help us understand our feelings.

OK.

Everyone sleeps in their own bed.

Justin!

My favourite is everybody sleeping in their own bed.

It's just nice to be able to be with Linda, just the two of us,

and getting some good sleep time at night.

No bullying.

This bullying, it's got to stop.

- Hate you. - Ow!

WAILS

Everybody thinks they're gonna get on board with this?

- Maybe. - Maybe?

- Maybe. - What's the maybe?

I don't know. Just... I'll try.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

I'm hoping I'll be able

to do everything I'm supposed to be doing,

that she won't have conflict with me.

I'm hoping my husband and I

are gonna be able to step up to the plate by ourselves.

You guys do not have respect for your house or your things.

It's not good.

Before anything else happens today, anything at all,

we are cleaning up this house.

OK, Dad, you're in charge.

- Yes. - I don't want any slacking.

Um... I'd say the last time this room was cleaned

was probably some time last month.

There are no video games until this job gets done.

Dougie, not acceptable any more, sweetheart.

'I'm hoping that the kids will take pride

'in tidying their rooms and learn to respect their home.'

My biggest concern first is that bed.

All this stuff, there's strollers, there's backpacks.

Cats.

AJ, can't have this stuff in your bed any more, OK?

You have to find a place for it.

Oh, my gosh.

Come here.

You're never gonna get a girlfriend.

Look at this.

You're having a laugh.

This is a health hazard.

Nasty.

'But upstairs, it doesn't take long

'before the bickering starts.'

That's my nail polish.

What's up, guys?

There's four bottles of nail polish

on the bed that are mine.

- She doesn't think so. - No.

Can I tell you, though, with the nail polish,

- what I want to happen? - What?

I think all the nail polish should be kept in the bathroom.

Everybody can share it.

I honesty don't know whose they are, but we're just gonna...

'And Mom has no idea what to do.'

So, this is what I would do. OK?

AJ? No, no, you have to listen to Nanny. It's really important.

Mommy said that the nail polish has to go in the bathroom,

so go put the nail polish in the bathroom,

or you're going into time-out.

One warning, one consequence.

'With the thr*at of time-out,

'AJ does exactly what she's been asked without any whining.'

Lift up.

'The next task is to move a bed upstairs for Justin.'

Just put it there.

OK, do one section at a time.

'Tonight will be the first night Justin will sleep on his own.'

You're doing a good job. Good cleaning.

'With a bit of teamwork,

'the boys have done a good job cleaning up.'

Wow, I can step on the floor.

You can get in her drawers, so I'm pretty happy with that.

'The girls still have a way to go,

'but have made some progress.'

Jessie, is yours all done?

That's awesome.

'It's time to reward the kids for their hard work.

'By introducing a chores chart,

'Linda will be able to reward the children

'with videogame or TV time for each chore they complete.'

Who did keeping their room decent today?

Everybody.

You made a very good effort.

Well done.

You've earned your computer time

or your TV time or your game time.

'The children seem really happy with their tidy rooms,

'so the question is,

'why couldn't the parents get these kids to tidy up?'

You know, nothing is respected, Linda.

I want your home to be respected.

He might get mad at me for saying this,

but I don't respect this home

because this was the house

that he lived in with his first wife.

That irks me.

I mean, he knows it.

Well, you have to fix it.

I don't see a fix for it.

I think you're a really smart woman,

and you're coming across to me as being a bit dumb.

This is ticking me off.

Just hear me out, please.

This family didn't have

these fantastic five kids in 'em, Linda.

Now it does.

Make the best of it.

And that's what I think I'm doing.

Not if you're not respecting the home

that you're living in with 'em.

I was very angry and I was very frustrated.

Worrying about the house is my last priority.

I don't look at it sometimes as it's my house per se,

it's just somewhere I'm living.

If you don't wanna make the changes, no problem.

But don't expect your kids to change their attitude

when you won't change yours.

I do the best I can with the time I have.

End of story.

What I learnt

was that Linda has this really, really strong resentment,

almost hate for the house.

It's not my intention to upset you or anybody in this house.

I'm commenting on the fact that you can't expect

something from your children

you're not willing to do yourself,

and all I'm saying there is, respect the house.

She wasn't saying that you're a slob or anything like that.

- OK. - That isn't what I was saying.

If you can just give it a little bit of thought,

just letting some of that resentment go,

parents are the role models for their kids.

OK.

I feel they really could change the dynamics of their family.

What I said had an impact.

'Now that Mom is going to try and respect the home,

'there will be no food-throwing

'or eating outside of the kitchen.'

Robert, do you know they have their blueberries?

'It doesn't take long before AJ challenges her mom.'

No, no, no, no, no.

You are not going to eat blueberries on that bed.

Not after we just took the time.

'I'm really proud of Linda

'stopping the blueberries from going upstairs.'

'AJ blames Mom

'because she doesn't want to clear up the mess.'

AJ, come back.

Mommy didn't do it, AJ, you did.

AJ, come back a second.

What are you doing with the blueberries?

Remember the new rule about listening?

Why aren't you listening to Mom?

Were you giving them the blueberries?

'The truth comes out. It's Dad that's given AJ permission.'

There was a few left and I did say, "You can have them."

She was going upstairs with them

- and we've established no food. - Yes.

So, did you forget?

Yes, I missed that.

'The mixed messages have left AJ confused and frustrated.'

What's the matter?

'So I suggest that they use the feelings chest

'to help AJ communicate how she feels.'

Frustrated.

'Communicating with Mom stops AJ from having a tantrum,

'and Linda can validate AJ's feelings.'

Are you sleepy? Cos you had a lot of stuff to do today.

And you're cranky and frustrated.

The feelings box is a good idea

because it helps everyone understand each other more.

'Not long after,

'Justin starts acting up and is not listening to his mom.'

Turn off the TV and we need to go put some clean pants on you.

Justin, I wanna see the TV off.

WHINES

Remember our new rules.

One warning, one consequence.

- Even for him? - Absolutely for him.

'Justin has an accident and is refusing to change his pants.'

Justin, you're gonna come upstairs with me right now

and change your pants.

If you don't come up now,

you're gonna go on the time-out mat.

- So, time-out? - Yeah.

No!

'This is going to be Linda's biggest challenge so far.

'She has never disciplined her baby.'

I know.

You've got to stay there for three minutes.

- Is it breaking your heart? - No, I'll be all right.

Time-out was a little rough.

He was crying, he was angry.

See, look.

See, the alarm went off.

You have to stay here till it's time to leave.

To me, it seemed like the time-out was harder on Linda

than it was on Justin.

She was fretting a lot.

She's one of those mothers

that can't stomach their children crying.

'Linda can't bear to watch and wants to give in to his cries.'

I kind of feel like, OK, he's learned his lesson,

let's just change his pants.

How do you think he's learned his lesson

if you take him out of time-out?

I just have to remember that he's angry, he's not hurt.

And now he's learning that next time, he shouldn't do that.

ALARM SOUNDS

'Mom holds off and Justin has a successful time-out.'

Even for a three-year-old,

he understood what the time-out meant.

I honestly do think it's a better approach

than what I've tried in the past.

You're not hurt, though, right?

She's helping me be tough with the kids.

It's not unreasonable tough or anything like that,

far from it.

But she's helping me, you know,

step up to the plate a little in that area,

so it kinda feels good.

'Linda is making huge steps,

'but bedtime brings another challenge.

'Putting Justin to bed alone.'

No. Tonight, we're gonna start something different, OK?

Tonight, Mommy's gonna read a book with you.

After we read the book, you can get in your bed

and close your little eyes.

- How does that sound? - Not good.

'It's vital that Linda stops sleeping with Justin

'as the other children in the house

'see it as Justin getting special attention.'

I think that Nanny Stella will be able to help Justin

go to sleep in his room,

cos it makes the other kids feel left out

and it's kind of annoying.

One of my favourites, He's A Little Piggy.

'Reading to Justin gives Linda the one-on-one time she craves

'without dedicating her whole evening to just one child.'

Good night, buddy.

You need to lie there and go to sleep.

'On the first night of sleep training,

'I usually let a mom sit in,

'but Linda is too much of a distraction for Justin,

'so going cold turkey is the only option.'

Is he actually laying down?

You're serious?

WAILS

But he's not coming out?

'Ten minutes later, it all goes quiet,

'which hopefully means only one thing.'

He's asleep! Your brother's asleep in his own bed!

It's definitely been almost two years

since he's actually slept in his room by himself.

It indicated to me

that he doesn't have a problem sleeping in his own bed.

It indicates to me that it is about Linda.

'Today, I'm going to take a step back

'to see if Linda and Robert can enforce the new rules.'

ROBERT: Hello, Nanny Stella.

Tell me about your sleeping. What happened?

Justin did so well.

- He came in our room at, like... - :.

- ..:. - :.

- Where is he? - He's been waiting for you.

Hiya.

You sleeped in your bed and you didn't scared?

I'm very proud of you. Good job.

'The family have made a great start on tidying the house

'and with Mom's new respect for the home,

'the clear-up continues.

'But the bullying starts up again.'

What?

This isn't yelling in your ears.

SHOUTS: This is yelling in your ears!

- Jessie Marie! - What?

Drop the attitude with her, or...

..you have no game system this afternoon.

Thanks, AJ.

No, not thanks, AJ.

You're the one who's talking back and yelling at her.

You have no game system this afternoon.

Alexandra, start picking this up now.

She's had, like, ten warnings and she doesn't get a time-out?

Jessie was dissatisfied at the way things were going.

Linda had been threatening

to put AJ in a time-out several times

and it had never happened.

You're doing it again.

You had no hesitation to say to her,

- "You're losing your videogame." - Yep.

Yet, you are going round and round with her.

It has to stop.

'Jessie is still annoyed at the unfair punishments,

'so she has stopped listening to her mom.'

You already lost your games for today. Do you wanna lose more?

- I did? - Yeah.

AJ doesn't ever lose anything.

She got ten warnings. Nothing happened.

She should have ten time-outs.

But I don't think that's gonna happen cos you love her more.

SIGHS

I can't talk to her right now.

'If Linda really wants to see a change,

'she's got to accept how Jessie feels.'

If you let this opportunity go to speak to her,

you're not making any headway.

She's really % correct about what's happening with AJ.

You don't hesitate with her.

Cos she's been told a million times about that.

Yeah, but so has AJ, sweetheart.

I've lost count of how many things AJ's done

that you have threatened time-out with today

and haven't followed up on.

Then what should I have done?

You're the parent.

You need to talk to her.

Because this is the problem with Jessie.

Her feelings don't get validated.

It's not healthy.

I think you have to definitely be the bigger person

and show her a different way to communicate.

I honestly just don't think that going up there now

and trying to talk to her would have solved anything.

I feel that you don't really want to deal

with what she has to say.

I don't think that's true.

I love everybody the same. I'm trying my best.

You're actually sending the message of you just don't care.

I just don't think that trying to talk to her

would have solved anything.

You have this real high level of avoidance.

And I realise I'm doing it and I'm gonna try to change it.

- Cos I'm doing my best. - You keep saying that, though.

Because I honestly feel I am!

I've given my promise to Jessie

that I would definitely help change

in regards to this favouritism with AJ.

Yes, I am stupid.

You come across as a really smart lady.

"Dumb" was the word you used.

Do not stand in my house and call me dumb.

I'm very sorry if that hurt your feelings.

I am here to help you guys.

'But Linda doesn't want to hear this and walks away.'

That's it. You just give up all the time.

Whatever.

I did honestly think when the nanny got here,

she would agree with me that it's all the children's fault,

and I honestly thought we were doing it right.

She started picking on our points

that she thought we should change.

I was really insulted by it.

But, you know, she made some very valid points.

'After a night to think, Linda realises

'that the only way to deal with the favouritism once and for all

'is to talk to her daughter.'

I kind of knew that I was treating AJ differently.

Jessie was upset and I don't blame her.

- About the punishments, about how they are given out.

- Yeah.

Me and AJ both do the same things on the game system,

so why do they get something that's not as bad as us?

I think I'm gonna change AJ over to the consequences

that you older ones are getting. I think that's fair.

- Treating you guys the same, right? - Mm-hm.

Good deal, dude.

Love you.

What did Mom say to you that made it better?

She said she was sorry she said it

and I said I was sorry that I made her feel that way.

I'm gonna try to get much better

with treating AJ the same way.

So you know in your heart

that your mom doesn't love AJ more than you.

Yeah.

Then did I meet my promise?

Yes.

I'm seeing more

that there was definitely different treatments

of different kids.

It just took us up a notch to make sure

we're being aware of everybody and everybody's feelings.

Linda's eyes have been opened.

As long as they stay open,

then she's in for a more happy future.

So you think Dad and Mom

are not going to favour the younger two any more?

I don't think they would.

'With favouritism being a thing of the past,

'there's a new sense of relief in the house.'

If they stick to the things that I've implemented,

I know that their life's going to be better.

These methods are tried and tested.

'There's still fun in this house,

'but now Mom is balancing it out with discipline.'

- Can you say please? - Please.

Mom and Dad are keeping the kids on their toes.

Jessie Marie, you wanna help me fold some towels?

The family as a whole is showing more respect for the house.

I think it has sunk in

that it's her home now with her blended family.

'The kids are finally listening

'and there's no hesitating in asking them for help.'

White socks that are your father's,

make sure they come up.

- I can't tell your socks from his socks.

- White socks. OK.

In the past, I've had Robert step in.

Not any more.

STELLA: Mom and Dad have been following through.

LINDA: Well, it's % better now.

'With Mom and Dad changing their behaviour

'and the children following,

'my time here with the Whipples is up.'

I want to say thank you very much for having me.

I know it's been a stressful week for you, Mom.

So, thanks for hanging in there.

Shh!

The nanny kind of made me understand things differently.

The way I was acting, the way the kids were acting.

She made me look at things from a different angle.

I really have seen a lot of improvements

and that makes me really happy.

Justin, are you ready for Nanny to go home?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Are you gonna be a big boy and sleep in your own bed?

Justin's progress has been huge.

Definitely think that when Mom and Dad looked in on him

and knew he was safe and sound and, you know, sleeping,

I think they were really relieved.

Since Robert and Linda have been able to get

probably the best night's sleep they've had a long time,

they don't look as antagonised and frustrated.

I don't wanna see you, Dougie,

just hibernating down in that den.

And I don't want to see you, Robbie,

provoking your younger brother and sister. All right?

One of the things that makes me smile is Robbie.

He's definitely not bullying the little ones as much.

I think we learned from Nanny Stella

to, like, come more as a family and, like, do stuff together.

And Jessie, I think I'm OK with you.

Jessie really, really appreciates

that you're making me notice things,

so I think it means a lot.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

It was kind of sad to say goodbye to Nanny Stella

because she helped our family a lot.

Thank you very much.

Nanny Stella opened a lot of our eyes.

I think everybody realises that the more they help us,

the more they help each other.

And the more enjoyable it will be to be living in the home.

I'm gonna miss the nanny.

She did good things for my family.

Put away your laundry, please.

There were some things that we were both missing as parents.

Put them in the right drawers.

And I think the two of us, going forward,

- are definitely gonna keep on top of it.

- Mm-hm.

Are you gonna wave bye-bye, Justin?

'It's been a long week with many lessons learned.

'Now that Linda has accepted responsibility for her actions,

'the future for the Whipples looks very promising.'