07x01 - The Atkinson Family

[bunniefuu]

Tonight on "supernanny"...

Get out of my face.

One of the most emotional episodes ever.

I don't have a relationship with you, and that is painful.

Jo visits a blended family

That's coming apart at the seams. I have your pasta here.

Good. Give it to me, and go away.

Teen daughter amanda treats her parents like garbage...

I said don't touch me.

Why are you on my case? I don't wanna do it! And drives her mom to tears.

She said she wishes I would die.

Can jo break through to amanda... You go to--

I don't wanna do this anymore. Everything's always my fault. No. You know why? No.

"Be home on time." It's frickin' summer.

And get her to follow the rules...

Here is safe. Out there's not.

Or will her anger infect the whole family?

Aah!

♪♪♪♪♪

Well, I'm in glen ellyn, illinois,

Ready to help a big, blended family

Who desperately need my help.

Why don't we all take a look?

Hi, we're the atkinsons. I'm john. And I'm jen.

From my previous marriage, I have two daughters--

Amanda, who's ... Mom, just shut up.

And abbey, who's . I have a daughter from my previous marriage--

Julia, who's . And together we have reese and maeve.

Reese is ... Aah!

And maeve is /. I want my bully!

[Crying] it's extremely challenging having a blended family.

There are a lot of different dynamics going on

In our household at one time.

Wow. This is a big melting pot, right?

I hate you!stop.

Reese is extremely stubborn and willful.

All right. Stay with mommy.okay.

Ah! No. No. I want daddy! Daddy! I want a hug, daddy! Run. Run.

Reese has very bad separation anxiety

From john in particular.

She flips out. Daddy!

She screams so much,

She's actually damaged her vocal cord.

Aah!

For six years, when I was a single parent,

It was me, abbey and amanda.

It was like the three musketeers.

We were extremely close,

But we're losing that connection.

Why do you keep going on about it?

All right. I'm gonna go clean up,

And I'm gonna be quiet. Nobody's gonna talk. Good. Good.

[Jen] it bothers me a lot.

I don't even think they want mom around.

Mom, you're pissing me off. Will you just leave?um...

Amanda is, um... A handful, to say the least.

Mom, what's wrong with you?

[Bleep]

If I step in and try to give her

Any kind of direction or guidance as her mother...

If you do your homework now, you don't have to worry

About it for the rest of the break.

Why are you on my case? I don't wanna do it!

She becomes almost expl*sive.

Everything I want, we can never get.

Here--here's the abc's of grocery shopping, quickly.

No. I don't-- I don't give a [bleep].

Did she just say what I think she said?

Don't touch me. I said don't touch me.stop.

That's a shame. That's a shame. Reese has started

To kind of have the attitude towards me that amanda has.

Get out of my face.

Oh, this has gotta get better.

[Reese screaming and crying] [jen] supernanny,

There are so many issues here that we need to address.

Oh, my god. Shut up. [Jen] we're up to our necks in this.

[Jen] what are you doing? To make this work-- it's probably

The most important thing right now. [Shouts indistinctly]

[Jen] we need some help. Wow. I've certainly got my work cut out for me,

Haven't i, eh?

So hold on, because I am on my way.

I'll see you soon.

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

Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm jen.

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

Hi. A pleasure. Hi, john. Jo. Nice to meet you.

How are you? I'm amanda.

Hi, amanda. Pleased to meet you. This is reese.

I'm reese. Good. Hi, reese. Pleased to meet you. I'm jo. How are you doing? Good.

[Jo] it was actually really nice

To meet this big, blended family,

And what's gonna be interesting is watching

How they all interact with one another

And the relationships that they have with each other.

There's another one here, right, in the family?

There is. Julia. She's at her mom's house right now. Julia. Right. Okay.

But she'll be coming over later today. Yeah.

Fabulous. So I'll get a chance to meet her as well.

[Jen] yeah. Absolutely. [Jo] just before lunchtime, I got a really good feel

Of the relationship between mom and amanda.

[Jen] okay. Just with garlic salt, right?

No. Huh? Okay.

[Jen] it's real tricky with amanda,

'Cause she becomes very "in your face,"

And usually it's directed at me.

[Jo] do you think if amanda was in a shop and she was asking

For a sandwich to be made, she'd talk the same way?

Well, there's not a lot of kindness shown to anybody

When she's with me, but it's more me than anyone else.

[Amanda] you didn't tell any parts of you--

Of how annoying you are

And how you constantly ask me questions,

Want to be in my life all the time.

That's true. I do want to be in your life all the time.

No. Admit how annoying you are.

That is tr--i don't think I'm being annoying.

I think that you don't like to be parented.

You're over-the-top. You're overprotective.

You don't want to be parented, though. God, I'm just trying--

You just need to leave me alone. That's what you need to do.

[Jo] it's a very common situation,

Where moms struggle to communicate and get on well

With their teenage daughters.

[Jen] I see your friends treat their--

You're gonna judge my friends again now?

No. I-i'm saying, your friends are respectful to their parents.

Mom, will you just go away?

I have your pasta here. Good. Give it to me and go away.

[Jen] I probably should've challenged her and said,

"Where is this coming from? This is crazy.

You know, you need to be more respectful."

But I did what I always do, which is keep calm and peaceful,

So I basically looked like a crazy person,

Like, just kowtowing to amanda.

Reese, don't sit in my spot. I'm making a sandwich for the girls.

Reese, get up. No, I'm s--

Amanda. Amanda, there's other places to sit.

John, I'm-- I always sit here.

[John] when amanda does something

That I don't agree with, amanda will talk back,

And i-i try to let it go and avoid the situation,

But it has become confrontational at times. Are you eating?

It's just a very, very uncomfortable situation.

Reese.you know you only sat there to annoy me.

Was my plate there or was it not? Yeah, it was.

[John] she's , and you're .

You don't need to fight over a chair. [Belches]

That's disgusting, amanda. Put--put your stuff in the sink.

That's disgusting. [John] I tend to be the nice guy.

I try to negotiate with everyone first,

And that--that's just my demeanor,

And--and, you know, it just hasn't worked up to this point.

[Jen] I have not felt comfortable disciplining julia,

And john has not felt comfortable

Disciplining my girls,

So it's kind of made everything a bit chaotic in our household.

It was shortly after lunch that dad went to pick up julia,

Who he has joint custody of from a previous marriage.

I'll be back in a little while, okay?

[Jo] and as he went to leave, reese panicked.

Okay? Stay with mama. I'll be right back.

No. No. [Crying] mommy, no! Why? Daddy, don't leave me! Come on. Come on.

I'll be right back, honey. I'll be right back.

I'll be right back. Okay. Okay. Come here.

Can I get a kiss and a hug? [Crying]

I love you.

[Jo] john's a strong man. He could've easily--

Have taken reese's arms away from his neck,

But he chose not to.okay.

I wanna--i wanna-- I wanna... Talk to her.

I wanna a kiss and a hug! Okay. You had a kiss and a hug.

Daddy! Aah!

Daddy!

Okay. Oh. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Daddy! [Crying] it's not gonna be nighttime. It's not gonna be nighttime.

Aah! Daddy! Daddy! [Jen] john had just left,

And reese did something that I've never seen her do before. Get back here right now.

She took off running down the driveway.

I mean, just running.

Coming up on...

Can jo and mom reel reese in...

[Jen] I'm not chasing you. That's crazy.

And why did amanda break her mom's heart?

She said she wishes I would die.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪♪♪♪♪

[Jen] hey, reese. It's not a game.

Get back here right now.

[Jo] reese ran down the driveway,

Because she was so upset that her dad had left.

If your kid can get as far as going out of the driveway

And turning around the corner,

You have not dealt with the situation quick enough.

Daddy!

[Crying]

And she's going off.

[Crying] I'm not chasing you.

That's crazy.

Now we're going in. No more outside for us.

Daddy! Daddy! [Crying]

Finally. She went at least four times down that driveway,

And in the meantime, there was the possibility

Of her being endangered by the passing cars.

[Crying] daddy!

[Jo] little reese didn't calm down

Until dad came back with julia. [John] hi, girls.

Hi. I'm jo. Nice to meet you. Hey.

How are you? Good. How are you?

Very well. Thank you. I was watching julia play basketball

When I heard arguing going on inside.

No. Okay. Whatever. [Speaks indistinctly]

Don't start drama with me. Just get away.

And when I got inside, I saw mom in a terrible state

Over something amanda had just said.

Okay. What's going on? What's--what's she doing?

I told her, "put the chips away

'Cause I'm about to start making dinner."Yeah.

And she said she wishes I would die.

I try to get close to her every single day,

But it turns into, like, ugliness--

Every exchange that we have. What do you think she's so mad about?

I w--i--if I knew, I would fix it immediately.

If I knew, I would fix it immediately.

[Jo] it's incredibly hurtful for a mother

To hear her own daughter say what she did,

But to really understand that anger,

I need to know where it's coming from.

[Jo] what can I do to help you girls?

Pretty much... I'm never happy in the house,

And I think I affect everybody's moods.

Tell me what you're s-- I don't know how to change.

Well, the question is, doyou want to change?

Yeah. I want to actually sit down

And, like, be able to talk to my mom without being annoyed.

Has she ever taken the time to go, "all right, girls,

Let's sit down and have a chat"? Mm-hmm. She has.

But we always, like, tell her to go away,

And, like, we're never-- I guess--i don't know--i--

'Cause we don't know how to change.

We don't know how to change what's been going on.

I want a relationship with my family.

[Jo] amanda's very angry,

But underneath, she's very hurt.

She's cut herself off from the rest of the family,

And it's got to a place where it needs fixing.

What I'm gonna say to you is good night now.

It's been a very long, interesting day.

There's certainly a lot of anger

With regards to amanda's behavior.

Jen is completely frustrated.

John needs to be more assertive,

And reese certainly needs her anxiety to be dealt with.

I'll see you tomorrow for a family meeting. [Jen] absolutely.

[John] sounds good. Okay. Have a good evening.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

Exactly how hard is she gonna come down on john and i?

I have no idea.

Thank you. All right. Bye-bye.

Bye. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow. Tomorrow's a big day.

♪♪♪♪♪

[Jen] it's the morning of our meeting with jo,

And I'm pretty much jumping out of my skin

With nervousness, anticipation, anxiety.

Let's talk about your blended family.

The two of you choose

To raise your children separately.

The fact that

You only discipline your child a certain way

And your children from previous marriages

Doesn't show all the kids that there is this unity

With regards to two parents coming together

And being on the same page.

I agree. I think it worked in the beginning,

Um, for maybe the first year or two,

But then as the kids started getting older,

Especially the older ones,

I think things changed a little bit.

Which brings me on to the next point,

Which is really all about rules.

None of you really felt like you had permission to lay down rules

For children that come from previous relationships. We tried to put ground rules,

And--and when we tried to enforce 'em, they laughed.

I think it's probably 'cause you tried... Yeah.

And, you see, you didn't follow through.

Yep. So if you mean something,

You've got to follow through on it,

Otherwise you'll never be taken seriously. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Let's talk about separation anxiety.

There's this whole shenanigans around when you leave.

Reese clings onto your neck, and, oh, john, you're so strong

That you can't even take her hands off your neck. [Laughs]

It's like, mm, I think there's a little piece of you

That kinda liked this. Yeah.

And then you're at a loss. I mean, you know, she shouldn't

Be running down the driveway and down the street.

That could've been handled with a proper time out. Right.

What I really would love to concentrate on here

Is your relationship with amanda and abbey. Yeah.

You and amanda and abbey went through transition.

Things changed to a place

Where these girls didn't really know what to do

Or where their place was or how they fit in

Or what would happen.

There's so much that needs to be clarified

With the three of you again.

That's a very emotional subject for me.

Very emotional.

I think they feel it, too.

We're gonna work on mediating through

Situations that have affected all three of you

To get you to a better place.

I'm... Glad.

I'm very, very excited to work with you guys as a family,

Because there is so much that does need to be done,

But so much that we can be very optimistic about.

All right? So let's make it happen, yeah? Let's do it.

Good. Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. Yeah.

Let'sdo.okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you.

Coming up on...

All cell phones will be taken away. [Abbey] oh, my god.

Jo silences the cell phones...

I was so mad. I was infuriated.

And... [Screaming and crying]

...a hug. It's not a big deal.

[John] I gave you a kiss and a hug.

Can jo put an end to reese's epic hysterics?

When "supernanny" returns.

♪♪♪♪♪

[Jo] the atkinson family have a lot of issues

To work through.

I wanted no distractions.

Where you see a black sheet,

It means, "not touchable."

Okay. You can't touch, can't use. It's no-go.

She went right to the television,

And I was like, oh, no.

That's your television. And then she went to the computer.

Oh, my god. Oh, god. No. Oh, no.

[Jen] oh, lordy. [Jo] finally, I had one last touch to add--

The icing on the cake.

[Jo] you've got three minutes

To let people know

That all cell phones will be taken away... [Abbey] oh, my god.

And they will be given back at : every evening.

Why? Because I need all of your attention.

[Jo] my word, anybody would've thought

That there was a hurricane coming.

Like, they grabbed their phones, and they all darted off

In different directions until the several minutes were up,

And in the phones went to the pot.

And it will be like that

For the whole duration that I'm here.

I was really surprised when she did that

And kind of angry.

[Jo] amanda was not happy with what I did,

And if looks could k*ll, I don't think I'd be here.

[Amanda] I thought it was ridiculous.

I was so mad.

I was infuriated.

[Jo] with the technology put to the side,

It means we can really focus on what's important.

They're a big, blended family,

And all these children need to feel

That they're being treated equally and fairly.

We have clearly established

One set of rules for kids that come from previous

And another set of rules-- it's not working.

What this is going to have on it are rules

That apply for all of the kids.

So let's knock that out.

How about, um, either, like, "be kind with your words"

Or "use appropriate language." That's fine.

[John] jo sat jen and I down at the table and had us

Write out house rules.

This is something that we've tried in the past.

There are things that we knew we wanted to hit on right away.

We did it fairly quickly. "Be home on time."

Yeah. After mom and dad had finished with the board,

I had them explain it to the kids.

So rule number one is the use of appropriate language

In the house, okay? So a-- that means no swearing.

Yeah. That--that's not even just swearing.

That's just talking-- speaking kindly to each other.

I thought the house rules were a joke.

I'm not a baby. :. Are you kidding me?

[Amanda] my mom has tried that a million times,

And nothing ever pulls through.

The next one is, "be home on time."

So, abbey, amanda, when you guys have to be home

At :, uh, it's :. It's not :, :. I think : is good.

Well, I disagree.

[Jen] well, what-- tell me--you talk to me

About what time you think is appropriate--

How about you tell me why : is appropriate to you.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

In the summertime, it's gonna have to be later,

Because :'s, like, really early. Not for a -year-old.

[Abbey] :'s, like, for, like, a -year-old.

Yeah, :'s for, like, -year-olds.

No, it's not. All right.

I'm gonna compromise, and I'm gonna say :. It's frickin' summer.

These teens were out of control. They needed to be put in check,

And I didn't see mom and dad doing a good job,

So I told julia to take the younger kids away,

So that I could have a good, firm talking-to 'em.

There are people that are out there that do dr*gs,

And they'd like you to do that with them.

There are guys out there that, trust me,

Would like their way with you after a few cans of lager.

There are guys out there that would like to put you

In the back of their car and not bring you back home here.

Here is safe. Out there's not.

Nobody's ever been that brutally honest with me.

I was like, okay,

Maybe I should understand

Why my mom's so scared.

When you're ready, bring everybody back,

And let's carry on with the rest. When these rules are broken,

Your mom and I will talk about what the consequences are,

But the consequences for any one of these being broken

Is gonna be the same across all groups.

[Jen] I feel really good about the fact that I've got rules

That I can fall back on.

There's no gray issues in our house anymore. [Jen] I like it.

Okay. I like it.

[Jo] my next task for this family was

To get them straight on separation anxiety,

Because it's been wearing down the whole family. Don't hug her or pacify her,

Because you're giving her mixed messages.

You're validating that she has a reason... Okay.

And she feeds off that. [Jen] we coddled reese.

We fed into the drama

And felt sad for her and guilty.

We were making it actually worse than it should've been.

Then, jen, if she runs down the drive,

You'll give her a warning about not going past there

And that if she then continues, she will go into time out.

[Mouths word] reese needs to realize

That every time her dad steps outside the house,

It's not an excuse to play up or be unsafe.

[John] I'm gonna go to the post office real quick.

Daddy.daddy will be right back. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[Whimpers] daddy will be right back. Everything will be okay.

[Crying]mommy's gonna play with you.

No. What truck are you taking?

Okay. I'm gonna take the car. I'll be right back.

Come on, reese. We have lots of nice things...no. No.

To play with, reese. Come on, reese.

[Crying] no, daddy! Wait. No, no.

I'll be right back, okay? You don't need a kiss and a hug. It's not a big deal.

[John] I gave you a kiss and a hug.

Daddy's gonna be right back. It's not a big deal.

It's nothing to be crazy about.

[Jo] stop--stop her. Just keep her out of harm's way. Daddy! No! Daddy! Daddy!

Bring her back over here and have her sit on the ground.

Let me talk to you now. Okay. Do not cross this line.

[Crying] I want daddy! I want daddy!

If you cross this line,

You are going in time out.

Reese stood by the black line crying...

[Screaming and crying]

But then she looked over at mom, and she crossed over.

Take her hand. Put her straight into time out.

[Crying] no! [Screams]

[Jen] I told you not to cross that line.

You earned time out for four minutes.

Daddy! Daddy!

Set the timer.

But reese was not going into that time out

Without a fight, by any means. [Crying] daddy! No!

Come on, maeve. Let's play.daddy!

Straight up.

She's clinging to this chair with death grip--

I mean, feet, hands. [Screaming]

I put her right on that step. It just went on forever.

She needs to realize that you're in charge.

She has to do as she told and do that time out.

I got it. I'm keeping going. I'm keeping going.

[Jo] you do what you need to do, but at least keep going.

Hi, reesey. [Jo] and when john came back as promised,

Reese was still in time out.

[Jo] all right, dad. Can you place her in time out? Come here.

[Jen] I think jo realized how exhausted I was getting,

And she had john jump in and give me a hand.

[Crying]

[Speaks indistinctly]

Finally, reese stayed put.

I wanna go inside. [Cries]

Mommy told you not to cross that line,

And you crossed the line.

Say sorry to mommy for not listening.

Give mommy a hug and a kiss.

You know, I was just so glad that it was over at that point.

I was so tired and hot and exhausted.

[Jo] what I'm hoping is that reese understands

That dad does come back every time he leaves,

And that when she decides to misbehave,

Oh, yeah, there will be a time out,

So we start to see a different reese.

Coming up on...

Amanda refuses to reconnect with mom.

I love you, amanda.

Can jo break through to amanda?

If you quit, you quit on everything.

You quit on yourself.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪♪♪♪♪

[Jo] with reese making progress

And julia now at her mom's house,

It gave me a nice opportunity

To work with mom and her teenage daughters.

All right, jen and amanda, come with me, guys. Okay.

[Jo] there's an enormous amount of strain

In the relationship between jen and amanda.

A lot of stuff's not being said. A lot of stuff needs to be said,

Because it's been sitting far too deep for far too long.

So I decided to bring these girls to a park.

I do know that a lot of the anger

And frustration is coming from a place

Where you really feel that you've not been heard,

And that's what we're gonna work on today.

Come either side of me.

In between them both was a bag

Full of balloons full of water.

Get off your chest

Exactly what has been sitting here for years.

You're gonna pick what's out of this bag

And you're gonna throw it.

You got it? Yep.

All right. Let's go. You're first, amanda.

I thought that throwing water balloons

And talking to my mom wasn't gonna get all my anger out

That I had for my mom.

You never really pay that much attention to me

Around the girls,

And we never go anywhere that I want to go

Or do anything that I want to do

Because the girls have to be occupied, and it sucks.

I'm really, really tired

Of you swearing at me.

I feel like you've never let me go places that I want to go,

Because you're scared

And you don't trust me.

I don't trust you

Because there have been times

That you have not told me the truth,

And ican'ttrust you.

And I don't have a relationship with you,

And that ispainful.

And every time you tell me that you wish I'd die,

Itkillsme.

I'm trying to communicate with you,

And you don't want to communicate with me.

So I isolate myself from you.

And I have it up to here. I-it's hard to be your mom. Me.

I don't want to do this anymore.

I thought to myself, it's over. It's not gonna work.

[Jo] and at that stage,

I knew I had to talk her around

To coming back to face what she needed to deal with.

You go to-- I don't want to do this anymore.

No. You know why? [Voice breaks] everything's always my fault.

[Jo] no. Come here.

If you want to be treated like you're not a baby,

Then you can't do what babies do and walk.

You've got to step up as a young woman

And take the heat.

If you quit, you quit on everything.

You quit on yourself.

You said to me you want change, right?

Do not quit on yourself.

Do not quit on your family.

Do the right thing.

I stayed and I went back to my mom,

Because I felt that it was important,

And jo's words sink into your head.

[Jen] when amanda came back over,

That gave me a lot of hope--

That she's saying, you know, I'm willing to work through it

With my mom.

Like, I want the relationship.

And that meant the world to me.

I love you more than anything in the world.

I want to get along.

Please tell me where the anger's coming from.

Where? What did I do?

I don't know.

I don't.

Follow me, the pair of you.

[Amanda] we used to have a really strong relationship,

And then change happened,

And everything was different.

[Jo] okay. This is "work it out."

[Jen] this time, it wasn't talking in anger.

It was trying to have a real conversation,

Which amanda and I had not had for a very long time.

I think it's gotten past the point where I even know

Why I don't like you so much.

When we're together in family situations,

It's always reese and maeve first.

I don't know. Let's just all go out to lunch,

Just me, abbey and you, you know.

It's never that. It's always for reese and maeve.

If you knew how much I would love to do that,

I would do that today, tomorrow.

Sounds good.

I love you, amanda.

I love you, too.

Why did you really do that?

'Cause I don't like to be touched.

But she didn't get up and hug you.

She just reached out for a hand.

And in order for you to receive

What you are wanting,

You're gonna need to l--just let down that wall, just slowly.

[Jo] there were great efforts between mom and amanda

With repairing their relationship,

But, uh, a lot of emotions have been bruised.

When I come back, there's gonna be more work to do.

Before I left for three days,

It was important for me to round all the family up

To say good-bye.

There was john and his daughter julia,

And jen and abbey and amanda from her previous marriage

And little reese and maeve from their marriage now.

This is the part where I go away for several days,

Because you have to learn to be able to do this

Without me around. Without jo there, we're gonna have to try this out

All on our own.

I want to keep the positive stuff going

With amanda and abbey while she's gone.

Okay. I will see you soon. Keep it together as a family.

Sounds good. We will.

I'm nervous because I don't want things to get bad again.

[Jo] the atkinson family are doing fair right now,

But, uh, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly anxious

About how things are gonna pan out

When I'm gone for three days. We'll have to see.

Coming up on...

We've got some time today to just hang out,

The three of us. Will the teens give the next chapter a chance?

And when jo returns, dad gets...

Busted.

When "supernanny" returns.

And now...

My teenager wants an after-school job,

But how do I know if they're ready to handle one?

"A," if their grades are good and they're responsible

And self-sufficient, they're ready...

"B," when they come and tell you they want a job,

They're definitely ready for one...

"C," if you think it will improve

Their questionable grades or social life,

Then it's worth a try.

Find out the answer when we return.

And now...

My teenager wants an after-school job,

But how do I know if they're ready to handle one?

"A," if their grades are good and they're responsible

And self-sufficient, they're ready...

"B," when they come and tell you they want a job,

They're definitely ready for one...

"C," if you think it will improve

Their questionable grades or social life,

Then it's worth a try.

The answer is "a."

If your teen has solid grades

And is showing signs of responsibility,

Then it's a good time to talk to them about what a job entails

And what they expect from employment--

Besides the money, of course-- and to consider their request.

[Jo] I've been gone for three days,

And, yes, I'm interested to see

Exactly how this blended family have done whilst I've been gone,

Especially to see how jen has got on with her teenage girls.

[Jen] I know that jo is gonna call us out

On the things that we haven't done right.

[John] I think she's probably gonna see some things

That might be pointed out as still needing some work.hello.

Hi. Hi, jo.

Hello. All right. Who's ready to take a look?

Ready. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah? All right. [Jen] we've got some time today to just hang out,

The three of us, so I was thinking maybe we can go

And get some coffee

And just hang out and chitchat.

Did you noticed we passed by the martial arts place

That you guys used to go to? [Abbey] yeah.

Do you remember that I used to put a bow in your hair

Every time that you went? No. [Laughs]

[Laughs] yeah. [Laughs] I can't get the image out of my mind

Of abbey sitting in that go-cart...

[Laughs] just waiting for somebody to come help her...

Everyone's, like, zooming by her...

And everybody's zooming by. And she's just, like, sitting there, like... [Laughs]

You guys, I think this was, like, an awesome day.

I loved this day. It was fun to do with you guys. It was? It was fun, mom.

Yeah. I liked it a lot.yeah.

We'll make more time tomorrow, little by little.

Let's go. Three musketeers. Here we go.

Enjoy?i just can't tell you how much I loved that time,

Even that small period of time.

That's wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

And did you feel it from the girls as well?

Ohh. It felt positive all around.

I mean, it was like we were back six years ago--

The conversations we used to have,

Everybody laughing and talking and giggling.

And the point is, it doesn't matter what you do.

It's just spending time.

Mm-hmm. You know, that's what's important.

That was very lovely to see. [Taps button]

I gotta take a ride.

You're gonna stay here. I'm gonna be right back, honey. [Jen] say bye.

[Maeve] bye! [Reese] bye, daddy!

See ya later.

[Jen] look at reese! What a good girl she is. [John] good girl, reese.

Oh, my goodness. [Grunts]

I was just gonna sit down and have a talk with reese... Hey, girls.

About how absolutely amazing she's--she's being.

Gimme five. Good job.

Good job? Good job, honey.

Well done, the pair of you. Yeah, it went really well.

Why do you think it worked? We knew that we didn't need to feed into the drama.

It needed to just be a very easy departure,

Have her occupied with something else.

It was great. It was amazing.

Yeah, absolutely fantastic, when you think

About how it was in the beginning.

Yeah, it was. All right. Let's move on to these warnings.

I don't want you sitting on the counter. Ow! Ow, my--ow.

I don't want you sitting on the counter. Go inside.

All right. Straightaway, what was wrong with that?

When you give a warning, what do you do?

And you didn't do it there. I'm standing way above her.

Yeah. And what else? She's facing the other way,

And I'm talking to the back of her, instead of--correct.

I should be face-to-face with her,

And she should be looking at me. Yep.correct.

I'm gonna tell you something. Here's your warning. [Whines]

Here's your warning. If you go up there again--

I told you no counter. If you go up there again...no. No!

If you go up there again, you're gonna go in time out.

[Maeve speaks indistinctly]

Reese, it's too windy. We're not gonna open it.

Close it, reese. [Reese] no.

Reesey, close it.

If you open it again, you're going in time out.

Open it again, and you're going in time out.

Did you understand me? Yes!

Mm.

Busted. That's not good. That's not good.

No. No. It's not good.

Youknowwhat you're supposed to be doing.

You're making choices not to do what's right.

I do. Admittedly, I know I'm not good at this,

So for me, it's-- this is a new thing,

And i-i'm having a hard-- real hard time grasping it.

Mm. But you are labeling--you are putting a label on yourself. I am. Mm-hmm.

You're giving yourself an excuse. I know.

Discipline... John... Kids. And you've gone, "oh,

I'm no good at that," and you've ticked it off, you know... Mm-hmm.

Instead of looking at it as, "okay, this is something I need

"To learn, and I will learn this because it's necessary,

And the children are going to benefit from this as well."

We're not out of the woods yet.

There are a few things that I need to make sure

You've got underneath your belt before I leave. Okay.

Okay. So, let's knuckle down and just get on with some more work.

Yep. Let's do it. Okay. Sounds good.

Let's do. [John and jen] thank you.

Coming up on...

[Crying] daddy! Dad has one last chance to step up...

You're gonna stand here for two minutes, okay?

[Crying] pick me up! Pick me up!

And emotions run high

When the teens finally open up to mom.

[Abbey] "I felt quiet and unheard..."

[Voice breaks] "'cause I missed the old times."

When "supernanny" returns.

♪♪♪♪♪

[Jo] I've learnt from the dvd that dad thinks

That he does a bad job when it comes to discipline,

So he doesn't bother at all.

I'm gonna need to change that.

So, john, is there a particular name

That you give somebody who's--who's learning to drive?

Student driver. Yeah. Right. So what does, normally, a student driver need

When they're learning? Time to practice.

So that's what we're gonna give you. Okay.

We're gonna give you time to practice with all of the kids.

I gave dad a little exercise to take his girls out for a walk,

So that he could step up and give these girls time out

If they misbehave.

I also gave him a little t-shirt,

Just to remind him that he is a beginner, and it's okay.

But I tell you what, if he doesn't shift

Out of neutral, things won't change.

You guys ready to go for a walk? Okay.

As soon as we got out of the driveway,

Maeve started to cry. [Crying] pick me up.

Come on. Come on.

Maeve, you have to walk.

Maeve, you have to walk. You have to walk. [Screams]

Maeve, you have to stop crying. If you don't stop--

Maeve, look at me. If--maeve, if you don't stop crying,

You're gonna be in time out when you get home. Come on. [Screaming and crying]

[Jo] maeve didn't calm down, and so when we got home,

I was keen to see if dad was gonna follow through.

[Crying]you were being bad. You didn't listen to daddy,

And you're gonna stand here for two minutes, okay?

Pick me up! Pick me up, daddy!

[Jo] sure enough, dad followed through.

He did a really great job,

And I believe this man is now realizing,

Yeah, I can do it.

Are you sorry? [Crying] yeah.

Next time daddy tells you to walk, are you gonna walk?

Give me a hug.

Discipline is good, and setting those boundaries

Is very important for structure in our house.

I'm gonna practice being more assertive,

Not giving 'em two and three and four and five chances.

I'm definitely gonna work on that in the future.

[Jo] mom has made tremendous progress

With her teenage daughters,

But there is a lot of pain, hurt, anger,

And unless we really get to the bottom of this,

It really won't get any better.

This book is going to take you on a journey.

I wanted to give these girls the opportunity

To write down on paper

What they were feeling inside.

I mean, they've never been given the opportunity to be heard.

"When we were together, and it was just us three,

"I felt like everything was at peace.

"Once you found john, I felt that I turned invisible

"And was no longer there.

"My mom now had john,

"And she was happier.

"I felt not as strong,

"And something in my heart was different,

And that was never resolved."

I wrote that I was jealous and unsure,

Because I didn't know what was gonna happen next.

"I felt unequal,

"Because maybe the little ones needed more attention

"Than I did,

"And I felt quiet

And unheard..."

[Voice breaks] "'cause I missed the old times."

Why didn't you ask us

I-if it was okay if you married john?

[Jen] I just took it for granted that you guys would be

As happy as I was when I married him,

And I didn't necessarily feel

Like I need to ask your permission,

But I do think that I should've...

Yeah.

I guess I should've done it better than I did.

[Voice breaks] I'm sorry.

My mom has so many emotions

That I never even paid attention to

And I didn't care about.

[Sniffling]

After everybody's emotions had simmered down a little bit,

I wanted to draw back the focus on the future.

All right. Let's have a good old chat

And talk about our next chapter.

Where are we going? What are we doing, girls?

Well, I think we should have more conversations. Mm-hmm.

I want you to trust us more

And know

That we're not gonna do...

Wrong things.

Yeah, I'll try to do that.

[Jen] this "old chapter, new chapter" exercise

With amanda and abbey

Is something that I will never, in my entire lifetime, forget.

How about you try gymnastics?

Like, go to a park and try

To, like, cartwheel around and stuff? Really?

[Abbey] she might break her neck.

I'll try it.

[Jen] it's impossible to put into words.

What it did was, it started to give me my daughters back,

And that's the greatest gift ever.

[Amanda] I see people walking down the streets

With their family,

And they have such great relationships,

And if I could just do that with my mom, that would be awesome.

This is actually where things are gonna change.

[Jo] this family really have made

A concerted effort to come together,

So I got julia back to do one last project.

I wanted to reassure 'em again

That they are one big, blended family

Making progress.

I really want you

To design your own family crest.

I had each family member think

Of different things that represented their family

And then draw.

We're gonna symbolize, through your crest,

Your family's strength.

[Laughs]

It was fun looking at my girls

And seeing what they came up with.

A butterfly, you know-- change.

A heart for love. Apeacesign.

Our family hasn't had many peaceful days

In the past, you know, five years.

[Jo] okay. How are we doing? I think we're good.

And once this family had all come together

And decided on these family designs,

It was amanda who was designated to put it on the family shield. [Jen] yeah, I like that.

I wanna paint. You wanna paint?

Yeah. Okay.

Girls times five. Good job. Good job, julia. That looks cool.

We were all, like, talking and having a good time,

And I really liked that. So we'll do blue, and then we'll use that blue.

We got to all spend time together,

And maeve and reese had a good time, too. Yeah, we laughed.

[John laughs] [jen] we'll wash it off later.

It was just a warm feeling at that moment--

That everyone was working together to accomplish a task,

And it was really neat to see. This actually looks pretty cool.

[John] you're doing a good job, amanda. I think it's real good.

Our family is beginning to get really fun,

And I feel like everything is gonna get better.

[Jen] go ahead, guys. Start gluing stars.

[Reese] ...the one with the dot on it.

[Jo] I really love it. Are you guys pleased with it?

Yeah. [Jen] oh, yeah.

[John] I am, very much, yeah.

[Jen] I just was able to look at them and see

That everybody got something positive out of this experience,

And it was all put together in one big atkinson family crest,

Which is beautiful.

[John] looks nice. [Jen] good job, everybody.

Doesn't it? It looks really good. Yeah.

Yep. Perfect place.

Come here. Let me give you all a hug and a kiss.

How do you say good-bye to somebody like jo?

Our family is together.

It's not, "his kids, her kids."

It's, "we're a family. Period."

Bye, john. [Kisses] take care. Thank you. You, too.

Jo, thank you for helping out my family

And showing us what it meant to be a family again.amanda.

[Amanda] I love jo.

She's done so much to change our family

That I didn't think anyone could do.

Julia. [Kisses] [reese and maeve] bye-bye, jo jo.

Take care of yourself as a family. Bye-bye.

[Jo] when I first arrived at the atkinson family,

They had fallen apart at the seams,

But they've made the effort

In pulling themselves back together.

They now celebrate their blended family,

And they do have a brighter future.