Did they say the mom was a cashier? I thought they said she worked at a gourmet market. She could be the manager, or maybe even a stocker or someone who unloads the trucks. That would explain the arms.

I've never been to Vegas (but I'm going there next week) - could that development be far outside the main Vegas suburb and be cheaper than we think? It looked like a new development. I'll have to check all the bartenders I see at the casinos to see if I recognize this father.

Washing the windows? I think that kid may be really smart. That's a chore you do once a year or so, right? And it's not like they'll let him climb ladders to do the top floor.

As for the butt wiping, even my sister, who had a song for just such an occasion (Mommy, I made a doody and I'm finished!), was wiping her own butt before she was seven.

Las Vegas has a serious union for people like bartenders, cashiers, and waiters...you'll be hearing a lot more about that union in the next few days as the Nevada caucuses approach. Workers get health insurance, training, and good wages. The upshot is, while it's possible the family is in credit card debt up to their eyeballs, it's also quite possible for two service workers with high school diplomas to make a solid middle-class living in Las Vegas and afford that kind of home for their children.

Word on the xeriscaping. Unless the trees and grass were plastic, that was a horrible waste of water. You don't have to have bare sand, either. I was recently in Tucson, and many yards are lush with blooming native plants that don't need to be watered.

I thought all three of the children were very good-looking, but Mom's tacky, dated hairdo has to GO. Btw, did Dad ping anyone else's gaydar? Maybe he just gets better tips with that look.

I just tuned into the show when they were sitting in the back yard and the 14-year old was complaining about living "in a dump". The mom offered to show her daughter an area of town that really was a dump– Anyway, later, when I saw the house I was thinking "I wonder what that kid thinks a nice house looks like!!" I mean, it wasn't a mansion or anything, but it was a very, very nice house with nice furnishings.

We are very frequent Vegas visitors. Upon seeing Lexie on sites she shouldn't be on, I instantly turned to hubby and said..."In about 5 or 6 years, she's gonna be on a billboard and it ain't gonna be for anything decent." I seriously hope they have turned things around as it looked they had.

This episode was a relief after last week. I really liked the family. They both could easily make enough money to afford the house. I don't think anyone can determine how one can afford a home. My husband makes okay money and I watch 2 kids for way less then what I probably should get paid. We have a very nice house, 2 new cars and many many extras and no credit card debt at all(pay them off in full every month). How do we do it? It's called a budget. I'm not saying they aren't in credit card hell, but who knows. They could've gotten help from family for a downpayment. Anything is possible. When the older daughter said they lived in a dump, she would have gotten a rude of awakening from me. I'd take that house in a second.

I enjoyed this episode. I like ones with older kids. It grates hearing 2 or 3 year olds screaming constantly, especially when the parent is trying to give them a timeout. I've worked with kids for 25 years, so even though I don't have any of my own I do know little ones do that..lol

No, I don't think he's gay -- he's in a business where a certain appearance is noticed. ITA on mom's hairdo. But that really is the least of their worries. I hope that they can work out getting out of the split shift schedule at some point. With the kids in school, what does Dad do between 8 am and 2 pm?

Until Supernanny, he probably needed that time to recouperate from waiting on the kids. "Because it's Sunday, I'll give you more bacon."

Ping! Ping! Ping! I had just finished watching my tivoed Oprah episode about people who came to terms with being gay and left their spouses, so I did have gay on the brain when this dad popped up on tv. Glad to know I wasn't the only one thinking that.

I really think that after the Supernanny cameras leave that ABC should send in the Extreme Makeover crew for the mom. She had a cute side to her in there, somewhere, but the pink frosted eye shadow and the magenta dye job didn't work for me. The rest of her family was quite hip looking (well except the 7 year old boy).

Sorry, but I couldn't tell that Jo succeeded in making that 14 year old decide her house wasn't a dump. She must have some friends with super large homes, which I guess are more affordable out in Vegas. She's obviously comparing her home to something else she's familiar with that is causing her dissatisfaction. Heh, and I thought that as soon as the Supernanny crew left the Habit for Humanity worksite the HFH staffers just filled in that ditch they dug and laughed. It seemed that Jo just thought the girls were spoiled and came up with meanest, hottest, most menial outdoor activity she could think of to teach the girls a lesson.

I bet that 14 year old is still wishing for a bigger house and more Abercrombie tanks and jeans as I type.

They could have been left money from a relative or had a windfall at the casinos to buy the house - there were no clues in that regard.

The older girl did have a young Alicia Silverstone look to her, and the younger daughter is truly a beautiful child. I agree that the next few years will be crucial for them. I loved when the 14 year old was bitching about living in a dump because her parents were working class that the mother turned it around and emphasized the importance of a college education. That was a genius move.

These kids were utter and complete brats but it was nice to see them bratting age-appropriately (except the poopy bottom kid) after last week. I was sort of half-watching and when the girl said she lived in a dump, I started watching the house a lot more closely and realized that their place is a hell of a lot nicer than mine, and we have graduate degrees, not high school diplomas (well, we have those too). I can't imagine how many teeth would have flown out of my mouth if I had spoken to my mother like that.

I liked the younger kids just fine. But I wonder how these kids are going to adapt to the real world, where creepy guys are going to get you where your dad can't protect you, and you'll be grateful to live in an actual, true dump, and where it will be hard to find a good woman to wipe your ass.

As for how much they make, a friend of mine used to be a store manager at Wal-mart (which is probably a lot better paying than the generic "working at a gourmet store") and made, in her worst-paid year, in excess of $125K/year. If mom is a member of a union, or has worked for the store for a long time, even if she's not a manager, she still could pull down $50K. And I have another friend whose husband tends bar because he makes a ton of money - they live in a nice house in a nice part of town here in the Twin Cities. They seemed smart and hard-working, so I imagine they've benefitted financially as a result. I don't know how expensive that house was in Las Vegas, or if they bought it when prices were cheap.

I thought the mom on this epi looked like Peg Bundy's baby sister.

I don't understand these parents who are seriously wiping their kids asses. WTF? I think those parents need some therapy themselves. A 7 year old??? Seriously?

That was my thought. At first, my mind went directly to cashier, but then I realized that what was said was "worked for a high-end market" or something along those lines. Their house was pretty nice- I wanted to smack that kid who said it was a dump!

However, I did like the outcome and thought the kids were overall pretty cute. The 11 year old on MySpace, though, boy, was that scary.



They kept referring to him as "the baby" or "My Baby" on the name tags. So there ya go! He's 7, lady, get over it!

I don't know where the line is, but I've got to think that once baby teeth start falling out, kids should be wiping and bathing themselves.

I'll go with sleep. Most people don't wake up 6 hours before their work shift starts. If he's a bartender who starts at 2, it's not like he gets off work at 7pm and is in bed at 11 or anything.

As for the $, I didn't assume she was a cashier, but even manager (and that'd seem to me a weird shift for a manager, though we don't know when she started if she gets home at 1, I didn't think she was working 8 hours, be odd scheduling) I wouldn't think would be pulling in enough, with a bartender, to afford that house, plus cars, plus three kids who are old enough to have cellphones, specific clothes wants, etc.

My grandfather was a manager at a grocery store (HEB) and didn't make very much. Of course this was in the 1950s, maybe grocery managers make more now, but I doubt it. That was a very nice house, better than mine, and I have a college degree. Jo should have made that girl spend a week in a real dump.

As they showed the mom leaving for work at a "speciality grocery store" I noticed she was wearing the classic Trader Joe's hawaiian t-shirt. They actually pay very well.

http://www.traderjoes.com/

Mom is a cashier and Dad is a bartender? They looked to be living pretty comfortably!!

Here in Las Vegas, a bartender can easilly be pulling down 50-70k, or more depending on which casino / bar he's at. If you add even a modest salary from mom, you are looking at close to six figures. Until a couple of years ago, housing was extremely affordable in Vegas. I bought a brand new house in a nice neighborhood for 135k in 2000. It's gone up a lot since the boom, but if they've been there for a few years, the mortgage isn't a problem.

I can clear up the shallow ditch thing too. Even for xeriscaping in Vegas, you have to have drip irrigation, and those trenches would be right for that. Also, we are subject to flash floods and the county/city codes require that natural drainage leads away from the house. I had lots of shallow trenches in my unlandscaped backyard when I bought this place. They marked them with little flags. You just plant / gravel over them (without actually filling them in) and the water drains away from the house when it rains, as long as that indentation remains.

Back to topic, I could not believe that no one suggested that boy might have a serious case of ADHD. He has serious impulse control problems. I have an ADHD kid, but he would have never, ever, hit me and flip me off. He values his life too much. ( and he's 6 foot 3 now) I agree that the boy needed exercise and discipline, but he rang my bells for more than just plain old brattiness.

That Dad was sweet, but a wuss. If my husband cooked breakfast and anyone started bitching, that plate would be snatched up and handed to one of the dogs so fast it would make a kids head spin.

(Editted for punctuation and unfortunate yptos)

She also had the 60s bump on the top of the head, I wondered if she was actually wearing the plastic cup thingy women would wear under their hair to give it that bump.

Everyone in the family had hair coloring or bleaching. Wonder if going to the salon was a family thing.


Someone above compared mom to peggy bundy's baby sis... perfect comparison. All she needs is the tight leopard skin blouse and black pants.

Dad looked like a metrosexual.

With a dash of Vera from "Alice" thrown in.

Wow, I was seriously uncomfortable with how they were parenting their younger daughter. They said that Alexi had just turned eleven, which quite possibly may mean that she's still in fifth grade, not even in middle school yet. Why would a little girl that age need a cell phone? She shouldn't be unsupervised on the Internet, and she's way too young for a site like MySpace. I will give her a pass on the highlighted hair, since the rest of the family had it too, though I couldn't tell if she was also drowning in makeup like her older sister. Also, I'm not a prude at all, but why does an eleven-year-old girl need to wear a form-fitting bikini? There are lots of normal two-piece bathing suits she could have been wearing. Why would you let your little girl wear something like that knowing it would probably attract all the wrong kinds of attention from older boys and/or men?

Damn dish network's dvr!!!
Missed this one. I would have loved to see a 7 year old that doesn't wipe his own butt. This would be my child.
When ds was 3 and had just finished potty training, he was so proud that he wiped his own ass and promptly got it on his hands, etc etc etc. He didn't tell me he was pooping. From then on out I was paranoid about him getting his ass all the way clean and obliged him up until about the age of 6. For the last year we've been battling and I"ve been leaving him in there to wipe his own damn butt and finally he's not asking anymore. He just started doing it one day.
I was never a believer in saying things like "Well, your friend does x,y,z on his own so you can too" but that seems to be his trigger. There have been several issues we've had where he's realized his friends have no problem and then he wants to do it. Hopefully he won't be smoking pot soon.
So anyhow the butt wiping thing I believe is probably very common. My own sister I can hear hollering "MOOOOMMMM!!! I'm DONE!!!" and I think she was older than 10--now *that* was even more pathetic.

Interesting. Having no kids, I wasn't aware of the stages of potty training: From using the pot to wiping one's own butt.

Oh my, what a relief this family was (I didn't see last week's so I don't know if they were as grateful to Supernanny as this family). When I first saw the five kids I recoiled in horror - they were terrible to each other, but then the lessoning of their extra curricular activities and the parents actually holding them accountable in a calm way really seemed to help!

Things I loved about this episode:

1. The parents wanted to know what *they* were doing wrong and was willing to take criticism.
2. They took responsibility for their actions.
3. The mom was willing to give Jo's suggestions a try even when she wasn't sure (such as cutting the Language Art's tutor)
4. The dad telling Jo jo that she had good teeth.
5. How beautiful all the kids were, and how, when given a normal life, how sweet they were.

I felt good after this episode :).

I liked this episode, too. The parents didn't give Jo attitude and they didn't have crackpot ideas. They just were clueless, but eager to get it right.

While I loved all the ideas Jo implemented and especially liked the cutting back of the insane number of activities, I wasn't buying the quick fix so much. I think Dad is still working just as much and I suspect that the kids will be over-scheduled again before long.

Just when I wondered what happened to the Naughty Stool/Corner/Stair, they've upped the ante. "Reflection" Chair? The "Communication" Couch? Wha'? Now I'm waiting for them to say they're playing Jo's half time review on the "Do I Have To Repeat This Again" DVD Player, in extreme situations she'll pull out the "Beat You Into Submission" Bat and to take her leave in the "Christ, You People Are Crazy" Car.

Getting a little gimmicky there, Supernanny.

I really liked the way Jo showed the parents that the kids were involved with too many extra-curricular things. She had the parents pile up the various items (computer, ballet shoes, musical instrument, etc) on each kid. Wow! What a great visual aid.

Did the mom practice dentistry too? It was a bit odd that she didn't work some mornings/week. Methinks dad worked 6 days/wk so he didn't have to be home.

And to not live in that grand house for 3 yrs??? I hope someone was living in it paying rent!

Does anyone know how common Asian twins are? I was thinking they're fairly rare.

Liked the theme and family in this episode. I live in the Bay Area, and parents around here go whacko with all the extras. This was a great episode to have folks rethink their schedules. But Mom totally gave up on those kids. I couldn't believe that she was driving in those circumstances.

And to have a whole house that you don't move into -- well, I can understand. I have a friend who raised 4 children in a house -- and believe me, they did pretty much destroy the house -- wallpaper torn, floors badly scratched, etc. I hope it goes better for this family.

Me too. It was nice to see an episode where I didn't A) want to kill the kids myself or B) worry about the kids being killed. The family seemed pretty normal and the parents were really behind Jo. I hate it when parents call her and then disagree or rebel against everything she said. It was one of those episodes where the parents say they need help with their kids, but it all comes down to just one kid, the oldest in this case. I'm sure there was a chair for each kid, but I laughed at how his was personalized, as if they knew he would be the only one needing it. I think relieving some stress probably helped the kids a lot and hopefully the family will continue to spend more time together.

I really liked the dad of the family. He was really good at communicating with the kids and his impression of their whining made me laugh. I think Jo was impressed too. I did think the "Reflection Chair" and "Communication Couch" were a bit much, but I suppose older kids need more than just a naughty spot.

I thought the parents did well once they were motivated to make some changes. The number of activities those children were in was ridiculous and Mom's major problem was that she'd had five kids in four years, probably because she married late and wanted to get her family completed before she was too old to have more. But Good God, what do you expect when you have that many children, that close in age, and have them enrolled in so many lessons that they can't do their actual homework for their real school? I did wonder about their backgrounds. Dad seemed to actually be from China, given his accent, and Mom may have been raised in the United States, based on hers. The children were thoroughly Americanized and acted like every other American kid I've ever seen, which probably baffles Dad. His attempt to reason with Christopher and explain how he wants him to become a useful person to society was funny. It seemed like a very Chinese parenting approach. And all Jo wanted him to do was tell the kid, "Here's what you did wrong. Write about it. Then we'll talk." Nine is too young for a discussion about the philosophy of life. But Mom and Dad actually listened to Jo, did what she said, and seemed to love their children and want to enjoy them. They are far, far above the parents who used their teenage daughters as slaves on the last episode I watched.

I thought the dad telling Jo she had pretty teeth was funny, but then I heard mom tell her that he meant she had a pretty smile. Mom was translating a phrase Dad had botched.
Did they ever say what he did? Worked hard was all I got. I'm pretty sure mom is a SAHM, but I'm not sure why I got that impression.
I'm coming to believe that the "naughty" chairs, spots, rooms, etc. are especially tailored for the family. We see the initial implementation, but before it comes into being, Jo talks to the parents first to work out the logistics. Having a "reflection chair" and a "communications couch" seemed to be her way of blending her methods with their desires. That chair had Christopher's name on it (granted, there may have been one for each of them, but his was the only one I saw.) The idea of writing down why you think you're in the chair was probably parent driven. They fully expect their children to be articulate and literate at very young ages. I think it's great that they want their children to be educated, but Mom had unrealistic expectations too. Those children were drowning in "activities" and she thought all of them were important; if not from an education standpoint, then from a societal one.
I'm glad they were able to relax and enjoy the children, but I agree with the poster who said Dad is probably already back to working too much and the activities will begin to creep in again. Maybe the lessons they learned will stick though. They were sure willing enough.
(Oh, and I loved the Dad. His whining was hilarious.)

I liked this family, too. I think 9 is just about the right age to start writing things down. My husband and I did the same thing with our then-9-year-old niece when she and her family visited us one year. We didn't call it a "reflection chair," but we made her go to her room and write an apology for having been disobedient and rude. It really worked; a nine-year-old child is old enough to start putting together cause and effect, likes things to be fair, and can make associations between his/her behavior and how their actions make other people feel.

The mom in this episode looked really beaten down by her children at the beginning. She is so much younger than her husband, I wonder if she had a hard time exerting authority because she tended to look to him as being the authority? So when he's not around, which he mostly wasn't, then there's no one. I think Jo gave her a lot more confidence that she could and should control her kids, and that her word should be law in that car, no exceptions.

I loved the dad's little lecture about growing up to be a good person and contributing to society. Maybe their son doesn't understand all of that right now, but he will. Repetition of that idea will get the point across. It's just lovely to see a parent actually thinking that way; most of the folks on this show don't seem to have a clue about raising their kids to be an asset to society at large; they just want the screaming or whatever bad behavior to stop.

I liked this family too, esp that they were so willing to make changes. I thought they said at the begininng that Mom was a dentist too. I appreciate the sentiment but the "reflection chair" and "conversation couch" made me roll my eyes so much I hurt myself.

I know overscheduling kids activity is a common problem these days, and I wonder if it is especially for immigrants. I have a friend who was raised in Burma (along with her husband) and they basically worked from a young age, weren't exposed to sports and culturla activities at all. So their son is in every activity possible (including tutoring which he totally doesn't need) and they spend all their free time taking him from one to another to "keep him busy." I think some activities are good but within reason. Those poor kids (and Mom!) were sooo exhausted, I felt tired just watching them.

I'm glad the kids settled down esp in the car. That was scary! As much as I normally don't advocate spanking, if I had a 9 year old who spit in his sister's face, I'd be stopping that car, yanking him out of it, and spanking him so hard he wouldn't be able to ever sit down again. I could not believe his mother just told the sister to "ignore it." Sheesh.

I heart Jo Jo so very much. I want to be neighbors with her so she'll come over for tea and give me gentle reminders on how to be a good parent as my son gets older. If I can have Barefoot Contessa living down the block to provide orange scones and chocolate biscuits for our tea, so much the better.

I think parents who didn't get much of a childhood themselves will want more for their children, but the added cultural piece here is that expectations of Chinese-American children are very high in the Bay Area. For example, the Chinese-American kids do even better in school than Caucasian ones.


I see SO many families doing exactly this -- they are literally running their kids around, never getting to eat together at home on a single weekday evening. They have bought into the "if I keep them busy, they won't get pregnant or try drugs" and the soccer coaches are getting rich.

Holy bishiznits, that was an expensive-looking new house (given what hilltop property costs in the Bay Area). Does anyone know what neighborhood it was in?

The mom is a dentist as well, but it appeared that she isn't practicing.

I agree that there were cultural issues at work here, which made it all the more admirable that the parents were so willing to try changes.

ITA. I really liked this family and the kids were adorable (especially the one little boy, Ben?), although their behavior at the beginning was monstrous. Despite the dad being a workaholic, he readily accepted his responsibility for the children's behavior and was open to learning how to improve. I hope these parents continue to follow through on what Jo taught them, but I too am concerned that both of them could backslide. Hopefully, the kids' improved behavior will be the motivation that keeps the parents on track.

It seemed like the oldest son's behavior was the catalyst for provoking bad behavior in his siblings. He was not only a bully toward his younger siblings but also disrespectful, almost arrogant with his parents. I wondered if the parents had been too permissive with him because he is the eldest son and now, at 9 years old, he wants to dominate not only his siblings but his parents too! Jo rightly pointed out the ongoing power struggle between the oldest son and his mother, and while mom has to work on her interaction with him, I think dad needs to make sure that happens. This kid will be a teenager in a few more years and God help them all if the parents haven't dealt effectively with his domineering behavior.

Yup. It's a necessary stage of development for boys of about that age to start spreading their wings and figuring out what they're capable of, and it's the parents' job to provide avenues for excelling in things but at the same time making it clear that they are not king of the roost just yet, thankyouverymuch. I think the parents here, with Jo's help, are making that point to him.

That spit at your sister business and telling the sister to ignore it - I wonder if there were cultural implications there, that the sons are more important than the daughters? And then the out-take at the end, with Daddy's little princess winding Daddy round her little finger, as Jo said? The gender roles and complications between parents and children are always fascinating to watch.

If I were the mother, I would have stopped that car so fast it would have given the children whiplash.
Not sure why the parents who appear on this show never got the memo: Children will always test the limits and your job is to set the limits and let the kids know that there is a price to pay if they go past the limit. What is so hard about that?

GOD, Yes! This wasn't some random kid being annoying at the playground. It was her brother. Spitting on her. How exactly do you ignore getting spat on?

"Ignore it"? Say whaaat?

The spitting freaked me out but the kid's logic for having done so really disturbed me. When he was called on his behavior, he said something to the effect of "Well, I didn't put my hands on her".

Without outside help, Mom and Dad may have ended up with an evil little genius on their hands.

All in all, I really liked the parents. They were doing what they thought best for the kids, realized that things weren't going well and were sincere in wanting help. Good for them.

In this case we would have all forgiven Jo Jo if the camera went dark for 5 minutes. During those 5 minutes Jo Jo would have stopped the car, cut a switch from a nearby tree, and brought order to that SUV.

The epidemic of children to who disrespect their parents came into my house today -- I had two little girls (9 and 10) who live in my complex come by to play on the computer and play a board game. When one of the mom's came by to get her girl because it was homework time, she went, "ah, well, yeah" in a horrible tone. I said something to the effect, "[name], you need to respect your Mom." (This little girl definitely has behaviorall issues) And the other girl said, "If I did that to my Mom, I would have been sent to my room." (!)

This little girl is the youngest. Mom is on her second marriage, the next youngest child is over 10 years older, and I think she gets the princess treatment, and Mom is simply worn out.

I've seen the pattern before... parent starts 2nd set of kids a decade after the first set. Don't have the stamina to go the distance (raise another set).

The youngest girl was so adorable when she was trying to drag that overstuffed bag up the stairs at their new house and also at the end when she had that yellow dress on.
We only saw the oldest boy having to sit in a "reflection chair." Was there no naughty step/chair/stool/beanbag for the rest of the kids?
I loved it when Jo was going through the car drill with them and the mom started to ask the kids if anyone had any suggestions. Jo interrupted her and told her they don't get to give you suggestions! You make the rules and that's that!

I don't understand why families are willing to show all of their toxic behavior on tv. For example the family with two dentists could have afforded their own nanny or family therapist to help them.

Does anyone know families on the show and the reason why they are willing to display their stuff on tv.

Jen

As a child-free person, it's easy for me to sit back and judge all of these parents as incompetent. I DO think many of them are incompetent. My sister has three kids 5,7, and 10 and they are well-behaved, respectful, good kids (but they still do regular kid things that get them in trouble now and again.) I don't think my sister and bro-in-law are some amazing, super-extraordinary parents. I don't think you have to be amazing or extraordinary to raise decent human beings. My sis and bro-in-law are just plain old *good* parents, and that's why their kids are the way they are.

On the other hand, I also understand that parenting is HARD. One afternoon with the above mentioned nieces and nephew wore me out. I don't know how anyone deals with kids 24/7. I'd go right out of my mind, so I sort of see how the parents on this show wind up in that situation. Maybe they were perfectly composed and rational before they got in the family way.

Every time I see this show, I wonder why parents who obviously have zero control over their kids, continue to have MORE children? I mean, what is it? One kid and things are fine. Two kids and things are fine. But once the kids outnumber the parents do they hit some sort of critical mass and turn into devil children? Even if they don't have the foresight, insight, and/or intelligence to realize the kids they've got are out of control, you'd think the Pain In The Ass factor would be enough for them to start using some birth control.

I'd be a horrible parent, that's why I don't have kids. Living with any of those families - pre or post Jo Jo - would be nightmarish for me.

Maybe they are also irresponsible about birth control.

Seriously, I think that they think that if they just have another one, they will start over and make that one turn out ok. Maybe the blame the child for being a brat and think they just got a bad one. Or two, or three, etc.

I missed the beginning of the show with the single dad, what happened to the Mom. He had good intentions, and wasn't a horrible dad - but couldn't the ex-wife use the fact that he called super nanny against him?

Sleepyjean, I want to hug you.

I don't think it's the number of kids that causes all the chaos. I know parents who have a blended family of five and they're totally organized, well behaved kids, loving parents. I think it's the way the house is run that causes the chaos.

God knows I've had those days where I've got a cold, I have no energy and I just don't want to get up and deal with the fact that my 2 year old just hit his six year old sister. It's so much easier to just ignore it and tell yourself you'll deal with it later. Well, you have to deal with it now or it will deal with YOU later.

I missed about the first 10 minutes, and I wondered this too. What did the mother do to not even get joint custody? I take it she wanted them since the father said "the judge gave custody of these kids to me" and Jo mentioned that he fought tooth and nail, basically, to get them.

I don't have kids, and I can relate to his having problems feeding them properly. I would have no idea how to work all day, come home to a couple of misbehaving kids to have to corral and spend time on to raise them properly, and also cook a well-balanced diet every day. Gosh!