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The Newsome Family

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Episode summary[]

Jo heads off to Tallahassee, Florida to help out single mom Blythe Newsome (38) who has six children: 13-year-old daughter Loughlin, 12-year-old daughter Aidan, 9-year-old son Daly, 8-year-old daughter Moira, 5-year-old daughter Elspeth and 3-year-old son Finn.

Newsomes' Old House

The suburban house that the Newsomes previously lived in before the parents got divorced. It had many amenities and adequate space for the family with six kids. Blythe's only hope was to reclaim this house, despite the foreclosure.

Blythe was married to Roger for nearly 13 years and lived in a huge suburban house with plenty of space for all the warmth and the amenities it had: the kids had their own bedrooms, there was even a master bedroom, and a playroom for her kids' entertainment, and it was four houses away from her own parents' house when they lived close. Later, Blythe's marriage fell apart, which made her take full custody of the kids and file for divorce while Roger got visitation rights. Due to financial reasons, the house was foreclosed, but she emotionally insists on retrieving it for that house was her life, plus the kids also felt the same way she did. Jo comments that it's time for Blythe to grow up let go of the past move forward to the life she has now, and accept that she can't reclaim her former house.

Now, Blythe lives a tiny and cramped house and has lost control of her kids. She is also grieving from the loss of her family's nanny and close family friend, Nana to breast cancer. Blythe doesn't even have her own bedroom and sleeps on the couch in the living room (which she uses as a substitute for a master bedroom) and is suffering from insomnia with only four hours of rest. The kids now share bedrooms in three pairs due to the house being tiny: Loughlin and Addison (the older girls' room), Daly and Finn (the boys' room), and Moira and Elspeth (the younger girls' room). The cramped space and everything else has taken out all the fun and joy for the family, making their present home a cold and unpleasant experience for Blythe.

Since the divorce, the kids have become disrespectful and have started back-talking. Blythe ends up giving in to her kids out of guilt for not being able to give them the life that they used to have. Blythe herself too is disrespectful just as much as her kids are to her, since she allows her nostalgic mind to control her life and wants to regain her old house despite the foreclosure and wants Nana back in her life, despite that none of them are possible because she wants them to happen.

Can Jo help this family?

Transcript[]

Newsome Family transcript

Recap[]

Observation[]

During Jo's observation with the family, she notices that the kids do whatever they want. At one point, Daly locks himself in the upstairs closet and Blythe has to take the doorknob off with a screwdriver to get him out.

The kids lives have changed after the loss of their nanny, Nana, who recently died of cancer. It is shown that Blythe is having a hard time moving on from her past.

Even though Finn is three years old, he still drinks from a bottle and refuses to give it up. When Jo looks under the couch cushions, she finds junk food and crumbs. Blythe does all the housework and none of the kids have chores.

Jo talks with Blythe and the kids about the transition from the old house and being in the new one. Then Jo and Blythe have an adult conversation about the hardest times Blythe had which was death, divorce and moving homes in the past 18 months and how Jo assures Blythe she will help her get on the right track.

During dinner, Blythe is ordered around by her kids as they criticize the quality of the food they're eating in a rude manner. While Blythe seats the kids like a hostess, Elspeth wants to sit at the end of the table which Moira wanted to sit. Elspeth isn’t giving up without a fight. She pulls Moira's arm to yank her off the chair. Blythe intervenes to break Elspeth's grasp on Moira. She tells Elspeth she can on the side of the table. When Blythe turns away, Elspeth pulls Moira’s hair. Blythe breaks it up once again suggests Elspeth can sit at the other seats. Elspeth isn’t having it still rejects and she throws a fit. Blythe gives in and Moira had to move much to Jo’s dismay. What appalls Jo more is that all the kids have lack of table manners as they eat with their hands or not use silverware properly, demanding things, and screaming. Jo claims has seen people speak to waitresses better than what these kids treat their mom.

Bythe feels overwhelmed and exhausted and knows that what Jo has to say will be very hard to hear.

Parent Meeting[]

During the parent meeting, Blythe tells Jo, "I can’t do it all! I can’t follow through." Jo feels that Blythe doesn't have pride in herself or her home. Jo is disgusted with Blythe for allowing her youngest son Finn who is three years old to still drink from baby bottles like a three-week-old baby, and that any toddler should be capable of ditching the bottle and drink from a cup like a growing kid would. She then confronts Blythe for wanting to retrieve her old but larger house that had already been foreclosed, and that she already has enough memories of it that it's time for her to let go of the house she and her ex-husband sold over a year ago and be happy with the home she's in until she can eventually afford a bigger house later in her life. Jo then criticizes Blythe for using the couch in her living room as a substitute for a bed, which Blythe admitted before that it's impacting her sleep cycle. Jo also points out that Blythe's home is a pig-pen and that the kids litter food everywhere, including the living room, and when the mom gets asked about cleaning, she claims they are having trouble finding the vacuum, but Jo believes neither the mom nor the kids are being serious about cleaning the house. Not long after, the two women start getting into a verbal altercation.

Then, Blythe is unable to handle it anymore and leaves the house in tears. Jo then follows her outside the house as a result. It's raining outside and Blythe continued to get emotional as the altercation ensues. Jo points out that Blythe herself is not responsible for her ex-husband getting laid off and for Nana dying from cancer. Jo is able to convince her to come back inside and to finish the meeting. So Blythe calms down and agrees to accept Jo's commitment to move forward and go through the teaching.

Jo Begins Teaching[]

Supernanny-newsome-family

Supernanny teaches the Newsome Family

Jo makes Blythe drive to her old house where Blythe relives memories and says farewell to the house. After that, Blythe joins Daly to talk about how their family is going to help each other out. Daly gives Blythe a stone that represents strength.

When Blythe gets rid of Finn's bottles and throws them in the trash, he throws a fit. Blythe says that she can't stand her son's crying, and wants to give in, but she stays strong. After 45 minutes, Finn calms down and finds his siblings playing hide and seek underneath the beds. Finn smiles and joins them as if nothing happened. Jo reminds Blythe that he may cry again tonight, and if he does, that she'll have to deal with it. But Finn will get used to drinking from a big kid cup. Jo also notices that there are all sorts of garbage underneath the couch.

When Blythe assigns the kids chores, they’re hesitant about doing them. Eventually they decide to work together to get their tasks done. Blythe is pleased. Also, Jo buys a bed for Blythe and puts in the older girls' bedroom so Blythe won't be sleeping on the living room couch anymore. As Blythe moves into her older daughters' room, the girls' beds become bunk beds to make way for Blythe's new bed so that she can get the sleep she needs.

Dinner time was chaotic and at the old house, the family used to talk about the best and worst part of their day. The kids loved it and Jo decides to bring the tradition back to the family. The kids and Blythe sit together and they say their thankful they’re together and they talk about their best and worst part of their day and they take turns with the rock. Everyone has a blast.

DVD Review[]

After Jo leaves Blythe on her own for a few days, she shows Blythe DVD footage of how she did while Jo was away.

Finn is drinking from his new cup, but has developed a habit of peeing outside in the yard instead of in the toilet. Blythe steps in to bring him in the house to do his business either in the toilet or on the potty, but not outside in the yard, but Finn continued with the habit.

The kids are still reluctant over doing their chores at first, but after a few minutes they get to work as if nothing happened.

When it comes to dealing with the 3 oldest children, Blythe just argues with them. However Daly is Blythe’s biggest competitor as his smart aleck and cocky ways annoy her.

Jo's reinforcement[]

Jo gives Blythe a book for her to keep track of Daly's behavior. Daly thinks the report is stupid idea but eventually he will realize he needs to respect Blythe and there are other ways to voice his opinion. Jo talks to the family about Nana’s life and how they can honor her. Jo convinces the family to participate in a breast cancer walk as a team to honor Nana. In other words “Team Nana.” Then, Jo leaves the family for good.

Family Update/1 Month Later

1 Month Later, On September 1st Team Nana (the Newsome family) participate in Nana’s breast cancer honor walk for Nana. They’re proud of how they’ve come from a family who lost someone to cancer and were depressed and enclosed to a happier, stronger family fighting in honor.

Family Members[]

Person Age Relation to Family
Blythe Waters Newsome 38 (born March 22, 1970) Mother
Loughlin 13 (born November 21, 1994) Daughter
Addison "Aidan" 12 (born June 6, 1996)
Daly 9 (born October 1, 1998) Son
Moira "Momo" 8 (born April 27, 2000) Daughter
Elspeth "Elle" 5 (born May 16, 2003)
Finn 3 (born June 11, 2005) Son

Other Members[]

  • Roger Newsome (Shown only in wedding photo from Submission Reel)
  • Dorothy Lee Miller Williams "Nana" (October 12, 1955 - June 19, 2008)

Behind The Scenes[]

This episode was filmed in August 2008, two months before its original airdate as seen in the 100th Episode Special.

Trivia[]

  • Blythe is the 3rd parent to walk out on a family meeting. The 2nd was Corey from The McKeever Family. (The first one was removed due to privacy requests)
    • However unlike Corey, Blythe walked out due to her crying over Nana, unlike the other two examples, who walked out as a result of the clips shown on the DVD player.
  • People find Blythe's name ironic, since whilst her name means happy, her life wasn't happy at the time, due to the divorce, Nana's death, and having to move homes.
  • This is the second episode to air on a holiday, and the first (and only) episode to air on Halloween. The first one was The Weston Family and the second one was The Davis Family (Season 8) (which both premiered on Valentine's Day).

Pop Culture[]

  • There are several Limited Too bags; most likely Loughlin's, Aidan's, and Moira's clothes and accessories (the next year in 2009, Limited Too shut down and became Justice, which eventually shut down in 2020-2021 and became online shopping. The clothes are now sold by Walmart)
  • Webkinz stuffed animals can be seen in the house.

Viewership[]

Supernanny was ranked 8 in the ratings with 4,118,000 views at the time of this episode's broadcast.[1]

Events Post-Episode[]

  • As of 2022, Blythe is a communications manager at Covenant Hospice in Tallahassee.
  • Loughlin graduated high school in 2013.
  • Loughlin got married in 2016 and her last name is Shaul.
  • Loughlin gave birth to a son named Lincoln on October 26, 2019.
  • Aidan got married and her last name is Moyle.
  • Daly got married to a woman named Georgia Slay on May 6, 2023.
  • Aidan gave birth to a daughter named Maude in May 2023
  • Finn graduated high school in 2023.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ "Primetime Broadcast Ratings, October 31, 2008"

External Links[]

Season 5
The Quinn Family • The Baulisch Family • The Park Family • The Winter Family • The Newsome Family • The Manley Family • The Marko Family • The Howat Family • The Lewis Family • The James Family • The Kerns Family • The Gormley-Brickley Family • The Costello Family • The Davis Family • The Sachs Family • The Williams Family • The Del Re Family • The Goldberg Family • The Sacco Family • The Porter Family • The DeMello Family • The Krolikowski Family
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