Episode summary
Jo meets the McMillion family. With dad Jonathan (33) in Afghanistan, mom Cheryl (30) is left alone to raise her three sons: almost 10-year-old Ryan, 7-year-old Hunter, and 3-year-old Garrett. Cheryl is at her wit's end and begs for Supernanny's help. Can Jo help Cheryl out?
Recap
Observation
When Jo arrives, only Cheryl and Garrett are home. Garrett watches TV while Cheryl does housework. Jo observes that Cheryl is clearly using the TV as a babysitter.
When the older boys came home from school, they refuse to greet Jo. The children now run through the house, kicking, and wrestling each other. Cheryl spanks the children, but they do not care or respond. Ryan and Hunter are forced to go outside to play. Cheryl goes as far as locking them outside. Hunter repeatedly rings the doorbell. The boys end up climbing into the house through an open bedroom window breaking in like burglars. They laugh at Cheryl and are quite pleased with how they managed to disobey her. Cheryl kicks them out again.
Cheryl asks her sons to wash their hands before eating dinner, but Ryan refuses. Cheryl physically makes him wash his hands, so Ryan runs outside to get his hands dirty again. Ryan is not allowed to have dinner that night.
Cheryl admits to Jo that she really does not like being around her kids. It's too stressful and unpleasant. When Ryan and Hunter fight over for a teddy bear, Cheryl goes to her bedroom to escape them. Cheryl explains to Jo that her bedroom is her only refuge from the chaos. Jo observes that she is like a prisoner in her own home. The boys then traipse into the bedroom and Cheryl physically removes them from the room and locks the door. She is on her laptop while the boys run amok in the living room.
Parents meeting
Jo tells Cheryl that her children badly need her love, guidance, and direction. Jo sits Cheryl down to talk about her and the boys' behavior.
Teaching begins
When Jo introduces the rules, Ryan and Hunter become resistant. Ryan goes as far as flicking his brother simply because Jo did not list it.
Jo brings in a treasure hunt game to have the boys and mom work together as a team. Jo introduces a Reward Chart for all the boys and a Naughty Spot for Garrett. Garrett is quickly put on the Naughty Spot for 3 minutes for climbing on the table. Garrett pouts and rolls all over the spot, but he doesn't get up or cry.
Jo sets up a waterslide outside in the backyard for all of the family to have fun, but Ryan refuses to put sunscreen on his face. Cheryl is told to actively ignore Ryan until he does as he is told. When given the choice of two sunscreens, Ryan finally reluctantly chooses one and is allowed to play with his brothers. Jo has Cheryl join in and play with the boys. Next, Jo introduces quality time with the boys, starting with Ryan. So Jo takes the two of them go-karting. Cheryl now feels like her and Ryan are connecting again.
DVD meeting
With Jo gone, Cheryl keeps up the reward chart. She spends quality time reading with little Garrett, and is affection and encouraging to her boys. However, when Garrett playfully spanks Cheryl, she puts him straight on the Naughty Spot for 3 minutes. When seeing the footage, Cheryl agrees that Garrett was only trying to get her attention and she did the Naughty Spot wrong.
Cheryl takes a ticket from Hunter for making a wrong move during a game. When he refuses to hug her, she takes yet another ticket. Cheryl admits that it was a disaster as she got too ticket happy. When Cheryl says that she is disappointed in herself, Jo tells her not to as it is good to see where she went wrong so she can improve.
Reinforcement
Jo praises the boys for their slices and tickets on their reward chart. Ryan had filled up his entire pie. Ryan refuses to wear shoes to go outside to play soccer. Jo points out that it isn't major so Cheryl lets it go and Ryan is allowed to be barefoot. Before Jo leaves, the boys give her a beautiful necklace.
Videos
McMillion Family - Full episode on YouTube
Supernanny - McMillion Family Update on YouTube
Family names
- Jonathan Michael McMillion, 33
- Cheryl Lynn McMillion, 30
- Ryan Patrick McMillion, 9 (almost 10)
- Hunter William McMillion, 7
- Garrett Joshua McMillion, 3