Review of last nights SuperNanny

Last nights episode of Supernanny focused on the Browersock family.  Thad and Jennifer, the parents of Maddy, age 7 – Hayden, age 6 and Lily age 4.

One thing I noticed while watching this episode was that my definition of spanking is obviously very different from the definition of others.

To me, spanking is – paddling the fatty part of the rear – not a parent or adult going off on a rampage while flinging their arms every which direction and smacking the child wherever the hand lands.

During this particular show, the mother’s hand landed everywhere on the child except the rear.  That’s NOT spanking to me, that’s hitting/smacking and THAT is not right.

I have to admit, when JoJo had Jennifer spend THREE hours keeping Maddy in the corner – retrieving her when she’d run and placing her back; I thought that was a bit much.  That in itself was a game of cat and mouse.  In my home, I would have placed my child in the corner three times (the three strike rule) and then it would have been the paddle!
Paddling is a last resort! 

In the 13-years I’ve been a mother, I never had to bring out the big guns more than a couple of times.  That’s all it took for them to know that MOM meant Business!

If you ask my kids what my motto is, they will tell you “behave or be beaten” – but it’s always followed by a laugh.  We’ve kind of made it a family joke – but by the same token, we all have mutual respect for our boundaries – how far we can be pushed and not push hot buttons with one another.

I did like the Stuck in the Mud game that JoJo taught this family.  I think affection is SO important in all families!  That’s not an area that my family has ever been deficient in.  I’m always impressed at the fact that my 13-year-old boys will hug me, kiss my cheek and tell me they love me no matter what cool friend may be around.

I can’t imagine being forced to thrive in a family that suffered from such little affection like Thad and Jennifer’s family have been.  I’m very glad they uncovered their abilities to hug and love one another.