The Sachs Family

Episode summary
Jo Frost visits New York City where Greg (45) & Fanci Sachs (45) need help with their two preschool boys: 5-year-old Ryan & 3-year-old Jonathon.

The Sachs' apartment is filled with toys since Fanci buys them for her sons three times a week.

Greg and Fanci were initially at loggerheads with how to handle their children's tantrums. Ryan will throw tantrums in public if he doesn't get his own way and has separation issues from Fanci whenever she leaves the house. Bedtime is horrific and the parents end up lying in bed with the boys until they fall asleep.

Can Supernanny get Greg and Fanci on track in a New York minute?

Observation
Fanci had to run some errands which made Ryan go into a tantrum. He wants to know where she was going, but she made it out of the door finally.

Jo took a tour around the apartment and she saw the clutter and the children's toys that the parents chose to cram the place with and noticed four buggies. Jo took Fanci aside to have a chat and she says she feeds into Ryan's tantrums because she feels guilty for not being with her sons.

Ryan wanted waffles, but Fanci says "No!" because he already had them for breakfast. He threw a tantrum over it though Mom gave him other options. Then, Mom moddle-coddled him about the waffles and negotiate that he can have them another day.

At bedtime, the parents read a bedtime story for the boys though they demand their attention. Greg would hold Jonathan's hand until he can fall asleep and walk. Though 45 minutes later, they come back for more snacks. During 2:00am, the boys ended up in their parents' bed tossing and turning.

Parents Meeting
Jo brings up the issues of unnecessary clutter in their apartment and Fanci giving into Ryan’s tantrums and bedtime. She said that the boys need quality time with both Mom and Dad instead of more toys.

Teaching
To start off, the parents had to remove unwanted clutter so they can have breathing space. Jo then suggests taking the family out for a stroll around Times Square and puts the parents up to a challenge of whether they will give in to the boys' temper tantrums when they walk past a toy store. When the family went past Toys R Us, Ryan says he wanted to go inside, but Fanci told him they were not going. He threw a temper tantrum in public, although Greg did suggest getting the family pretzels. Jo immediately tells Greg not to pacify Ryan with food and after a period of crying, she intervenes to warn Ryan that if he continues crying with anymore temper tantrums and pulling those faces, he will be placed in a timeout and he understood what she meant.

Jo brings in the Toy Rangers hat for the boys to wear to make it fun for the boys to sort out toys they want or don't want. Then, Jo brings in a mat for the boys to play with the toys. When it is time to tidy, they put on their rangers hat and pack away their toys.

Then, Jo put Fanci up to the test when she had to leave to go on an errand. Mom told the sons where she was going and greet them with kisses and hugs without feeling guilty and she is able to go out.

At bedtime, the parents use the Sleep Separation and Stay in Bed techniques. Jo gave them earpieces to attach on themselves with her instructing through the walkie-talkies and a setup camp with a monitor. Greg was able to get Jonathan to sleep while Fanci was nervous when Ryan threw a tantrum when she was doing sleep separation. At 12 AM, Jonathan got out of bed. Greg was talking to him, but Jo guided Dad through and Ryan got out of bed. They both threw a temper tantrum, therefore the parents adopt the Stay in Bed technique and after putting the boys into bed, they were exhausted.

Clip 1
At 2:00am after Jo left, the boys woke up once again the parents manage to use the technique effectively.

Clip 2
The boys finished playing with their toys, Fanci gave a clear expectation of either play and not watch TV or tidy up and watch TV. They did as they were told.

Clip 3
Jonathon had a tantrum over a lollipop. Fanci warned him that he will go to timeout, but she placed him on the naughty chair. Fanci says this is a mistake and should not execute it.

Clip 4
Greg was giving orders to the sons at home and in the restaurant, but was overloading them.

Clip 5
Fanci tucked Ryan into bed but she was talking to him more and Greg seriously orders Ryan to close his eyes and no crying. Jo said that if Greg gives into Ryan's meltdown, then he thinks it okay to cry to get attention.

Reinforcement
Jo taught that family time is important, so they went to The Disney Store. Outside the store, Jo tells the parents to take note of what toys the boys want for their Birthday or Christmas and not buy it straight away. The parents immediately got nervous, but the parents took notes of what the boys wanted and there was no meltdown.

Jo thought it is important for them to be raised with the spirit of being able to give, so the family went to the Salvation Army donation center. In the charity, the boys give their unwanted toys for families and friends in need. Greg says "it taught them a life lesson". At the end, the family spend their time together by playing with musical instruments and Jo was ready to leave.

Family members

 * Fanci Sachs, 45
 * Greg Sachs, 45
 * Ryan, 5 (Born September 17, 2003)
 * Jonathon, 3 (Born February 25, 2005)
 * In 2021, Fanci and Greg are now 58, Ryan is now 18, Jonathon is now 16.

Pop Culture
Wall-E and Stuart Little DVD's are shown

When Jo was talking about the Toy Ranger technique, you could see Plushies of Walt Disney's Goofy and Pixar's Nemo from Finding Nemo.

Behind The Scenes
This episode was filmed in November-December 2008.

Trivia

 * Fanci was the second oldest mother to ask for Supernanny's help in the show prior to its revival.
 * The toy store Ryan had a meltdown at was The Flagship Toys R Us in Times Square.
 * The Flagship Store has since closed in 2015 and Toys R Us went bankrupt in 2018.
 * The toy store the family actually went into later in the episode during the "take notes" technique was The Disney Store.