The Bixley Family

The Bixley Family is the eleventh episode of series 2 of the British Supernanny TV show.

Synopsis
"Supernanny is called to deal with a Cibophobic seven-year-old. But it's only when she witnesses a mealtime first-hand that she realizes the extent of the family's problems.

Heather and Alex Bixley live with their sons Brandon (7) and Zak (4). Brandon developed a negative relationship with food after having gastric flu as a baby. What started as fussy eating has become an obsessive fear that dominates family life.

After six years of non-stop battles with Brandon, Heather is at breaking point, but Supernanny has some harsh words for her and Alex. She's horrified by the way they aggressively try and force Brandon to have food he doesn't want, and tells them they've got no chance of turning things around until they stop fighting between themselves.

Supernanny introduces a menu of innovative techniques to change the boys' relationship with food, including her renowned 'little chef' technique - but the biggest hurdle is the bickering Bixley's themselves." - Channel 4 website

Observation
Jo arrives at the Bixley home and meets the boys and their parents. Right away, it’s lunchtime, and Brandon refuses to eat. Heather makes things worse by hovering over him and demanding that he pick up the sausage on his plate. Brandon begins to gag at the sight of it, and it’s not long before Heather jabs the sausage in his face. He tries to run to the bathroom when Heather screams at him to get back to the table. Jo is absolutely shocked and appalled by the drama.

Later on, the family goes out to the mall. The boys run off in every direction, and Alex doesn’t let Heather know where he’s going, much to her asking, "Where've you been?!" as if Alex is one of the kids. When Zac continues to run off, Heather spanks him and starts to break down in distress from the boys’ behavior.

Dinner time is just as bad as lunchtime. Heather leans over the table with a spoonful of yogurt. Brandon knows that his mother will shove it in his face, which of course she does, much to him screaming again.

Parent meeting
When the kids are put to bed, Jo confronts Heather and Alex. She expresses that what she saw was so bad that she came really close to pulling Heather aside, and was absolutely livid with her.

Teaching
Jo brings in the household rules and introduces a discipline system. She starts it off by throwing away the Bixley's deep fryer. The family then goes out shopping for healthier food to change Brandon’s ways of eating. Jo implements a technique that encourages Brandon to add prices using a calculator, and Zac to help put food into the shopping cart. As a reward, the boys get to go on one of the rides.

Before dinnertime, Jo introduces a technique giving the boys a choice as to what they will eat. She holds up two plates, each consisting of four food items. Brandon is unimpressed by this, and Zac makes the choice. While Heather prepares dinner, Alex catches the boys fighting, and does well with disciplining them. Jo also brings in reward placemats for the boys, where a sticker will be placed for each food group that the boys eat. Zac does well, but Brandon is still resisting after a half hour. Fortunately, dinner time is much calmer, and the attitude of the family is much more positive. Brandon shows that he is thinking about eating. Jo lets him make his decision. He ultimately decides not to, and later on, sneaks in a bag of crisps. Alex and Jo catch him in the act. Jo reminds Brandon that crisps can be eaten as a treat, but he needs to show his parents that he will eat them.

For Heather and Alex, Jo implements the Same Page technique. Jo then takes the entire family out to spend quality time together at the park. Over the next few days, Brandon is making progress with his eating. Jo adds to the encouragement by having Heather and Alex creatively decorate the plates. Brandon even helps the family cook at times.

Family Test Run
With Jo gone for a week, Brandon is still resisting food, and his parents are pressuring him again, but he does continue to progress. However, Heather and Alex go back to bickering with each other. By the end of the week, they have had enough of it, and make things easier for themselves by taking the boys to a fast-food drive-thru. They laugh at this when they see it on the DVD footage Jo brings in. Jo reprimands them for saying, "Mummy and Daddy have decided we're giving you a break," because it sent a negative message, saying that they have had enough, they don't trust the technique, and that they're worried that it could go on for longer than how long they want it to.

Reinforcement
After the DVD meeting, Jo implements a Little Chef technique that gets the boys involved in cooking the food and motivates them to eat. Jo also helps Brandon overcome his fear of food by having him plant vegetables, and understand where they come from. Over the next few days, Heather and Alex are communicating much better, Brandon is slowly overcoming his fear, and the Bixley family enjoys a roast dinner. Jo then leaves the Bixleys for good.

Trivia

 * This is the only Supernanny UK episode to feature a child with an eating disorder.

Behind The Scenes
This was filmed in June 2005.

Pop Culture

 * During the dinner scene. Brandon is seen eating off a Thomas the Tank Engine plate and drinking out of a Scooby-Doo! cup.
 * During the mall scene, kiddie rides of Scoop from Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine appear.