The Sacco Family

Episode summary
WARNING: This Episode Contains Sexual Contents such as Condoms and Sex Education.

Jo visits the Sacco family in Boston, Massachusetts, where Elyse (32) & Eric Sr. (33) have four children: 13-year-old Eric Jr., 10-year-old Ashley and almost 4-year-old fraternal twins Luke & Lily.

The twins rule the house with their constant tantrums and are still attached their pacifiers ("binkies") which leave their mouths sore & blistered. Bedtime is a nightmare and the twins sleep with their parents. Meanwhile, Jo is shocked when she discovers condoms in Eric Jr.'s bedroom & prompts dad to confront him about it.

Stay-at-home mom Elyse doesn't do much around the house while Eric Sr. works double shifts and states that his third job starts when he gets home. Can Jo help this family?

Observation
The family was pleased to see Supernanny. Luke refused to eat his food and Mom just gave into his temper tantrum, Jo took a look at Luke's mouth and the damage. Eric Jr. was at school and Eric Sr. was at work.

Eric Jr. had come back from school, he detached himself in his bedroom and hardly go upstairs because he said it is quiet downstairs, by playing video games and TV. Jo notice two condoms (that did not belong to Eric Jr.) in his bedroom and Eric Jr. told that his parents knew about it. Jo said it was a shock to see condoms in his room for a 13-year-old and needed to be addressed. Eric Jr. said he does not communicate much with his family and felt nervous to talk about stuff with his parents.

At night, Eric Sr. had come back from work. Jo bring Dad downstairs to Eric Jr. bedroom and get his opinion about the condoms, he said that he completely backed off from and also Eric Jr. talk to Dad about his interests but not puberty. Eric Jr. won't eat with the family and Dad will do the chores during dinner that Mom suppose to be doing and she is always on the phone.

At 8:45pm, Luke and Lily slept with Mom and Dad not in their bedroom and Jo left.

Parents Meeting
Jo criticize the parents about their responsibilities and Elyse was laughing about it. Then, she bring up the topic about the twins had pacifiers and the damage caused on their lips, Eric Jr. cannot communicate with his family and he had condoms. Mom and Dad wanted help from Jo but she expects 100% commitment.

Teaching
Jo bring the Eric Sr. and Elyse into a room and had to write down their responsibilities in the household and tick the chores that they use to do. Eric Sr. says splitting responsibilities does take a lot off his shoulders.

The parents got themselves sorted out and now Jo focus on the children. Jo introduced the Binky Fairy, in the Bye Bye Binky Technique for them to get rid of the pacifiers in an imaginative way so it is more fun for them. Luke threw a tantrum for 49 minutes and refused to give up his pacifier, they had to place the Binky fairy on top so they cannot reach it and he later calm down and understood.

Jo wanted Eric Jr. that he needs to spend time with his family and start discussing issues so he had a conversation with Dad about communication and needed to tell issues. Dad was nervous talking about sex and the condom situation they had a confident talk about the issue and the consequences of it. After that, Dad had to confiscate the condoms because he is too young to engage in a sexual activity.

The Binky-Fairy technique has worked for the twins, in exchange, they both received toys which made them happy and then knew why they are too old for pacifiers.

Elyse added to the conversation about the condoms and she mentioned that she was pregnant with Eric Jr. when she was 17, two weeks before her 18th birthday. She discuss the seriousness about sex and made him explained the consequences to make sure he understood. Jo said it was irresponsible for Eric Jr. at the age of 13 to have condoms.

Mom had made progress with the household chores done. At bedtime, Luke and Lily had to sleep in their own beds and cried into a meltdown, Jo coached Mom through the bedtime routine. After 90 minutes, the twins successfully went asleep. Jo left the family though Mom was nervous about her leaving and had to it without Jo's help.

Clip 1
Luke and Lily were screaming during bedtime and shouting out excuses. The parents executed the bedtime technique really well, 30 minutes later, the twins finally went asleep.

Clip 2
The parents did manage their responsibilities around the house really well and worked together.

Clip 3
Eric Jr. was sassing off to Elyse. As a result, Elyse tried to take his laptop and phone away. Eric Jr. gave his laptop to Mom but not his phone, therefore, Mom suspended the service on his phone. Eric Jr. was not happy about it. Later on Eric Sr. talked to Eric Jr. and told him to apologize to Mom for being sassy and Eric Sr. would unsuspend the service on Eric Jr.’s phone.

Reinforcement
Eric Jr. was ignoring his family when they speak to him, so Jo gave him an exercise. She gave him three questions for the family to answer. He was going around asking questions but the family were ignoring him, he learns his lesson that he should communicate with his family when they talk to him.

Jo said that Eric Jr. needs to spend time with his family, so they went together as a family to go bowling. He enjoyed bowling and interacting with his family.

It was time for Jo to depart and she was optimistic that the family will have a confident future. The parents said it was pleasure for Jo to come to help.

Transcript
Sacco Family/Transcript

Family members

 * Elyse Sacco, 32
 * Eric Sacco Sr., 33
 * Eric Jr., 13 (Born March 12, 1995)
 * Ashley, 10 (Born September 14, 1998)
 * Luke and Lily, 3 (almost 4) (Born March 7, 2005)

Behind The Scenes
This was filmed in January 2009.

Trivia

 * This episode was Criticized for their Sexual References and Eric Jr's Condoms.