The Mihalik Family

The Mihalik Family is the fifth episode of Season 3 of the American Supernanny show.

Episode summary
Nanny Jo Frost helps out single mom Donna Mihalik (43), who has been through so much in the past 4 years. After her 8-year-old son, Cole won the 2-year battle of leukemia, her husband, Steve suddenly passed away of terminal illness, leaving Donna to raise Cole and her three other children alone: 11-year-old Blake, 1 1/2-year-old Stephanie, and 3-year-old Aiden. Now Donna was so depleted, she lost control over her kids, and found it hard to discipline.

Now the older boys curse at their mother, swear, fight constantly and have a complete lack of respect for her or each other because their dad died. The oldest, Blake, is on the verge on becoming a juvenile delinquent, often running off to hang out with the older kids in the neighborhood. Aiden and baby Stephanie are starting to copy bad behavior from their older brothers.

Behind the scenes
This was filmed in August 2006

Observation
After watching the Submission Reel, Jo arrives at the Mihalik residence at 12:30 p.m. Donna heads to Blake's room, and he is still asleep. He keeps arguing over when to wake up. Eventually Blake wakes up, and then rides around the neighborhood with his bike to see older kids. Meanwhile, Aiden & Stephanie play on the playscape while Donna cooks dinner. When Blake gets back from bike riding, the family eats dinner. Jo leaves at 10:00 p.m.

Parent meeting
At the Parent Meeting, Jo tells Donna about having Blake riding his bike around the neighborhood. Donna tells about Aiden, Cole, Blake, and Stephanie's behavior.

Teaching
At the Teaching, Jo sets up a schedule for Family Times. Blake and Cole are sent to timeout for not listening to Jo. While waiting, Donna takes the kids outdoors to play. Aiden is sent to the Naughty Step while the rest of the family are eating dinner. Then, it's time to put Aidan and Stephanie to bed for a nap. Blake & Cole are not napping yet.They also move the computer out of Donna's bedroom to a shared family room so the boys are accountable for the time they spend on the computer and what they are doing.

DVD meeting
Jo shows Donna footage of Blake hanging out with his 14-year old friend, painting his sneakers and bragging that he can do whatever he wants when he's away from home and his mom has no idea what he's doing.

Blake tries to run out of the house because he doesn't like the rules. As soon as Blake comes in, Cole makes his way out and is therefore sent to the couch for 8 minutes.

Reinforcement
Jo tells Donna that her husband Steve has died. To tell these kids that the behavior has done and Jo leaves them for good. They plant a tree in the backyard as a memorial for Steve.

Family members

 * Donna Mihalik, 43
 * Blake, 11 (born July 19, 1995)
 * Cole, 8 (born June 16, 1998)
 * Aiden, 3 (born April 5, 2003)
 * Stephanie, 1 1/2 (born February 23, 2005)
 * Other People
 * Steven "Steve" John Mihalik, M.D. (born April 10, 1968, died June 20, 2004 at 36) - Donna's husband, a pediatrician, and a soccer coach who died from terminal illness.

Trivia

 * This is the first time Jo helps a family who lost a family member.
 * This is the first time Jo's mother is ever mentioned, she sadly died. She was later mentioned in The Evans Family where Jo reveals she died to Breast-Cancer