The Wischmeyer Family

The Wischmeyer Family is the fourth episode of Season 1 of the American Supernanny show.

In addition to this episode, the Wischmeyer family members also appeared on the Season 1 Family Update Special.

Episode summary
See also: Wischmeyer Family/Transcript

Jo meets the Wischmeyer family, John and Melora who have three children: 9-year-old son Jared and 4-year-old twin daughters, Ashlyn and Alaia.

The Wischmeyer twins are both trouble makers. They bully their brother and torture their parents. Alaia is very sassy, yells, slaps, and sometimes kicks towards her mother mostly, and sometimes her father. Ashlyn is very defiant during bedtime, as she doesn't want to go to sleep and demands that her mother lie down with her.

Meanwhile Jared feels that the girls get more attention than him, and sometimes feels left out. He also gets blamed by mostly Melora and Alaia.

Can Jo help the Wischmeyers control their twin daughters' behavior?

Recap
Also see recap at Fans of Reality TV

Observation
After watching the submission reel, Jo arrives at the Wischmeyer home and meets the twins and their parents. Ashlyn and Alaia appear calm and rather shy. John is then off to work and Melora, who works from home, sits down in front of the computer, leaving the twins to their own devices. Ashlyn accidentally drops the toaster on the floor while attempting to make herself Pop Tarts. When Melora scolds her, Ashlyn complains that she couldn't ask her as she was on the phone. Melora points out that she is always on the phone because it is part of her job. Melora later attempts to put Alaia in time out, but Alaia lashes out and hits her mother. This continues as Alaia repeatedly calls, "Stinky butt!" and chanting "Na-na-na-na boo boo", when her mother is on the phone. Melora rips off her headset to deal with Alaia who runs to the bathroom for cover.

When Melora sits down again, Alaia continues to irritate her. Melora says that she does not know what to do since her boss is telling her that she will get fired if she doesn't get back on the phone and her twin daughters are out of control. Later that day, Jared comes home from school and meets Jo for the first time. Alaia runs into his room and steals his playing cards. She runs to the living room where she throws them on the floor. Alaia dances around as Jared picks up his cards. Jo asks Jared what his parents do when his sisters irritate him, he says nothing. When Ashlyn begins playing a recorder, Melora, who is still working on the computer, calls "Jared, quit that," ignoring her son when he informs her that it's not him, it's Ashlyn. Later, Alaia teases Jared by calling him a "fool" and "stinky butt" until he tells her to shut up and Alaia runs up to Melora and complains that Jared keeps saying shut up to her. Then Jared is sent to his room by Melora. Jo goes to speak to Jared, telling him that it is important for him to speak to Melora about his feelings. John comes home, and then he and Melora both go downstairs to put the girls to bed. Alaia is calm at night, but Ashlyn is defiant. Melora ends up laying down with them to try and get them to bed, and falls asleep before the girls do. The girls then seek out John in the living room and start asking for milk and snacks. Jo leaves John to deal with the girls, having seen enough for the day.

Parent meeting
During the meeting, Jo comes down hard on how the parents don't discipline the girls, how there is no consistent routine for bedtime, and about their treatment of Jared. Melora claims that she and Jared are close.

Teaching begins
Jo brings in her usual family routine, which has red circles that indicate Melora's work hours which equal about six hours a day. When Jo introduces the household rules (while Jared is at school), the girls hold their ears shut and say "can't hear you." When Alaia melts down after John tells her to take a nap, Jo walks him through the steps of the Naughty Corner. Alaia leaves the corner and runs to another room. John takes her back to the Naughty Corner, then says that Alaia behaving this way makes him feel like a failure as a parent. Alaia does stand in the corner, but cries. Jo assures John that Alaia does not love him any less. Alaia willingly apologizes when her time is up.

When Jared comes home from school, Jo brings in a Thought Box for him. Jo wants Melora and Jared to sit down and talk about his feeling every single night once the girls are in bed. Jo introduces the Stay In Bed technique. This does not go over well with Ashlyn, who tells her mother that if she will not lay with her, John will. Jo insists that she ignore that. Ashlyn desperately tries to get her parents attention by throwing pillows and books. She eventually goes to sleep and Jo leaves for a few days to see how the parents do.

Family test run


The girls go back to being rambunctious and the parents go back to square one. Jared is in his room working on his homework when both twins come in. When he tells them to get out, Melora scolds her son for his tone of voice. Jared writes a note saying, "Why do I get consequences and the girls don't?" for his thought box. Melora, however, argues that it's because they are only four while he is nine. Jo says, "You're missing the point, Melora" at her TV set. Melora does the Naughty Corner wrong with Alaia, by holding her in the corner to keep her from escaping. Alaia lashes out again.

Meanwhile, John struggles with the Stay In Bed technique. Ashlyn wants her dad to read a story, John refuses. When the girls demand for milk and a hamster toy, John gives in. 30 minutes later, Ashlyn and Alaia come out their room with sassy faces. Alaia stands in front of John and Melora, while Ashlyn stood in front of the door to the twins’ room.

While Alaia stands quietly in front her parents with a smirk, Ashlyn says, “Try to get us to put us to bed” and “Now I get to read a book, so night, you butt pie!”

It takes the girls over an hour to go to sleep.

DVD meeting
Jo returns to show the family where they have gone wrong with implementing the techniques.

Reinforcement
Alaia simply turns off a video game her brother is playing to annoy him. This time, Melora talks to Alaia and then sends her to the Naughty Corner. Alaia obeys and stays in the corner for four minutes without escaping. Later, Melora tells Jared that he can always come and talk to her. Melora feels like she and Jared have gotten a lot more close. Bedtime is the last thing Jo wants to work on before leaving again. This time the girls only come out of their room three times before they fall asleep.

Jo spends more time simply having fun with the family. When Jo leaves, the children are sad and they say they will miss her.

Pop Culture

 * Alaia wears pajamas, which have Dora the Explorer on them.
 * Ashlyn wears Care Bears pajamas in the episode.
 * When Ashlyn wants Melora to lay with her, Disney movie VHS tapes can be seen.
 * Very few Strawberry Shortcake videos can be seen, even movies like Dennis the Menace and Mouse Hunt are seen too.

Events Post-Supernanny
According to an article published on The Republic, Jared was driving a car with three friends in it. He got into an accident due to looking at his iPod while driving, and his friend in the front passenger seat died, making him the first ever Supernanny kid to have killed someone. Jared posted the friend's memorial page on Facebook. However he was not arrested for murder, as the crash was accidental, due to him looking at his iPod

Behind The Scenes
This was filmed in December 2004.