The Harmony Family

The Harmony Family is the fifteenth episode of Season 2 of the American Supernanny show.

Episode summary[]

Jo comes to Hutchinson, Kansas, to give help to Jacob (27) and Erin Harmony (29). They have three sons, Jake (11), Ian (5) and Grant (3).

The boys run a three ring circus and Grant is the ring master who is not afraid to take his act on the road, quite literally. Grant is noted to be extremely clingy towards Erin, having chased her down the road numerous times whenever she needs to run an errand. He is also known to evict Jacob from his bed to sleep with his Erin in the middle of the night, and is prone to temper tantrums. Ian has gotten into this habit of giving attitude when he’s told to do something he doesn’t like and can terrorize Grant. And Jake, whilst not badly behaved, gets easily agitated by younger brothers. The family also face consistent embarrassment on their weekly eat-outs.

Despite the out of control behaviour, it is only Erin who consistently deals with it. Jacob meanwhile, rarely, if ever, helps his wife out, and when Jo begins to instill order, Jacob puts little effort into what Jo is teaching. Can Jo help Erin and Jacob restore their authority as parents. And can she get Jacob to begin being more involved in her techniques?

Submission Reel[]

As the taxi drives through sweeping Midwest plains, Jo views the Harmony Family's cry for help on DVD. Jacob, a construction worker, and Erin, an RN at a local clinic, need help with their three boys. Jake (11), Ian (5), and Grant (3).

Grant is a very needy toddler, who makes Erin being alone near-impossible for her. She notes that she cant go to the bathroom on her own without Grant wanting to go with her, and more prominentely, Erin is unable to leave the house without Grant wanting to join her. If he isn't able to go with his mother, he'll proceed to chase her down the driveway. Jacob also notes that Grant will bite furniture when he’s angry. "Biting the armchair?" coos Jo.

Middle child Ian is the instigater of the scuffles between him and Grant. Jake meanwhile is easily agitated by his younger brothers. Erin and Jacob are also very different in their parenting. Erin is the more disciplinary of the two, whereas Jacob only helps when he feels its neccesary.

The family go out to eat at least three times a week and are prepared for embarrassment every time. In every restraunt they go to, the children, particulary Grant, are extremely loud and are uncontrollable. Grant will climb around, refuse to stay in place and pitches a fit when he doesn't get his way. Other restaurant patrons look on annoyed. The last issue is once again with Grant. Because of his need to always be with Erin, at night he will wake up and go right to her and Jacob's bedroom, subsequently removing the latter from the bed. Erin starts tearing up, and declares she feels like her family is falling apart. She pleads Jo to help them. "You guys need some good help. I'm on my way!" declares Jo.

Observation[]

Jo arrives at the Harmony Family home. Whilst the rest of the family greet Jo nicely, Grant refuses to do so. After meeting the family, Erin has to run to the store, meaning Jo gets to witness Grant's usual leave preventions. He tries getting into the car, then once Erin gets into the car and drives away, runs screaming down the long dusty road that leads from the house to the highway. Jo reports her confusion at seeing Erin stop the car, and saying goodbye to Grant, when she should have just driven away. "What a palaver!" she says.

With Erin gone, it is left with Jo and Jacob to watch over the boys. Jacob leaves them alone in the front yard trampoline to play. It doesn't take long before Ian gets rough with Grant as they squabble. Whilst Jake tries to de-escalate the fighting, Jacob goes inside seeing what the boys are doing, as "playing" which Jo disagrees with. Things only escalate from there when Grant is pushed by Ian.

A while later, Erin arrives home and tries to get Grant to lay down for a nap. When she turned the computer off, Grant threw a massive tantrum. He was hitting the computer, biting a backpack, slamming a chair against a desk, and running all over the house. Erin tells him, "If you get off your bed again, you have to go into the breezeway!" After more chasing, Erin does put Grant there. Jo calls the breezeway the "cold conservatory area" and notes that with Grant now outside banging on the door and shrieking desperately to back inside, it has now spiraled out of control. She also notes that Erin in doing this, has "shooed him into the foyer like some pet!". Erin eventually lets him back in and tells him to "quit acting like an animal". Jo concludes that Erin's form of discipline needs to change.

Later in the day, Erin tries to get the boys inside to get ready to go out to dinner. Ian and Grant get into a fight over a John Deere kid car. Erin again notes that she is the disciplinarian and Jacob won't do anything unless he's pushed to do so. When Grant runs off, only Erin goes out to find him. Jo notes that only Erin does all the work and that Jacob doesn't ever help out. Erin tries getting Grant to walk himself to the car and Grant is reluctant. Jacob stands off to the side smiling for no apparent reason. Jo also notes to Erin how Grant always speaks to her by grunting or yelling.

The family proceed to eating out at dinnertime to their usual expectations; embarassment. The two youngest boys especially Grant begin to play up. Ian is annoyed by Jacob when he’s told to eat when he’s already eating causing Ian to give attitude. Meanwhile Grant is kicking up a fuss, screaming, demanding a knife and later on dessert. Erin refuses to give in and even takes away his drink. The family exit the restaurant in disappointment.

Jo then proceeds to ask Jacob to stay over the night on the couch, so she can observe Grant "evicting" him from the bedroom. Surely enough, at 3:43AM (clock radio time), Grant went down the hallway and evicted Jacob from his spot in the bed, so that Grant can sleep with his mother. Jacob then proceeds to sleep on the couch, and Jo then leaves having seen enough. She is surprised to see that the parents do nothing to stop Grant from entering the bedroom.

Family Meeting[]

Whilst Jo praises the house, and their boys she notes that Erin and Jacob are pushovers and asks why. Erin states that they've simply gotten to where they've given up. She also mentions that she's guilty when Grant runs after her in the car. Jo states that her stopping to comfort Grant is a sign she doesn't trust Jacob with him. When asked how he feels, Jacob states that he's gotten used to it. Jo mentions that the word "discipline" doesn't exist in the house and asks Jacob why he never helps Erin, choosing to sit back and stand off to the side as she does all the work; Jacob doesn't have an answer.

When asked why they allow Grant to do what he does, Erin states that he'll only be quiet once they give into him, which is when they can get peace and quiet. Jo contradicts that with Erin locking Grant in the breezeway noting that it wasn't peace and quiet. After talking about Grant robbing Jacob from their bed Erin admits that they hardly spend any time together, which she admits is sad. Whilst Erin says she knew what was said is hurtful she understood it had to be said to bring out the issues and make them aware. Jacob simply states that he can't argue with how Jo called him and Erin "pushovers."

Teaching[]

Jo starts off playing Football with the rest of the family. Ian hogs the ball and refuses to pass it. Jo tells Jacob to put a stop to it. When Ian argues about it, he is sent to the Naughty Spot for a time out. Jo instructs Jacob personally to stop his lazy ways when he disciplines the children. Ian escapes from the timeout and when it’s time to go inside the technique is done inside.

Grant is told by Erin to get down from the counter. He then hits Erin with what appears to be a pregnancy test. Rather than address what Grant did however she ignores it, making Jo step in to tell Grant off. She questions why Erin ignored what Grant did, and Erin breaks down into tears admitting her feelings are hurt whenever Grant does that to her. After being calmed down by Jo, Grant is placed on the Naughty Spot. While the latter and Ian continously escape Erin, and surprisingly even Jacob continue following through with the discipline. The two eventually do their time and apologize to their parents.

When Erin needs to go out again, Jo introduces the Separation technique to prevent Grant's usual attempts to go with her. Erin was worried at first, given all their previous attempts had backfired. Thankfully the technique succeeds as Jacob makes sure Grant is occupied.

Teaching Continues[]

Jo continues the teaching by introducing the Trading Task technique to get Jacob involved around the house, so that Erin isn't the only one helping. Jo gives Erin and Jacob a tray for each of them, and has them put bags on the plate to show who does what in the house. To no surprise it's Erin who does the most around the house. Jo eventually settles on having the two decide what tasks they’ll do together.

After this Jo introduces the dining out technique, to make dinner less chaotic when they're out. In order to keep the kids occupied she makes it so Ian and Grant are given backpacks with activities to do, as they wait. Before they enter the restaurant Erin gives the kids expectations of how she wants to see them behave at the restaurant. However, Ian gets annoyed and begins moaning. Jo steps in to inform that any naughty behaviour will result in either him or Grant being put in the car for discipline. By the time the family sits down, it leads to succession as Grant screams only once.

Before Jo leaves she introduces the sleep separation technique. While Jacob does bedtime for the younger boys, Erin mentions her worries to Jo about the technique potentially backfiring; Jo is able to calm her down, and therefore, lessen her worries. Later that night Grant attempts to get into bed with Erin, however she’s able to get him back in successfully. Grant only got out of bed once and allowed Erin and Jacob to finally sleep together. Jo leaves, so they can practice the techniques by themselves.

Family Test Run[]

The Harmonies go out to eat and Jacob gives his expectations to the boys saying; "if you guys are bad in the restaurant, whoever is bad has to go out into the car.” Jo criticises what Jacob said. Erin corrects Jacob and they proceed with the dining out technique to success once again.

Soon afterwards it is time to use the Seperation technique. While Erin tells Grant she needs to run an errand, Jacob does not attempt to get him occupied. Instead, he tells Erin that Grant wants a hug, and holds him down when she leaves. Jacob eventually tries to get occupied, but it's too late, as it leads back into square one with Grant chasing down the car.

Later on, the boys get into trouble together with Ian and Jake arguing, and the former getting into scuffles with Grant. In the living room Ian is seen hurting Grant and in the bedroom the opposite occurs. Instead of disciplining the boys, Jacob instead observes the situation and does not interfere in any way.

At dinner, Grant screams. This time Jacob does put him in timeout. He is, however, unable to keep him on the spot as Grant keeps escaping, resulting in him calling Erin for help. While Jo points out how it’s alright for him to ask for help, she notes the lack of communication between the two. Erin states that she wants Jacob to put more effort into discipline. In the end Grant apologizes, but with Jacob still needing help with discipline, Jo heads back to the Harmonies.

Parents Evaluation[]

During the parents evaluation,

Clip 1: The family proceed into a successful night out. Jo praises Erin for following through with the dining out technique, and Jacob states how pleased he was with the lack of embarassment.

Clip 2: Jacob and Erin attempt to discipline Grant together, but fail to do communicate properly. Jo points out the lack of communication, and while Erin says they were glad it was done with, they didn't feel proud about it.

Clip 3: The seperation technique is thrown out of the window, as Jacob does not attempt to get Grant occupied, and holds him down. Erin states that seeing Jacob tell her Grant made her feel guilty. Jacob however, says that she shouldn't have left like that. He claims that Erin, should've been the one to get Grant occupied, which Jo calls him out for, as doing so is his responsibility. Jacob claims he "needed more time", which Jo criticises him for.

Clip 4: Grant and Ian act out, however both are not disciplined. Jo points out that Jacob was there, but didnt address the situation, or give either boy a warning. Jacob comes fully clean, and admits that he didn't know what to do, and that he turned a blind eye to the whole situation. Jo knows that she needs to help Jacob get involved with the techniques more, or else, everything will crumble.

Reinforcement[]

Jo starts of the reinforcement by introducing to Jacob the I See, I Say technique, a technique specified to help Jacob be quicker with his reactions to the boys’ behaviour. Jo does this by playing a game with Jacob where she holds up a sign with an image portraying something, and Jacob needing to respond to what that action is. At first, he struggles, but eventually gets the hang of it.

Next, Jo tells Erin to get dressed as they’re going to try the separation technique again and hopefully not mess up, like in the test run. Erin tells Jacob and Grant that she’s going out. Jacob, surprisingly manages to keep both Grant and Ian occupied, as they all build a barn for some toy horses.

Now that Jacob is starting to take a bigger role in the house, he and Jo set Ian and Grant up with a game. Once Grant hits a light, Ian will hit one. However Ian puts Jacob to the test with both the I See, I Say technique and the Naughty Spot. Ian hits Jacob sneakily. Jacob does nothing until Jo notifies him about the situation. When Ian sasses off, Jacob sends him to timeout. Ian calls his father "Stupid dang butt h***". Jo instructs Jacob to make sure Grant is left occupied as he disciplines Ian. Ian only gets up a couple of times before doing his time and apologizes.

Jacob and Erin are then seen putting the kids to bed. Jo kisses them goodnight and tells Jacob and Erin that her work is done here and hopes they continue to communicate and co-operate together. Jo then leaves the Harmony's for good.

Family Update[]

The family is seen playing numerous games together such as Charades. Erin reports that things have turned around for the better. There are so much improvements. Ian is happy to report that he and Grant are good boys now. Erin says Jacob has grown a lot through the process and Jacob says he’s enjoying the kids more. Jake also notes that his brothers are not fighting as much anymore and his family more playful. Erin and then Ian thank Jo for helping their family.

Unused Content[]

In the opening, four scenes not present in the episode were shown. The first was a scene from the parents meeting, with Jo saying "Locking the children outside!" and Erin saying, "A few minutes of quiet…", which likely took place when Jo confronted Erin about locking Grant out for discipline. The second had Grant sneak into Erin and Jacob's bed while saying "Mommy". The third was a deleted part of Grant screaming at dinner during the test run, and the last one is that of Grant screaming outside, while carrying a Coca Cola bottle. However it’s unknown what segment this scene was filmed during.
There was also a part in the opening showing Ian screaming in the trampoline during the observation though if you listen closely it sounds like a piece of Grant's screaming while holding on to the trampoline.
While its hard to tell what Jacob says when Ian pulls away from him during the observation's dinner scene, the opening showed that Jacob said, "We're gonna go outside." Its unknown what he meant by this though.
While in the actual episode nothing can be heard from Erin when Grant hits the computer with his fingers. The opening shows a longer version before Jo looks on from behind which shows what Erin said which was "NO".

Trivia[]

This is the only episode to take place in Kansas.
It is speculated by fans that Grant's need to always be with Erin, may've stemmed from separation anxiety. This would explain his desperation to be with Erin almost all the time.
Grant is the first child on the show to damage his vocal cords from screaming; Gabrielle from The Cantoni Family and Reese from The Atkinson Family would later do the same thing.
This is the only episode in which the word Supernanny is not spoken by any of the parents during the Submission Reel.
At the time the episode was made in 2005, it was acceptable to have kids sit in the car alone. However, with the multitude of kidnappings and heat exhaustion deaths that've occurred specifically due to children being left alone in cars in the years following, Jo likely would've implemented a different method of discipline for the Dining Out technique, had this episode been done in future seasons.
Usually, Jo calls parents out for not making homemade dinners and instead decide to regularly have take out or eat out, but in this case, she doesn't.

Pop Culture[]

When the Harmony's were out eating in the observation, Jake can be seen playing with what seems to be a Godzilla toy.
When Jo began her observation, Grant can be seen playing on a PlayStation 2. It's unknown which game Grant was playing though since it's blurred out to prevent copyright issues. Considering how Jake seems to be playing it in the Submission Reel when he's introduced, it can be assumed it's his.
During bedtime at the teaching, Jacob reads Grant the book Pooh’s Best Day.
The game that Grant and Ian were playing on the computer was also blurred out like the example above.
A Thomas toy book can be seen at in the two restaurant scenes.

Family Members[]

Person	Age (Then)	Age (Now)	Relation to Family
Erin Kern	29 (born October 16, 1976)	48	Mother
Jacob Harmony	27 (born October 26, 1978)	46	Father
Jake	11 (born March 5, 1994)	30	Son
Ian	5 (born March 6, 2000)	24
Grant	3 (born February 28, 2002)	22

The child was disciplined via one of Jo Frost's techniques.

Events Post-Episode[]

Erin gave birth to two more sons, Max and Owen.

Transcript[]

The Harmony Family/Transcript

Behind The Scenes[]

This episode was filmed in November 2005.

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Season 2

The Minyon Family • The Webb Family • The McMillion Family • The Larmer Family • The Cooke Family • The Amaral Family • The Facente Family • The Keilen Family • The Bradbury-Lambert Family • The Tsironis Family • The Carsley Family • The Schwartz Family • The Silva Family • The Young Family • The Harmony Family • The Wujcik Family • The Jackson Family • The Newton Family • The Uva Family