03x05 - Swanson Family

[bunniefuu]

Tonight on "supernanny,"

The future of an entire family is at stake...

With not one, not two,

But five wild boys who are out of control.

The conversation's over. Find something else to do.

I hate you!

Mom and dad can't take any more.

I have walked through hell and back for this family.

Is it difficult? Yes.

But you know what? You deal with it. [Boy] it's evil.

Can jo stop this family from collapsing...

Howdare you blame your children

For the way that they are.

I haven't been the father that I should be.

Ken. And save the marriage?

Oh, no, don't even start right now.

You paint me out to be this monster that I'm not, vania.

I filed for a divorce six months ago.

Or will these parents end up in divorce court?

[Giggling]

[Front door closes]

♪♪♪♪♪

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪ ♪ johnny ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good, be good ♪ ♪ johnny ♪

♪ Johnny ♪

Time to look at another family. Let's see.

Hi. We're the swansons.

This is vania.

This is ken.

And we have five boys.

The first one is alexander. He's .

[Humming]

[Ken] then there's dawson, who's age .

[Vania] myca's .

And brendon's .

Christian is .

Vania and i, we fight, and we have a divorce pending.

[Ken] I could care less, vania. Look at me, please.

I don't care. I don't. No, come here.

[Ken] together, we own a taxi service.

Having five boys, there just is never enough time

To get everything done

And take care of your family the way you should.

The boys run this house.

[Alex] stop! I'm not--

Ow!

Ow!

I hate you!

[Grunting]

[Laughs] playtime's over!

These boys are roughhousing.

Sit up now.

Parenting styles-- we are completely the opposite.

I love you.

No, I don't wanna pick you up. [Boy crying]

Ken is way too hard on the kids,

Especially with alexander and dawson.

[Ken] you know we're talking. You don't need to interrupt us.

I'm really set in our ways, 'cause I don't feel

She punishes enough. You need to find something else to do and not--

Please don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you.

I feel like I've had to choose

Between the children and my husband,

And it--it just-- it tears me apart.

I feel like I shouldn't have to do that.

It's been difficult.

Supernanny, we need you

To come and help us save our marriage...

I don't want a divorce, ken!

And bring us together as parents, as a team,

For the first time in our lives.

There's no point in us going through this

If alexander and dawson are gonna be

How they are either, vania.

You're right. It goes both ways, ken.

Supernanny, we need you now.

We can't wait any longer.

Hey, guys, I'm on my way, and we're gonna sort this out.

♪♪♪♪♪

Hi! Hello. How are you? Pleased to meet you.

Good. Nice to meet you, too.

Come on in to my home.okay.

I'll introduce you to my children.

Hi, pleased to meet you. Hi, ken. Oh, my god, this is...

I am so honored to have you here.

Oh, thank you very much.

[Laughs] oh, my gosh, this is... I'm gonna cry.

[Laughter]

You don't understand. I mean...

Oh!you...

I'm here. I'm here to help,

So, you know, this is actually what we're going to do, okay?

Thank you. You're more than welcome.

When jo walked through the door,

I said, don't cry, don't cry,

And two seconds later, I'm crying.

This is myca. He's a little bit bashful.

This one is brendon. Brendon. Hi, brendon.

Hi, christian. Hello. Pleased to meet you.

Christian?

Oh, he's off. Are you the supernanny?

I am. What's your name? Dawson.

Hi, dawson. Pleased to meet you.

Alex. Hi, alex. Pleased to meet you. Jo.

I'll catch up with you guys later, okay? [Boys] okay.

[Jo] see you then.

[Ken] all right, I'm going, guys. Ow!

[Grunts]

[Christian crying] [telephone ringing]

[Jo] just minutes after I met the family,

Dad went off on his taxi runs and left mom to deal with

The taxi phones and all the kids.

[Christian] hi, mama. [Vania] get inside.

[Screaming] ow!

You deserved it! [Christian] hi, mama.

[Ringing] [jo] as expected, the taxi phones started to ring,

And mom was struggling to juggle with answering those

And dealing with the kids.

I mean, it's a challenging task.

Mom is just too busy on the phone

To deal with what's going on.

[Brendon crying]

Yes! [Crying] no!

[Shouting indistinctly] you stop it!

Stop. [Screaming]

[Vania] what-- no, he didn't!

[Ringing continues] no, you did not.

Yeah, I did!

The conversation's over. Find something else to do.

[Jo] vania is in a circus act.

[Whining]

She's juggling balls left, right and center.

It's vania. How are you?

[Alex crying] ow!

When it did finally quieten down,

Vania started to talk to me

About ken and his relationship

With her two eldest boys from a previous marriage,

Alex and dawson,

And how it's really affecting her relationship.

I filed for a divorce six months ago.

Ken has no emotional ties with alexander and dawson,

And I keep trying

To bring alexander, dawson and ken together.

What is it that ultimately breaks your heart?

Truthfully.

Because I feel like the kids deserve something better.

[Front door closes]

[Boy] dad!

[Boy] hey, dad. [Ken] hey, guys.

Having a divorce over your head for me,

It was like I was barely able to tread water,

And I've got all five of my kids and my wife

Trying to pull me under.

So exactly how long

Have you guys been living in the same space

With this energy between the pair of you?

Five years.

Within a couple months after we got together.

I get overwhelmed. I mean, I'm not gonna lie.

And it's easier for me just to...

"All right, nobody gets any more fun time."

You know, "go to your bedrooms. Just get out of my sight."

Right.

[Sighs]

They behave like they're divorced already.

I mean, the negative energy in this house

Has really started to show.

It is gonna be a challenge, it really is,

To turn this family around.

Coming up on...

It's one of jo's most emotional parent meetings ever.

Howdare you blame your children.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

All right...

You got dad.

Later on it was switch-off time, and vania was going off to work

And dad was supposed to be looking after the kids.

With ken focusing on the computer

And the younger ones doing their own thing,

It was a great opportunity

For me to sit down and speak to alex.

So who did all of this? Dawson.

If one of your brothers breaks something that belongs to you,

How does that make you feel?

It mostly makes me feel angry and sad.

So what do you do when you get really angry

Because somebody's broken one of your toys?

What's the first thing you go and do?

Do you have to hide your things

So that your brothers don't break them? Mm-hmm, yeah.

Whose things do you break?

As you can see, none of the siblings

Have respect for each other's belongings,

And that really does need to be corrected as soon as possible.

[Ken] let's go outside for just a little bit, guys.

Let's get our shoes on first, okay?

About time they got out and got some fresh air.

They've been in all day.

[Crying]

Alex, let him do it. Alex! Okay, look at me.

Look at me!

Alex, no. Get down, please.

The kids were just playing around,

And there it was-- ken picking holes in alex.

Alex! Let him have it, please.

Alexander knows how to push my buttons.

It can take him maybe ten seconds at the max

To make me go from calm to, "damn it, that's it."

Vania's already told me that the way ken treated

Alex and dawson-- from a previous marriage--

Was one of the reasons that she was filing for divorce.

[Exhales deeply]

So, ken? Yes?

I wanted to find out

How the threat of divorce was really affecting ken.

Your wife has mentioned a divorce.

It's a hard thing to have over your head.

I'm sick almost every morning just thinking about it.

Do you feel like you're walking on eggshells?

Yes.

I need vania to see it through my eyes

And understand how I'm feeling.

♪♪♪♪♪

[Jo] the minute mom got home, dad was gone.

[Ken] sorry. I gotta run.

[Jo] never mind these parents not being on the same page.

These parents ain't even in the same place at the same time!

Ken came home at the end of the day,

And there was still that tense feeling in the air.

And once again, there was no communication

Between the pair of them. I mean, what's up?

Dad, we're having root beer floats.

You're having root beer floats?

Yeah! Oh, my goodness. What do you tell mama?

[Dawson] thank you, mama. [Ken] all right.

[Boy] I don't want that one.

[Jo] what's ken kind of do when he gets home from work?

Um, he usually goes to the bedroom...mm-hmm.

And watches tv and goes on the computer.right.

I am usually cleaning up,

Getting everything ready for the next day,

Making this, getting the kids ready for bed.

[Jo] this is the first time that mom and dad

Have been in the house at the same time,

And they're still not talking to one another.

This is ridiculous!

Do you guys eat together at all, or...

[Vania] um, not usually.

[Jo] it was a long day,

And quite frankly, I'd seen enough,

And I know that I need to speak to vania and ken pronto.

♪♪♪♪♪

You do have five beautiful children,

And you are both very blessed.

But...

The pair of you are

In a very desperate situation right now.

Your kids are caught in the middle of this,

And they're helpless,

And you're blaming them

For the reason why you may get a divorce.

I'm gonna stand very firmly here and represent your children,

Because they don't have a voice, unfortunately.

So let's talk about it. Are you ready for this?

Yes.

Yes.

The pair of you tag team.

It's like clocking in and clocking out.

Why do you choose to do that rather than to parent together?

Because we can't agree on how to parent our kids.

I just feel that

A lot of things that happen-- she just lets them slide.

I try to go to ken...

[Sniffling] and when I do,

I feel like he doesn't listen to me.

So I got to a point

Where I don't even wanna discuss it with him.

But what's happening here

Is that the pair of you are pointing at one another

Instead of taking the responsibility together,

Because you continue to still go over the same grounds

And have the same results time and time again.

I mean, I love my kids. I really do.

It's almost like, you know,

If one or two of them turn out right, you know,

And the other three, you know, are--

Don't hate you for the rest of your lives

Because of things you've done or things you've said...

I haven't done the right things,

And I know that.

I keep thinking that maybe tomorrow will be a better day,

Maybe the next one could turn out right.

I find that unbelievable, ken.

I find thatunbelievable

That you have the audacity to say,

"I hope the next kid will turn out all right."

Howdare you blame your children for the way that they are,

When all they want to do

Is to please and to be accepted.

Where's the relationship between you and alex, ken?

It's hard to want to spend time with someone who...

Who will--you know, who I feel-- who doesn't respect me,

Who doesn't wanna listen,

Who doesn't wanna follow directions.

Why is he paying the price for that, ken?

And what support is he receiving from you

And from his mother here?

He needs you on his side.

Do you want to be together as a family?

Yes. Yes.

Are you both ready for some hard work?

Because it's not gonna be easy.

Absolutely. Yes.

[Jo] yes? Yes.

All right.

So let's get started straightaway.

Okay.

All right.

Coming up on...

Mom and dad air their grievances.

"My anger, my hurt..."

"Anger, frustration..."

And later, will ken salvage his relationship with alex?

Dad's made a lot of mistakes, a lot.

When "supernanny" returns.

But first, a tip from supernanny.

Parents, young children really don't have any concept of time,

But here's a simple solution to help them.

Get one clock and one happy face.

Stick the happy face on the clock,

And when the big hand reaches the happy face,

It's time to go.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] ken and vania

Are absolute that they want to remain together,

So I want to be able to give them

Positive written affirmation that will hold their commitment

And make their marriage work.

Okay, what we are about to do now is to move on.

Step one was for ken and vania to really air their issues.

They've been holding them back for so long.

Okay. Use this space here.

Whew!

I think I'm done. Good. Ken?

I think it's a good start. Yeah? Great. Okay.

Let's go into the other room.

[Jo] so once they had both finished--which didn't

Take 'em long--i then took 'em into the bedroom so they could

Air their grievances out of earshot from the kids.

Mom, I'd like you to read off what's on your paper.

"Anger, frustration,

"Lack of commitment, lack of trust,

"Lack of understanding, lack of patience

And no goals for the family."

Dad, read off what's on your paper.

[Sighs] I wrote, "pride, my unrealistic expectations,

"Stress, the power games with the children

And the competitiveness."

You ready to turn a new corner?

Yes. Yeah? Okay.

And step three, really,

Was to allow them both to let go of everything that was negative

And not allowing them to move forward together.

I'd like you to walk out of this room together

And take this into the living room

Because you're gonna burn those pieces of paper

And you're gonna let go.

You ready to do that together?

Yes! Yes.

Yeah? Take this then.

It felt very good to be able to burn the papers

Because it's giving us a better foot forward.

[Jo] 'cause where we going? Where are we going?

[Vania and ken] we're going forward. All right.

Finally, I had mom and dad signing an orthodox contract

That would allow them to moveforward and not back.

There it is.

Let's do it.

[Jo] this is a start

Of a brand-new beginning for them.

[Alex] mom, are you glad that we're doing this?

I'm excited, yes.

Are you happy?

I am.

This is a new start for us, all of us, our whole family.

The reason why we're doing this

Is so my mama won't divorce my dad,

So that way

We won't be broken apart and we won't have a nice family.

[Boys speaking indistinctly]

[Ken] there we go. [Jo] all right.

It's up. Good stuff.

Boys, can you just come all around here for a minute?

'Cause I want to talk to you

About something else we're gonna do now. Yeah, what?

With mom and dad well on the way,

I thought it was time to really work with the boys,

And I wanted to introduce a technique so that they could

Start to trust and respect each other's belongings.

Each child is going to find something very special,

And then you're going to choose a brother

To look after it for three days.

[Alex] without getting it ruined or broken? Correct, correct.

So let's start that then.

Let's go and have a look over and then find something.

Mom and dad, help the younger ones.

Once each boy had their toy in hand, we moved outside

So that I could see

Who they were going to entrust their toy with.

[Jo] alex, you start first.

However, what unfolded was that they weren't ready.

I want mom to take care of it.

You, dad. Me?

[Jo] it was really telling

Because none of the boys trusted each other,

And they all gave their toys to mom and dad,

Apart from one--brendon. He really got the ball rolling.

Um, alex.

Okay, I will do that.

Brendon picked me to hold his toy for three days

Because he trusted me, he believed in me.

He actually picked me.

[Jo] after brendon had given his toy to alex,

The other boys realized

That they would have to trust one of their brothers

To give their toy to.

I'm gonna choose christian to hold on to this.

Out of all the kids alexander could have chose,

He gave it to christian, the year old,

Which I thought was a major, major show of trust.

Okay, myca, I'll take care of your thing. [Jo] oh, myca!

It was kind of cool, and I told myca to watch my dinosaur,

And I'm watching his.

Yeah, who's gonna look after it? Which brother?

Okay, one of the boys.

I want brendon.

[Jo] brendon? Okay.

Good. Yay, brendon!

I am so curious

To see how the boys will look after each other's stuff.

Ken's rocky relationship with alex and dawson

Has really brought a lot of tension in the house,

So I think it's time

For some good old-fashioned father and son bonding.

So we're gonna work on one section of the car

At a time, okay? Make sure we get the whole thing,

And make it look good and make it look nice.

Come here, guys. I said we're gonna work on one section.

That means we'll just work on one side at a time. [Boy] yep.

Now watch what I do, so I know how the job's done right.

Dad needs a nudge and a push

To really have fun with the boys.

Dad? Yes?

This is about you being a family man with your kids...

Okay. And having a laugh doing this.

This is not you and--and "the workers."

Jo pointed out that

I was treating my older ones like employees.

You know, I had to step back and realize,

I even treat my employees better than I treat my sons.

[Laughing] aah!

Oh, yeah, dad?

[Laughs]

Dad--he had the hose, he put it in my shirt,

And I got all wet.

[Laughter]

Me and my dad and dawson were playing mechanics,

And we had really good fun. Ha ha ha ha!

If you have fun, it doesn't seem like work at all.

We played, we goofed around. It's amazing how quickly

You can get a lot of things accomplished.

Maybe we should do that a lot more often.

Weshould do it a lot more often. You guys are a big help.

[Jo] this was a huge improvement for ken and the boys.

These boys weretotally psyched because

They've not been used to having fun with their dad like this.

All right?

Coming up on...

Jo helps dad and alex take a big step forward.

I haven't been the father that I should be

Or that I can be.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] ken was doing really well with the boys,

But I still felt that there we issues

That needed to be addressed with ken and alex,

And I wanted them to spend special time together

With something that meant a lot to them both.

You want him to have a special relationship with you

Because you're his dad.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Very good.

[Speaking indistinctly]

There I go again.

[Sighs] okay.

I am ready.

The point of dad sitting down with alex

Is to show alex

That there are times when dad's judgment's been wrong

And that he's human and he makes mistakes.

I want to begin with this-- I want to apologize,

Because dad's made a lot of mistakes,

A lot.

[Ken] I have a hard time looking alex in the eye,

And it's because I am ashamed because of the way I've--

Some of the things I've done in the past.

I haven't been the father that I should be

Or that I can be.

You are a good kid.

You're my son,

And you're growing into a man right now,

And I wanna be there and I wanna be your father.

Today we're starting-- we're moving forward,

And we're gonna let go.

You have asked me several times

To teach you how to play the piano,

And so we're gonna have our first lesson today.

[Laughs]

Okay?okay.

Thank you. I love you.

I love you, too.

Okay?

That was one of the first times I had done that.

I looked him in the eye, and I said, "you know what?

"I want to start today

"By building a relationship with you.

"I want to have fun with you,

And I want to enjoy spending time with you."

First thing you need to do... Yeah?

Is I want you to sit up right at the piano, okay?

This is good. Back straight.

"A," "b," "c," "d"...

"E," "f," "g."

What do you think this one is?

"A." Very good.

Knowing the alphabet,

You know all the keys on the piano already.

I was proud about the piano, 'cause when my dad taught me

How to play the piano, it made me feel good.

The piano is really great to play.

You get to express your feelings.

You want it to come from your hands and your wrists,

Not from your body 'cause pretty soon your whole body's

Gonna be moving back and forth on the bench,

And you're gonna get splinters in your butt.

Ouch.

[Laughs]

I'm teasing you. It's a joke. Hey...

Okay?

Let's try again. Let's play together.

One, two, three, four,

Five. I'm not very good.

It will come with it 'cause you've gotta build up strength.

[Whispers] he's smiling. [Ken] there you go.

This one's hard.

Yes, it is. Keep it bent and not straight.

This is good! [Ken] yeah.

This is great watching you.

[Jo] let daddy give you a hug.

[Vania] alexander came out of the house

After having played the piano with ken,

And his face was lit up,

And his eyes were bright and shining.

He couldn't stop smiling. [Sniffling]

I haven't seen alexander's face light up like that...

Not in years.

♪♪♪♪♪

What's gonna happen today, ken, is that you're gonna coach.

[Both laugh]

They're boys, okay?

Up until now,

I hadn't seen this family spend any quality time together,

So it was time for them to go and play some footy

And enjoy it together as a family.

[Ken] all right, what team's name should we come up with?

[Christian] sonics.

You want--who wants sonics? Raise your hand.

[Boys] I do.

[Ken] you do? All right, we're team sonic. Good job.

[Vania] that's a great name.

And that field is half a block away from my house,

And that's the first time that we've been in that field.

Here, mom. You need... [Laughs] [vania] all right!

It was so important for ken and vania

Just to let their hair down

And have some serious fun with the boys.

So what we need to do-- let's line up.

I want you guys to go and let's make a big circle.

We're gonna kick the ball to each other.

We're gonna practice our foot skills, okay? Go ahead.

Kind of move in with the ball. Okay? Now go forward. Okay.

[Laughs] sorry. Ow!

[Laughs]

Today is cooler.

I'm gonna play soccer with my mom and dad at the park!

And it's real fun.

[Laughs]

[Ken] whoa!

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, whoa!

[Ken] oh, here we go! Uh-oh! Uh-oh, quick!

Come on, kick it. Get it. Go, go! Go!

We don't get to do a lot of stuff

Because my parents are really busy.

I wish this happens a lot more often.

This is the first time...

That I've seen you both in the same space

With your kids getting both of you--

Having fun out together,

Doing something active and enjoying it.

How's that feel?

It's a family. [Laughs]

It's wonderful. This is what I wanted.

Well, when we were playing soccer,

It made me feel excited that we got to spend special time.

We've seen constant clock in, clock out,

Clock in, clock out.

It's about together, spending time together

And having fun with your children,

And that's what they're seeing today.

All said and done,

This family were making good progress forward,

And so I felt it was a realistic time to leave them on their own.

[Ken] come on, hurry! Let's get up. Hurry!

[Christian crying]

That was good! That's good stuff. It's good stuff.

[Laughs] it is. It is.

Um, I don't know about the football skills.

Maybe you could work on that a bit yourself.

I'm a little bit scared to have jo gone.

[Laughter]

Oh, my gosh. I have to do this on my own.

But I just had to keep thinking about the basics

And the things that she taught us and being consistent.

[Screams and laughter]

[Jo] for me, it's gonna be really interesting

Just to see how they get on without me around.

Coming up on...

Can ken keep it together without jo?

[Exhales deeply]

And later, vania gets separation anxiety.

How can ken trust me when I have this over this head?

When "supernanny" returns.

But first, a tip from supernanny.

Parents, your kids want everything they see

In the grocery store.

Well, to avoid that, pack a little goody bag

With some carrots, fruits and perhaps even a cookie

So they can keep their eyes on their goodies instead.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] when I left, the swansons were on the right track

And moving forward, but I am a bit worried

That they may start to revert back, so let's take a look.

Ready? Yeah.

You sure? I'm ready.

Yes. [Sighs]

You ready? Here we go.

Here we go.

[Laughing]

[Laughs]

[Laughter]

Roar!

Pile on dad!

[Grunting]

[Laughs] oh, that was so heavy, too.

It's fun, though. It's fun.

See, that's the kind of stuff they like, right?

Yeah. [Laughs]

You know, you got five boys there.

They want to rough and tumble.

They like to do it, so remember,

There have got to be a lot of times

Where not everything's regimented.

Who knows what this game is? Yeah. Chutes and ladders.

Chutes and ladders.

Christian. Spin.

What is that? [Babbles]

Yeah, that's a three.

Okay, you gonna help me count?

One... Two, three.

Rock on. All right.

Whoosh.

It's kinda good, right?

So far. [Laughs]

You did very well with regards

To getting them all together

And sitting down, playing a board game,

Which I was very pleased to see, ken.

So today I wanna get the house cleaned up. Yeah.

I would like to go and get baskets for the kids' rooms,

Their own basket of toys-- that's their toys.

I'll give you another update, too. While you were out,

Christian's gotten a warning for sitting on the table.

Alexander's gotten a warning for pulling toys

Away from people, and myca's got a warning

Because he swing the snake. I love the way you were communicating

About what needed to happen during the day, because

That allows you both to be on the same page. That was good. All right.

[Whines] no. No.

Okay, that is unacceptable behavior. This is your warning.

This is inappropriate behavior for you to not listen to mommy.

This is unacceptable behavior.

This is inappropriate behavior. That is inappropriate behavior.

That is unacceptable. This is inappropriate behavior.

"That is unacceptable. That's inappropriate.

That's your warning." There's never any explanation about why.

I want you in the naughty corner.

I think we need to take a trip to the naughty corner.

I want you to step away from the table

And in your naughty corner, please.

I want you to go in the naughty corner. [Laughing]

No, no, no, no.

This behavior is unacceptable.

What's not acceptable? We were supposed to be laying down and taking our naps,

Next thing you know, there was laughing, screaming, giggling,

Instead of laying down and being calm.

[Giggles] I am putting you in this naughty corner.

I am putting you in this naughty corner,

Because this behavior is unacceptable.

[Laughs] brendon, stay right there.

[Squealing and laughing]

[Squeals]

What did you think of that piece of footage you just saw?

It's pretty bad. My kids didn't learn anything,

And I obviously wasn't learning anything.

Oh, they did learn something. They did learn.

They learnt that when we laughed and had fun

In the bedroom, we got put in the naughty corner.

Straightaway, you want to put them in the naughty corner.

It's being overused and abused.

What does it teach 'em if you just put 'em in the corner? Yeah.

I think this just reaffirms a lot of things.

I'm recognizing a lot of patterns of my behavior

That I wasn't, or refusing to recognize before.

You're on the first steps of a long journey. You really are.

You're beginning to become aware of how you're behaving.

We have seen some good stuff.

I'm gonna be here with the pair of you,

Really tweaking some of the stuff

That we need to get underneath our belts. Any questions?

I don't think so. Fine, okay.

So let's carry on and do some more work, then. Okay.

Coming up on...

Vania had the big decision to make...

Yesterday I had gone to the courthouse.

When "supernanny" returns.

♪ Be good, be good ♪

[Jo] a big problem in this house

Is that the boys wreck each other's toys,

So the other day before I left, I gave them an exercise

To trust each other with their toys.

Let's see how they got on. I wonder if they found some trust.

Alex, who had yours?

Christian.

Christian. Okay.

And what happened? Did it break, or is it safe? Safe.

All right. Okay. Well done, christian.

Now, brendon, what was you given to look after?

Poobah. Poobah? Where is that?

I can find it.

[Grunts]

Yay!

Okay, well done, brendon.

I'm very proud at how well they did.

I wasn't expecting it to go as well,

But they were proud of themselves.

Hey. All right. Okay, well done, christian.

[Ken] way to go , christian.

Christian made me feel proud that I actually trusted him.

[Jo] it was amazing. Who would have thought

That five brothers were sharing for the first time?

Well done, all of you. Very proud to see.

We're gonna do an exercise course.

I had one final activity for the family

That would really incorporate a lot of teamwork,

But really, what I wanted to do was to pair up alex and ken.

And what this is gonna take is teamwork

And coordination and communication.

When I first arrived,

Ken and alex were hardly talking to one another,

And I hoped that this game would show them

Just how far they've come together.

What would be good to see

Is you working with dad. Okay?

When jo told alexander that he was gonna be my partner,

His face just lit up, and it was precious, 'cause two weeks ago,

Both of us would be like, "oh, crap." So let's go have some fun.

All right. Go out there and play.

Once they'd completed the course,

They would have an envelope to open that would have

A special message for them to put together.

On your marks... Can you get on the middle leg?

[Brendon] go!

[Jo] okay, get that. Whoo! [Laughing]

One, two, one, two. [Vania] it was neat to see

Ken and alexander working together and being excited

And working on that relationship between them.

All right, now we gotta take this off.

Left... Right... Easy, put it back on.

Nice and easy. All right.

Here we go. Nice and easy.

Yeah. I do love my dad.

He's a really good dad. Oh.

What is it? Cool!

Keep going, keep pulling. Very good, christian.

Okay, so what do we have?

There we go.see it?

We're almost done.

Oh. Family in a heart.

Yeah. It's a big heart.

Alexander took the heart and just kind of trashed it.

And he said, "this is how our family used to be."

And then he put it back together.

It's a big heart with "family" on it, and I said,

"This is how it is now."

One... Big... Heart of a family.

Can't say it any better than that.

[Jo] the swansons were really feeling

The family they wanted to be,

Which was great, but vania still had one issue

That she wanted to take care of at the end of the day.

How can ken trust me when I have this over his head?

And how can I build that trust with him?

And so this is a step

Of having him be able to trust me

And know how committed I am.

I want the peanut butter pop.

Um, so...

Yesterday I had gone to the courthouse,

Then I filed for the papers

To have this divorce dismissed...

And this is the paper.

I want to see.

I never knew what it was.

[Mouths words]

I'm really real proud of you, mom.

We're all proud of mama.

I needed to give ken a sense of hope,

A sense of security with me

And our marriage and where we're going.

And so I decided that, you know what?

It was time for me to drop the divorce

And work as hard as we possibly can

To make things work.

I love you. Love you, mom.

Very good. All right.

Mama!

Come here.

Family hug.

When I found out that vania

Had actually dissolved the petition for divorce,

There was just so much emotions flooding in,

Because every day I've woken up

For the last six and a half months

Knowing that today could be the day,

And there is just an uneasiness

That is gone now for me.

How does it feel, alex? Good.

This family have made great strides in moving forward,

And so I knew it was time for me to move on.

Thank you. Give me a hug and kiss. Mwah.

I wish jo can stay. I wish she could stay here forever!

Oh, the heart for me.

Thank you very much, and you cut it out. Aw.

Thank you very much, alex. I love you.

Thank you very much.

I have had fun with jo this past week.

You know, when I first walked in here,

There was a lot of mayhem,

And the one thing I feel has come out of this

Is a lot of personal growth between the pair of you

And a lot of steps forward.

A lot. A lot of steps forward.

So thank you for allowing me into your home.

Thank you for coming.

Jo, I cannot express to you how much

Your coming to my house meant.

And just know that you brought a family closer together today.

We're not going anywhere,

And we're only gonna be stronger.

[Vania] there are not words that can describe

The confidence that I'm having as a parent,

And the changes we're seeing in the kids,

The changes I'm seeing in my husband.

Just thank you.

Take care.we will.

I feel really proud of ken and vania,

Because they've worked really hard together.

They've made a choice to stay together,

And they're working hard every day

In having the family that they want.

♪♪♪♪♪

Good job. You're learning.

All right, now we gotta drop the car.

I was really shocked at how much--

How many opportunities I missed.

I mean, there's so much more I could show them

And so much more I want to show them. I'm enjoying it,

And I'm enjoying being around them a lot more.

Whoa! [Laughs]

High five! Way to go!

[Vania] ken and I are talking about everything together,

And it's completely different.

Thank you. The peace that I've had around my house--

I'm not afraid to come in the house.

I want to play the games. I want to have the fun time,

And it starts with everybody getting along.

Let's have fun, okay?

All right, the first person that falls in has gotta eat a worm.

Now we're gonna do a lot more stuff together as a family.

Dad, I got a big one!

[Ken] yeah, you do.

One big family.

He got one! He got one!

I miss jo jo.

We have dreams. We have goals.

We have--i mean, we have a hope for the future,

And that did not exist.

Okay, can you roll-- reel it in,

And then can you cast, or you want me to cast? I want you...

I think every child that has a parent

Should spend more time with them.

[Ken] I have learned to enjoy my family,

Learned to, you know, appreciate my sons

For who they are and what they want,

And the things that they need,

And I have so much hope for the future

That, uh, I see my family getting back

To what I envision a family always to be.

Um...

Um...

♪♪♪♪♪