Nanny 911

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

17 Apr 2008 12:07 PM

"Nanny 911" is a reality TV show which is geared toward helping parents learn how to manage their children. The stars are Nanny Deb, Nanny Stella, and Nanny Yvonne who go out to different homes, stay for a week, observe the conditions and routines within that home, and then decide what needs to be done. Each episode features a different nanny, as they rotate who goes to which home.

The first day with the family, the nanny simply observes. Usually, the nanny is called in because the children are out of control and one or the other (sometimes both) of the parents are at their wits' end. The nanny just takes notes on what she observes, and at the end of the day, she has a pretty clear idea of the problems faced by the family. That night she comes up with her plan of action, and on the morning of day two, she introduces rules to the family that they should follow in order to start bringing the house into a better state of control.

Generally speaking, everyone gets on board for about fifteen minutes, and then someone in the family starts to rebel. Often it's one of the children, but, interestingly enough, much of the time it's a parent. The nanny works with the person who's feeling resistant and helps them to understand that the suggested changes are for the good of the family. By the end of the week, everyone is cooperating and things are running more smoothly.

I enjoy watching this show because it helps me understand things I can do to create a more loving atmosphere for my children. Oftentimes, when the nanny outlines what the family needs to do, it all comes back to the parent. The parent needs to be more consistent or firm or pay more attention, and I can see by watching the show how my attitudes and my behaviors influence my family.

Interestingly enough, my children often watch the show of their own choice. It comes on every day on CMT as well as appearing Monday nights on Fox, and they like to see how the families solve their problems. They, too, can draw the correlation between what is happening on the screen and what we can do in our own home to solve problems.

Rather than just being a show that we watch for shock value, "Nanny 911" is a show we learn from. It's TV well worth watching in our house.

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Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I've been a blogger for Families.com since August of 2006.

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