It Starts With Us

I've never been a big TV person; I'd rather spend time on the computer and browsing the net. But when I do sit down to watch television, one of my favorite shows is Super Nanny.

If you've never seen it, I'll give you a quick synopsis. JoJo (aka Super Nanny) goes to a family's home with unruly kids. She observes their situation, gives parents a plan of attack and then helps them follow through with it. It's entertaining, but it's also helped give me preemptive ideas in my classroom and now, with my own boys. (If nothing else, I love listening to her British accent talk about doing things "whilst cleaning" and "togeva." :)

When you watch the show, they'll be situations where you may think, "I just don't think these kids are going to change!" Some families just seem impossible to fix. The kids are grown, swearing at their parents and refusing to listen. They smash walls, yell and physically attack their siblings.

But do you know what? Every single show has a happy ending. Every. Single. One. That's because no family is beyond hope.

As I'm watching the show, I always think about how JoJo's ideas are going to change the kids. And by the end of the show, they do seem different. But do you know what I realized? It starts with the parents.

JoJo doesn't take the kids aside and lay out consequences for their actions. Instead, she assists the parents in establishing a new routine, encouraging them not to yell and motivates them to spend more time with their children. She goes along side them to be sure they have the correct tools, redirecting them and giving them encouragement where they need it most. And it works!

Kids are starving for attention. Our attention. Perhaps some of these kids would respond if JoJo took a personal interest in them and there would be some kind of visible change. But it would only be temporary. The biggest changes occur when the parents are the first to step up.

It's up to us to decide what kind of environment we want for our family.

What kind of home are you creating? Is it one of peace or chaos? Is it loud or calm? Whatever the answer, we can be sure it's no secret to other people. They can see it in our kids.