ALRIGHTTTTT watching Supernanny and Jo Frost is giving me mad Barnes vibes rn JSJSJJS Concept, Barnes, a strict, but warm father freshly discharged from the army goes viral after a clip of him calming down a tantrum throwing little boy in the middle of a restaurant impresses the internet ( And grants him some admirers here and there). He doesn't entirely understand why patience and basic respect has to be awarded neccesarily, but he just goes with the flow.
Eventually, the media starts to grow on him with rapid fire and he's soon offered a hosting job for a TV program. What is it exactly? Help stressed out, overwhelmed, in the soup parents deal with one hell of a domestic mess.
Barnes takes it, because, well, it's a good excuse to get out of the house more, try to help people, while also making some money on the side. Plus, he really does love children and wants to create as many loving, functional homes for them as possible.
I like to imagine that his experience as a writer AND a Sargent really shaped his people and action coordination quite well; Aside from having his own children to take example from, he identifies problems in the guardians first, as the pattern of behavior from the parental units will reflect onto their children and their comportamental development with age.
Your kid is yelling, resorts to throwing things around, or has a random outburst when they're alone? The parents more likely need to pay more attention to them as they feel neglected. In these cases, kids are deprived from any type of attention other than correctional, so that's the only way they think will grab your attention.
Kids will want to test your limits and boundaries; More often than not parents on the show would drag their kids around like rag dolls, put them in corners or physically reprimand them to establish consequences instead of order or authority.
Aka Barnes watches idiot #1 (Karen, 34, has 4 kids she mixes up all the time and doesn't know what a vaccine is, has a haircut from Wedding Crashers, screams at baristas for getting her order wrong) drag a crying, screaming kid around the room while idiot #2 (Frank, 46, never changed a diaper in his entire life, never helps around, works at a gas station and wears sunglasses indoors, has a closer relationship with his truck than any of his kids) stares and acts like a blow up doll, then gives the camera his best bitch face.
" what exactly are you doing?"
"Disciplining them, like you told me to!"
"This is not discipline. You're not explaining anything, you're not exerting any dignified authority, and you're not putting yourself above their level. They're kids. You're a grown ass woman and their mom, whining louder than they are. You're not giving them a worthy example to follow by arguing with them. No respectable adult argues with a 3 year old."
The Franks in this show are known for being neglectful, clueless man children than have no idea what healthy communication looks like and instead choose cheap and inefficient but fast methods applied to them as children because it's easier and the easy way out, but try to act like child psychologists when confronted on how shitty they are lol
"So I've noticed that you're not exactly present in your kid's lives but still demand their full respect."
"Well yeah, as a parent I feel like that's very important. Discipline them and all that. "
"Right, but aside from that, what other interactions do you have with your children? Do you play, do you talk?"
"... I just feel like it gets old, you know, at a certain age. Like, they won't even remember, so what's the point?"
" What's the point? Of showing your kids affection and love? Showing them that you want to spend time with them? By that logic, you shouldn't bother yelling in their ear about respecting your authority since it wont stick either."
"Well I just feel like that's a little different, for example your kids respect you right? So you had to take measures with them young. "
"My kids respect me because they know I love them and want what's best for them. And we have our arguments too, but the difference is that we establish communication where we know theres love on both sides. I don't immediately ignore them after I chew them out for a mistake and only pay attention to them because my wife nags me when they do something bad next time."
"... I have a slight feeling you're hinting I'm not a good parent."
Barnes, looks into the camera like he's in the Office: "Bobby isn't an intellectual, to put it mildly."
A lot of parents also assume the only form of correction has to be physical and expect Barnes to approve of it, even after he shows he's appalled by the idea.
"You've never spanked your kids before?? But they're so well behaved!"
No. My mother beat the [redacted] out of me when I was a kid, I don't hit or spank or anything, because its useless and a temporary solution to permanent issues. Have you tried just? Talking to them? Let them calm down and explain? Why is violence your first option when discipling your kids?"
" Well, because they won't show respect me otherwise!"
"Well, why don't you try having a character worth respecting??"
Most often than healthy, people mix up fear and respect, and obedience as politeness; "You don't seem to get it, but my children aren't afraid of me. That's not my goal as a parent, and that's not what I want to teach them. "
" But you get it, you're a strict parent too. We're just trying to protect them. "
"You're not strict, you're controlling. Theres a very big difference. Being strict means that you impose a set of rules crucial to your child's well being and safety; For example, my son, Viktor is 15 at the moment. He makes sure I meet any potential friends and their family before he starts hanging out with that person, and he knows he has to let his mom or uncles know hes out late or else he's grounded, plus ask mine or her permission for that. Kids NEED rules and order, but if you suffocate and overwhelm them they'll know you don't trust them."
Hes the Gordon Ramsey of Nannies, meaning that people ask for his help then get mad when he tells them they need improvement KSKSJSJS
There's at least 100, 20 minute YouTube compilations of him being cute with the kids and him yelling at the parents JSJSJSJS
Episodes end with the kids telling him they like him more than their mom or dad and cling to his legs not to leave JSNSJS