Banjany family update

How is the cookie crumbling for the Banjanys?

Supernanny fans could relate to Lisa Banjany even if they didn’t work from home like this busy New York mom: let’s face it, whose kid doesn’t have a built-in proximity detector that sounds the alarm the second we sneak off to do something important that isn’t all about them?

Lisa was over the moon when the Banjany family was selected for the show. “I was a big Supernanny fan already,” she says. “And it all happened so fast – it was so exciting.” She can’t praise Jo Frost enough for her insight into how kids’ minds (and parent’s minds!) work. “She wasn’t judgmental – she knew that sometimes parents have to take shortcuts. She didn’t think we were bad parents for taking them but she did try to show us how they can often just make the problems worse in the long term even if they might seem to solve things then and there.” Like their fellow Supernanny parents, both Lisa and Rich found Jo really warm and down-to-earth. “The kids loved her from the moment she set foot inside the door, Blake especially.”

Lisa and husband Rich are still running their gourmet cookie business, Confuzzled Cookies, and the tempting treats are still flying out the door pretty much the moment they’re boxed up. “Before Jo came we had no organization at all,” Lisa remembers. “The kids were pretty much running the show.” You’ll likely remember that one big issue Lisa and Rich faced was keeping the kids occupied when they worked and Lisa has found that Jo Frost’s little ‘do not disturb – mom working!’ trick has really worked for her. “Establishing that boundary across the kitchen works so well,” she confirms. “I really didn’t think the kids would respect it once Jo had left but they do – it’s a brilliant psychological barrier that means we can get on without feeling guilty that we’re ignoring the kids while they pester us!”

One way Lisa and Rich had been dealing with the kids while they worked was by feeding them a constant supply of snacks, with the result that twins Cameron and Zoe, 5, and Blake, 3, were effectively camped out beside the refrigerator waiting for the next tasty morsel – and forget healthy meals… they were too full to eat at dinner time. Here’s where Supernanny’s tried-and-tested snack box technique came into play. And Lisa is still using it when the kids aren’t at school.

Viewers will definitely recall the famous three and a half hour record Zoe set in refusing to stay put for a five-minute timeout. “If Jo hadn’t been there with me I would have definitely given in,” says Lisa. “But as it is I feel I really turned a corner that day when it came to being firm with the kids – and it proved that I’d be following through. And what about Blake’s dressing up habit? Dad Rich had been a tad worried about it but he’s much more relaxed now. “Blake still plays more with Zoe than he does with Cameron,” says Lisa. “And he even has a doll… a boy doll!”

 

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