Did anybody else watch the preview of Wife Swap tonight? It was on ABC and was similar to Trading Spouses, except no money is involved. ABC said Fox stole their idea (which they got from a U.K. show) and Fox rushed to get onto the air before ABC’s program.
I was surprised by how good it was. The really good episode will be on Wednesday. A multi-millionaire mom, Jodi switches homes with a working class mom.
I saw it tonight. It was pretty interesting. I thought the person that would be the most rigid and unwilling to change, the super clean mom, would be the one to go back to her old ways as soon as they went back home. Instead, the other mom was the one to go back to her old ways. I was shocked when she told the other mom that she hated her. It wasn’t exactly the most mature reaction.
And let’s be honest here, her house was filthy. I honestly don’t know how the other mom did it. 25 pets in the house. :eek:
I only caught the last half.
I’ve never had much sympathy or patience for people who abide stinky homes in the name of “love”. Pets need clean surroundings too.
Looks like Zoo Mom saw that motto “My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy” and forgot the first part.
If your house stinks, it’s time to stop playing for a minute and get out the Lysol. There’s nothing wrong with a clean house, it doesn’t mean you’re neglecting your family’s emotional needs.
What kind of pets did Tidy-Mom remove? That can be traumatic for the pets, and I can understand Zoo Mom’s anger.
Lots of beasts that poop and prowl, including a tarantula, a baby kangaroo, several cats and a ferret. Once they did the establishing shot of the two-year old cleaning up animal droppings with a dry paper towel, I just sort of squelched my gag reflex and repressed as much as I could.
Zoo Mom is one of those people who equates household pets as equal members of the human family; that’s an attitude I’ve never shared. Tidy Mom is a clean freak with major control issues. Daily cleaning is one thing; five hours of daily cleaning, scheduling, chores and list-making means you clearly need more constructive things to do in your life.
There was plenty of room in the middle for these two families to meet.
People can get very emotionally attached to their pets. My last dog has been dead for about 6 years and I still miss him on occasion. 25 animals is a bit much and I’m not sure how emotionally attached the kids really were to the animals. Were they upset that their beloved pets were gone or was it more about having their routine disrupted?
I did love it when the son of the dirty family complained about not being “consulted” about the changes. I thought his father handled it in a calm cool manner.
Marc
Tidy Mom did a major job cleaning Zoo Mom’s house, which means the pets had to (temporarily) go. They were in storage, somewhere – undoubtedly being fed, cleaned and with any luck, fumigated and deloused. Zoo Dad and Tidy Mom phrased it very carefully – that the pets were on “vacation” and they’d be back Monday. If only Tidy Mom had kept her mouth shut at that point, everything would’ve been less tense – but she opened her mouth and said something along the lines of, “I wanted you to see how much simpler your life could be without all those things” – and Zoo Mom got bent out of shape that Tidy Mom referred to the pets as “things” and started screaming how evil Tidy Mom was.
In case it’s not clear, I thought Zoo Mom was waaaAAAy over the top.
Tidy Mom was right about one thing – Zoo Parents needed some major parenting skills and limits for the kids, as well as organizing and cleaning of the house.
I will give Zoo Mom credit for breathing a little life into Tidy Mom’s extremely sterile home – the plants, fish and cat were all good ideas, as was getting Tidy Dad to play his guitar openly in his own home and on stage at the jazz place.
Funniest moment: When Tidy Dad started to relax a little, and began stroking the cat without really being aware of it, and then became extremely self-conscious that he was stroking the cat. Cracked. Me. Up.
Loved the show! I thought it was great that the moms acted like the regular moms for a while and then came in with the ‘new rules’. AND they wrapped it up in one episode, unlike Fox’s show.
Tidy Mom was definetly in the right. I’m sorry, but Zoo Mom’s shrieking of how dare she take family members out of the hoouse… um… aren’t you a family member, Zoo Mom? And weren’t you out of the house for 2 weeks? So why can’t these other ‘family members’ take a week vacation?
Zoo Mom’s family was a disgrace. That house was beyond dirty! It seemed like Zoo Parents never grew up and still lived like they were in their 20s. And this showed the problem with trying to be ‘friends’ with your kids. A 2 year old, staying up past midnight?! Your teen kids having sleepovers where no one sleeps until 7 in the morning? (I’m sure the sleepover kids’ parents didn’t know about that). I mean they never became ‘parents’.
And no dining room table?! That was ridiculous! Just eat in front of the tv… um… yeah.
Besides, I think a 3/4/5 bedroom house with 25 pets MUST violate a city ordinance… and by a lot!
I thought it was sweet when they showed the clean mom, playing with the cat, listening to her husband play guitar on the porch, and letting her son have friends over and actually (gasp) make noise. The zoo mom liked to think she could add joy and life to the other family, while the clean mom had nothing to offer her family.
I think fireman dad enjoyed the picked up house and increased parental responsibility.
By about 22 animals. Most zoning codes limit the amount of uncaged animals (dogs, cats, etc) to three. Exotics, such as the kangaroo, would usually need a special use permit.
Seriously, for some reason I was thinking about the SDMB reaction while I was watching the show, believeing that there would be overwhelming support and sympathy for Zoo Mom, rather than Anal Mom. Why? I don’t know.
Personally, I thoguht they were both over the top. However, the fact that the MILFalicious Anal Mom was married to a nerdy, milquetoasty husband gave me just a glimmer of hope. Maybe there is somebody for everybone.
I think there would have been, if Zoo Mom wouldn’t have created such a scene at the meeting. The “I hate you” was a little over the top.
How was OCD mom going to clean the house with 25+ animals in the house. She said she kept three, and had the others boarded. It’s not like she dropped them off at the pound.
And when zoo mom was complaining about the direction the new dining room table faced, I lost even more respect for her.
Somebody for everyone. Freudian brain fart.
I think the answer the reason there isn’t a lot of support for Zoo Mom is precisely because there are so many animal lovers on SMDB. I’m an animal lover (was a third generation pet store owner) and live in a house with lots of animals, although granted, nowhere near the level of zoo mom. I am appalled when I see or hear of situations like what was shown last night. I consider my animals part of my family, and my family, both human and pet, deserves a safe, clean environment to live in. When the house reeks and there’s fecal matter crusted on the floors, there’s a major problem that needs addressing.
Yeah, I mean would you want your human family members to live in that filth? In Zoo Mom’s house the human and animal family members live in total filth. It was just a disgusting house.
Secondly, when there is THAT many animals in the house, is there an attachment to any one of them? I seem to recall the kids, when they noticed all the animals were gone, said “Where’s our STUFF”. ‘Stuff’? Seems almost like they treat the animals more as entertainment than family members.
Bingo.
But you have to give her some props for the interaction with Tidy Kid, and getting them to come out of their rooms. His inclusion of “Find him a cute kitten” on the list about broke my heart. Even worse was Tidy Dad’s response to the kitten, saying teenagers are completely unable to care for an animal. Wow, what a pathetic display of confidence in both your child and your own parenting abilities.
And can we all agree that anyone who insists that your spouse drink coffee with a straw to prevent teeth-stains is a complete head case?
Am I the only one watching this? I was surprised that Jodi actually seemed to make an attempt to learn from the experience. Steven on the other hand?!?!
I guess I’m showing class bias, but I do like it when members of the the so-called “higher class” show their complete lack of any. (Class.)
Steven is a complete boor. Poor Jodi, when she watches the show.
“You have a paper route or something?” “Is it country bumpkin night?”
Too bad he couldn’t have followed the rules the way the other husband did. What an ass. Jodi showed some honest character. What a contrast.
And somebody needs to get their money back for that $500 haircut. I couldn’t see any difference.