Darn Divorce

Courtesy of Daily Record

When Ellensburg residents Vania and Ken Swanson were having difficulty with their marriage and were on the brink of divorce, help came from an unlikely source - a television program.

Vania filed divorce papers in March 2006 and six months later the couple were being filmed for the reality-TV show “Supernanny.” She credits being on the program with saving her marriage.

“It prevented us from being a divorce statistic,” she said.

The show follows Jo Frost, a.k.a. Supernanny, as she assists parents with everyday obstacles that come with raising children. She observes how parents interact with their young children and teaches them techniques for how to better raise them.

Once she demonstrates her parenting style the parents spend several days with their children without Frost and attempt to implement her teachings. After a few days Frost revisits the family at the end of the program to track their progress and give them advice to help keep them stay on track for the future.

Vania said the pair were on the brink of divorce because they had different approaches toward parenting their five children, all boys, ranging in age from 3 to 9-years-old.

After a six-month review process, Ken, Vania and their children were filmed for two weeks during September and the episode featuring the Swansons is set to air tonight at 9 p.m. on ABC.

“I tended to be more relaxed and Ken is more strict,” said Vania. “We would end up fighting with each other over how to discipline our children for hours.”

The couple was selected to be on the show after Ken viewed an episode while staying in a hotel room and decided to send in an application.

“At the end of the show I realized that we have a lot of those same problems and I saw the call for people interested and I thought if this can save my marriage then it’s worth it,” he said.

“When we told people we were going to be on the show they would ask ‘Are your kids really that bad?’ and I would say ‘No, we just need help being parents.’”

Vania said Supernanny’s intervention taught the couple how to communicate better, compromise during disagreements and set up positive reinforcement reward systems for their children.

The family plans on watching the show at their Willow Street home with friends and prior to the show they will appear on “Northwest Afternoon” and tape interviews for the 4 o’clock and 11 o’clock news on KOMO TV.

Ken said he is a bit nervous about being on the show, but after going through the filming process and learning better parenting skills, he has a different perspective on what matters most to him.

“They could make me look like the biggest redneck jerk, but what matters is that I have a beautiful wife and beautiful children,” Ken said. “That’s what matters - my family.”

Supernanny Jo Frost on working with the Swanson family when interviewed in September:

“It’s been very exhilarating working with this family in particular because there is so much emotion involved and it’s clear that the parents really care about each other and their children.”