Appearing on the ABC reality series "Supernanny" wasn't really Utahn Karolee Goins' idea. Despite her friend's urging, she had serious misgivings.
"I was kind of like, 'No. I'm not going to.' And my friend was, like, 'You need to,"' Goins said.
Jay and Karolee Goins are the parents of three — soon to be four — children. Not only do they have three young boys — Khalin, 7; Kolben, 5 1/2; and Kadence, who just turned 3 — but their oldest has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
"I just didn't really know how to deal with him the proper way," Karolee Goins said. "I knew that he had this problem and I had been reading books.... But when you're involved and it's personal, it's just kind of hard to step back and do the right thing."
"Supernanny" sent a photographer to the Goins home in Sandy, and he came away with some startling footage of the children pretty much out of control.
"When they said they were going to submit it to the network, we started getting nervous," Karolee Goins said. "My husband didn't want to do it ... so the producers had to convince him.
"I didn't really know what to expect. I was kind of skeptical as to how they could really turn things around."
Goins' attitude about the show turned around when she met the "Supernanny" herself, Jo Frost.
"She is so nice. She is really neat," she said "The thing that I really liked about her is that she was very nice but very professional. She kind of had two ways about her. She could be really nice and make you feel comfortable, but then she could really tell you how it is.
"I think that's really important, to have her tell you the negative things and the bad things. But it kind of takes you off guard because she'll sit down with you and she'll really let you have it."
Frost helped the Goinses understand their children and each other. Jay had to wear a heavy backpack to understand what it was like for his wife to cart kids around all day and was told to get more involved with the children; Karolee was given an exercise to show what it's like to have ADHD and told to be more compassionate and less controlling.
"I didn't really understand how I was supposed to do all that," Karolee Goins said. "It wasn't until she showed us the clip of me disciplining him (Khalin) — I didn't realize until that moment what she was talking about. Instead of being caught up in the moment, I could watch that and really understand how it was affecting him.... Since she left, I've noticed a big difference with him, and our relationship has been a lot better because I can really step back and be more loving to him and more understanding."
Two months later, Frost's lessons seem to be working.
"It has definitely made things better," Karolee Goins said. "The biggest thing was having Jo here and actually telling the kids so they were hearing it from somebody else.... They've learned from the show and from Jo being here that warning will go to time-out. It doesn't seem that we're having to put them in time-out as often. That's really cool."
And it's not just the children who have changed. Karolee Goins admits that she and her husband had a lot to learn, too.
"Disciplining and being consistent was just too much work, and so we'd find ourselves just not even paying attention to what was going on. And we just kind of would ignore it until finally we'd snap and start yelling," she said. "I think what she came in and showed us that was really cool was showing us the techniques and saying, 'You've got to be on it.' So, it's a lot less stressful, for sure."
Goins said she would do it all again — if she could do it at a somewhat different time. Back in December, she was in the early stages of pregnancy, feeling tired and sick. And the holiday stress was piled on top of everything else.
"I think it was more dramatic than our normal life because of that," she said. "If it was at any other time, I think that I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
Want to watch — or be on — ABC's 'Supernanny'?
ABC's "Supernanny," featuring the Goins family, airs tonight at 8 p.m. on KTVX-Channel 4.
To apply to be on the series, go to abc.com (keyword Supernanny) or call 1-877-NANNYTIME.
For those who wish to apply in person, a "Supernanny" casting producer will be at Gardner Village (1100 W. 7800 South in West Jordan) on the afternoon of Saturday, March. 10. Applicants will do brief interviews with the producer; videotapes of challenges they're having at home are encouraged (but not required).
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com