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« Wife Swap
April 27, 2007: Browne/Robinson
Finally, we have a new episode of Wife Swap. Yes, it seems to be that ABC has moved it to Friday nights, but hopefully that’s only temporary. At least we have a new episode. And I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed by these quirky families.
I’ve missed seeing the families each week, getting a glimpse into their lives and witnessing how they react to drastic differences from what they’re used to in their households. It’s entertaining and calming to me, for some reason, to know that such unique families exist out there. I always wonder where they find these families and if they’re real. And I always wonder how I’d fare in each of the households.
I’d definitely find it hard to stay in the Browne family. The dad, Trenton, seemed like a sweet enough man who found it hard to discipline his kids. His wife, Christie, liked to have fun with her boys, which meant she drove the getaway car when they toilet-papered neighboring houses. (I wonder if their neighbors got upset after watching this? I never liked the idea of toilet-papering people’s houses or egging somebody’s car. It always seemed juvenile, but then again, Christie prefers to be on the same level as her sons, and all of her sons are, naturally, juvenile.)
I couldn’t stay in their home because of the four unruly boys. When I say unruly, I mean off-the-wall, back-talking and junkyard-living boys who could quite possibly send me running for the highway. You could refer to the old adage of “boys will be boys,” but these boys seemed especially unruly and wild. They’re surrounded by fields and goats without anything to entertain them but each other, and the parents didn’t step in to discipline them. They acted like hooligans and that was accepted. Neither parent wanted to step in and say that they should grow up, but the perfect person to do so was D'eva Robinson, a tough diva obsessed with surface impressions. Yeah, she was a tad too obsessed with plucking eyebrows and making her kids look flawless, but she was the right person for the job of talking back to the Browne boys. She didn’t step down when 11-year-old Benny got up in her face. She got right back in his face. Of course, nothing really changed until D’eva encouraged Trenton to go dancing (and he wasn’t too bad a dancer) and they came back home to find 17-year-old Charlie hosting a hot-tub party for a group of friends.
I got chills when Trenton finally stood up to Charlie. He put his foot down and said that he’d been made a fool of for the last time. When Charlie responded that he “wasn’t sending the kids home,” Trenton said that he would. Thank god. Charlie was letting 11-year-olds party with the rest of the kids. And when D’eva approached the hot tub? She just got stuff thrown at her and was told to go away. I know that, as a child, I lashed out from time to time, but I never lashed out like these boys did. They called the dad stupid and an idiot.
When Trenton stood up to the kids and told them to get out of the house, I was so happy for him. He just needed to push them a little. He didn’t want to see his kids go down a misguided path, but he needed a wake-up call. What happened when his boys got pulled over by the cops for fighting in the back of a minivan after D’eva taught them how to do their own laundry at a laundromat? Trenton jovially said that they didn’t get picked up by the cops, at least, like the other times. So when the time came for Trenton to stand up to the kids, I was thrilled. He didn’t want his kids to turn out bad, but he didn’t want them to lose a sense of fun, either. But when Charlie threw the party and had 11-year-olds in attendance, Trenton finally realized that he needed to protect his home and his kids by laying down some rules.
I think D’eva was the right person to face up to those boys. I loved that she ran after 11-year-old Benny as he drove the car, begging him to stop. She had spunk. She knew that she should get the oldest, Charlie, to embrace the idea of responsibility and then it would trickle down to the others. Of course, D’eva’s whole obsession with being a diva was slightly off-putting, but nobody could take away the credit she deserved in getting Trenton to discipline his kids. So maybe it was a little odd that she legally changed her name to be more diva-like. At least her kids were well behaved.
D’eva’s kids — her two boys and daughter Taylore — were going to be divas and hairstylists. I wasn’t bothered by the fact that Dwayne and D’eva wanted to teach their kids the family business of hairstyling. I was more bothered by Christie’s insistence that by teaching their sons how to style hair, Dwayne and D’eva were teaching them to be “sissies.” Christie seemed so set in her ways. Dwayne shouldn’t have spoken to her about what a real woman should look like and how a real woman shouldn’t wear jeans and a T-shirt all the time. Dwayne’s comments about how a “real” woman should be seemed so cliché and absurd, but he and D’eva seemed perfect for each other and very much in love.
These two families were never going to agree on much at all. I was annoyed that Christie stood up and walked out of the table meeting, but D’eva did question Christie on what kind of mother she was, so I understood why Christie walked out. Criticisms about parenting are bound to elicit some nasty reactions, but Christie walking out made me view her as a stubborn person who wouldn’t let the experience of the show change her.
At least the boys seemed changed. Charlie took on more responsibility, the boys helped out more and Trenton and Christie made more time for romance, even if romance for them meant making out in a car in the junkyard.
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Apr 28, 2007 12:43 AM
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This was the first time that I'd watched this show and I can say that these families were about as polar opposites as you can get.
I understand what Christie was saying about D'eva's kids being like mini adults and less like children. They didn't seem to have a lot of fun in their lives. It appeared that D'eva's kids were cooking and cleaning like live-in servants, while D'eva and Dwayne were out partying and having fun at the casino. But, I would prefer for kids to have too much order than not enough order. D'eva wanted her kids to be able to be independent, take care of themselves, respectful and, of course, be diva's and divos'. I'm glad that D'eva was able to reign it in some of that devatude, and her and Dwayne started doing some of the work around the house and not putting it all on their kids. They also allowed their kids to have more fun in their lives by playing with them outside.
Christie and Trenton seriously needed some intervention in their home. Their boys were running around like wild animals and had zero respect for their parents, themselves or anyone else. I couldn't believe how blase' Trenton was concerning the fact that the police were called on his boys because of their disruptiveness and he just joked about the fact that at least they didn't get arrested this time. I truly hope that Christie and Trenton invoke more discipline into their home or else their boys will end up in jail.
It was great to see the different dynamics in parenting in both homes and see the good and bad in both cases. In D'eva's case, it appeared that she was more concerned about appearance, but she truly loved her kids and her husband, and wanted them to grow up to be productive citizens.
In Christie's case, she wanted her kids to be free to do whatever they wanted to do. Maybe Christie was raised by really strict parents. That may be the reason why Christie's parenting style was so lax. I think that she wanted to be her kids' friend more than she wanted to be their mother. I pray that Christie and Trenton will discipline their children more and set some guidelines for them to follow. And really, allowing an 11 year old child to drive was totally irresponsible. He could've hurt or killed himself or others.
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Apr 28, 2007 2:24 PM
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I couldn't believe those boys called their parents by their first names! Talk about disrespectful!
My Tivo cut out before the "where are they now" segment so I didn't get to see how much they learned. Maybe on the reruns..
btw, Fridays are better for this show than Mondays, but ABC just has to TELL US!!!
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May 3, 2007 5:15 PM
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My name is Trenton Browne. I am not a character in a stupid TV series.
I would like to find out how the writer(s) came up with using my name in this series.
The Real Thing, Trenton Browne
An American in Germany
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Nov 7, 2007 5:04 AM
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This is funny how surprised you were by the Browne family!! First of all, this whole thing was staged. I would know because I go to school with Jeremy and Charles. Charles probably calls them by there first name because he's actually their nephew who came to live with them for 2 years. I know that the rest of them call them mom and dad. This whole thing was set up, they even had to leave school to film certain parts. They were also told to stuff their couch with clothes and trash so they could look like stereotypical slobs and hicks. They are pretty normal actually. So it's kind of sad to hear people bash them and funny for the people who seem shocked...
Oh and btw, the toilet papering was a set up and so was the party. They had to have parents permission because toilet papering is illegal and the kids couldnt have their faces shown on television otherwise.
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Mar 5, 2008 9:06 PM
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