Extreme Guide to Parenting airs a new episode on Bravo tonight. On tonight’s episode called, “The Wanders”, three years ago, Wendy and Tyler got rid of everything they owned and became nomads living out of their SUV.
On the last episode, in the premiere, the Adler family practiced an “eco-kosher, shamanistic” method of parenting. Mom Shira believed in an all-natural approach to raising her children, especially her 10-year-old indigo son Yonah to help treat his overactive personality. In addition, the Masterson-Horn family had a very hands-on approach to parenting. It took years for this gay couple (the “Guncles” from Oxygen’s Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood) to adopt their precious daughter, Simone, and now they never, ever leave her side.
On tonight’s episode three years ago, Wendy and Tyler got rid of everything they owned and became nomads living out of their SUV. Now that their kids are older, life on the road has lost its charm. While Wendy and the kids long for a place to call home, Tyler fears any change could lead straight back his greatest fear. . .a “normal life.”
Tonight’s episode is going to be a great episode and you won’t want to miss it, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of the show tonight at 10:30 PM EST! While you wait for our recap hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about this new episode of Extreme Guide to Parenting.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
Prior to having kids, Tyler was talking about being a lawyer and his wife Wendy was enjoying the good things in life like her walk-in closet, but after they had kids these two suddenly wanted to turn their backs on these things in order to give their children, Isaac and Isabelle, a better understanding of the world. So they packed up all they could one day and just started traveling around the world. They’ve been to many places that most children will only dream, but now that it’s their children getting older – it’s getting to be too hard to sell the concept of constantly traveling as one big family adventure!
The parents gave up their guilty pleasures because they thought traveling would be the best thing for their children. Yet their children are currently unhappy with their living situation. Their parents put their house up for rent and since then they’ve been living in a car and camping outside for the most part. On one hand their parents do recognize how stressed their children become whenever they have to move and yet Mom and Dad seem to be set on continuing their lives as nomads. According to Ty, he couldn’t even think about returning to that former life.
Even though that’s what his kids apparently want and need. When given the chance to talk to someone back home like family and old friends – the kids clearly yearn to go back to some sense of normalcy. Isaac even confessed to missing a backyard and in the age of video games – no one dreams of playing in their backyard. He just would rather have that then all the camp sites and rainforest his parents can offer him.
Ty believes he and his wife are teaching his children to be less materialistic. Because they have to travel light the kids are only allowed a toy at a time. If they want something new then they have to give up something else. So they do learn the importance of money, but just like Wendy fears, her kids might grow up to be hoarders. She believes once her children start making their own decision they won’t want to let anything go ever again.
They can’t keep most of their toys with the limited space their cars provide and so their son and even Wendy start talking about trailers. With a trailer, the kids will have some privacy. With a trailer, the family can start cooking healthier meals. With a trailer, they don’t have to go around using their friends’ houses like a quick stop.
But Ty thinks a trailer will be a gateway to returning to their old lifestyle. He doesn’t want to get a trailer because he doesn’t want to go back to being boringly normal. So when Isaac kept bringing it up – his father kind of lost his temper with him. The one thing Ty can’t stand is the idea of going back to the way things used to be!
Thankfully, his hatred for such things doesn’t seem to stop his family for wanting at least one place to call their own. If for nothing else – the children need their own space!
Ty and Wendy are happy that their two children are each other best friends although the kids themselves were given very little choice of friends. Every now and then the adults take the kids to the park to interact with other kids but sometimes that causes more harm than good. Isabelle tends to attach herself to others fairly quickly and so leaving people behind is always the worst for her. And their son hates it when he has to explain his living situation to other kids. Isabelle doesn’t have a problem telling people she lives everywhere. Her brother on the other hand is blunter when he says they don’t have a home.
Later on, Ty sort of caved in on the trailers idea. He agreed to look and see what was out there. And when the whole family was viewing them – the kids were extremely happy. Regardless of what their father wants, they want a roof over their head and more importantly they want a bed. Right now they all sleep in one large tent but soon the kids are going to grow up and become teenagers – so they’re going to need space. Something they’ve been very vocal about since the beginning of the episode. Yet Ty doesn’t think things should ever change. He honestly thinks the kids won’t need as much space as everyone keeps telling him.
When really – do people actually need to explain why a brother and sister can’t go on sharing the same room all the way into young adulthood? The answer why they would need distance from each other is pretty obvious!
And it must have hit Ty eventually because he did end up getting a trailer. He also got a dog for the kids and everyone (besides Ty that is) is enjoying their new home. Ty still doesn’t like the trailer but Wendy loves it. She no longer has to take her kids to use public restrooms and with having a trailer removes a lot of the hassle her husband was unknowingly putting on her.
So a small return to normalcy was exactly what Ty’s family needed. Maybe it will turn out to be gateway and maybe it won’t. As of yet the only time his kids have mentioned a house – is when they’re talking about growing up one day to hopefully own one!
THE END!
