WIFE SWAP - Medicis vs Grafs

"It's a parent's job to support the children's dream, not the children to support the parent's dream"

That sentence pretty much encapsulates the crux of the conflict on this week's Wife Swap, which introduced us to the Grafs, who run a Bavarian-themed inn in New Hampshire where their kids are the employees, and the Medicis, who run a considerably looser ship in their New York home where son Nick's bodybuilding aspirations take precedence over... well, over pretty much everything.  The Grafs represent the children-as-servants side of the spectrum while the Medicis represent the parents-as-servants perspective.

Of course, this wouldn't be Wife Swap if they hadn't selected the most extreme embodiments of these two schools of thought, and then forced them to live together for two weeks.

For once, one of the moms had somewhat reasonable new rules for her adopted family.  Alex Graf might run her home like a gulag, but all of her new rules for the Medici family seemed kind of reasonable.  It was the usual stuff:  help out with chores, pay more attention to the foul-mouthed and neglected Giuseppe, bodybuilder Nick had to get a job, etc.  Still, the new rules didn't go over very well with father John Medici, who resisted Alex every step of the way.  "You need to admit that you're a lunatic," was one of his more civilized criticisms of Alex. 

But in the Graf inn/bed &breakfast/home/work camp, temp mom Lisa went a little nuts.  She gave the kids a week off from work and lederhosen, made husband Bob bond with his son Bubba, and generally tried to restore a little balance between work and life.  No problem so far.  But one of her rules was that Bob Graf had to put his inn up for sale.

What was she thinking?  Despite the fact that the visiting mom's rules are in effect for one week, there's always some gal on Wife Swap who wants to impose some permanent and radical change on the family she's staying with.  Lisa invited a real estate agent over and even put up a "for sale" sign in front of the inn, which Bob promptly smashed.  I agree with Lisa that the Grafs could loosen up a bit, but is selling the family business out from under them really the answer?  Talk about tough love.

As usual, the Wife Swap experience made each family respect and appreciate their moms a little bit more, which is good.  And I guess I shouldn't complain about the crazy rules changes, because they make the show interesting.  Surreal, but interesting.

--Dave Campbell

Comments

[Craig in Connecticut]

I've known the Graf family for a while and can honestly say that the edited-for-TV story of their lives at home is overly sensationalized. Anyone who is their friend or has been a guest at their B&B can vouch for their decent, wholesome, and reasonable character and sensibility, and that the Graf children are good, healthy, and very well adjusted, as well as prepared to meet the forthcoming challenges of living as adults in an otherwise corrupt world. While conceding that we all have much room for growth in our daily lives, I salute the Grafs in their valiant efforts to "live honestly before all mankind."