Crash Test Mommy

- Season 1

(2004)

What happens when you take a downtown career girl who epitomizes urban chic and get her to act as "crash test mommy" for her suburban sister-in-law's two little girls? Chaos, that's what! Jennifer Gill, this episode's candidate, travels out of Vancouver's downtown core into the deepest, darkest minivan territory of Delta, to care for Deb and Jeff Hutton's daughters: Evan, 5, and Megan, 2. While Deb luxuriates in the gigantic bed of a four star hotel, sleeping in and experiencing mud facials, pedicures and, best of all, adult conversation, Jennifer confronts a barrage ...

Laid back surfer dude Jimmy Jamieson is about to get a crash course in Mommydom when he's picked to be this episode's Crash Test Mommy. His mission: to look after, for 48 hours, his sister-in-law Sharon's four young sons, ranging in age from five years to 19 months old, at their Chilliwack home. Our host, Dagmar Midcap, whisks Sharon off for a blissful, two-day getaway, enjoying a luxurious hotel suite, gourmet meals, a private yoga session, shopping sprees, and romantic strolls with husband, Leif. Back at home, Uncle Jimmy's four energetic young charges begin to run ...

Leslea Vinet agrees to be Crash Test Mommy to her cousin Sharla and Henrik Kragh's five kids, aged 14, 12, 9, 5 and 3, for 48 hours at their suburban home in Langley, B.C. From the get-go, the single, thirty-something Leslea, although up for the challenge, clearly has little concept of the chaos that awaits her. Our host, Dagmar Midcap, sweeps real mom Sharla off for two full days of the Cinderella treatment, including a night at the casino tables with her best girlfriend, one-on-one coffee brewing instruction from a world champion brew master and, with husband Henrik...

Single, carefree, ladies man Gil Gamboa picks up the gauntlet and accepts our challenge to be our weekend "crash test mommy" to the three young energetic children of his longtime friends Cathy and Cliff Empey in suburban Langley, British Columbia. As Cathy, imminently expecting child #4, is limo'd away for a dream weekend of pedicures and foot massages, lessons in watercolor painting, and a photo sessions with a professional photographer, Gil embarks on his odyssey of parenting chores and challenges. As if it's not enough feeding three finicky little kids, doing the ...

Barry Tildsley, concrete truck driver from Pitt Meadows, B.C. and friend of Ruth-Anne and Dennis Fanning, doesn't believe that being a parent is as hard as going to work. Barry thinks Ruth-Anne, who has four young children under the age of six, presents herself as a martyr; she thinks he's arrogant and doesn't respect what she does as a full-time mom. The next 48 hours, with Barry on board as our "crash test mommy", will prove one of them right.... but which one?

Twenty-nine year-old dental assistant Sandra Guay thinks her cousin Wendy Colville allows son Matt, 8 and daughter Taylor, 4, to get whatever they want. This weekend, with Crash Test Mommy Sandra in charge of Wendy's North Delta brood, things will be different and the kids will follow the rules!...says Sandra! Right from the bell, Drill Sergeant Sandra has a running battle trying to keep sugar fiend Matt away from the sweets in the kitchen, monitoring princess Taylor, and planning and executing a disco-themed backyard BBQ for the neighborhood kids - all while the ...

Kathy Mitchell thinks the atmosphere in her Surrey, B.C. home is like a circus - five kids under the age of eight will do that to anyone. Her easygoing, garrulous husband, Greg, talks a good line about parenting but hasn't really had to do mom's daily grunt work. But that's not a problem for Greg: "It's easy," he declares, "and it's only for a couple of days." Famous last words. This weekend, as our Crash Test Mommy, Greg is put to the test. Kathy is whisked off by private plane for a relaxing weekend with her friend Carla to a stunning resort on Vancouver Island's ...

What happens when a 25 year-old "walking Barbie", who loves shopping, margaritas and boys, has to drop all that and get down and dirty as a 24/7 mom? In this new episode of CRASH TEST MOMMY, Michelle Albas gets a rude awakening after agreeing to sub for 48 hours as mom for the three little kids of Michelle and Paul Gent of North Delta, B.C. The fact that real mom Michelle is the other Michelle's real-life boss makes our *crash test mommy* a little nervous, even though our young candidate figures this 'parenting' thing will be pretty easy. Arriving in a lovely and ...

Newlywed couple Susan Rae and Janine Davies are planning on having their own family, so they eagerly volunteer to be our *crash test mommies* and get a 48 hour test drive of motherhood with the two young daughters of Susan's longtime friend, Leah Bach of New Westminster, B.C. CRASH TEST MOMMY hosts Charlie and Dagmar throw in an unexpected bonus - 'Brutus', a life-like simulated baby that Susan must care for in addition to little Ashley and Danielle. Brutus has two speeds: asleep and, way more often, crying. While Leah is whisked away for a weekend of luxurious ...

Suzette Laqua, thinking about starting her own family with boyfriend Miles, is eager to play *crash test mommy* for the two young sons of childhood friend Kim Giles. But Suzette starts with two strikes against her: she can't cook and she's got a mouth like a Prairie trucker. Kim is limo'd away for a Cinderella weekend of pampering at a luxury resort, culminating in her joining members of the Canadian National Women's softball team in a spirited ball game against her former teammates from an earlier, more carefree era of her life. On the home front, a whole different ...

Between the long hours she puts in at her film industry job and caring for her three young boys, Alysse Leite-Rogers is desperate for a vacation...even a weekend away would be a life-saver for her. Into the breach steps old friend Helen Taraviras, who bravely agrees to be our *crash test mommy*. By day, Helen is a nurse in a cosmetic surgery clinic; by night, a carefree single woman who jokes that she's more accustomed to 'making reservations than making muffins.' After we ferry Alysse and husband Shawn off for a weekend of pampering at a luxury resort on Vancouver ...

Über-organized single woman Christine Ferreira likes things to be just so...all the "i"s in her life dotted and her "t"s crossed. But she's about to learn that no amount of planning can prevent the mayhem of parenting, after accepting the challenge to parent friend and colleague Willow Yamauchi's two young children, Sophie and Flynn.

Single gal Maureen Mackinnon knows she's self-centered but is nevertheless insulted when her girlfriends joke she'd make a lousy parent. Maureen is determined to prove them wrong and therefore agrees, for 48 hours, to be *crash test mommy* of Jenn Goodman's two, extremely active, little boys, Josh and Jacob. The confident Maureen knows how to multi-task - isn't that what parenting is all about? "Piece of cake... bring it on!", she says. Maureen takes hold of the parenting reins, while Jenn is transported from her North Vancouver home to Whistler Ski Resort for a ...