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[title]This week sees Lifetime Asia's launch of the network's first original production: 'Mom's Time Out', which sees three harried mothers packed off for an all-expenses-paid vacation in Vietnam, leaving behind three (usually hands-off) dads to manage the household on their own.
Thankfully, this isn't a reprise of the all-too-common stereotype of the hopeless, hapless father: These dads take up their new roles with gusto and learn to appreciate just how important good parenting skills are, for mothers and fathers both. Of course, there are some amusing stumbles along the way.
At the launch of the show at KidZania, we met Jason and Leishia Kalaichelvams (they go by 'the Jasons' in the show and their daughters Arianna and Olivia, four years old and two and a half years old respectively, to find out what they had learnt from their time in front of the cameras.
Asked what practical tips he could give dads after his experience, Jason replied, 'I think it's good for dads to experience the role of the mother, to understand what the womenfolk are going through at home all alone, all by themselves. Especially in our case, we don't have a maid or in-laws or parents who are helping us in the raising of our girls. She's a full-time mother. We don't even send our girls to babysitters or anything. So in this kind of setting, [these are] the sacrifices, the emotional tumult that the mother goes through at home all alone facing their kids, with no adult conversation. In my case, before the sun rises, I go out. When the sun sets, I reach home. [So, that's] the whole day all by themselves. It's not easy. It's very tough. Dads need to experience this. They will understand better and then they will work as a team. The whole thing requires team effort.'
Leishia agrees. 'It takes two to tango for a family to work,' she tells us. 'The father and mum, the husband and wife have to work together. Each of us has a role, so there's really no "who's better". We need each other to keep the whole thing balanced.'
There are some truly uncomfortable moments in the show - such as when Kenneth Bailey, part of the family from the Philippines, takes his daughter to the shopping centre and has to endure her screams and tantrums. But there are laughs, too: Jason describes to us his experience of cooking a meal for his daughters. 'I never cooked before, you see, and they were asking me to cook a meal for my children. It would be easier for me to just go out and buy but I had to cook and this was something new... I managed to find out how to make an omelette but unfortunately I used rock salt and my girl was like, "Papa! Ice! Ice!" Why would I put ice in an omelette? Then I realised that [it was] the rock salt. I had to grind it first, which I hadn't done. But they finished it... they're very obedient.
It sounds to us like Jason did pretty well. Disagree? You can have your say on parenting issues on the online forums. Download the ScanAd app and it will pick up the audio from the show and take you to the website where you can access online content, discuss child-rearing strategies with other parents and enter the competition to win a 3D2N stay at Angsana Lang Co, Central Vietnam.
'Mom's Time Out' will air every Thursday at 9pm starting Aug 28 on Lifetime Asia (Ch709). For more information, visit www.LifeAsia.com/MomsTimeOut