Would you ever consider allowing a TV crew to follow you 24/7 for a week asking you endless questions about your life, your lifestyle, your opinions on parenting and on being a teenager while all the while you are living someone else’s life?
If the answer’s ‘Not on your Nellie!’, you might want to watch the new series of Family Life Swap –(part BBC Wales’ Real Families season) it just might make you think again. Or not.
When the Crabtree family from Llanvetherine, and the Beynon family from Abertillery agreed to take part in Family Life Swap they probably had very little idea what they were letting themselves in for. But they weren’t the only ones – the production crew had very little idea of what was going to happen either!
The Crabtree family who feature in Family Life Swap
This is the fourth ‘life swap’ series I’ve been involved in, and a large part of the fun and the terror of making them is that you’ve really no idea how things are going to pan out.
The premise is quite simple: take two families from completely different backgrounds, with seemingly differing beliefs and lifestyles, get the teenagers from the families to swap lives for a week, and then film what happens.
The Beynon family who feature in Family Life Swap
In this case, the brief was to explore attitudes to parenting in modern Wales alongside the attitudes, hopes and fears of Welsh teenagers.
On the surface, our two families were poles apart. For the Beynons, and their five kids – Amy, Connor, Rhys, Katy and Daisy, discipline and boundaries ruled the family roost: and to an outsider, Mam Jo and Dad Ivor appear incredibly strict and somewhat scary.
Whereas the Crabtree parents – Mum, Vicky and Dad, Neil - appeared much more laid-back and liberal in their parenting of their two teenage daughters, Megan and Bronwen; who appeared to have the run of their lovely country home, and whose social diary looked like an endless round of barn dances and young farmers’ parties.
Of course, life – and parenting – is never that black and white. And what quickly emerged during the filming is that the two families had far, far more in common than first appeared. Love, warmth, care, compassion – for family, for friends, for their communities – poured out of both families, parents and teens.
The Beynon and Crabtree teenagers
Yes there were issues that troubled everyone: drink, drugs, sex, relationships, hopes and fears – all the usual teen stuff we’ve all been through. But for this generation there is something different: all of their triumphs and trials are played out in the glare of the 24/7 new media revolution. And it’s inescapable, whether you live in a Valley’s town, or out in the depths of the Welsh countryside.
As the father of two growing kids myself, I was secretly absorbing everything for tips, good advice and no-nos. I’ve taken away several book loads. I’m sure anybody watching the series will do the same too.
It takes a special family to be brave enough to swap their lives with another family while allowing TV cameras to film the whole shebang, warts and all. Luckily for us, we found not one but two families who were prepared to put themselves under the microscope for the whole of Wales to stare at them.
To the wonderful Crabtree and Beynon families, thank you for letting us into your worlds. Wales will never be the same again.
For tips on getting your family to communicate better, watch an exclusive video with psychologist Pippa Davies.
Family Life Swap starts Friday 3 October, 7.30pm, BBC One Wales.