Quinn Family

Baulisch Family

Dorothy and Kip Baulisch of Papillion, Nebraska, are deaf parents raising four hearing children. They rely too heavily on their eldest daughter, Melissa (18), who understands sign language, as a surrogate "hearing" parent, and it's put a huge strain on her relationship with them. She's giving up her youth to be a full-time interpreter in her own house. The three youngest daughters are nightmares -- Jessica (8) and Jennifer (7) challenge their parents to the point where they simply give up trying to control them; the youngest daughter, Kristin (5), ignores her parents completely because she can't understand what they're saying, and constantly throws temper tantrums. On a typical evening in the Baulisch household, it takes Kip and Dorothy at least three hours to get the younger girls to bed, as they run amuck through the house, refusing to settle in.