Jo resolved to at least talk to Wash about a pet for Maxine. Maybe not a dog because that sounded like a lot of work, but something. For now, she had bigger things to worry about.
"Maxine, why don't you go to the kitchen and get yourself a snack? I need to talk to Sam for a few minutes."
If this continued to happen, there would have to be steeper consequences. But for now, Jo wanted to take the compassionate route and try to impress some empathy upon the young girl. She did her best to hide any helplessness that she felt from Sam. She might be in over her head, but someone needed to help this girl and she and Wash were the ones who'd ended up with the job whether they were ready or not.
If Jo knew anything about actual parenting, she might have realized that nobody was actually ever 'ready' before they got into it. No matter how much you tried to prepare, it still knocked you on your ass and was a learning experience. Unfortunately, she didn't know that and so she just found herself feeling bad that Maxine's real parents couldn't be here right now.