Jon and Kate plus 8
Posted
October 29, 2007 at
1:13 pm by
Jessica
If you haven’t caught an episode of TLC/Discovery Health’s “Jon and Kate plus 8“, it just may give you a little solace in the hardships of ones own parenting challenges. Jon (an IT Analysist) and Kate (a former nurse) Gosselin used in-vitro fertilization to help spawn 8 kids. One set are twins and the other six are from a subsequent litter.
Last season, I really liked the spunk coupled with the unconventional and imperfect parenting techniques used by Kate. Although she tended to run a tight ship, she was also human and threw political correctness to the wind when it came to the realities of having 6 toddlers and young twins only 4 years older than the sextuplets.
This season, I have to say, the reality parenting TV show has lost some of its charm with me. Although I enjoy, in a voyeuristic sort of way, watching parenting pained by temper tantrums and legal slavery by way of 6 more demanding children than I am left to deal with, I also have found Kate to be as bratty on occasion as her preschool broad.
In some ways Jon and Kate are very lucky. They have a cozy network of incredibly supportive family and friends who take and/or watch their children frequently. In the first couple of weeks of this season, I watched as Kate went to spa treatments, out to dinner with just her and her husband and plan a vacation by themselves in the Florida Keys. Personally, I know of very few 1.3 children families that are afforded so much free time as they are.
Another less than flattering observation I’ve made — Kate is not very nice to her husband Jon. While Jon is easy going and incredibly accommodating to his wifes idiosyncrasies, she is always snapping at him and making condescending remarks. Is it not enough that he spends all of his time at home helping with the children and goes to work on a daily basis to provide for his classroom of children and thus allowing Kate to be an “at-home mom”. Of course, I can’t imagine that 8 kids in childcare would be worth the effort of working outside of the home, but she always acts as if he is clueless and her life is so incredibly hard. Often times, she resorts to treating him like one of their toddlers.
One episode, Kate decided to hire a cleaning person. Through her exhaustive search, she finally settled on the one person who actually agreed to take the job on — so her prospects were limited. After the brave cleaning lady left, Kate then went around her house with imaginary white gloves, pointing out the hidden dust left behind. “Thanks for trying,” Kate said out loud, along with other rumbles of disappointment. The implication was that the cleaning woman was fired, not up to Kate’s high standards. Of course, you should get what you pay for, but cleaning after 6 toddlers and their bigger sisters, something is bound to get forgotten. Perhaps she should have cut the cleaning lady as much slack as she expects in return?
While Kate seems like a lot of fun and incredibly organized, it’s the little things — weird things — that seem to get her in a tizzy, like what shoes the older girls are going to wear to a carnival or if any of her family or friends puts her out by being one minute late. Sometimes you get the feeling that Kate is nothing more than a control freak, loving every challenge that comes her way, but at the same time, expecting others to reward her and recognize her for having it so tough, when in actuality, she really doesn’t. Sure, having 8 small children would drive the sanest person batty, it has also given them a much desired family and tv show. All in all, they have a pretty fortunate lifestyle.
As much as I like this show, I wish Kate would be less focused on herself and the indulgences of her children and complain less. Most families, even with less children, have their own unique challenges and have many other issues to deal with on top of it. Count your blessings Kate. You are not the first “over-worked” mother and you won’t be the last.
———————————-
Discuss on the blog comments or visit our Jon and Kate forums here:
http://www.imperfectparent.com/community/viewforum.php?f=205
Tags: Discovery-Health, Jon-and-Kate-plus-8, Jon-Gosselin, Kate-Gosselin, Parenting, sextuplets, The-Gosselins, TLC, twins |
19,245 Responses to “Jon and Kate plus 8”
Pages: « 1 … 418 419 420 421 422 [423] 424 425 426 427 428 … 642 » Show All
Pages: « 1 … 418 419 420 421 422 [423] 424 425 426 427 428 … 642 » Show All
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately in an effort to remove commercial messages, irrelevancies, excessive foul language, racist/sexist/hateful comments, spoofed/cloaked IPs and/or personal attacks and will be edited/deleted at our discretion. Thank you for your patience.
12661. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:31 pm
[quote comment="178694"][quote comment="178540"]i’ve noticed lately, that when everyone gets done chatting late at nite…some random (WELCOME to the random people
) person comes on here and writes this long blog with strong opinions and you never see them again.
it just tickles me for some reason!!![/quote]
umm, that’s because you’ll seem to have mistaken ONE BLOG POST for a community.[/quote]
And what does that mean? just curious
12662. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
Hey Grams! How are you tonight?
12663. Stacey S_MOD said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:38 pm
Thank you so much Jessica for the opportunity to moderate this blog! My goal is to have both sides of the on-going battle between the Good & Evil of the J&K cohabitate in a civil and harmonious manor! I absolutely LOVE diversity & opposing opinions. I just like it so much better when that opinion is posted with some decorum.
Let’s all raise a glass to posting with class, dignity, and respect for one another even if we’re on two different ends of the spectrum. Cheers!
12664. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
I’ll raise my coffee cup to that one Stacey! Cheers!
I know you’ll do a great job here! Good luck to ya! I think every now and then you might need it!
12665. Stacey S_MOD said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
I momof3! I don’t think it will be too bad… I have every confidence that we will all continue to behave ourselves! LOL
12666. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:52 pm
I will!
12667. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:55 pm
Me too, promise!!!!
12668. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
I’m doing good momof3, My honey will be home tomorrow so I’ll feel better.
also I see Kennedy was on the forum , so I’m glad she is okay, saw Jenna there earlier, now we just need to get every one here huh?
Hi Stacey, Hows your week end been?
12669. Stacey S_MOD said:
July 12, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
Okay ladies…I’m holding you to it!
12670. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
Yeah!!! Kennedys back! (clappin my hands!) I was getting a little worried about her too!
I forget….what is tomorrows new epi about? Is it cooking Asian food? I cant remember!
12671. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:06 pm
No momof3 tomorrow is Sunday!!!
Okay Stacey.
12672. Stacey S_MOD said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:08 pm
TV listing says “Korean Dinner”
12673. terri said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
I would agree that Kate is a bit over the top sometimes. But think about how you would be if you had 8 kids. I think she is really patient considering the poor lady has to listen to whining and crying all day. Then has a husband, who proabably like most, doesn’t always think of the details that are important to her. I think she is a great example of an imperfect mom.
12674. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
Thanks ladies! I keep thinking today is Sunday…I dont know why though! :opps:
12675. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
Have you heard any more about the baby found in Chgo.? Last I heard was last nite and They showed his picture, so precious.
12676. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
No, Grams! Ive been out all day! I saw his pic last night on Nancy Grace….absolutely beautiful! How anyone could not want to keep him and love him to pieces is completely beyond me!
12677. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
I have been watching HGTV and flip this house, It just blows my mind how they will take beautifully done kitchens and tare them apart and put thousands of dollars into new stuff, and just throw stuff in a dumpster.
You would think they would at least do-nate it to some one, I guess thats what having lots of money does to a person.
12678. Stacey S_MOD said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
I’m hitting the hay ladies….I have work in the AM.
I’ll stop by tomorrow…have a good night!
12679. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
My kids just stopped by, will chat with ya all tomorrow, Have a great day.
12680. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
Nite Stacey! Sweet dreams to ya!
12681. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:21 pm
[quote comment="178721"]My kids just stopped by, will chat with ya all tomorrow, Have a great day.[/quote]
Have fun Grams! Goodnight!
12682. Lillyann said:
July 12, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
I’m late, but raising my glass
You still on momof3?
12683. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
Opps…sorry! Yep…Im still here! Just onine checking out tons of stuff! You still here?
12684. momof3 said:
July 12, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
Ok…off to bed! Talk to you ladies (that get on later) tomorrow! Sweet dreams to everyone and have a great Sunday!
12685. Lisa said:
July 13, 2008 @ 12:04 am
[quote comment="178540"]i’ve noticed lately, that when everyone gets done chatting late at nite…some random (WELCOME to the random people
) person comes on here and writes this long blog with strong opinions and you never see them again.
it just tickles me for some reason!!![/quote]
I wanted ot respond back, in case you were responding to me. I did notice that some of the convo’s get a little off track. And yes I can only get on late at night after a night feeding, so yeah, that 1 am girl is me..the baby mommas are the only ones who can mae it this late….
12686. suz100 said:
July 13, 2008 @ 7:08 am
Hi Kids!
I post late at night sometimes. Why? I snore! Plus this Old Mamma gets up and can not go back to sleep!
I had to laugh, since I`ve retired and the kids are gone, I`m always saying ” I`ll do it another day!” With my daughter home from college, she does keep me on my toes! Hey, last week her and friends went to the Pittsburgh Zoo after watching the epi of J & K going. They all came home telling me it was as neat as Kate said it was.
I hope the cooking epi is better than last weeks. I did not enjoy that one at all. Maybe this week`s is less stressful?
12687. Patty said:
July 13, 2008 @ 9:11 am
[quote comment="178715"]I would agree that Kate is a bit over the top sometimes. But think about how you would be if you had 8 kids. I think she is really patient considering the poor lady has to listen to whining and crying all day. Then has a husband, who proabably like most, doesn’t always think of the details that are important to her. I think she is a great example of an imperfect mom.[/quote]
SAY WHAT? “…poor lady has to listen to…” Uh, no she doesn’t HAVE TO do anything! She chooses to listen to the whining and crying. As I’ve said many times here, there are ways to squelch that behavior, and I’m not suggesting 400 time outs during the day. Apparently, those don’t seem to be as effective as they think they are, since the children are always being sent to the corner. Rather than just barking one word orders at them, they need to use phrases like:
“You need to…” instead if “DO THIS!” or “DO THAT!” and stop saying, “I want you to” or “I need you to…”
On their skiing trip, when Mady said she didn’t have a good time…instead of saying, “Well, next time we’ll leave you at home,” and getting Mady all torqued up, Kate should have said, “I’m sorry you feel that way because we liked having you here.”
On the “Girls Day Out” episode when Collin started to cry because he couldn’t go with the girls. Rather than putting him on the step for “misbehaving,” somebody should have explained better that the girls were going to do their thing, the boys were doing theirs, and they’d all be back home later on. I didn’t think being upset because you’re confused was considered misbehaving?
Yes, I know they have eight children. Yes, I know she’s organized. BUT, THEY (particularly, Kate) bring on a lot of the drama, angst, tension, crying, whining in the house themselves. LIGHTEN UP! She could bring the noise level down in their house if she approached it the right way.
Another way to get them to not be so loud, whining, and crying all the time is to let them outside to run around. Bumping into each other and knocking each other over in the garage isn’t working. They need some space to run around. They don’t do anything because she’s such a whack job about them getting dirty.
Something else those kids need are goals/rewards to shoot for, and I don’t mean a piece of candy for taking a dump in a potty chair either. Like when she flipped out because the basement was all messed up with their toys. About half-hour before she wants them to get ready for bed, take a nap, or just clean up in general, she needs to tell them in a normal tone of voice (NOT SCREAMING AT THEM) that they NEED TO START CLEANING UP. Have a rewards chart on the frig, down at their level, so THEY can put a sticker on their chart. At the end of the week, month, or whatever timeframe they choose, when each kids earns a certain number of stickers, give them a reward. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a trip to Toys R Us for a $30 toy. Kate herself said she stocks up on a bunch of little things at the Dollar store. Keep a big bag of that stuff handy. When they do a good job, give them a reward. Make a game out of it versus running around like a chicken with your head cut off, screaming at everybody. Tell them that if they don’t clean up, they won’t be able to play with those toys tomorrow. And MEAN IT…put the toys someplace they can’t see them and they’ll realize you aren’t kidding. THe next day, they will put them away.
She is always making threats that she doesn’t follow through on - throwing Collin’s bear away when he got gum on it. She even said that she “couldn’t” throw it away. I think it’s a little extreme to throw socks away because they got gum on them. She brings on a lot of the drama about laundry herself. She’s got somebody to fold it, somebody to come and put it away, and somebody to iron it. All she does is the washing part. Stain removal is not the big, huge, hairy deal that she makes it. She could treat the stains, throw a load in the washer and let it soak overnight, and then wash it the next day. Besides, they get free clothing for the kids. If something gets ruined, I’m sure she could get a replacement outfit for them?
When they are older, what will poor little Leah or Alexis think when they watch the Disney episode and see their Mother saying, “she’s ruined” just because she spilled ice cream on her dress?
I think the whole birthday cupcake thing was HORRIFYING! How CRUEL to not let them eat the cupcakes they made themselves, especially on their birthday. That was just plain MEAN! Remember how she said on their Christmas episode that they “relax and there are no rules. Anything goes?” Well, why doesn’t that rule apply to birthdays, too. They only turn 4 once. She’s going to be really sorry some day. As I said, too, they seemed to be so proud of the fact that they denied them their cupcakes and that they didn’t even remember them the next morning. That’s just SICK!
I just hate to see children being abused that way. Yes, I said abused. While it may not be physical abuse, there is such a thing called “emotional” abuse. Have you ever noticed how the kids freak out if they get dirty because they know that Mommy Dearest will go bonkers when they get home? Remember the “Boys Day Out” episode and one of them got dirty and started freaking out? Jon just said, “Relax, don’t worry about it.” Yes, I know Jon isn’t the one doing the laundry, but he’s right…SO WHAT!!!
There really was no reason to take all eight kids to the furniture store when they were shopping for bunk beds. There is no reason to take all eight kids to Toys R Us to buy Christmas presents for each of them. Like they did with their “one-on-one” times with each kid, perhaps they could take two children at once and do their Christmas shopping. Jon is the one who gets the brunt of her tantrums when they take all the kids out at once when they don’t need to.
Emotional abuse…the Crayola factory, taking them out for ice cream and not letting them eat it, not letting them eat their own self-made birthday cupcakes, not letting them roll around in the grass at the park, saying Mady’s earrings that she made were “horrendous.” What will she do when those children grow up, watch those episodes, and are able to understand better what really went on? I hope they don’t treat her the same way she treats her own parents and siblings. That will be a very, very sad day.
Sorry…I love the show. I think all eight of those children are precious and adorable. Yes, they have their hands full, but Jon & Kate need to lighten up and change their approach. Try it sometime…it really does work.
I wonder if Dr. Phil or Super Nanny read this blog?
Happy Sunday everybody.
12688. dot said:
July 13, 2008 @ 9:16 am
[quote comment="178715"]I would agree that Kate is a bit over the top sometimes. But think about how you would be if you had 8 kids. I think she is really patient considering the poor lady has to listen to whining and crying all day. Then has a husband, who proabably like most, doesn’t always think of the details that are important to her. I think she is a great example of an imperfect mom.[/quote]
EEEK! I don’t think Kate has to listen to the kids’ noise all day; she has a full-time paid assistant named Jenny to take care of them. Then, of course, she has a lot of weekends away from the kids when they do their speaking gigs. I give Jon a lot of credit for being there to help with the kids too, although I think he needs to get a REAL JOB to show the kids how REAL FAMILIES live. He can’t get much “work” done in his closet office…..
12689. Bree said:
July 13, 2008 @ 10:23 am
Patty -
Another excellent post.
I also put alot of thought into the whole ski trip remark about not bringing Mady along the next time.
You know, Mady’s self esteem was probably pretty low because Cara took to the skiing much better than Mady. I just think that, while Kate says she knows her children so well, she has no empathy for them. She could have related so much better to Mady and said “you know, I understand you don’t really like to ski - neither do I! next time, let’s find something we can do together.” Or something like that - anything other than “Next time, we’ll leave you behind.” How cruel.
How would Kate like it if someone said that to her?
That’s empathy, and Kate just doesn’t have it, IMO.
About the cupcake thing - well, it seems that rules are enforced very inconsistently in that household, IMO.
When I was little, my mom had this rule “No soda before lunch time.” Okay, it was probably a good rule and she really did enforce it.
(as she downed a pot of coffee) When I moved out on my own, for 3 years I drank Pepsi for breakfast every day in protest.
Kids don’t forget those kinds of things.
12690. Grandma frm Ks. said:
July 13, 2008 @ 10:29 am
Hey Suz100, been missing you, I was gone a few days and I missed you last time you were on, have a great Sunday,
Tomorrow nite is hopefully a good show, and some good comments later, talk to ya later.