Comments | frodo_esque: Jon and Kate Plus 8

frodo_esque

Jon and Kate Plus 8

Jun 22, 2009 21:33

I'm watch the show "Jon and Kate Plus 8" on TLC, and the entire show has you watching 8 children screeching at the top of their lungs, and their parents snipping at one another. The only reason I'm watching is because the parents are about to announce their getting a divorce ( Read more... )

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Comments 20

celandineb June 23 2009, 01:57:33 UTC

I am totally unfamiliar with this show, but OMG, EIGHT KIDS? Maybe if they'd stopped at two, they wouldn't be divorcing. Sheesh.

frodo_esque June 23 2009, 02:12:23 UTC

Yeah, lots of kids-- and 6 of them are the very same age (5 years old). They had IVF which resulted in sextuplets...oye!

To be fair though, the wife, as arevanye said, is quite a handful. It's difficult watching her treat her husband disrespectfully, I often wondered how long he'd put up with it!

celandineb June 23 2009, 02:56:06 UTC

IVF resulting in sextuplets? Okay, that is BAD medical practice. I know something about this. Normally only two or three fertilized ova should be implanted, maybe four at most if the woman is close to 40. And if they already had two kids? No sympathy, none, sorry.

[/soapbox] Sorry, I have very strong opinions about reproducing and how many offspring it's ethical to have.

frodo_esque June 23 2009, 16:11:35 UTC

OH yeah, and the first two children were twins that resulted from IVF as well. I totally agree that no one needs to be impregnated with that many embryos.

arevanye June 23 2009, 02:06:13 UTC

We watched it at my house too, of COURSE, because my girls love that show. I seriously don't know how Jon put up with Kate this long. I don't know if you've followed it in the past, but she has major control/perfectionist issues and constantly criticizes him and puts him down and makes herself the hero. Even in this episode she puts on the "I'm going to make it no matter what because I love my kids" face, but I hear she was the one who ultimately wanted out of the marriage.

frodo_esque June 23 2009, 02:10:45 UTC

I absolutely agree with you, it is so painful watching her constantly whine and cut Jon down at every turn. She treats him so disrespectfully, and he just sits there silently taking it.

I have wondered for quite some time how long he was going to be able to last with her-- I could just see his self-esteem being chewed up.

I wonder if they ever looked into couples counseling, because I think Kate could really use some serious help. I'd hate for her not to get married again, but at this rate (and given what the public has seen of her), not a lot of men will sign up for that.

arevanye June 23 2009, 02:22:53 UTC

See, I wonder if counseling would work with her because she is that kind of person who can NEVER admit that they are wrong. Or if they admit they are wrong, they make themselves into a hero for admitting it.

Anyway, I was just looking at the ohnotheydidnt thread about the episode (which has reached 103 pages of comments at this point) and thought this comment was so true:

"love that the houses are crooked, look beautiful from the outside but are totally devoid of everything on the inside... so so much like this family"

Someone else said they should rename the episode "Crooked Houses, Broken Family".

My youngest is very bummed out. I have to go reassure her now as I tuck her in that no, mommy and daddy aren't like Jon and Kate.

frodo_esque June 23 2009, 02:28:49 UTC

Aww..your poor little girl, I can imagine stuff like this is very scary for little ones. No Mom and Dad are not like Jon and Kate.

You're absolutely right about Kate though, therapy wouldn't work for someone who was as defensive and self-righteous as she often can be.

That being said, Jon sometimes freaks me out with how 'dead' he seems-- he's got those empty eyes, you know?

Thread 11

kerewyn June 23 2009, 03:03:58 UTC

This is I presume a reality show, not a new remake of "Eight is Enough."

frodo_esque June 23 2009, 14:58:24 UTC

Alas, definitely not "Eight is Enough". It's a reality show in American about a couple who has twins and a group of setuplets (which are only 2 years younger than the twins). Watching the two parents bring up all these babies at once was a trainwreck...but fun in the beginning because it was so chaotic. I enjoyed the system they had come up with to make sure all the kids were taken care of.

The parents marriage is over now though, and the kids are doing as 5 and 7 year olds are wont to do-- be really loud and very, very active.

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frodo_esque June 23 2009, 14:55:19 UTC

Yeah, it's a little funny because people have had large children for years. That being said, usually the older children will help take care of younger ones-- and in this case, 6 of the children were the same age (sextuplets), and the other two were twins who were born just two years prior. Lots of little babies for two people to handle all at once-- I think that's what made it "fun" to watch.

bojojoti June 23 2009, 06:10:13 UTC

When I was growing up, it was nothing for a family to have eight children. Of course, there weren't six all the same age. Still, families managed without nannies, chauffeurs, and other hired help. I knew a woman, Lucy, who had 17 children. Good Catholic family!

frodo_esque June 23 2009, 14:40:22 UTC

Isn't that the truth! And some would argue that having young children from a spectrum of ages (6 mos, 1.5 years, 3 years, 7 years) is an even greater handful because none of them are on the same developmental level--each has their own age-specific needs.

That being said, often the older children help out with the younger, so in that sense there is some additional help that you wouldn't have if all the kids were the same age.

Regardless, I have no doubt that mama's back in the day had it much harder, and made do with so much less!