Wednesday, October 22, 2008

My view of the Duggars and the Gosselins.....

Well, there seems to be a hot debate on both of these families recently. These are my opinions, take them as you will. I'm not going to argue with anyone. It's just my POV and my IMNSHO. I've watched them both. In fact, I have seen almost, if not all of their episodes. For the longest time, the Duggars would make me cringe. I felt so bad for the kids. I'm glad to see they seem to be lightening up now. I still don't agree with alot of their ideas, but that's mostly religious/moral beliefs, and obviously everyone is entitled to their own. I'm not one to tell them they are wrong, but I most certainly disagree. I still think the kids are pretty sheltered. And, while yes I think it's good to a point to not overwhelm children with things they are not emotionally or psychologically able to handle, I do think it's still important that they at least be exposed to them, just so they know how to act in that situation. I think if you live such a sheltered life that you've never experienced the things the vast amount of society has, once you are thrown into that in adulthood at the ripe old age of 18, you'll have a much harder time adjusting. As a parent, I feel it is my job to get my kids ready for society. Whatever parts of society I don't agree with, they still need to know about, so they will not be thrown into culture-shock when they are on their own. All in all, the Duggars are really starting to grow on me, especially since the older girls are at least allowed to dress like they're from this century (I loved I think it was Jessa's comment about being modern modest.) And yay for Michelle for finally getting over that bad 80's bang job! And, isn't it nice not to see 3 and 4 year olds wearing bibs and using little plastic potties sporadically placed throughout the house? I still find it rather hypocritical that Josh and Anna couldn't kiss before they were married but they were out watching an R-rated movie with Jana and John-David. As far as I know, the only Christian movie that was R-rated was the Passion, and thankfully I don't think that's in theaters anymore. But, again that's their business and though I don't agree with it, it's their life.

As for the Gosselins, I can't really watch them anymore. The kids are absolutely adorable, and unfortunately Maddy reminds me too much of Melodie, but god I can't stand Kate! At first it was okay, she's wound a little tight....8 kids will do that to you. She's just so mean, though! I mean, she treats Jon like crap, she's downright cold to the kids, and it just breaks my heart when she sits in her little white plastic chair in the garage yelling at Jon to organize things when he's actually TRYING to play with the kids and be a good dad. And the kids notice, and they did point it out on TV. That's sad. Also, if all of the things surrounding the loss of Aunt Jodi from normal episodes are true, it really makes me lose respect for J&K. Aunt Jodi put up with alot (the gum episode...please!) She genuinely and sincerely seemed to love and care about the kids and be an overall good person. I just think that Kate has lost sight of why she said they initially started the show. I've seen their roster of speaking engagements from their website, and I don't see how that can't hurt the kids. Either they have to travel every few weekends or they're left at home without their mom and dad. Neither are good for small kids! They need stability and their parents, not 15 hour car/plane rides and a nanny. Plus, what about the older girls? Are they left at home with a nanny, or are they pulled out of school for all this travel? It's irresponsible. It really is a shame, and I fully agree with everyone who says there should be the same laws in place to protect these kids as there are professional child actors. Child actors at least generally only film a few months out of the year, they have time contraints, etc on how long they're allowed to be filmed. What about these kids? And is anyone looking out for their future? They should all have trust funds set up in their names that J&K can't touch because if it wasn't for them, there wouldn't be a show, and they should be allowed to reap the rewards when they are of a proper age. Greed is a horrible thing. And why do they need to build a purported 8000 sq ft house? The Duggars house isn't quite that big, and they have twice as many children and plenty of space! I don't see how the Gosselin's current house is so bad. The kids have plenty of space in their rooms. They don't all need their own rooms! For god's sake, I don't think my living room is as big as the little girls' room, not to mention my 11 x 12 Master. And no, I'm not jealous. Yes, I would like more space in my house, and we're either going to add on a dining room/library/office with a second floor master to this house, or we're going to buy a bigger house out in the country with a basement, at least 1 1/2 baths, and at least 3 regular bedrooms when we can afford it. I don't think Kate is a good role model for a mom. I mean, I know I do and say things I regret to my kids, and it breaks my heart, and I apologize when I know I may have said something hurtful out of anger, especially with Melodie and how trying she can be. But Kate, she never shows remorse. People come back with "but it's edited, and they want good, exciting TV." I'm sorry, but J&K seem more than happy with TLC and the film crew, and I think if they were really skewing the reality all that much and making her look like THAT bad of a person, that J&K would say something. I know I would! Yes it's "their life" but they've chosen to show "their life" to millions of people, and if they didn't want criticism, they shouldn't have done it. No they're not perfect, no one is, I'm most certainly not, but I know I dearly love my children, and I would never shut one of them in a dark room on a hard, cold linoleum floor while they were sick just to save me the grief of washing an extra blanket or 2! When my kids are sick, they either stay in their beds, or I put a waterproof mattress pad and a sheet on the couch. There, no scrubbing a puke covered couch, throw the dirty laundry in with the other 2 loads or so of laundry I do a day....no big deal! And stains and clothes? Well, first off Melodie refuses to use a napkin, and even if I don't get something in the wash right away, it rarely stains. Try Purex (if you're not allergic, my grandma is) it's great stuff! For any tough stains, I rub on a little bit of stain stick. BTW, I only do this on school clothes or dress up clothes, not play clothes. Play clothes are just that, clothes to be played in. And how heartbreaking was it that for the little kids' birthdays they went to do the cupcakes, and they couldn't even have any fun decorating them? If Kate was so worried about their clothes, she could have changed them (which she said she was too lazy to do) or she could have done it on a day they weren't going to be wearing church clothes! Plus, it seemed from one episode the kids didn't even go in during church, that they were in the nursery bible school there, so why do they have to dress up to go to nursery school at church? FWIW, Melodie is about 2 weeks younger than the twins, and Atley is about 2 months younger than the little kids. Atley has not used a potty chair since he was 2. My baby wears a bib....my 4 year old does not. He has also not used a bib since he was 2. Isn't it important enough to teach proper table manners and etiquette, even if it means helping to prevent those horrible stains Kate has to spend "hours" removing?!?! I just can't bear to watch them anymore, and I hope someone can do something to make sure the kids' (all 8 of them) best interests are looked out for before it's too late. Dan will be so happy. He can't stand that show. We've been taking bets on the day Kate finally gets a chance of her own medicine and Jon loses it and goes off on her for once. You know, they did say he holds everything in and has one big blow up....tick tick tick....can't be long now! That dynamite has got to be primed to the Nth power by now!

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