Jon and Kate Plus 8 official Thread, Part 2!!

[mousetravel]

And I disagree about Jon. This is Season 4 of his show, kind of late to be having this epiphany now. He sure doesn't seem to have a problem accepting all the free trips and special experiences. Jon's problem seems to be more of an identity crisis. I think him becoming a producer will go a long way towards making him feel like he has more "value". Kate is definitely the public persona, but producing will definitely give him more behind the scenes say.

This is exactly what I was thinking. If he is that miserable and wants to go back to "real life", then give up the free trips, free clothes, free sitters, million dollar home, etc., and get an actual job and put an end to the series.

 

[madge]

I thought they moved the set from the old house to the new house. I am assuming that they just meant they would have a new set design for the next season.

that may be. one of those things we'll probably never know. LOL. I really thought she said that was the last episode in the house? maybe she did say set?

 

[bebelle]

that may be. one of those things we'll probably never know. LOL. I really thought she said that was the last episode in the house? maybe she did say set?

It was the last episode using the old set which was constructed to look like the one at the old house.

 

[bebelle]

If my husband was miserable and unhappy with the direction our lives were taking---we would be changing directions! The most important things in my life is my husband and my children. The rest is just...stuff!

 

[MichelleVW]

I edited my post to remove God and talk about Sunday vs Monday. However, I never broke any rules in the first place. That was not the topic of discussion nor the topic of this thread. It wasnt even religious discussion- it was simply noting what a poster had said about their position at work vs their actions. Would you go a bank and have nonchalant discussion about how you or many of your friends are thieves. Similar circumstance. It's whats known as a more and what isnt, irony at it's best. I tamed what I wrote down not to be so blunt. We can still note the obvious without getting out of hand in a religious discussion. I even stated "lets not get off on that" meaning, this isnt ABOUT THAT, its about the way this thread is going...

Personally, I dont see the other side. I don't see very many saying that Aidans glasses suit him well, or Kate is a great organizer. Or that the last show had some super cute parts. I see "not good enough", "not happy enough", "not nice enough", etc, etc..

I say that stuff all the time, but I've been in Disney for the past week while this thread was really busy!!

This is a harsh tread!
I have my DVR set to record tonight show. Whats happening on the show tonight?

This isn't usually a harsh thread or I wouldn't be in it.....I'm not a total Kate Lover, but I do tend to defend her alot because I get tired of all the bashing.

I was thinking the EXACT same thing. I remember the episode where Jon dragged her shopping so he could dress her. She admitted she had no fashion sense and that Jon picked out her stuff. Times have changed.

A few years ago I had no fashion sense....but then I started to pay attention to fashion a little more and I like shopping way more now!

I think one reason the babysitter is not on T.V. is because if they put her on T.V. for to many hours then they would have to pay her and it would be another Aunt Jodi situation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe she doesn't want to be on tv....

this is just something I was thinking about.......

since Kate had the babies, is Jon is the ONLY adult that has stayed in her life? For whatever reasons.....at least a good number of adults we know about are no longer in her life....her mom/dad, Jodi, Beth, Nana Janet, etc.

I know we don't see everything in their lives but it (losing adults in her life) seems to be a trend......I can see that she might be hard to get along with.

I thought it was interesting that she pointed out that YES, they do have a sitter and we'll have her "forever and ever."

I wonder if Kate and Jon have had words about Kate chasing off all of the other helpers.....

I hope they get things worked out.

No one here knows for a fact that every adult is out of their lives...

See this is what annoys me about kate. She yells at John for not using a coupon at Home Depot, but then she can go and shop at Ann Taylor for herself and that's OK.
And poor John, I really do feel bad for him, he doesn't want to be known, he wants his old life back and Kate feels the absolute opposite.

Maybe she had a coupon, and I would yell at my husband too if he bought something we had a coupon for and didn't use it.

 

[OhMari]

It was the last episode using the old set which was constructed to look like the one at the old house.

When the show was over, Kate mentioned that they would be 'selecting a new interview couch'. Kate said this couch made them all slumped over, and their shirts would be all askew.

After the interview Jon asked if he could burn the couch and walls and then he asked if he could write on the walls. They gave Jon a marker and when they stood up, the wall was only a 6 ft wall at the most. Jon was starting to write and Kate wanted the marker.
Jon said no, he was using it, and she grabbed it from him and said, "let me".


Then Kate wrote, Kate Gosselin was here!!
I couldn't make out what Jon wrote, I think the marker died.

 

[VickiVM]

I believe there was an allstate commercial prior to Jon's strange internet segment - usually the plug comes before the commercial.

 

[lucas]

This is exactly what I was thinking. If he is that miserable and wants to go back to "real life", then give up the free trips, free clothes, free sitters, million dollar home, etc., and get an actual job and put an end to the series.

That's what I was thinking, too.

 

[newtodis]

this is just something I was thinking about.......

since Kate had the babies, is Jon is the ONLY adult that has stayed in her life? For whatever reasons.....at least a good number of adults we know about are no longer in her life....her mom/dad, Jodi, Beth, Nana Janet, etc.

I know we don't see everything in their lives but it (losing adults in her life) seems to be a trend......I can see that she might be hard to get along with.

I think it's terribly sad coming from someone who suffers from something so similar. I've suffered a LOT of abusive throughout my life (physical, verbal, mental specifically) and was raped when I was 17 years old by someone I trusted. My parents put my brother and I in foster care because they had other priorities in life at the time. I can tell you the only time my dad's ever seen my 4 (almost 5) year old is when he was 9 months old at my wedding - never made contact before or after to attempt to see him. He's never seen my 2 year old. Rarely do I talk to any other members of my family. I've learned through the way I grew up that if I couldn't do it myself, I couldn't trust others to take care of it for me so I've learned to take on a lot of things. Now, DH's family is the total opposite and it's very hard to get used to - always talking on the phone, trying to get together (when we lived closer) it's all very weird to me. I also tend to "get them before they get me" in situations. I will not keep friends for fear of being hurt by them. When we moved from MI, I have only stayed in contact with one of my friends. Rarely do I stay friends with anyone for more than about a year....I can't let people get to know me, find out how "weird" I am, know my "weaknesses", ect. I know that's all how I precieve things but I see part of myself in Kate. Now I can tell you from my experience it's a very sad and lonely life. My children are my everything and I struggle every day to make life as "normal" as possible for them. I truly hope Kate (and myself with lots more work!!) can work through this if this is what she's suffering from. I know in my situation, I'm always worried about what others are thinking about me and my actions (I'm always paranoid about what others are saying - "what did I do wrong?" kind of a mentality). It seems like with the show, Kate may be trying to "prove" she can do this and make it all work. From personal experience, it takes a toll on yourself as well as your family trying to prove things all the time. I truly hope I'm wrong about my presuming Kate and I might have something in common - especially something like this. I wouldn't wish this on anyone but I can't help but think about it when you see them not having any other people in their lives (yes I know this doesn't mean they don't have anyone around). Everyone needs a good group of friends they can trust and count on in life....it certainly makes thinigs so much easier. I truly hope the entire J&K+8 family has this or finds it very soon!

I thought it was interesting that she pointed out that YES, they do have a sitter and we'll have her "forever and ever."

I wonder if Kate and Jon have had words about Kate chasing off all of the other helpers.....

I hope they get things worked out.

I found that comment odd as well...also when Kate said they'd "never have a nanny". What's wrong with a nanny???? I have one who's with my kids every day and she's part of our family. I think it's a bit disrespectful to just call her our "babysitter"...to me a babysitter is someone who comes so you can go out for a couple of hours. Maybe that's all J&K use this person for..I don't know.

if the trip to Florida turns out to be part of season 5 ... they were already shooting that before Jon's declaration that there may not be another season of JK8? I'll be curious to see how it plays out. I really will. Jon said in an interview in February that they were signed for season 5, so if they are seriously reconsidering the series, wouldn't they possibly be in breach of contract?

So many questions ...

Totally agree with this - I'm curious to see how the timeline plays out and what develops during their break.

I don't know.....maybe she did have a coupon. I shop at LOFT a lot, and the prices are really reasonable, especially if you hit the sales. I also get coupons from them all the time. So who knows if she had one or not.

And I disagree about Jon. This is Season 4 of his show, kind of late to be having this epiphany now. He sure doesn't seem to have a problem accepting all the free trips and special experiences. Jon's problem seems to be more of an identity crisis. I think him becoming a producer will go a long way towards making him feel like he has more "value". Kate is definitely the public persona, but producing will definitely give him more behind the scenes say.

I wasn't sure about Ann Taylor - that's the store I thought it was but I also thought (I don't shop there personally) they were a bit pricy.

I agree it's a bit late in the game to be thinking about how this is effecting you and your family. You can't have the "free" stuff and not take the bad with the good....life's just not fair like that. I certainly hope by them taking on the production role might change the show a bit to see things more that they want to see???

I liked the idea of the art projects .. and the actual paintings turned out great. The children did a wonderful job, and a nice idea to use them in the basement (there's my positive comment for the day. )

BUT. Kate manipulating the colors? Eh. Did she explain to the kids what they were doing, making decorations for the house, or did she just tell them what colors they could and couldn't use?

And I laughed as they were showing the paintings ... they were halfway trying to make it seem like it was the first time Jon saw the art, but he said he was the one that picked up the order at the museum. Even he couldn't keep it straight about whether he should be talking about them like he'd never see them or just comment about how nice they look. LOLOL.

I agree! I had NO idea what he was doing, but I really thought it was a plug for ALLSTATE, since he said ALLSTATE specifically 2 or 3 times.

I loved the pictures - it was so great to see the kids all messy! They looked like they really enjoyed it!! I love messy projects myself though (the project is fun - clean up not so much!). I thought all of the pictures turned out very cool. The painting lady seemed a little kooky for me though having the kids do so many different things all at once - maybe just a couple of things would have been good - but I'm not an artsy person so maybe you need to do all of those things??

Yeah the Allstate ad was a bit over the top - the agent had "tips" for him and told him to check out the website??? Don't you pay your agent to explain that stuff to you? I guess with my 2 kids I don't always have time to read the insurance website for the latest and greatest - we have an agent who keeps on top of that for us and knows what we need/want and keeps that in mind to get us the best deals possible.

Yeah, I loved that BLATANT placement of the 2 big jars of Ragu during a preview for their show. Before the clip was even over I told my DH I bet Ragu is a sponsor, and then they said it.

It doesn't bother me too much as long as they don't overdo it. The Allstate thing was a stretch, them just having a jar of Ragu on their counter and not really talking about it doesn't bother me.

I haven't watched that show yet - I was up at 6 with a crabby boy so we watched J&K this morning so I was up to speed on everything. The boys loved watching the HG since we just saw them when we were in Disney. It was sooooo cute to see how excited the kids were with them. I think my favorite part was when the little kids ran and hugged Cara when she was done "helping" at the game. I also loved how one of the guys had his own camera out and asked for a picture with "you or you or whoever will stand with me" (or something like that). A grown man all excited over a family with 8 kids - now that's cute!

I wasn't a fan of Hannah (I think) wanting her hair cut and Kate saying no. I know at that point the parents get the final say since the kids are so little but let her cut it a little bit if she doesn't want so much hair....poor kid. I know how hot and heavy that can be...yucky! I do give Kate praise for not giving all of the girls very short hair cuts just to save on time. They're cute with their hair done up.

I also wasn't a fan of the shopping spree either....I find it so hard to believe that she didn't have something in the closets that matched that she could have pulled out for her and the kids...please. It's not like it's their first time on tv or anything like that....

I really felt bad for Jon though and had tears in my eyes. Yes it's one thing to "love" what you do but how can you be happy if your spouse isn't happy?? Maybe Jon could find a part time job just to get him out of the house and try to be "normal" again. It sounds like that's what he really would like. It also sounds like Kate would much rather travel to speak and write and sign books so maybe they will need that nanny....

As for not coming back next season, I thought they'd already signed the deal for the next season were starting to film. It seems like they would have to if the new season starts in May - I would think they would have to start in April at the latest. I do like that the shows seem to be closer to "reality" in regards to when they're taking place.

Another thing I was wondering about is on the tummy tuck show (one of the first ones) the doctor's wife said they were going to get together every year....wonder if that ever panned out for them??

And I know so many of us have said this so many times but no one saw them at the basketball game or any of their other outings? It seems to me like with all the rumors flying around that People or someone would be trying to contact some of those people to see what "really" happened at those events.

As for the fashion episode Jon suggested and Kate was all for, I don't know if I could handle that....things have changed so drastically that it might not look good on Kate's behalf. Yes she's thinner now that she was, has a fancy hair do and tan with designer clothes...is that really better? Yes being in shape is good but the rest? I don't think you need fancy hair or clothes to be a good mommy or person....just my opinion.

Ok enough rambling this morning...I need to get to work

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

The kids were so cute last night. I laughed and laughed at Aaden when he had the paint on the side of his head. It was funny watching them get paint all over.

I have no doubt that there will be a season 5.

 

[barkley]

i look at this situation (with jon) and it honestly reminds me of the kind of mindset/behaviours i've seen in both mid-life crisis men OR women i've known that got married realy young, had their kids early (and largely never worked outside the home) and then in their late 20's or early 30's something inside them kind of said "i've missed out, i want to do what i would have done in my teens and early 20's". with the women it's not unusual for them to start wanting to do more stuff on their own (and with a younger crowd), with the men it almost seems like they are at a loss as to what they want to do career wise and weather the family dynamic they are in is something they can see themselves continuing with (seen too many divorces in both groups).

jon was young when they married (what like 22?) and within less than a year and a half they had the twins, 3 1/2 years later the sextuplets came along. kates said something like he was kind of 'wild' when she met him and she had to calm him down or regin in him (something like that), he talks about how he was realy into sports and different activities but has'nt done them for years (i'm guessing because of the kids and earlier on because kate was'nt into them). he's had a spotty professional career at best with what does'nt seem to have been any real opportunities through enough time at any one employer to advance up and develop his professional skills (i seem to remember that he does'nt have much college and the jobs he's worked were fairly low level tech).

in the grand scheme of things this is a guy who was very young, very active and seemingly not what you'de think of as someone who could remotely imagine themselves in less than 10 years being a "sahd" to 8 kids.

i hope he's getting professional help. i just see him as needing to establish his own identity-and not by running off to a ski lodge or hitting the bars. he needs to find something that interests him and look to the demands of the lifestyle they've chosen and find a way to pursue it. i hardly think he's going to find much reward in being a "producer" on the show-the reality is that it's a common contract negoition ploy to give someone who appears on a t.v. show that title to up the financial pay-off and their job duties differ no more than what they've previously done.

little boys look to the dads as a role model, and what they see them doing or not doing can shape their attitudes and aspirations. those little guys need to see their dad doing something more than taking them to amusement parks and having their family time considered their dad's "job".

 

[brerrabbit]

Though it is part of the "job", I could only imagine how stressful that is. If one thinks about the entire situation of him already being away from the family to help his mom and then all the hupla about him at these bars it makes for a very hard time.
I can sympathize because my marriage, as I'm sure others too have experienced, is not always perfect. I could not imagine being put under a microscope and then dissected.

I have worked a significant portion of my life in Trading and this all boils down to a classic risk/ reward scenario. They are very well compensated for doing the show and exposing every detail of it to cameras. The risk is total disruption of their lives, but it is what they chose to do. A small business owner plows his life savings into his business and he risks it all for the rward of financial success. No difference. The questionable aspect of Jon and Kate is that they are exposing their young children to this life for financial gain. Not a choice I would have made but they did and as a result they get their lives discected all across America on boards like this.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

This is exactly what I was thinking. If he is that miserable and wants to go back to "real life", then give up the free trips, free clothes, free sitters, million dollar home, etc., and get an actual job and put an end to the series.

But it seemed like he's done with all that too. It seemed to me that he doesn't care about all the free stuff anymore, the opportunity to work from home, etc.. he just wants it back to 'normal'!
I was just thinking too... The show was originally made to show people how HARD is was to raise 8 kids. Well now it's seems apparently very easy for them and the show has turned from how difficult it was and financially hard for them to 'look at all the places we can go with 8 kids. Look at all the things we get!'

 

[puffkin]

I wasn't sure about Ann Taylor - that's the store I thought it was but I also thought (I don't shop there personally) they were a bit pricy.

Well, Ann Taylor is a bit pricey. LOFT is a sister store that is a bit cheaper and a little younger/more casual. Kind of like how Old Navy is to Gap.

I really like LOFT and shop there a lot. The clothes are made well and they fit. Most stuff is appropriate for work or out and about. Hard to find that at other stores. There sales and coupons are pretty good. I don't spend a lot of money on clothes, and I shop here a lot so trust me, the prices can't be too bad.

Like I said, she was definitely in the LOFT store in Wyomissing. You could see the OFT on the window and I know that store (and shopping center) well since I shop there all the time.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

But it seemed like he's done with all that too. It seemed to me that he doesn't care about all the free stuff anymore, the opportunity to work from home, etc.. he just wants it back to 'normal'!
I was just thinking too... The show was originally made to show people how HARD is was to raise 8 kids. Well now it's seems apparently very easy for them and the show has turned from how difficult it was and financially hard for them to 'look at all the places we can go with 8 kids. Look at all the things we get!'

I feel the same way. I got the feeling from last night's show that Jon is sick of it all and wants a normal life again. He looked so sad and depressed and it looked like he was forcing himself to be cheerful during the interview part. (We all know that he's a sportsy guy and yet at the Globetrotters he seemed rather passive.) If my husband made comments to me like that about feeling lost and such, I'd be a little alarmed! Kate was oblivious and just kept saying she loves what they're doing. Listen to your man, he's telling you serious stuff. The show has obviously drained him and put a strain on their marriage. If I were Kate, I'd take that VERY seriously. Money isn't everything. She has a beautiful family, a healthy family too which isn't always the case with sextuplets. I hope they step back and look at the road they've traveled to get to this point and reasses. Bitterness in a relationship can destroy it lickety-split. I really want to see them succeed, not financially but as a married couple and parents.

 

[MamaLema]

call me crazy, but I was irritated by the "art teacher" last night. A real art teacher would never say no, don't do that, don't touch that, get your hand off, or force your hand to make a handprint. I really feel it's not the childrens' art if their mother picked the colours and the "art teacher" strongly influenced your painting.

Ok, ready to be flamed now

 

[disney junky]

The show has become a sad commentary on people who are willing to do just about anything to get what they think will make them happy. Jon is the first to admit it. Kate's not happy. The kids seem like lost souls, but they are wealthy...So in 15 years, will we be seeing the kids on the cover of supermarket tabloids....that's where this is all leading.

 

[Jaxs27]

This is exactly what I was thinking. If he is that miserable and wants to go back to "real life", then give up the free trips, free clothes, free sitters, million dollar home, etc., and get an actual job and put an end to the series.

Yeah but Kate is happy, isn't that all that matters.

 

[MarksMom2006]

they receive free product and will agree to use it on & off the show. They have exclusive deals with Ann Taylor and Gymboree. The " shopping " trip was staged I'm sure.....

It looked like the store was empty (to me) when she walked in. And also, didn't the manager greet her or something? It must have been staged.

 

[DznyLvr2005]

I just read in an article that their new house was 1.3 million!!! Where they live, it must be a mansion.