estherhead
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2004
- Messages
- 3,394
I've been a lurker on here forever & I finally have decided to show my face and say a few things.
First of all, for those saying Kate shouldn't be irritated by having to do things alone because single parents do it all the time, I think some single parents are a bit bitter they have to do it all alone. I would be. Especially newly single parents. If my dh suddenly decided to buy a sports car and go get himself a 23 year old & leave me I would be bitter about it. And I would be whiny. And I would cry and wonder if I had driven him away because I am ugly & old & mean & cranky and because I have a full time job and 8 kids and I'm not fun anymore because I'm "responsible." I would say things like, "Why do you get to go party & have fun while I'm here working my butt off?"
As a matter of fact, I used to say to dh when I had a newborn & an 18 month old that if I was a single mother I know I would be laying awake at night hating whoever it was that was the dad. I managed to be bitter about being awake at 2 a.m. even though I had a doting, supportive, helpful dh. I was bitter just because he was asleep and I was awake. Imagine what I would have felt like if I knew he was getting it on with a 23 year old or out partying at a bar while I was having the life sucked out of me by my little ones at 2 a.m.
I've known a lot of people going through separations and divorces and they are conflicted between self-loathing and bitterness toward the other person. So for me, I can't hate Kate for her feelings right now. She is first and foremost a woman and a mother. And whether she is self-centered or a money grubber or a bit psychotic, I cannot help but have a common empathy for other women going through hard times.
As for the paparazzi I agree with whoever said Jon brought them on himself. Paparazzi follow you when you are a story. Everyone knows this. If you don't want to be followed, don't be a story. Everyone knows this too. Do you see Jodie Foster in the news? Nope. Cause she doesn't want to be followed so she never is a story.
But I cannot put this at Jon's feet either. It just seems like they are confused about what is best for the children. They both want what is best for the kids, that I believe, but I think they have lost sight of the fact that what children really want is stability. Not money. Kids don't need trips here & there. It's nice. I try to give my kids as much as possible. This is the Disboards, after all. But I also never forget that what they want more than anything in the whole world is me & dh.
As for them taking freebies, we all would take freebies. I did a quick poll at work at who would accept a free week long trip to WDW if they had to spend one of those days filming a promotional video for Pampers. Every single person asked where to sign up. So I think in general the commercializing is something we Americans don't mind & are used to & willing to participate in. The problem is they seem no longer able to prioritize and choose family over the money. I think in their case they could have both. As long as they choose family first, they could have both.
What I like about the show is that they do show America who they really are. If you taped dh & I you would possibly not like us. He especially isn't p.c. And I would not want cameras to follow us around. I, personally, would put on a big show & tell the kids not to say stuff when the camera's around. In real life I rarely wear make-up & look horrible. I often don't comb my children's hair. But if cameras were following me around I would make sure we were all gorgeous and presentable and p.c. So to me it is interesting to hear you all criticize them for changing their looks and who they are.
Really? Who hasn't started a diet after seeing a photo of yourself? This year after coming home from WDW I looked at the photos & realized that my pink princess sweatshirt added like 20 lbs to me and promptly threw it away. Imagine if I had worn it while being filmed for all of America to see? I would have been HORRIFIED. And the next time the cameras came around you can bet yer bottom dollar I'm have something super adorable on to prove I'm not a big round pink pin cushion.
First of all, for those saying Kate shouldn't be irritated by having to do things alone because single parents do it all the time, I think some single parents are a bit bitter they have to do it all alone. I would be. Especially newly single parents. If my dh suddenly decided to buy a sports car and go get himself a 23 year old & leave me I would be bitter about it. And I would be whiny. And I would cry and wonder if I had driven him away because I am ugly & old & mean & cranky and because I have a full time job and 8 kids and I'm not fun anymore because I'm "responsible." I would say things like, "Why do you get to go party & have fun while I'm here working my butt off?"
As a matter of fact, I used to say to dh when I had a newborn & an 18 month old that if I was a single mother I know I would be laying awake at night hating whoever it was that was the dad. I managed to be bitter about being awake at 2 a.m. even though I had a doting, supportive, helpful dh. I was bitter just because he was asleep and I was awake. Imagine what I would have felt like if I knew he was getting it on with a 23 year old or out partying at a bar while I was having the life sucked out of me by my little ones at 2 a.m.
I've known a lot of people going through separations and divorces and they are conflicted between self-loathing and bitterness toward the other person. So for me, I can't hate Kate for her feelings right now. She is first and foremost a woman and a mother. And whether she is self-centered or a money grubber or a bit psychotic, I cannot help but have a common empathy for other women going through hard times.
As for the paparazzi I agree with whoever said Jon brought them on himself. Paparazzi follow you when you are a story. Everyone knows this. If you don't want to be followed, don't be a story. Everyone knows this too. Do you see Jodie Foster in the news? Nope. Cause she doesn't want to be followed so she never is a story.
But I cannot put this at Jon's feet either. It just seems like they are confused about what is best for the children. They both want what is best for the kids, that I believe, but I think they have lost sight of the fact that what children really want is stability. Not money. Kids don't need trips here & there. It's nice. I try to give my kids as much as possible. This is the Disboards, after all. But I also never forget that what they want more than anything in the whole world is me & dh.
As for them taking freebies, we all would take freebies. I did a quick poll at work at who would accept a free week long trip to WDW if they had to spend one of those days filming a promotional video for Pampers. Every single person asked where to sign up. So I think in general the commercializing is something we Americans don't mind & are used to & willing to participate in. The problem is they seem no longer able to prioritize and choose family over the money. I think in their case they could have both. As long as they choose family first, they could have both.
What I like about the show is that they do show America who they really are. If you taped dh & I you would possibly not like us. He especially isn't p.c. And I would not want cameras to follow us around. I, personally, would put on a big show & tell the kids not to say stuff when the camera's around. In real life I rarely wear make-up & look horrible. I often don't comb my children's hair. But if cameras were following me around I would make sure we were all gorgeous and presentable and p.c. So to me it is interesting to hear you all criticize them for changing their looks and who they are.
Really? Who hasn't started a diet after seeing a photo of yourself? This year after coming home from WDW I looked at the photos & realized that my pink princess sweatshirt added like 20 lbs to me and promptly threw it away. Imagine if I had worn it while being filmed for all of America to see? I would have been HORRIFIED. And the next time the cameras came around you can bet yer bottom dollar I'm have something super adorable on to prove I'm not a big round pink pin cushion.
All I can say is that it was very sad. I think we are all witnessing a marriage ending right before our eyes.
And I thought they'd never hand her the tissue.
I hope, if you want to watch, that you get to tonight. It is really sad though.
In the case of Gymboree, Starbucks, etc, whoever is product-placing on their show, those companies more than likely came to the Gosselins after the show was on for a while and their executives could see how many viewers there were. It's very worth it to them to have those adorable babies seen in their clothes; even if they give $5,000 a year of free clothes to the Gosselins (and it could be more, judging by how many outfits you see them in a season), they justify that by how many people might come into their store to buy since they saw the cute kids wearing the clothes. I read an article a while ago (can't recall where exactly) saying that now since lots of people have DVRs, TIVOs, etc, they are doing more product placement on TV shows rather than spending the $$ on commercials that people just fast-forward through. Once I read that, I started to see it all over. It's very interesting - watch any show, even a 30-minute sitcom, and count how many name brands you see (Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, Chrysler, Starbucks, Apple, etc).
