Jon and Kate Plus 8 Official Thread - Part 5

[NJFabFour]

If my family were doing a reality tv show I can guarantee you that I would be no where near them when filming was going on. I don't even like being on home movies. Jon said recently that his family feels the same way.

Can't someone like Carla be a friend and paid help as well?

I do not trust Kevin & Jody at all.

I have been disgusted with K & J from their first interview criticizing Jon & Kate (conveniently after they were denied compensation). My first thought when they went on the offensive recently "for the sake of their poor nieces and nephews" was that I could never imagine myself going on national TV to criticize my family, regardless of whether or not I disagreed with their decisions. These 2 are just publicity-seeking hounds with chips on their shoulders.

I just saw a little bit of the new article interviewing Jon for In Touch Weekly (you know, that national treasure! ) and wanted to throw up! He's totally on the offensive and throwing Kate under the bus to clearly try to clean up his tarnished image . . . actually having the gall to discuss introducing his latest drugged-out piece of garbage as his "girlfriend" to his kids after the divorce is final . . . but oh yeah, the break-up was all Kate's idea and poor Jon was completely blind-sighted by his wife's desire for a career in place of their marriage. While both of them clearly were not ideal spouses for one another and made their share of mistakes, this twerp and his immaturity make me sick.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I think Jodi and Kevin have another choice--be quiet! I'm always amazed that adults can't figure that out. Jodi has to be the worst about it. Hopefully, Kate will figure that out as the 45 days ends. Quiet is the moral high ground.

I slightly biased too about Jodi and Kevin--I think you are exactly right about their "problem" with the show. Also, TLC must be making sure they are super careful about filming kids when they are being good. All this bad behavior Kevin and Jodi talk about from the kids because of the show is not something I see. Too me, the kids are actually better behaved now than ever (not that I thought given their situation they were ever bad). Even Mady, who J and K freely admit had more problems adjusting seems to be much more at peace with their very unique situation.

Well, that would have been my choice, but I meant, in 'their minds' they didn't have much choice. I just can't imagine talking that way about family on national TV like that - have no problem talking like that in private or even to their face - but would never do it publicly.

Carla is paid help. Kate has said in a few previous episodes that she "can only afford Carla a few days a week." Carla also was the laundry "put away" person as well as Kate's summer helper/babysitter.

Carla wasn't paid help, not in my understanding anyway - my impression was that she and Kate were friends and Carla volunteered - whether she was compensated for her time I don't know.
The 'laundry woman' you're thinking of is not Carla, but an older woman from the neighbourhood who volunteered to help. I'm sure of this because we only get the older episodes over here and that one was on a couple of weeks ago. She was definately not Carla, can't remember her name though, but looked to be in her 60's.

 

[Debbie]

The 'laundry woman' you're thinking of is not Carla, but an older woman from the neighbourhood who volunteered to help. I'm sure of this because we only get the older episodes over here and that one was on a couple of weeks ago. She was definately not Carla, can't remember her name though, but looked to be in her 60's.

Were you thinking of "Nana Janet"? I believe Jon and Kate and the kids went to see her and her hubby (HIS name escapes me) in Memphis when they visited St. Jude's hospital at Christmas. The kids were very excited to see the pair, since they had moved from PA.

 

[barkley]

I have to admit I do find it strange. I really don't think they have much if any contact with family. And even if the family doesn't want to be filmed. Which is totally understandable, they are never even mentioned. I've been watching the show pretty much from the beginning and you have never heard Kate say, "Let's make a present for Grandma." (when they are doing crafts) or "Tomorrow we are going to Grandma's house." .... "We were at my sister's last week and the kids loved her new puppy." // "Grandpa came over yesterday to watch the kids ride their new bikes." or mentions the girls are wearing the dresses Aunt Mary sent them. Nothing like that...ever. And I'm not bashing Kate for it, I have no idea of the circumstances, I'm just saying I don't think she has a relationship with her family.

i've always found it odd that there's no mention as well especially when the episodes are focused on the kind of holidays and special events that in most families even if you are'nt in the habit or are not by virtue of geographic distance of getting together frequently, you make the effort to gather. i look at the christmas celebrations they've shown-they claim that when they are showing christmas day and what they are doing (like the opening of gifts) it's their real christmas day- but you don't hear any of the kids when they open presents saying 'oh look what aunt such and such sent me' or 'i got x from grandma' which is what tends to happen on real christmas mornings when family by virtue of distance can't gather. for the sextuplet's younger birthday parties (like the carnival themed one) where it was'nt just a kid type party (just kids invited-the kind where invites go to adults as well) that's the kind of event where you expect to see at least a few family members. same goes for jon's birthday dinner out-there were other adults, none who seemed to have a problem being filmed for the episode but again-no family.

so they say their family is close to them but just does'nt want to be filmed-that's fine. but if that's truly the case and it extends to them being there at those celebrations why are'nt we seeing people in background shots with their faces blurred (this is they way it's done on 'home sweet hollywood' with dean mcdermott's son from a previous marriage-his face has never been shown, he's almost never on camera and when he is it's blurred but there's talk of him in episodes)? so we can go to the next extreeme and figure if someone REALY does'nt want to be filmed they work it out in advance with the producers and tell them 'don't film me at all'-maybe those family members get set up with an area in the yard (for bday parties) or a room (restaurants/in home celebrations) that's kind of a "no fly zone" for filming. but if that's the case, with all the controversy and long standing questions the viewers have had about weather j&k are close to any family how hard would it be for them to just address this one of the times they've answered questions about it in the q&a episodes? just say something like "our family does'nt like to be filmed so we don't show them when they are here for the birthday parties or when we went out for jon's birthday'. maybe their family does'nt want to take the chance of being filmed at all-so for those celebratory times that we're seeing, the reality is it's not the only celebration. christmas at their house is only one of their celebrations and they do like many families and have a separate one where they gather (at their home or someone elses) to meet privatly. again-how hard with all the public questioning to just throw that information into the christmas episode. just an offhanded comment like 'we are going to grandma's tomorrow to have christmas with her' or 'we had christmas with the aunts and uncles last week'?

the gosselins realy don't owe anyone an explanation about their family dynamics but i think because of the way they've chosen to answer some questions on the topic it's just fed into creating more questions. when the question is 'why don't we ever see your family on the show?' and they answer with something about their family not being a part of their kid's everyday lives it just opens the door to more questions. if they had from day one just said 'look our extended family is our private buisness, they won't be featured in the show' i suspect people would have been satisfied.

j&k+8 is'nt the first nor will it be the last reality show where all or some of the members of the featured participant's family are'nt shown on camera but it seems like it's the one that gets asked the most questions about it. corey feldman's reality show of a couple of years ago ('the two coreys') never once showed or even had an on camera mention of the child he and his wife (who was prominant on the show) have together (i think the child was around 2 years old at the time). there were questions about it at the time and it was just answered with a simple statement about their family life being private and they were choosing not to film certain aspects. that layed the question to rest.

 

[DreaGirl]

Carla wasn't paid help, not in my understanding anyway - my impression was that she and Kate were friends and Carla volunteered - whether she was compensated for her time I don't know.
The 'laundry woman' you're thinking of is not Carla, but an older woman from the neighbourhood who volunteered to help. I'm sure of this because we only get the older episodes over here and that one was on a couple of weeks ago. She was definately not Carla, can't remember her name though, but looked to be in her 60's.

In an earlier episode Kate said that Carla is her summer helper and she would like to have her every day but could only afford to pay her for 3 days or something like that. She said she paid her.

Kate had 3 people helping with her laundry. One woman ironed (Nana Something), one woman folded (the one that moved to Memphis) and Carla put away her laundry. They showed it in an episode. Kate actually laughed and said she didn't mind doing laundry because after she took it out of the dryer it was out of her hands.

 

[DreaGirl]

On the road again:

"Kate's upcoming appearances:

Balance Expo 2009
Saturday, August 8th, 2009- Austin, Texas

Southern Women's Show
Friday, September 11 -Cleveland, OH
Thursday, September 17 - Charlotte, NC
Thursday, September 24 - Birmingham, AL
Friday, April 3 - Nashville, TN
Friday, April 24 - Raleigh, NC

The Women's Conference
Tuesday, October 27 - Long Beach, CA"

 

[Luvmy4boys]

In an earlier episode Kate said that Carla is her summer helper and she would like to have her every day but could only afford to pay her for 3 days or something like that. She said she paid her.
Kate had 3 people helping with her laundry. One woman ironed (Nana Something), one woman folded (the one that moved to Memphis) and Carla put away her laundry. They showed it in an episode. Kate actually laughed and said she didn't mind doing laundry because after she took it out of the dryer it was out of her hands.

I thought it was Carla's daughter who was the summer helper. I think her name may have been Ashley.

 

[DreaGirl]

I thought it was Carla's daughter who was the summer helper. I think her name may have been Ashley.

I'm not sure who is the summer helper this year, but Carla was the summer babysitter the year they went to Disney and they also showed her cleaning the house for Kate in a previous episode. Kate said something along the line of "I told Carla to clean all the cabinets because they were gross" then it showed Carla cleaning the cabinets.

 

[newtodis]

On the road again:

"Kate's upcoming appearances:

Balance Expo 2009
Saturday, August 8th, 2009- Austin, Texas

Southern Women's Show
Friday, September 11 -Cleveland, OH
Thursday, September 17 - Charlotte, NC
Thursday, September 24 - Birmingham, AL
Friday, April 3 - Nashville, TN
Friday, April 24 - Raleigh, NC

The Women's Conference
Tuesday, October 27 - Long Beach, CA"

Charlotte's not that far from me! Maybe a road trip should be in the works!



As to the family - or lack thereof....We don't talk about our family 24/7 and honestly only make a huge point when we're getting ready for a visit, if one of them calls or a holiday is coming up and we're doing something for that person. Sometimes the boys will be interested and actually remember that person and chat about them and sometimes it's "make a picture for so and so to go with their gift or to mail or whatever". We live about 1000 miles from them so we don't see them but a couple of times a year anyways. We do have pictures up in the sun room and the boys look at them often. I don't have any real connection with my family and couldn't tell you the last time I picked up the phone to call someone - friend or family. I guess it's not as "weird" to me because that's how I was brought up - you keep to yourself because everyone else is out to hurt you in some way. Not the best upbringing but if that's how Kate was brought up (or how she feels at this point), that may explain why she doesn't have much family around and it's not spoken about all the time.

As for Jon's job history.....I think the job I currently have is the only one I've had more than a year honestly. When I got out of high school, I taught preschool for a year, left to work at a hospital for a year, left to work at a day care center for a year, left to nanny for a year, had a baby, went back to work in an "office job" for a year, left for a better office job and am now where I currently am for about a year and a half. I moved quite a bit as well (5 times during the above mentioned jobs) and just left when things weren't going on the "up and up" or had to make better choices for myself and/or my family....I plan on staying in my current job forever because I love it but who knows. I don't think the changes were because of my age at all but you never know I guess....

 

[kritter]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/08/exclusive-kate-gosselin’s-girls-only-camping-trip

 

[LKHomemail]

It is very interesting that Steve disappeared right after the NC trip (filmed) and the rumor that Mady saw them together. He was a daily fixture for a l o n g time and then poof! he's gone. I cannot verify whether he is married/separated/divorced. It's all very murky!

Steve is married. There were pictures of his wife in one of the news articles. Seems Kate is "freinds" with both of them now and they have been helpful to her through the breakup. I don't like to think bad things, but, Steve's wife should get a clue that this "friendship " is not a good idea.

 

[barkley]

On the road again:

"Kate's upcoming appearances:

Balance Expo 2009
Saturday, August 8th, 2009- Austin, Texas

Southern Women's Show
Friday, September 11 -Cleveland, OH
Thursday, September 17 - Charlotte, NC
Thursday, September 24 - Birmingham, AL
Friday, April 3 - Nashville, TN
Friday, April 24 - Raleigh, NC

The Women's Conference
Tuesday, October 27 - Long Beach, CA"

o.k. i know her schedual does'nt look to crowded but did'nt they say that when things were initialy coming down on the break-up that they had cancelled appearances and were'nt obligating themselves to any more for the time being? if that's the case then i would guess more dates will get added in which leads me to wonder what the heck kind of custody arrangement they will be able to work out?????

i'm coming from the perspective of having a family member who along with his wife tried to do the same kind of custody thing the gosselin's have said they want to do (kids stay in the home, parents cycle in and out). now the way it explained to me for my family member was because they could'nt hammer it out themselves (not a nice divorce-which we can all agree is the case with the gosselins) they had to get a family court judge to sign off. the judge to even consider it said it had to be consistant-either every other week cycling in and out or one parent all week, one on the weekends, or even to the extreeme of one parent for multiple months on end.

if that's the case with j&k, and dates get added, i can't see how kate will avoid having the kids totaly under the care of a childcare provider for entire days if not multiple days at a time during her custodial periods.

if you just look at september unless they are going for the month on/month off arrangement (which i can't see her agreeing to) or her just getting weekends (again-i don't buy into her wanting to limit her time this much). there are 3 back to back weeks where she has obligations. 2 on thursdays, 1 on a friday. so if what we've heard is correct-that her appearances require that she be provided with a hotel room, then (depending on the way the weeks fall) at minimum 1 of her weeks with the kids (and maybe 2) would entail them having a non parent childcare provider with them overnite and into the next day or evening (depending on when she comes home), maybe even into the next day if the appearance is later in the evening and a flight can't be made back home.

i hope like heck that whoever does her bookings starts doing them around however their custody arrangement gets hammered out. i personaly think it would be realy lousy if the norm became that during one of your parent's limited time with you they took on obligations that left you for overniters with a paid provider (i know my kids would be saying 'well since you won't be here anyway why can't dad have that time with us?')

 

[LKHomemail]

The link is basically the same article as a previous one posted about Jon's interview but some things below weren't inlcuded in the first one IIRC:

When pressed about how his kids will potentially meet and interact with Glassman, Gosselin abruptly said the following: "If what you're trying to get at is, 'Is this the woman who stole Daddy from us?' -- no way."

"I kind of lost part of my life in my marriage," Gosselin says, referencing the fact that he was 22 and now has eight children. "I lost my whole twenties."

http://www.popeater.com/2009/08/05/jon-kate-left-me-for-a-career/

He thinks he "lost his whole twenties" ?? He chose to have 8 kids. How do the eight kids link to his age ? Everyone gets older. You can't freeze frame time. Who would want to stay stuck in a decade of your life ? I think Jon needs some help.

 

[barkley]

He thinks he "lost his whole twenties" ?? He chose to have 8 kids. How do the eight kids link to his age ? Everyone gets older. You can't freeze frame time. Who would want to stay stuck in a decade of your life ? I think Jon needs some help.

i think the help's long overdue. i think he and she would have done well to get it several years ago.

good lord can you imagine you get married at 22, then by the time you're 23 you're the parent of 2 kids, then by the time you're 27 overnite you go from being the parent of 2 kids to the parent of 8 kids

i mean yeah, i understand that he agreed to it but i don't think either of them could have anticipated what it would be like.

i look back to when dh and i had our dd and i remember so many of the things that happened in the first couple of years but i also remember that allot of it was a blur of exhaustion. dh and i tried to 'tag team' allot to give each other an occasional break but once ds was born (2 years later) that had to go out the window. i have to imagine that just with the twins both of them got worn out. with my kids i can honestly say it was when they hit age 4 or 5 and got a bit more independant and able to do some things for themselves that i managed to catch my breath. with jon and kate just as the twins were turning 4 the sextuplets were born. i just envision going from being exhausted to a level of exhaustion i can't fathom (and unless they had help with kate's bedrest during the pregnancy i'm guessing the bulk of the twin's care at that point fell on jon).

i don't agree that he 'lost' his 20's. i think he SPENT his 20's in an extreemly high stress and exhuasting lifestyle that he bought into.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Were you thinking of "Nana Janet"? I believe Jon and Kate and the kids went to see her and her hubby (HIS name escapes me) in Memphis when they visited St. Jude's hospital at Christmas. The kids were very excited to see the pair, since they had moved from PA.

No, she wasn't Nana Janet, but someone else from the neighbourhood, really frustrating I can't remember her name now!

I thought it was Carla's daughter who was the summer helper. I think her name may have been Ashley.

That's what I thought! I watched the WDW episode a couple of weeks ago and I remember Kate saying something like "Carla said she wanted to come along and help out, she said wherever you stay we'll book for there as well". I got the impression Carla volunteered and brought along her ?2 daughters as well. Could be wrong though.

i think the help's long overdue. i think he and she would have done well to get it several years ago.

good lord can you imagine you get married at 22, then by the time you're 23 you're the parent of 2 kids, then by the time you're 27 overnite you go from being the parent of 2 kids to the parent of 8 kids

i mean yeah, i understand that he agreed to it but i don't think either of them could have anticipated what it would be like.

i look back to when dh and i had our dd and i remember so many of the things that happened in the first couple of years but i also remember that allot of it was a blur of exhaustion. dh and i tried to 'tag team' allot to give each other an occasional break but once ds was born (2 years later) that had to go out the window. i have to imagine that just with the twins both of them got worn out. with my kids i can honestly say it was when they hit age 4 or 5 and got a bit more independant and able to do some things for themselves that i managed to catch my breath. with jon and kate just as the twins were turning 4 the sextuplets were born. i just envision going from being exhausted to a level of exhaustion i can't fathom (and unless they had help with kate's bedrest during the pregnancy i'm guessing the bulk of the twin's care at that point fell on jon).

i don't agree that he 'lost' his 20's. i think he SPENT his 20's in an extreemly high stress and exhuasting lifestyle that he bought into.

I see where you're coming from, but he's not the only man to have had children at a young age - me and my DH were young (not as young as J&K though) when we found out our '1 baby' was in fact 2 - we were totally overwhelmed but we dealt with it.

They both decided to go back for more fertility treatment. And yes Kate was was apparently more keen than Jon, but if he really didn't want more kids he could have said No, lets wait or No definately not. And again, they both made the decision to continue with the pregnancy.

Once you have kids things change, I just feel you have to grow up and face your new life - and not say publicly that "you lost your 20's". Man up.

 

[DreaGirl]

That's what I thought! I watched the WDW episode a couple of weeks ago and I remember Kate saying something like "Carla said she wanted to come along and help out, she said wherever you stay we'll book for there as well". I got the impression Carla volunteered and brought along her ?2 daughters as well. Could be wrong though.

That was Beth. Beth and her daughters went on the Disney vacation. Carla is the babysitter.

 

[WaltD4Me]

That's what I thought! I watched the WDW episode a couple of weeks ago and I remember Kate saying something like "Carla said she wanted to come along and help out, she said wherever you stay we'll book for there as well". I got the impression Carla volunteered and brought along her ?2 daughters as well. Could be wrong though.

It was Beth, who wrote Kate's book, that volunteered to go to help out at Disney and brought her daughters. I just saw the episode not long ago, I'm sure it was Beth, not Carla at Disney.

I still wonder what happened with Beth, she actually used to pop up on some message boards very early on to defend Kate.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

o.k. i know her schedual does'nt look to crowded but did'nt they say that when things were initialy coming down on the break-up that they had cancelled appearances and were'nt obligating themselves to any more for the time being? if that's the case then i would guess more dates will get added in which leads me to wonder what the heck kind of custody arrangement they will be able to work out?????

i'm coming from the perspective of having a family member who along with his wife tried to do the same kind of custody thing the gosselin's have said they want to do (kids stay in the home, parents cycle in and out). now the way it explained to me for my family member was because they could'nt hammer it out themselves (not a nice divorce-which we can all agree is the case with the gosselins) they had to get a family court judge to sign off. the judge to even consider it said it had to be consistant-either every other week cycling in and out or one parent all week, one on the weekends, or even to the extreeme of one parent for multiple months on end.

if that's the case with j&k, and dates get added, i can't see how kate will avoid having the kids totaly under the care of a childcare provider for entire days if not multiple days at a time during her custodial periods.

if you just look at september unless they are going for the month on/month off arrangement (which i can't see her agreeing to) or her just getting weekends (again-i don't buy into her wanting to limit her time this much). there are 3 back to back weeks where she has obligations. 2 on thursdays, 1 on a friday. so if what we've heard is correct-that her appearances require that she be provided with a hotel room, then (depending on the way the weeks fall) at minimum 1 of her weeks with the kids (and maybe 2) would entail them having a non parent childcare provider with them overnite and into the next day or evening (depending on when she comes home), maybe even into the next day if the appearance is later in the evening and a flight can't be made back home.

i hope like heck that whoever does her bookings starts doing them around however their custody arrangement gets hammered out. i personaly think it would be realy lousy if the norm became that during one of your parent's limited time with you they took on obligations that left you for overniters with a paid provider (i know my kids would be saying 'well since you won't be here anyway why can't dad have that time with us?')

In the beginning, they stated that Kate would be M-Th and Jon Fri-Sun. Now they haven't really been sticking to this so who knows. It looks like she is booking on Fridays or weekend type things mostly. The woman's conference in October was scheduled long before Jon and Kate even seperated. It looks like she will be doing a lot of flying in September.

Hopefully, when she is away Jon will be with the kids.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

That was Beth. Beth and her daughters went on the Disney vacation. Carla is the babysitter.

It was Beth, who wrote Kate's book, that volunteered to go to help out at Disney and brought her daughters. I just saw the episode not long ago, I'm sure it was Beth, not Carla at Disney.

I still wonder what happened with Beth, she actually used to pop up on some message boards very early on to defend Kate.

Course it was, my mistake - got a bit confuddled!

Di x

 

[barkley]

No, she wasn't Nana Janet, but someone else from the neighbourhood, really frustrating I can't remember her name now!



That's what I thought! I watched the WDW episode a couple of weeks ago and I remember Kate saying something like "Carla said she wanted to come along and help out, she said wherever you stay we'll book for there as well". I got the impression Carla volunteered and brought along her ?2 daughters as well. Could be wrong though.



I see where you're coming from, but he's not the only man to have had children at a young age - me and my DH were young (not as young as J&K though) when we found out our '1 baby' was in fact 2 - we were totally overwhelmed but we dealt with it.

They both decided to go back for more fertility treatment. And yes Kate was was apparently more keen than Jon, but if he really didn't want more kids he could have said No, lets wait or No definately not. And again, they both made the decision to continue with the pregnancy.

Once you have kids things change, I just feel you have to grow up and face your new life - and not say publicly that "you lost your 20's". Man up.

in order to "man up" there has to be a "man" in the equation.

in the j&k equation i think she married a "kid" who is currently all too well demonstrating what the term 'arrested development' means