Jon and Kate Plus 8. Official Thread!!

[TotalSnowWhite]

I've been reading this thread for a while and have never posted. I used to be a JK8 fan but with every episode I've become more and more disturbed. I think one of the things that's really starting to weird me out is all of the product placement. Last night there were boxes of organic snacks placed on top of another box like they were on display. And the cups and the bibs. Is it just me or do most 4 year olds eat without bibs these days? It's like the kids are on one long commercial but they're not necessarily being paid for it. I know most child actors who do commercials have breaks, etc. but these kids have no say. It seems a lot like the Truman Show to me.
All of the activities seem so forced to me. Imagine if a huge chunk of your life were written according to a loose script. I understand Kate's OCD issues and lord knows if you took my life out of context you may see some not so nice moments with my kids. I've lost it and yelled and I've bribed a time or two. However, these kids don't get to do anything on their own. Even putting a blueberry on the cake. Yet they do get to speak to their parents in horrible ways (Maddie). Kate seems to just scream, bribe, and order everyone arround. This episode just left me with a feeling of concern for everyone involved.

I used to think it was odd about the bibs, but when I noticed how messy my one can get sans bib, I can imagine it's a time saver to just throw on a bib rather than break out the Shout and/or change clothes after each meal (assuming they'll be going somewhere or their clothes will get the house dirty, like spaghetti or something). Seems more logical after I looked at it that way.

She was definitely overbearing last night (as always). There were some sweet moments... but for reason, they chose to keep some harsh moments in the final cut.

Like her yelling at the kids to stop eating the fruit, or when she yelled at Jon for having a cut on his hand while he was helping with dinner (he didn't know his hand was cut).

I thought it was hysterical watching them throw water balloons down on her. Or when Jon said, "Stop touching me!" on the interview chair. And if she 'corrects his words' one more time... let the man speak!!

I really and truly don't know how he puts up with her. It's got to be like living with your own mother 24/7.

Did you also notice she didn't yell at them the first two or three times she asked them to stop eating and they didn't? I know I'll raise my voice if mine doesn't follow directions the first or second time.

I missed the water balloons! Have to look for the rerun. Bet that was funny!

Can you imagine how hectic their house would be if she wasn't the way she is, though. I think they balance each other. I could say "I don't know how she puts up with him. It's got to be like living with another child 24/7," but that's silly.

Our family is the same way. My dad is a great cook, and he loves to cook, but I don't think I've ever seen the man do a dish or put anything away. I grew up helping cook in the kitchen, but I wasn't allowed to mow the lawn. We had a horse-ranch though, and shoveling poo was apparently non gender specific, and plenty delicate enough a job for a southern lady.

...

We'd actually discussed them being like the Dionne Quints.

We're sort of like that. My grampa does everything, though. Dishes, cleans, vacuums. At big events, the young women will usually start the clean-up, but the men usually do the every day work.

And I must be too young/forgetful because I have no idea who the Dionne quints are.

But how do you know what's a lie and what isn't and the rest of us that question what goes on isn't? (It isn't my intent for that to sound smart-alecky, because you are very knowledgeable about the show, and have obviously watched from the very beginning.) Unless you are Jon or Kate Gosselin, there's no way to know what is the real, honest to God truth about this family.

Don't misunderstand me - I have NO doubt that there is a lot of information being circulated about the Gosselins that is half-true, used to be true, 100% accurate, or a flat out lie. While I can understand that you think the lies are ridiculous, it's very frustrating when people say things we know or think we know not to be true. But how do you really know it's a lie? How do I know it's the truth? We don't. We can't.... not really. I believe there's a difference between fans/anti-fans and those who live in the area, who have had encounters with JK8 and can draw on their own personal experiences.

I think she was referring to people who say things that are exactly contradicted on the broadcast show. For example, the PP who said they had the entire 1 acre to themselves (or something to that effect) when you can see plainly that it was not the case. I'm sure she/he felt slighted, so it was her/his perception that they had the entire area to themselves. I suppose "lie" may not be the right word...just a difference in perception.

 

[MinnieMO]

I loved it when I think leah said jenny said just throw it away so you don't have to keep flushing the toilet and leah said eww did you say toilet and jenny said sorry potty and leah goes yucky


And when Jenny was showing the kids the "trick" with the quarter and told them to count down and then Collin wanted to try and was rubbing it on his elbow and told everyone to count that was sooo cute

 

[tzolkin]

TotalSnowWhite: The Dionne quints were 5 identical girls born in the 1930s (I think). They were basically taken away from their parents and raised by a doctor and some nannies/nurses in a setting where people could walk through and watch them through glass like at a zoo. I saw a documentary about them a few years ago.

 

[missypie]

The Jon and Kate relationship is fascinating and troubling...I so fear that I would come off like Kate on camera!

The other night we left a school event and it was 8 pm....nearing dusk and everyone had their headlights on but my husband. I "reminded" him to put the lights on and he snapped at me for telling him how to drive. How would that come off on TV? Like I was a witch to my husband?

On the way to the school event, we were in sort of a hurry....but husband drove the way to the school where there are four stoplights, instead of driving the way there are none. I was able to bite my tongue on that one, but I can see that I could have easily told him he was going a stupid way and then I'd come off like a witch and he'd come off like a poor abused guy.

 

[sha_lyn]

I used to think it was odd about the bibs, but when I noticed how messy my one can get sans bib, I can imagine it's a time saver to just throw on a bib rather than break out the Shout and/or change clothes after each meal (assuming they'll be going somewhere or their clothes will get the house dirty, like spaghetti or something). Seems more logical after I looked at it that way.

LOL.... DD was (heck I should say at 11 she still is) a messy eater. I used those huge bibs with long sleeves on them until she was probably 4.5.

I think she was referring to people who say things that are exactly contradicted on the broadcast show. For example, the PP who said they had the entire 1 acre to themselves (or something to that effect) when you can see plainly that it was not the case. I'm sure she/he felt slighted, so it was her/his perception that they had the entire area to themselves. I suppose "lie" may not be the right word...just a difference in perception.

OK while I'll concede that lie is probably too harsh with the PP/cocoa castle, I don't think it is when referring to the ducks/GWOP/anit-Kate bloggers that claim that the septs have never been allowed to play with or be around other kids.

 

[allison443]

TotalSnowWhite: The Dionne quints were 5 identical girls born in the 1930s (I think). They were basically taken away from their parents and raised by a doctor and some nannies/nurses in a setting where people could walk through and watch them through glass like at a zoo. I saw a documentary about them a few years ago.

When the McCaughey septuplets were born in 1997, the three surviving Dionne sisters wrote a letter to the McCaugheys, advising them:

"Multiple births should not be confused with entertainment, nor should they be an opportunity to sell products," wrote Annette, Cecile and Yvonne Dionne in an open letter published in the latest edition of Time magazine.

Here is the link from CNN
http://www.cnn.com/US/9711/23/septuplets/index.html

 

[WaltD4Me]

And when Jenny was showing the kids the "trick" with the quarter and told them to count down and then Collin wanted to try and was rubbing it on his elbow and told everyone to count that was sooo cute

I loved this scene too, really cute....Colin was adorable trying to do the trick himself!

I thought last night's episode was good, I'm going to miss the beach shows.
To me, Kate seemed more relaxed. Maybe they should buy that house!

When Maddie got her hair wrap and was crying she didn't like it, I had a flash back. The EXACT same thing happened to me with my niece when she got her hair wrap at Animal Kingdom. They didn't do the wrap from the top, it was lower and under her hair like Maddie's and she was crying and I had NO idea what the problem was.

 

[madge]

I already addressed the 2 lies I was referring to in my post that you partially c/p'ed.

I didn't realize that post was specific to those two lies, since you said all the lies in your post.... I thought you meant all lies (since you are usually the first one to post when somone says something you believe to be inaccurate) ... not just the two in your post.

I noticed the same thing. Sure looked like a lot of kids and adults were there. They even mentioned and showed that a lot of the other kids had on red shirts too.



Oh and also on the church/castle/icecream repeat they said the septs have been going to the church nursery every week since they were released from being home bound. That blows away the false claims that that are never around any other children their own age.
Like I've said before, I don't care if people dislike them/the show etc, but it is all the lies that are ridiculous.

How do we know something is a lie or the truth......Watch the show. Some of the lies are very obvious, and those are the only ones I have ever called a lie.

I do watch the show. And the show is edited. As someone pointed out upthread .. it is entirely possible for the show to be edited in a way that it didn't exactly happen.

And the going to church thing? It's not possible for them to be there every Sunday, even though that's what they said. I'm sure they are at church fairly often, which could maybe be translated to every Sunday. According to Jon & Kate, they are away (doing the weekend speaking engagements a couple of times a month) ... and sometimes kids are sick, the weather is bad etc. It's very hard to be at church every Sunday, for any family.

 

[princesspiglet]

I did notice lots of people in the background at Cocoa Castle that a PP mentioned. It didn't look like they had the whole playground to themselves. Or were all those people hired, Kate-approved extras?

Don't be offended, PP (I don't remember who you are and don't really want to backtrack), I'm just saying what I see and poking a little fun.

No offense taken. I was one of those people in the background. They asked all of us to move and everyone said no. Not a single person caved in and we all huddled together to talk about how we got some glares and eye rolling our way !

I have to say that our little town and the people I deal with are not happy with the Gosselins and are looking forward to them moving.

 

[madge]

No offense taken. I was one of those people in the background. They asked all of us to move and everyone said no. Not a single person caved in and we all huddled together to talk about how we got some glares and eye rolling our way !

I have to say that our little town and the people I deal with are not happy with the Gosselins and are looking forward to them moving.

I have a question - and you can PM me the answer if you'd like. I had a comment on my blog last night from someone claiming to maybe be a neighbor or resident of the town ... but, I don't know where JK8 live now. They used to live in Wyo-something or another, but not now, right?

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I loved it when I think leah said jenny said just throw it away so you don't have to keep flushing the toilet and leah said eww did you say toilet and jenny said sorry potty and leah goes yucky


And when Jenny was showing the kids the "trick" with the quarter and told them to count down and then Collin wanted to try and was rubbing it on his elbow and told everyone to count that was sooo cute

I thought those scenes were so cute, too!! Watching their faces during the quarter thing...adorable!

TotalSnowWhite: The Dionne quints were 5 identical girls born in the 1930s (I think). They were basically taken away from their parents and raised by a doctor and some nannies/nurses in a setting where people could walk through and watch them through glass like at a zoo. I saw a documentary about them a few years ago.

Thanks!! I had to Google it, too, since everyone seemed to know about them except me. Hehe!

The Jon and Kate relationship is fascinating and troubling...I so fear that I would come off like Kate on camera!

The other night we left a school event and it was 8 pm....nearing dusk and everyone had their headlights on but my husband. I "reminded" him to put the lights on and he snapped at me for telling him how to drive. How would that come off on TV? Like I was a witch to my husband?

On the way to the school event, we were in sort of a hurry....but husband drove the way to the school where there are four stoplights, instead of driving the way there are none. I was able to bite my tongue on that one, but I can see that I could have easily told him he was going a stupid way and then I'd come off like a witch and he'd come off like a poor abused guy.

No worries. I'm 99% sure everyone has their Kate moments and could come across the same way if their lives were on tv.

 

[princesspiglet]

Just to clarify, I never said that anyone actually left the playground. I stated that we were ASKED to move and so were many others. I also said that no one moved as we all agreed that the playground was big enough for everyone. We (speaking for the parents I spoke to that were there) were mad that they even ASKED us to move. Like I said, it is a public playground and why should our kids be inconvenienced for them?
This is what I said:

The camerman asked us to move to another part of the playground so that the Gosselin kids would have more space to play!! I was peeved- it's a public playground for pete's sake. I am not going to move so that Kate's kids do not have to mingle with the "normal" folk.

So where is the lie there???

Also, I live in Hershey, the Gosselins live in Elizabethtown, which is about 14 mins down Rt 743 South. They are in our area alot. There are days they are not filming and also times they are. We see both sides.

 

[MM27]

I just wanted to say that I completely agree with Kate about the whole hermit crab issue. UGH! If I had to see their legs start falling off, I would be completely skivved! And no, I wouldn't want one in my freezer mixing with my food either.

I guess painting their shells poisons them? I know nothing about hermit crabs. I have cats, and they seem to be a lot sturdier.

I agree with you on the crab thing. I'm a teacher and one of our science units is animal studies. We have fiddler crabs and when they start to die their legs fall off too Plus they stink. I don't think the painting has anything to do with them dying though because they "move" into new shells when their old one gets too cramped. I liked Kate's comment about the animal right's activists emailing them

I noticed the same thing. Sure looked like a lot of kids and adults were there.

I watched more carefully this time and I also noticed that in the church classroom there were indeed other kids in the class with the sextuplets.

Some thoughts on last nights show:
*I wanted to grab Joel and give him a big hug when Kate said "he's not helping" when they were doing the cake. He looked soooo sad going down those stairs

*The hair braiding looked adorable on the little girls. I don't think Kate is a horrible mother for having it done. I cruise a lot and especially when cruising in the Caribbean, tons of parents have it done for their kids. Hannah cries more when Kate brushes her hair, so a little bit of tears for braiding seems like nothing and they didn't seem to mind it after it was done.

*Jenny's interaction with the kids is nice. Her coin trick even got a smile out of Cara and Collin trying to repeat it was priceless.

*Cara's nails. WOW! I have never seen nails like that on a 7 year old before.

*The morgue and J&K explaining to the little kids that it was a note to Marge the house cleaner

*Leah's prayer before dinner. How cute was she?

*Regarding the fireworks, it was funny that they actually drive through the area and warn people about setting them off. I wish my town did that. Jon made a comment about bringing them home and doing them, but Kate told Mady and Cara that they are also illegal in Pennsylvania.

 

[MichelleVW]

The Jon and Kate relationship is fascinating and troubling...I so fear that I would come off like Kate on camera!

The other night we left a school event and it was 8 pm....nearing dusk and everyone had their headlights on but my husband. I "reminded" him to put the lights on and he snapped at me for telling him how to drive. How would that come off on TV? Like I was a witch to my husband?

On the way to the school event, we were in sort of a hurry....but husband drove the way to the school where there are four stoplights, instead of driving the way there are none. I was able to bite my tongue on that one, but I can see that I could have easily told him he was going a stupid way and then I'd come off like a witch and he'd come off like a poor abused guy.

Omg...we just had this conversation in my house! DH just walked by and tried to take a bite of my lunch and I hollered at him. He has the exact same plate in the fridge waiting for him, I don't want him eating mine!!!

Plus I got annoyed because he saw a mouse in the garage and tried to take my INSIDE NEVER GO OUTSIDE cat out to the garage to eat the mouse...ICK ICK ICK!! He said, "why do we have cats then??" "Uh...because we love them!!" was my reply!!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

No offense taken. I was one of those people in the background. They asked all of us to move and everyone said no. Not a single person caved in and we all huddled together to talk about how we got some glares and eye rolling our way !

I have to say that our little town and the people I deal with are not happy with the Gosselins and are looking forward to them moving.

Hey, I was close. Your "initials" are PP.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

Okay, so how many of you think Jon went ahead and set of a few fireworks once the kids were in bed?

I too did not understand why Joel or the other boys couldn't help with the cake. My son loves to help cook & bake and always has, when my daughter is old enough she will learn how to mow and do outdoor chores as well. I think Kate definetly has a fondness for girls. I am not saying she loves them more, it just seems like she has a hard time relating to boys. It seems like she gives them just as much affection, showed her loving on the boys many times last night.

Jenny seems to be really good with the kids, I loved Collin trying to imitate her trick. Too funny!

Watching the episode sure had me wanting crab legs!!

 

[sha_lyn]

Okay, so how many of you think Jon went ahead and set of a few fireworks once the kids were in bed?

I too did not understand why Joel or the other boys couldn't help with the cake. My son loves to help cook & bake and always has, when my daughter is old enough she will learn how to mow and do outdoor chores as well. I think Kate definetly has a fondness for girls. I am not saying she loves them more, it just seems like she has a hard time relating to boys. It seems like she gives them just as much affection, showed her loving on the boys many times last night.

Jenny seems to be really good with the kids, I loved Collin trying to imitate her trick. Too funny!

Watching the episode sure had me wanting crab legs!!

LOL...with Kate saying "Jon, don't do that. We don't do illegal things"

As for Kate not relating to boys, I know a few moms like that. I OTOH had DS first and have always been a tomboy. When DD was born I kept thinking, "I don't know what to do with a girl. " However now looking at both kids, I think I just relate to DS better because we are so much alike.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I too did not understand why Joel or the other boys couldn't help with the cake. My son loves to help cook & bake and always has, when my daughter is old enough she will learn how to mow and do outdoor chores as well. I think Kate definetly has a fondness for girls. I am not saying she loves them more, it just seems like she has a hard time relating to boys. It seems like she gives them just as much affection, showed her loving on the boys many times last night.

I didn't think the cake thing was a big deal. She said she was going to do it with all the kids, but they were having fun playing and decided to just do it with whoever walked through the kitchen...and then it got to be a girl thing by the time Joel came by. You saw the little girls sort of try to hide the cake from Joel, I just think by that time they were thinking of it as "their cake."
I bet Joel forgot all about it by the time he got to the bottom of the stairs.

On a side note...the fact that I wrote a whole paragraph about this sort of distrubs me.

 

[huey duey & luey]

I agree alot of the boy/girl rules seem weird, but things at my house are similiar. My boys are much rougher and more wild than my dd. If they went into her room to play I can guarantee Hannah and Gabriella would be missing there heads . At the age of 4, my dd again would listen to what I was saying and would be a help. I used to let them decorate their own individual pieces of cake, because otherwise the whole thing would be a mess. It is very hard to understand the dynamic between different gender siblings of the same age., but nature vs nurture is evident.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

On a side note...the fact that I wrote a whole paragraph about this sort of distrubs me.

You are probably right, it didn't upset him near as much as we think.