I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. I was responding to the example you gave about your inlaws. The point is that there were TWO fo them - one parent to earn the living and one to stay home and take care of the children. Unless you left out a detail about how the children were cared for if both inlaws worked.
Kate won't have that second parent so she'll have to cover child care for 8 children if she takes a job. What job do you know in nursing that would cover the cost of 8 childcare bills?
"What good is a college education to a kid whose life is in the toilet because of the crap his/her parents have put him/her through?"
Well, in my opinion the Gosselin children are not sustaining such enormous emotional damage because they are being filmed playing in the backyard that they should give up being educated to cope with the fallout later on. I think an education is the most important thing there is for a child.
I suppose the basic difference in our posts is that you believe there is real damage being inflicted on these children and I don't.
"And, for your information, I have been a single mother and I got the grand total of $150 in child support. We didn't have a lot, but they knew they had me. I was the stability in their lives that they so very much needed when thier world started crumbling. I provided for my kids on minimum wage, so, please, do not give me Ms. Kate's pity story. I just don't buy it."
I don't recall seeing anything about Kate's pity story - she has been very clear that she wants to continue to work at the job the media has created for her. I don't see anything wrong with it. I see that you do but you are the one who is calling it a "pity party." Those are just your opinions but I have never seen Kate throw herself a "pity party."
"I certainly would NEVER wish my parents would have worked longer or harder to provide me with a college education--that is unbelivably selfish and I certainly hope that no child of mine ever shows that kind of selfishness."
You and I are miles aprt on this issue, then. I consider it a responsibility to try and provide a child with a college education. I suppose if you think it's not important then that would color your judgement but any parent who has the ability to work and doesn't at least try to fund some sort of college fund for a child is the selfish one in my book.
My comment about the pity party came from you saying "why don't you try being a single parent with no child support and see how stable it makes your family feel", not from anything I have ever heard Kate say. You were the one acting as though she was to be pitied.
You didn't ask how my mil would pay for child care, you asked if she could support the kids on a construction workers salary if he walked out. Different question and the answer is her family would have helped out and did at times when she did need to work.
I do not necessarily think that filming the kids in their backyard is hurting them. But I do think all the airing of the dirty laundry does hurt them and will hurt them. I think that the whole world knowing who they are and what is going on in their lives does hurt them. They are in the limelight now and all you have to do is look around and take count of all the kids who have been negatively affected by that.
Everyone is so concerned about the little ones, what about the twins. They go to school every day. Do you really think every kid in that school doesn't know what is going on?? Do you really thing this is not affecting those beautiful little girls?
I never said a parent shouldn't provide a child with a college education. I never said a parent who has the ability to work shouldn't do so to support their child. Kate seems to intend to either continue filming or return to nursing so I'm not even sure where a parent that can work not working came into the converstaion. I also never said I do not think a college education is important, I think it is very important. What I said was that if a grown child is wishing a parent had worked more so that they could have a free education the child is selfish. I wish my parents had worked less. My daughter wishes all the time her daddy could work less and be home more. I just don't know of anyone who has ever said they wished their parents had worked more to provide them with anything.
I really and trully do not give a rat's behind what Kate does now or in the future or what Jon does or what sort of girlfriend he has or what she has to say about it. All couples going through a divorce fight and fuss and say things about each other. Most divorcing couples put their kids through heck. Its just that most divorcing couples don't do it on national TV.
Mrs.Pete: I see what you are saying but, I just don't believe financial security can come at the expence of someone's emotional well being. I like knowing that my future is taken care of; but if my child needed me to I would give that security up in heartbeat. Besides, its not like Kate is going to be pennyless if she doesn't continue the show. She has the ability to make a living and Jon is certainly cabable to paying child support. I just don't see that she is going to be some kind of dire straits financially, if so I could understant not being able to worry about how all this is affecting her children. That's just not the case $75K a show???? Let's hope they have a least a small amount in savings.
You are right about the kids growing up in a day care size setting.
Dh talks about that all the time. But for him, at least, it was loving and caring and fun having that many siblings (they are all fairly close in age so at least a smiliar situation-some less than a year). They still look after each other and are very close. I hope that these children experience the same thing with a large family.
Maybe it was the parents not being money grubbers or it could have been the skin color of the boys. The four boys share a room with two sets of bunkbeds. IMHO they are the unique case here, not the ones on all the TV shows.
