Sister Wives, anyone???

[MaryAnnDVC]

Was the baby born in the middle of the night? I was multi-tasking while it was on (laptop, iPhone, TV ), and I know it was at night, but did Janelle get out of bed in the middle of the night? Or was it just late at night?

Any looks anyone gives when someone else says/does something, I take with a grain of salt, unless it's in the same frame. Otherwise, there's just too much risk of editing to make things look a certain way.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Unless the editing was off, I believe the baby was born around 2:40 a.m. At least that's what the clock showed. And they did two specific shots of the clock, one an hour prior and one at about that time. Meri ran and woke her daughter up, Christine got all her kids up and out of bed, and then you see Janelle coming up the stairs with her kids too. So as much as she said she wouldn't, she did.

I honestly always thought Meri and Christine were close. Maybe they were before Robyn? And Christine was talking about how she wasn't so nice to Robyn in the beginning. I don't remember seeing those episodes, but I know I missed some. Janelle I just don't get. She seems more like Cody's business partner or buddy than an actual wife. And each of them, particularly Janelle, are becoming much more honest about their insecurities within the relationships. In the beginning it was all rainbows and sunshine.

And can someone explain to me where they are going to get the money to have 4 brand new houses built? I thought they were broke and cashed out all their retirements, etc.? And they're opening an exercise gym too?

 

[slw278]

Definitely think I would be sad in that situation if everyone didn't acknowledge the happy birth! I kind of thought that was the point to this set up; that you would have an entire family behind. They seem to just operate like 4 separate families.

 

[dngnb8]

I think having two wives would be very bigo'me.

 

[bjgrazi]

Unless the editing was off, I believe the baby was born around 2:40 a.m. At least that's what the clock showed. And they did two specific shots of the clock, one an hour prior and one at about that time. Meri ran and woke her daughter up, Christine got all her kids up and out of bed, and then you see Janelle coming up the stairs with her kids too. So as much as she said she wouldn't, she did.

I honestly always thought Meri and Christine were close. Maybe they were before Robyn? And Christine was talking about how she wasn't so nice to Robyn in the beginning. I don't remember seeing those episodes, but I know I missed some. Janelle I just don't get. She seems more like Cody's business partner or buddy than an actual wife. And each of them, particularly Janelle, are becoming much more honest about their insecurities within the relationships. In the beginning it was all rainbows and sunshine.

And can someone explain to me where they are going to get the money to have 4 brand new houses built? I thought they were broke and cashed out all their retirements, etc.? And they're opening an exercise gym too?

They do a reality show and get paid for it. Also it's called a mortgage. I'm sure TLC will help somehow if they tape it.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

They do a reality show and get paid for it. Also it's called a mortgage. I'm sure TLC will help somehow if they tape it.

I understand that but with that many kids to clothe/feed, rent they're paying on the other houses, no savings, money they'll need to start the new business and the mortgage crisis a fact of life, who is going to loan them money? I don't even know if any of them has a job. And we know from Kate + 8 that TLC can walk away at a moment's notice. You'd have to be a complete idiot who just crawled out from under a rock and knows nothing of the mortgage crisis to give these people the money to have 4 houses built and the money to open a business.

 

[bjgrazi]

I understand that but with that many kids to clothe/feed, rent they're paying on the other houses, no savings, money they'll need to start the new business and the mortgage crisis a fact of life, who is going to loan them money? I don't even know if any of them has a job. And we know from Kate + 8 that TLC can walk away at a moment's notice. You'd have to be a complete idiot who just crawled out from under a rock and knows nothing of the mortgage crisis to give these people the money to have 4 houses built and the money to open a business.

I understood it as 1 house with 4 separate living quarters, like they had in Utah. It's still a huge house. They'll get a mortgage. If my 23 year old who is still in school but works got a mortgage, I think just about anyone can. Our neighbors who foreclosed on a home 5 years ago, just got a mortgage and purchased the house they were renting.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Plus of course they are getting paid for being on the show....

 

[Madison'smommy]

If I dont have TLC.... is there any other way to watch this show? Online?


TIA

 

[dis-happy]

I understood it as 1 house with 4 separate living quarters, like they had in Utah. It's still a huge house. They'll get a mortgage. If my 23 year old who is still in school but works got a mortgage, I think just about anyone can. Our neighbors who foreclosed on a home 5 years ago, just got a mortgage and purchased the house they were renting.

Last night they said 4 seperate houses and commented on zoning and the number of kitchens they could have. It was a small comment but I took it to mean that they couldn't get a building permit to build one house with 4 seperate complete living quarters.

What they haven't addressed (and I think it's the biggest issue of all) is what it will be like to run a business they all work at and own. I've done that (worked with my dh in his family's business) and it is rough on relationships.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

They even picked out who would live next to who. 4 houses. 4 mortgages.

 

[daughtersrus]

Does anyone else think that moving to Las Vegas might also have a little to do with the income tax structure there as well as multiple wives? Not paying income tax on the money they're earning will sure help with the mortgage payments on the 4 houses when they're built.

 

[Disneyluvr]

Why don't they just build a huge house like the Duggars. One giant cafeteria style kitchen, big living/commons area, and several bedrooms. The kids can double/triple up according to age/gender and each wife can have a bedroom at each end of the house. I don't get why they all need a kitchen, etc. when they are supposed to be one big happy family anyway?

 

[Family Fun Mom]

Why don't they just build a huge house like the Duggars. One giant cafeteria style kitchen, big living/commons area, and several bedrooms. The kids can double/triple up according to age/gender and each wife can have a bedroom at each end of the house. I don't get why they all need a kitchen, etc. when they are supposed to be one big happy family anyway?

Because I don't think that is what they really are. They are four seperate marriages, each with their own kids, and the women happen to know each other. In the beginning it seemed like they were one big family but it does not seem that way now. Maybe the move to Vegas and having four seperate houses is what changed it. But maybe it's always been that way and now the layers are being peeled away and we are seeing what truly lurks beneath.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

And yet she did. And we wonder why Hunter doesn't like Robyn much? Could be the vibe he gets from his mom.

It doesn't surprise me that Janelle's kids are the most unhappy. Hunter and Madison seem to have very bad attitudes. I think it comes directly from their mother. She seems the least into the whole "one big family" things. She never was. She worked all the time and wasn't really there. Now she is unemployed and forced to be there with everyone and she seems miserable, and her kids are miserable. Many of the older kids seems unhappy with the situation but they are trying. Janelle's kids don't seem to want to try. The apple doesn't fall far.

Meri's daughter seems like an utter sweetheart. She is clearly unhappy with Vegas but is trying hard to put on a happy face. She was so excited about the birth of her little brother and was very sweet to Robin. She seems to wear her heart on her sleeve. We've seen her have typical "teen" moments but overall she seems like a good kid. I like her.

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

I think having two wives would be very bigo'me.

 

[MamaJessie]

Meri's daughter seems like an utter sweetheart. She is clearly unhappy with Vegas but is trying hard to put on a happy face. She was so excited about the birth of her little brother and was very sweet to Robin. She seems to wear her heart on her sleeve. We've seen her have typical "teen" moments but overall she seems like a good kid. I like her.

I agree.

Loved the episode because I was happy to see a home birth on tv, and boy was she calm. I am envious of that!

I thought that was a wonderful offer to Meri, and I don't know if there is anyone more fitting to offer that to than a sister wife.

 

[daisy2]

I was so touched to see robyn offer meri and kody to rbe their surrogate...I am not a big fan but I have to admit I might start following the show rr

 

[kate_wdw]

It doesn't surprise me that Janelle's kids are the most unhappy. Hunter and Madison seem to have very bad attitudes. I think it comes directly from their mother. She seems the least into the whole "one big family" things. She never was. She worked all the time and wasn't really there. Now she is unemployed and forced to be there with everyone and she seems miserable, and her kids are miserable. Many of the older kids seems unhappy with the situation but they are trying. Janelle's kids don't seem to want to try. The apple doesn't fall far.

Just joining in (because this show is fascinating to me)!

I apologize if this has already been said (I haven't read the entire thread), but I think the teenagers' unhappiness is 100% normal, given the situation. How many teenagers would welcome the addition of a stepmother and 3 step-siblings into their families (particularly if their entrance into the family meant less time spent with their father)? While it's very kind of Kody to treat Robyn's kids like his own, I'm sure that must be difficult for some of his children to swallow, especially when he spends exactly as much time with his step-children as he does his biological children (more if you take the parent:kid ratio into account).

Additionally, Kody clearly treats Robyn differently than he does his other wives (i.e., seems more infatuated with her) - theirs is more of a "puppy love" than his other relationships. It seems likely that the kids and teenagers would have noticed this difference in treatment too. No one would want their mother to be treated less favorably. The wives signed on to struggle with these issues of jealousy - the kids didn't have a choice.

And then their parents add uprooting them to another state on short notice and a new baby to all the upheaval in their lives? Is it really surprising that some of them aren't ecstatic about their new sibling, whose birth makes it clear that their family will never, ever be what is was? (Similar to the way that a parent's remarriage makes it clear to kids that their parents aren't getting back together.)

I feel terribly sad for these kids - it's so much to grapple with all at once, and the person who is best in the position to reassure them (i.e., their father) has such limited time for them

 

[kate_wdw]

One more thing - I think Meri was crazy to say out loud that she's closer to Robyn than she ever was to Janelle or Christine. Why create that divisiveness within your family (particularly when Janelle and Christine are clearly struggling more with the changes within the family)? I wonder if she said it after Robyn agreed to be her surrogate.