(Note: Everything I am about to say, has already been articulated by countless people. Nevertheless, I still feel the need to blog it out of my system!)
When the show, Jon and Kate Plus 8 first aired it was one of my favorites. I had remembered the Gosselin family from their other hour long specials on TLC (Surviving Sextuplets & Twins). I was so happy for Kate when she later got her much needed, and deserved tummy-tuck.
In the beginning there were so many things that I liked and respected about them. During the first season they seemed so normal and down-to-earth. Kate was able to keep their household clean and organized almost entirely on her own. She seemed slightly obsessive-compulsive, but with eight small kids under the age of five, who could blame her?
I loved how conscientious Kate was with their finances. In some of the first episodes they talked about how their kids had to wear hand-me-down clothes. Kate talked about how she spent 150$ a week on healthy groceries. For a family of 10, that's amazing!! They only bought organic food when they could afford it or it was on sale.
I was most impressed when they stopped using the strollers AND had all of the sextuplets potty trained by three years old (even the boys!). For me, potty training one unruly toddler seems like a daunting task, so to see her successfully potty train six was inspiring. Ben would even watch some of the episodes with me and was equally impressed.
However, as each season has progressed they have become less and less admirable. It has become abundantly obvious that their financial situation has changed drastically. They went from eating "organic whenever possible" to almost 100% organic (candy included). That didn't bother me. But it did get pretty annoying when they would both mention it during each episode; as if eating organic was a big deal and made them better parents. Just because a lollipop is organic doesn't mean it's healthy!
Then Jon went from working full-time...to part-time...to not working at all. All eight kids stopped wearing hand-me-downs and instead were seen wearing clothes from Gymboree. Even though it was obvious that they had more money, people kept on giving them hand-outs (hair transplants for Jon, gifts from viewers, etc..) Then there were all the vacations and trips (i.e. skiing in Utah, Disney World, Hawaii, North Carolina etc...). I understand that production was probably trying to make the show more interesting and most likely footed the bill for all trips filmed. But they have always come across with an attitude of entitlement. All of these factors contributed to my lack of interest. I stopped watching the show sometime over the summer. Ben actually boycotted the show because of how Kate treats Jon.
Needless to say, I didn't keep up on the most recent season. However, my mom was curious about the new house and was suckered into watching every episode. She made a habit of calling me every Tuesday morning to fill me in on all the ugly details. This only made me less interested. However, on Monday (March 23) TLC aired season 4 in it's entirety leading up to the season finale that evening. Having two small children under the age of two made it impossible to watch all of the episodes, but I did take notice of a few things that made me sick!
Kate's attitude was out of control! The way she was talking to Jon was appalling. The money has changed her in such a shocking way. I think my point can best be expressed in the following pictures...
Kate essentially went from this....
When the show, Jon and Kate Plus 8 first aired it was one of my favorites. I had remembered the Gosselin family from their other hour long specials on TLC (Surviving Sextuplets & Twins). I was so happy for Kate when she later got her much needed, and deserved tummy-tuck.
In the beginning there were so many things that I liked and respected about them. During the first season they seemed so normal and down-to-earth. Kate was able to keep their household clean and organized almost entirely on her own. She seemed slightly obsessive-compulsive, but with eight small kids under the age of five, who could blame her?
I loved how conscientious Kate was with their finances. In some of the first episodes they talked about how their kids had to wear hand-me-down clothes. Kate talked about how she spent 150$ a week on healthy groceries. For a family of 10, that's amazing!! They only bought organic food when they could afford it or it was on sale.
I was most impressed when they stopped using the strollers AND had all of the sextuplets potty trained by three years old (even the boys!). For me, potty training one unruly toddler seems like a daunting task, so to see her successfully potty train six was inspiring. Ben would even watch some of the episodes with me and was equally impressed.
However, as each season has progressed they have become less and less admirable. It has become abundantly obvious that their financial situation has changed drastically. They went from eating "organic whenever possible" to almost 100% organic (candy included). That didn't bother me. But it did get pretty annoying when they would both mention it during each episode; as if eating organic was a big deal and made them better parents. Just because a lollipop is organic doesn't mean it's healthy!
Then Jon went from working full-time...to part-time...to not working at all. All eight kids stopped wearing hand-me-downs and instead were seen wearing clothes from Gymboree. Even though it was obvious that they had more money, people kept on giving them hand-outs (hair transplants for Jon, gifts from viewers, etc..) Then there were all the vacations and trips (i.e. skiing in Utah, Disney World, Hawaii, North Carolina etc...). I understand that production was probably trying to make the show more interesting and most likely footed the bill for all trips filmed. But they have always come across with an attitude of entitlement. All of these factors contributed to my lack of interest. I stopped watching the show sometime over the summer. Ben actually boycotted the show because of how Kate treats Jon.
Needless to say, I didn't keep up on the most recent season. However, my mom was curious about the new house and was suckered into watching every episode. She made a habit of calling me every Tuesday morning to fill me in on all the ugly details. This only made me less interested. However, on Monday (March 23) TLC aired season 4 in it's entirety leading up to the season finale that evening. Having two small children under the age of two made it impossible to watch all of the episodes, but I did take notice of a few things that made me sick!
Kate's attitude was out of control! The way she was talking to Jon was appalling. The money has changed her in such a shocking way. I think my point can best be expressed in the following pictures...
Kate essentially went from this....
...to this...
...to THAT!
Her nails were perfectly manicured, skin tan (in Jan/Feb!), teeth bleached, hair, make up, clothes..everything just overdone! I could go on and on about her hair. The streaky dye job and a-symmetrical cut just aren't working for her! Does she know?? Obviously not!! But I digress...
There were so many things that I noticed that my mother did not. Like the Christian Dior sunglasses she wore in the puppy episode. It is blatantly obvious that her interest in clothing and maintaining her appearance has definitely changed. Doesn't she have 8 kids to take care of? Furthermore, she wouldn't have the TV show and all that money without her kids. Shouldn't all the money go to them??!
What I really want to know is: Why are people still watching this show??!! We're in the middle of a recession. People are losing their homes to bankruptcy and foreclosure everyday. Why would watching the Gosselins buy a mansion be interesting? The unemployment rates are at an all time high and continue to climb. Why would anyone want to watch these people get paid to go and hang out with their kids?? Most people are living paycheck to paycheck hoping they don't lose their jobs. Why would you want to watch this family go on free vacations? And since they have all this money, why are they still getting so many hand-outs??
In short, I don't understand why this show wasn't canceled months ago. I'm hoping that their season 4 finale becomes the series finale. With the way Kate is spending money, maybe someday Jon can go back to working as an IT analyst and she can go back to being a nurse;jobs where they were actually contributing to society.
