GuiltyPleasureTV

My views on this episode, which I always watch late due to Hulu, but I think I may have caught this one a bit earlier than usual now that I figured out how to watch on mtv.com, are: - Chelsea: She might be the best mom (compared to the rest, which isn't saying much) but to me she is by far the most annoying. I hate her baby voice and it seems she found someone with the exact same annoying baby voice, or maybe Cole just changed his voice to match hers. I find Cole to be very dorky and annoying. It might be that he is awkward around the camera and wants to stay away or it might be that something weird is up with him; I really can't tell and don't really care, I just hate the scenes of them together talking in their baby voices and they always seem so awkward and forced/fake to me. The only reason I watch those scenes are for Aubree whom I think is very cute and funny. I think it's weird that they have a pig but my toddler son likes to point at him and snort, so, I guess that's a bonus in those scenes as well. I agree with the poster who said Chelsea has always been very privileged and spoiled and that is the reason she is the better mom-- she has had much less to overcome. I don't know what happened with her parents' divorce but she seems close to both supportive parents and really the only struggles she faces are those that were the result of her own dumb choices. She comes across as very not intelligent to me and it is frustrating to watch. I also agree that she pushes Cole onto Aubree and attempts to replace Adam as her father but it's too late because Aubree obviously loves her dad, as all kids do. I despise Adam and his gross tattoos and ugly hair or lack thereof, but it is normal for any girl/kid to love her father and want him in her life. I think Chelsea should just chill out on all the Cole-pushing and Adam-bashing because Aubree is going to come to resent her for that. My husband's father was a shitty father when he was young-- he left the family for a mistress and two other kids he had with her. But my husband's mother always talked badly about his father and my husband internalized this and I think kids see it as a negative reflection on themselves because they are half of each parent. My husband's father actually did change and come back around so maybe there is still hope for Adam.. and to this day my mother in law understandably gripes about what a bad person/dad my father in law was/is... and it drives my husband crazy. He blames his mom for the unhappiness just as much as he blames his dad, rightly or wrongly. Anyway I think that only Adam is to blame for not showing up to the dance but that Chelsea should handle these things better in front of and to Aubree. I think she goes out of her way to tease Aubree with "maybe your father will come, just to turn around and say, ha ha, he didn't come because he's a POS and here's your new daddy-hero Cole, aren't you happy?!" It broke my heart when Aubree was sad that Adam didn't show up and Chelsea's response was essentially "you knew that could happen, now get over it and be glad Cole was there." Aubree deserves to have her feelings validated and not forced to match Chelsea's. Cole is NOT Aubree's dad and at some point perhaps she will decide he has been more of a father figure to her but at this point in time she still has a semi-active father in her life and it makes sense that she would want HIM to be the one to take her to a father daughter dance since he is her father. So Chelsea should have just said once that she wasn't sure if Adam was going to make it but Cole would be there either way. Or I agree with those who say maybe Randy should have taken her-- he has been the grandfather/father figure in Aubree's life for 6 years and Cole is a relatively new thing and is not even her stepfather yet. Anyway, Chelsea pushed the back and forth maybe maybe not thing on Aubree way too much and I think she should be more empathetic of Aubree's feelings instead of always trying to get vindication and "told you so"'s about how awful Adam clearly is. I agree that the "D" letter was weird. There used to be an "H" letter and the fact that it was already replaced with a D does seem weird to me. Granted I didn't change my last name upon marriage but of my many friends and family members who did, none of them set out monogrammed things BEFORE they got married and changed their name! It was something new and special to be brought out AFTER their name matched the monogram. I highly disagree that any guy has a monogrammed letter hanging up in his house so I do NOT think it was Cole's attempt to blend decorations... I think Chelsea replaced her old H with the new D which is cute that she's excited about the wedding but for my own personal tastes/opinions that is very annoying and does go along with the whole "faaaaammmmilllllllyeh" theme that is annoying to me too, because Aubree DOES have a dad and will always have a dad no matter what new family Chelsea forms. I realize that I may have come off too harsh on Chelsea so I will just add that in my opinion she is by far the prettiest Teen Mom girl from any of the shows and I love that she stopped doing such overly dramatic things with her hair and makeup. She looks natural and healthy and I think she can be fun and silly in a good way, which sometimes redeem her otherwise annoying and dumb personality. I really am glad she got over Adam and I hope she continues to be happy with Cole. I'm glad Randy is there for her (and that her mom is too) even though he has too often spoiled her and/or stirred the pot unnecessarily. I have definitely given my opinions on her trying to force her anger at Adam onto Aubree, and I also sometimes agree with comments that say she spoils/coddles Aubree too much but I am probably the same way with my son. I would rather err on the side of treating him with love and unconditional acceptance and sweetness than snap at him, yell at him, or unnecessarily discipline him too harshly. I THINK that I do try to guide him a bit better than Chelsea usually does Aubree but who knows, it's all subjective. And I don't really think Chelsea's way with Aubree is that awful; I would way rather see her love her a bit "too much" than neglect her or hurt her like some of the other moms in the show or in real life. So in most ways I do think that Chelsea is a good mom but the Adam stuff just really gets in the way and I wish she could go back to a better counselor and actually listen to the counselor's advice and learn how to let some of this stuff go in order to be the best person and parent she can be. And I wish she would just grow up more, although admittedly she's grown quite a bit compared to most of the other girls and compared to where she started. So, go Chelsea even though I was just very harsh about her. Jenelle - Whatever. I have no idea what is up with her medical "issues" but they looked fake or highly exaggerated to me, and just an excuse to get her ugly boyfriend to wait on her hand and foot even more than he normally does, while she doesn't see Jace yet again. I love how she has time to travel to New York and go out to eat but she can't possibly meet up with Jace just to take HIM to dinner or something. I used to be very anti-Barb because Barb puts her need for drama and her codependent dysfunctional relationship with Janelle above Jace's best interests. She should not fight with Jenelle in front of him but that has always been the case and she has done that since day 1. At this point she should not even talk to Jenelle in front of him and she should definitely not leave Jace in Jenelle's care or even let Jace be around Jenelle. But as many have said, Barb isn't going to change any more than Jenelle is going to change. And it's just always been that way. Now that Barb has been raising Jace for 6 years I feel a little more aligned with her. My son was recently sick with a gastroentestinal illness that had him vomiting all over me and having constant diarrhea, needing to cling to me and not sleep well at night etc. etc. etc. And I thought, Barb is the one always there for Jace when he's sick, taking care of him all on her own where at least I have my husband and his family's help. And she works full time at a minimum wage crappy job too, and is the one to drop him off and pick him up at daycare and give him the only stability and routine and consistent caretaking and love that he knows. She could definitely do a much better job but I do think she loves him and has done a pretty standup job given her obvious limitations. On the other hand she definitely has emotional issues and has him caught up in a lot of her drama and that is going to damage him, but I don't know what better chances he might have fared with non-relatives. It would really be a crapshoot I guess and so at least he has Barb, I suppose. Leah - Talk about making West Virginia sized mountains out of molehills. Backbackgate was ridiculous. With that being said, I dislike Leah and think that she has become one of the worst moms in the Teen Mom franchise. She seems to be doing slightly better lately but I get the sense that a lot of that is editing and probably her pitching a fit or refusing to return to the show. I don't really buy most of it. With that being said, I'm not a huge Miranda fan either because she seems to like to stir the pot and create drama and I hated that tough girl mean scowl demeanor she had going on during the reunion. I don't know, it just made me see her in a different way and because I don't get to see much of her compared to Leah or the other actual teen moms, I really nothing else to go by. Yeah she is good with the girls but they don't have Ali in her wheelchair either. I think that Corey and Miranda are better parents than Leah and provide the girls with a more stable environment but I also think they have their share of issues. I just feel bad for all three girls in that situation (hopefully Addy is the one faring the best with Jeremy and his family off-camera, since he's the only one smart enough to be off the show. But when Addy is with Leah I cringe for that poor girl. Kailyn - Eh, I really shouldn't even watch her segments because I think MTV is really playing with the timeline and nothing makes sense. They hated each other and fought all the time; then they made up and things were going well and he got deployed and now suddenly they hate each other again. There is definitely way more transpiring than we see and it makes me annoyed that I'm supposed to believe this timeline and be invested in following this crap. Isaac has become my favorite Teen Mom kid (I also love Bentley from Teen Mom OG) and I watch her parts for him, but I feel so bad for him now that he's losing Javi not only to deployment but to divorce. I used to kind of understand or empathize with Kail due to her awful upbringing but now I hate her for forcing Javi onto Isaac as his "dad" when Isaac already had a perfectly good dad in Jo, and then putting Isaac through this loss. How many more times will she do this to him (and now Lincoln)? It's heart-breaking! I really cannot understand or just plain stand her, and I feel done with her. There is nothing she can do to redeem herself to me. I think I dislike her more than Leah and Janelle because I think she has more self-awareness and intention in her awful actions. I think she has some sort of personality disorder like narcissism or borderline, where she gets her jollies by intentionally being cruel to other people and causing drama and then acting sweet and innocent or like "oh well no big deal." She is a relatively good mom now while her boys are young but I think it's because she views it as a reflection of her and they are still attached to her. She even makes and sales those dumb shirts singing her own praises about being their mom. While I agree with many of her opinions about parenting babies, such as natural birth and breastfeeding etc., she is one of those sanctimonious A-holes who does it because it makes her look good. (And I think she honestly is fulfilled by it and gets a certain sense of self-esteem from it but she goes over the top with it and makes it more about her than the kids.) And when the boys develop their own personalities and independence she is going to resent them for it and be cruel to them just like she's been to everyone else she's supposedly loved. She already shows signs of doing this with Isaac (like when she made him wake up and open presents and act a certain way just because she was throwing him a party during his nap time, or how she pushed Javi onto him and now acts unsympathetic sometimes when Isaac says he misses Javi... as if Isaac's feelings are just magically supposed to match up with her own). I feel she uses them as her pawns and it's awful.

I don't particularly like any of the teen moms so I wonder why I keep watching... I guess because of the kids. But sometimes I feel like they're darned if they do, darned if they don't where viewers are concerned. They're criticized for talking about things in front of their kids and also criticized for having their kids not be present/ be with family members when they're filming or talking about things. But I guess it doesn't really matter because IMO none of them are great moms, and most aren't even good moms. Yeah I'd like to believe that Leah wised up and sent her kids away to film the parts that they don't need to be around for or hear. But then she makes such huge family and TV drama over a darn backpack so I know that wasn't her motivation. Likewise with Adam, if he shows up and brings his latest fling or spends too much time on the phone he is criticized (or just for showing up at all because then people think it's for publicity/MTV is filiming)... but if he doesn't show up he's criticized. But again he is just a crappy dad so I understand why everything he does is viewed as well.

Re: Kail and her Father's Day request. Mother's Day is very important to me. I don't consider it a hallmark holiday. I don't buy or receive store-bought mother's day cards or do anything commercial. For me it is a day to celebrate being a mother. I had two pregnancy losses before I had my son-- one was a late term stillbirth-- and every Mother's Day I am grateful for my son and also I reflect on the children I lost who are not here with me. On all that I've been through to become a mother. On the time that I wondered if I would even get to be a mother (I'm in my mid-30's and plan to have more). I am married but if I wasn't there is no way in heck I would give up my son on Mother's day. Obviously it is a very important day to Jo too, because he said it was and said that he specifically arranged to always have Isaac on Father's Day in the custody agreement. I also agree with those who said that this in not about what is best for "one day" for a 4 year old. This was about what was best for Kail and what SHE wanted to do. Yes, the best interest of the child is always most important but with things like this and with co-parenting one does have to weigh what would make the other parent happy/sad (especially when kids are so young they don't know the difference yet) and clearly it would make Jo sad to not be with Issac on father's day. It's not just one day, it is FATHER'S day. Just like if I was supposed to have my son over Christmas and I had plans with my family and some of them had kids there yet my ex wanted to take my son that day that I was supposed to have him and claim that it is just one day and why can't I rearrange it. No way. Yeah, maybe if my son was getting to do his lifelong dream on that day or something (even then, I would want to be there too, with my son on the day that is so important to him) but not just because my ex felt like planning something on that day and then guilt-tripping me about how our son will feel if he doesn't get to be a part of it. Kail could do that ALL the time with those same lame excuses. And it wasn't even an every-other-parent holiday but Father's day; it is customary in most parenting plans that each parent has the kid(s) on the parents' birthday and Mother/Father's Day, and the rest of the holidays are alternated every other year. So this is a big deal and not something that Kail can just change on a whim. Sure it was okay of her to ask but she clearly expected the answer to be no and I know she would have said no to Isaac not being with her on mother's day. (Heck, she complains that she has to let Isaac see Jo on normal days he's supposed to go there-- how it's not fair to HER family/herself-- so you know she wouldn't want him to go on Mother's Day-- HER day!) But I can't believe people are giving Jo flack for nicely saying no (he even considered it but I understand why he said no. Any parent that valued Father's Day at all would definitely want their child with them on that day.

Eh. I'm not a social person and I dislike small talk/ talking to strangers etc. I used to always have my head in a book when I was out and about or when my parents forced me to attend events etc. Now I still usually have my head in my Kindle... or sometimes my phone or iPad. I really don't think it's much different. Not everyone wants to live in a place where everyone knows everyone and is expected to talk to everyone when they see each other at the local five and ten. I prefer bigger cities and strangers who mind their own business as I do the same. ;) When I was a kid I had coloring books and doll and toys and I think kids are still like that today and they also have more modern technology electronics to keep them entertained, and that doesn't really bother me. Sure I try to make family time TV/technology free and I would encourage my kid to talk to his family members some at events but even among adults there are people (like me) who are more reserved and like to keep to ourselves and do introverted type things. My husband has a huge family with big get-togethers and I love them all and get along with them all but there are times when I want to just do some work on my laptop or text my sister who lives in another state about the baby she just had, etc. I would never expect my kid to just be social all the time if he sometimes wanted his own time too. Likewise some of my husband's cousins and their kids are extremely friendly and social whereas others sit on the couch and post selfies to Instagram. I get along with the more outgoing ones more since they are better at talking about stuff and I know them better, but I like the others just as much and I have certainly had nice conversations with them when both of us have been in the mood. With Adam's girlfriend on her phone during the game... what else was she supposed to do? Chat it up all friendly with Chelsea and Chelsea's family, when they were (understandably) talking badly/making fun of her and Adam? Yeah she could have watched the game and cheered more for Aubree but she has no obligation to Aubree... she barely just met her. I think she was just uncomfortable and felt awkward. I am not good in social situations let alone awkward situations like that and I would most definitely be on my phone if not in the car! It was clear Adam brought her along to either hurt Chelsea, show her off, and/or drive him to and from the game so he didn't get (understandably) yelled at by Chelsea and everyone in America for not attending the game again. It was wrong and selfish for Adam to bring and probably dumb for her to agree (unless she wanted to be on TV and then thought differently about it... because she certainly didn't look comfortable to be there), but I wouldn't expect her to be social at a time and place like that. And while I found her tattoos (or excessive tattoos like that at all) gross and didn't think she was the most beautiful girl on the planet, I don't think she's ugly or old and dried up looking like everyone else seems to. I thought she looked just fine. I don't care if she's a stripper or porn star... Adam seems/looks worse in that department and until recently Chelsea jumped his bones every chance she got so my skeevy feelings are reserved for Adam and in that situation Chelsea. (I completely agree that ADAM should have paid most or all of his attention to Aubree during the game-- as should have Chelsea-- but Adam has always been very selfish and all about Adam so it doesn't surprise me that he didn't. Also Chelsea has her head too far up Adam's butt and trying to figure out and complain about what's going on with Adam to pay more attention to Aubree's game. She still seems like a 16 year old high school girl when it comes to how she deals with Adam.)

In my state the step parent's income is NOT counted, as the step parent did not biologically create the kid and only the parents who made the kid are legally/financially responsible for the kid. BUT both parents' income is counted in the calculation, as is the amount of time each parent has custody of the kid. If one parent suddenly stops/decreases their job then that former income can be imputed into the calculation. There have to be really substantial reasons for a parent to just stop working at a job and get out of paying child support or get more child support from the other parent based on that. If it's for the good of the kid-- for example maybe if the parent was in school to get a better career or if the child has disabilities and the parent must stay home and take care of them (which could be Leah's case but not really since she's lazy and doped up and too stressed out to either work OR take her kid to PT), etc. Sometimes in a bad economy with mass layoffs the court will understand and slightly adjust the child support. But usually if the parent just quits working because they don't feel like it or they're too stressed, they can't ask for child support to be adjusted. (I doubt Leah's tanning job made much money and I don't know if it even figured into child support because I don't know if she had that job at the time. I think they like to make these girls work realistic teen mom type jobs because Leah's real money comes from MTV. I'm not sure if MTV money is calculated into child support or not but it should be. Also I have no idea why she's selling Mary Kay except maybe to establish a job she can do from home after MTV stops filming. But it seems like she's bad at it and I also don't think multi level marketing companies like Mary Kay make much money for the person silly enough to sign up to be a pawn in their pyramid scheme. When they do make money from it they have to report it on their taxes (Often it's a loss! Like in Leah's case-- if I even believe she spent that money on MK stuff. I don't--- I think the MK excuse was a cover up for spending money on drugs and who knows what else). So then that income would count towards child support calculations and I'm assuming that MTV money would too as it's reported on taxes.

What you say around a child and about a child's father, to anyone in their presence, that child internalizes and can take as something bad about themselves, as they are 1/2 of each parent. It is never good to talk badly about a child's parent in front of or around them. I think Chelsea is a good mother EXCEPT for this one really bad thing and I think she should know better. She needs parenting classes/counseling to help her not take out her anger on Adam around Aubree. I also think it's wrong of her to tell Aubree that Adam is coming when-- as far as I heard on the show-- he himself never said he was coming. He just asked for time and place. I think she does that kind of stuff so that later she can say "oh look he didn't come, wah wah wah"-- at Aubree's expense. Aubree is innocent and needs to be spared unnecessary pain or fighting. If I was in Chelsea's shoes I would never mention whether or not Adam might be coming. Sure Aubree can ask and will start asking more as she gets older but at this age I would say "I'm not sure, honey, we'll see who all shows up to cheer you on, and I'll be there with bells on" and as she gets older I would let her text or call him and ask. But I wouldn't waste time texting and calling him and making a big deal out of it in front of Aubree. To me that is completely unnecessary drama that will only hurt Aubree.

Yeah it sucks that some kids are mistreated as badly as Jace and I feel very bad for him. But as someone who has worked in the court system with foster kids and CPS involvement, I don't have much faith in that system. The foster homes are often worse and even if kids are successfully placed and adopted into relatively well-adjusted families, they can still have issues for life that stem from their birth parents abandoning them. My dad was raised by a mom as crazy as Jenelle and by today's standards he would be taken away from her but he always says he's glad he wasn't. He would rather be with his birth mom than somewhere else. (Who knows what he would have said if he was actually adopted. I DO have two adopted siblings that are related to me on my dad's side of the family-- everyone in his family is pretty much unfit to parent-- and my now teenaged adopted sister has attachment disorder that they say is related to her being taken away from her mother by CPS at age 2. She was in foster care and then went to live with my parents, who are definitely not the world's greatest parents or anything close (they have tons of issues) but they are all about image and status and so the state deemed them more suitable to raise my sister (and also her younger bio brother) than her bio parents simply because her bio parents were caught with pot and couldn't pass pee tests. Sure, if I liked pot I would give it up to keep my kids but I feel like when people have kids young and they have mental health or addiction issues they aren't suddenly going to become upstanding citizens of the year and I'm not so sure that means their kids should be taken away or that the kids will necessarily be better off. (ANIMALNURSE-- I'm not trying to say anything bad about you as a foster parent. I know there are some very good foster parents doing their best within a broken system!) I'm also not a proponent of the government coming in and deciding how every family should live and what is dysfunctional and what is not. It's a very subjective standard and I've read comments about Catelynn being a bad mom because she sends Nova to stay with her mom because she has PPD and needs a break; Leah is a bad mom for feeding her kids junk food etc. (I am not arguing that either of these moms is a good mom but I don't think these particular reasons are reasons to take their kids away and I have no idea what CPS would use to determine dysfunctional versus functional. ) What I think is sad is that MTV ran PSAs about not mistreating dogs, and made Jenelle apologize, etc., but they do NOTHING to address her and Barb's horrible neglect and mistreatment of Jace. I'm an animal lover, I currently have 1 adopted dog that was previously abused and in the past I have had others that have lived with me until they passed away from old age. I took care of them and loved them and I do not think Jenelle's treatment of the dogs was right. But I honestly think she treats Jace worse, and so does Barb sometimes, and in my book an innocent human child is at least as or if not much more important than a dog. MTV should be running these ads about parenting and making these people attending parenting/guardianship classes rather than filming their mistreatment of their kids. But then again I am a culprit in this since I watch the show and MTV films it for entertainment purposes.

I went to school with twins named Shane (boy) and Shayne [pronounced the same way] (girl)! Omg! Who would do that to their poor kids?!

I agree! My parents suck and I have limited contact with them because everything is about THEM, nothing is about me ever at all and never has been. I'm in my 30's but if my parents were there for me for emotional or financial support I would gladly take them up on it. I don't NEED... I have a husband and I'm a professional career woman who had a law degree by age 25... but it sure would be nice! Sometimes I think people who pick on Chelsea's support from her dad are just jealous. I certainly am but I'm honest enough to admit it. She got pregnant by a complete deadbeat and jack-A at age 16. Sure, that was not a good decision on her part but what were her parents supposed to do once it happened? (I'm very pro-choice but many would condemn/judge her if she had wanted to have an abortion. That's besides the point because from what I've seen it was her CHOICE to have the baby.) What is so wrong with having parents who support her AND her daughter? It seems to me that her father is quite frustrated with her at points but continues to help her out because 1) she's his daughter and 2) what would it mean for Aubree if he didn't? If Chelsea weren't on MTV (I do kind of wonder what her dad originally thought of that idea?!) and didn't have her parents' support than she and Aubree would likely be on welfare (which many people also condemn and get judgmental about. I don't understand why people seem to judge and condemn pretty much any possible option!) I'm not nearly as much as a Chelsea fan as many viewers are. I find her whiny, immature and annoying. But what would any of us do if our 16 year old daughter got pregnant and took quite a while to mature to a place where she was able to fully support herself and our grandchild? I'm pretty sure we would help her out! At least I know I would. Chelsea doesn't seem to be the "type" for college... she is smart in some ways but not academically, she doesn't have good self-esteem (and I don't know the reason for that but it's been lacking since we met her at age 16 so I have to say her parents and/or their relationship or lack thereof has a good deal to do with it, or she is just naturally like that), and she was so freaked out about passing her GED and then her makeup license or whatever it is... clearly she could not have survived in a college/academic environment and not everyone can or even should (there are lots of college graduates without jobs!) So I'm glad she finally seems to be finding her way to support herself better and I really don't think she could have done it without Randy's help and probably her mom's to some extent except that her mom seems pretty whack to me. If Chelsea had Dawn or Babs or Farrah's mom for her parents then she would never be doing as well as she is. (I'm surprised Farrah is doing as well as she is with that mom of hers... and I'm sad that Sofia will probably be the same as Farrah if not worse). I think that some people are quick to condemn anyone who uses the safety social net but also quick to condemn them from having the support of their family. Randy as a dentist clearly has extra money to drop on Chelsea and Aubree and clearly wants to (I have only ever heard him complain when he was having to foot Adumb's bills... understandably so!), so who cares. Taxpayers are not supporting her lifestyle (That's all MTV and Randylicious). It's good for Chelsea AND especially Aubree to have the emotional and financial support of as many people who love them as they can. I really do not understand the sour grapes. I guess it has something to do with the conservative "bootstrap" culture that thinks anyone who starts off poor as dirt should be able to make it and anyone who starts off with a supportive and financially well-off family shouldn't ever accept the benefits that come from being from family like that. In my opinion neither view is based on reality and it makes perfect sense that a dad who has the emotional and financial support for a daughter and grandchild would give it in a heartbeat, yet people are acting like Chelsea should "repay" him for his kindness by moving far away from him and separating Aubree from what is clearly a very loving relationship with her grandfather. Huh?! Despite everything I just said, I DO think Chelsea would likely enjoy living in a bigger/better place than small town SD (I would hate to live there!), which she herself has expressed, and which would probably be good for her makeup career AND her independence. So I'm not against her doing it, and in fact I'm in favor of it, but I just think the disdain about Randy helping Chelsea out is unwarranted. I am very glad he is there for Chelsea and Aubree. And while he didn't prefer that they move away when Chelsea was talking about it during her time at that hair school, he clearly seemed to know he needed to accept it and would work with it. That is not the attitude of a smothering/co-dependent parent like Farrah's parents. That is the attitude of a dad who would prefer to have his adult daughter and young granddaughter close but who also knows that reality happens, they may not always want to live there (I certainly couldn't wait to escape the small town I was raised in!) and that he will still be there for them no matter where they are. I think it is a very loving and good relationship and I'm glad that Chelsea finally got some sense in her head and is listening to what Randy says. None of it seems off base or too enmeshed for me.

The cousin could be there part-time if Babs watches him while his parents work, or he could be there as a full-time situation like with Jace, hard to say I guess. My father in law watches our son on the week days while hubby and I work. We both work from home (until next week anyway... husband just got a 20 hour a week consulting job where he will have to be at their office) and have our own businesses so the hours can really vary. Right now I'm a part-time SAHM/part-time WAHM (but not the kind of work that one can do with a toddler around... if any such work exists) so I spend most mornings with my son and take him to playdates or the park or library story hours etc. (and sometimes my husband joins us) and then my son goes to his grandpa's house most (but not all) afternoons. Some evenings if my husband or I work late or have any adult-only events like networking engagements or even sometimes dinner or happy hour with friends who might be having a birthday or a get-together or whatever, our son stays at Grandpa's until later in the evening and then we put him to bed. Most evenings he's with us but not every evening. I guess what I'm saying is that if I had a film crew following me around it could look like my son lives with his grandpa/is always there at any hour but that's not really the case, as I actually see him more than parents who work full-time see their kids, since I spend most mornings with him as well as most evenings, and most of the weekends. (He does occasionally go to my husband's mother's house-- his dad and mom don't live together-- on a Saturday or Sunday but since my MIL works full-time she probably has him at her house for a few hours every other weekend at the very most... usually 1 or 0 weekends a month... and we do family events together as my husband's mom has a large family in the area and everyone likes to get together and my son can play with my husband's cousin's kids.) While Grandpa watches our son quite a bit it's still not as many hours as if he was in full-time daycare (due to the fact that I only work part-time) and due to his bond with his grandfather and the fact that it's free/cheaper (we've offered to pay but my husband's dad refuses so we just treat him to dinner frequently and gift cards occasionally on any kind of holiday and such), it's a good situation for us. (Unlike Babs my father in law is retired. I guess Jace and Gabriel are at daycare when Babs is working at Walmart so I'm not sure what hours both kids are actually there or what hours MTV is over there filming.) So anyway I am unsure as to whether Gabriel lives with Babs or just over there a lot while his parents work/ take a break/do whatever without him. (I'm not trying to say that judgmentally-- my husband and I definitely appreciate time to ourselves or as a couple when one of his parents or even one of our friends have offered to watch our son. I think we have a very strong marriage and one reason is that we've been able to take the time to focus on ourselves and each other instead of JUST our son. I'm really grateful for his family [most of mine suck and I moved away a long time ago] and while I definitely have issues with Babs' parenting/guardianship of Jace I think Janelle should be much more grateful for her involvement!]) I've read/heard that Babs has 2 or 3(?) other kids who are often in jail and/or bipolar so it's very likely that it's another Janelle situation, with Gabriel always being there. :(

In my state it's city/county/municipality(?) specific (I guess the state as a whole hasn't banned it but municipalities can) so one area I'm driving in can have it banned whereas in the next it can be legal... all as I'm driving along ha ha. My city has banned texting but not talking. The next city over has banned texting and talking (but talking while using a handsfree device is okay... I often use my speaker phone in my lap as my 'handsfree device' and I don't know if that counts but knock on wood, in the three years or so that talking on a cellphone without a handsfree device has been banned and that I've done it that way while driving in the next city/suburb over [where my in-laws live, so quite often], I've definitely passed quite a few po-pos and have never gotten pulled over or ticketed for it... and I guess how would they know. I could be talking to myself or my husband or to my child in the backseat etc.]

I really dislike Kail but I am not sure where everyone is getting that she pushed Javi into the military or into marrying her/having a baby with her (which you didn't say but other posts have). He seemed completely on board with these ideas and some of them sounded as if they came from him. I haven't re-watched the earlier episode but I remember quite clearly that Javi brought up joining the military on his own and said it's a good job with good benefits. (Like many military people, with his education and experience level what else was he going to do that could pay pretty well, be a stable job for as long as he wanted it, and had good benefits?!) I distinctively remember that he was telling Kail about talking to a recruiter AFTER he had already gone to see one and that Kail asked something along the lines of "what branch would you be joining?" and he said the Air Force. He was also really into getting married and kept saying they should do it before he goes to basic training (although she definitely pushed him for a "formal proposal/engagement" and kept putting off the marriage ... I think he would have preferred to just go to the courthouse and get it done even faster/easier), and I am not sure of the conversations leading up to creating/ having Lincoln but there was nothing that stood out to me as showing that Javi didn't want to do that... he did say he wanted to have a baby and always seemed fine with it. I think that Kail and Javi are basically the same awful people except that Javi has the ability to sometimes come off as a nicer guy (but also likes to play the victim like Kail does, but since we don't him as well/see his parts as much, it's not always as obvious). I think the same exact thing about Jo except that I've been coming around to him more now that he seems really good at letting things that would normally have bothered him (and would bother most people) slide and concentrate on having the best life he can for himself and for Isaac. I think he's a good dad and maybe it's just what he presents to the cameras but he definitely is for whatever reason better at presenting himself well than most of the people in any of the TM franchises so I give him props for that. But he's like Kail in that he's a spoiled, entitled mama's boy who resorted to emotional abuse against her when he couldn't control her and get his way. I used to really hate him in the earlier seasons (and I felt some sympathy for Kail because yeah she was living with his parents but she was still a teenager with a young baby and nowhere else to go so I'm not sure what else she was supposed to do right away and I feel they were really over-controlling and only conditionally loved her. I have a son and when he is a teenager, if he has a girlfriend who is pregnant and who doesn't have anywhere else to go because she has an alcoholic mother and deadbeat father and is still in friggin' high school... if I accepted her into my home and life it would be unconditionally, at least until she was an adult and could be stable and on her feet. I would assume there was a very high possibility that they might break up [and if she had Kail's personality/disposition I might be relieved!] and if I had the means to support her for a while while she figured things out I definitely would. Yes Kail snuck around and lied about Jordan but there's that old saying that says people lie when other people don't want to hear or can't accept the truth. She and Jo had broken up [and it was Jo's decision at first, if I can remember correctly... but in any event at some point Jo was very happy with the fact they had broken up, which is understandable/fine] and it makes sense that a girl that age would meet other guys at work or whatever and start to date them. I wouldn't let her bring them over or have sex at my house or anything but I wouldn't tell her that unless she did exactly what I/my son wanted, she would be homeless basically! I just think that Jo's parents are a huge part of the problem because they were super enmeshed and tried to control the relationship between Jo and Kail when clearly they had gone their separate ways and their response to that was to kick her out if she wanted to have her own life outside of their son who at the time and for whatever reason was being a completely emotionally abusive Ahole.) With all of the above being said, Kail is definitely awful and I think sadly it's due to her upbringing/parents and she is not likely to change but I do think that both Kail and Jo have taken some positive steps in the right direction and showed some signs of growth recently, so perhaps there is hope. Jordan was the only guy who wasn't just like Kail and that's why I think they didn't last too long. He was smart and got the heck out of Dodge before he could be entrapped by marriage/child/military. Javi not so much! He seemed to willingly walk into and even be a part of the entrapment. Yeah, Kail should not complain that he has to go away for his job for 4 weeks when the job is what she liked about marrying him in the first place. But he seemed to KNOW that and still get involved and even dangle that job/those benefits in front of her so what does he expect? I don't like either one of them and I think they're both purposefully stuck in their misery together.

Yeah in my city it is technically illegal to talk on the phone and drive but people do it all the time... I've done it if I need to take an important call, and I don't get how just talking on a cell phone while driving is any more dangerous than having a heated discussion/fight with your passenger, talking to or singing with your kid who is in the back seat, listening to a good audiobook or good music that you're really into--- or podcast that makes you think, etc.-- or just generally being distracted by any kind of talking or even thinking that could take one's attention away from the road. How does the mere of using Bluetooth to talk take away the risk of being too involved in a distracting conversation while on the phone?! In fact, I think studies back me up: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/talking-on-a-cellphone-while-driving-is-risky-but-simpler-distractions-can-also-cause-harm/2014/02/07/49675ce8-8cf2-11e3-95dd-36ff657a4dae_story.html I get that some people talk on the cell phone by holding it in one hand and there's the argument that both hands should be on the wheel at all times. But that is rarely the case with me or my husband or any of the people I know-- with manual transmissions (which are completely legal and which by nature require the driver to have one of his/her hands on the stick shift instead of the wheel at times), fiddling with the radio, cruise control, gesturing while in conversation with passengers, taking sips of coffee or eating anything... I think it is quite normal for one hand to not be on the wheel and I don't really know of any laws that require both hands to be on the wheel at all times. I'm not saying that most of these girls including Chelsea couldn't/shouldn't practice better driving safety (especially the kinds of carseats and restraints they use-- or not-- for their kids, ugh), but I just really don't think that talking on the phone while driving in and of itself is any more dangerous than other activities that are lawful. Of course texting is because you have to take your eyes off the road in order to do it (unless you have a text-to-speech feature to both read and respond to any texts), but to me it is the DISTRACTION and the MENTAL STATE that make something dangerous. If I need to have an important conversation with someone then I try never to do it while driving. If a client calls or my husband and I need to decide something important etc. or I feel upset about something then I either make it a point to schedule the phone call at a time when I'm not driving or I pull over and cry into the phone if it's that upsetting. But for general "hey how's your day, what did you do yesterday?" conversations I have no problem talking on my cell phone just like I have no problem talking to my husband IN the car about that kind of stuff when we're on roadtrips or one of us is driving to dinner together or whatever. When I talk on the phone in the car I use my shoulder instead of my hand to hold the phone although I do sometimes use my hand to answer my phone (to call the person, I just use Siri or text to speech). I do have Bluetooth but in my car it's not always reliable in terms of connecting and staying connected. If I'm in an area I know that police often frequent I use speakerphone and just keep the phone in my lap or in one hand down low and again I really don't see how that's any safer but it prevents me from being ticketed from the nanny state who-- as far as I can determine-- have no reason to think that just talking on the phone will make me more likely to have an accident than other things that are completely legal to do in a car (ex., eating, applying makeup, nodding off/falling asleep like Leah has done... sure, these things can LEAD to a ticket for careless driving but they're not illegal in an of themselves, and that's the part I have a problem with.)

I'm sorry but I think these critiques are so petty. I've enjoyed my share of corndogs for dinner and cinnamon buns for breakfast (yum!) and I'm a healthy, happy woman in my mid- 30's. Granted, I ate much worse as a child than I do now (I'm from south central PA where the most popular dish to make at home is "tater tot casserole" and where fishsticks or corndogs are definitely considered dinners)! And as an adult it's only an occasional treat for me but it's very very common for many American families (especially in small towns or in WV/ SD etc.) to make these quick and easy meals or to enjoy fatty junk food as their main dish, so it's certainly not like these moms are worse than many American moms. Do you really ONLY EVER eat super healthy food? If so, cool but I really don't think that's the norm and I don't think these moms should be dinged for making/buying something really quick and easy to eat *while they are in the middle of moving* (on that one I'm defending Chelsea-- I'm sure it's much more common for Leah but on the other hand she has 3 kids aged 4 and younger and one of them has special needs and her husband is gone for work a lot, so, no, I don't expect her to be a perfect cook of gourmet and completely healthy food all the time. I'm not saying I AGREE with all of these choices she's made but she's in the thick of discovering what reality is like for all the choices she's made AND the crappy hand that life dealt her/Ali in terms of Ali's condition, so as long as the kids are eating something and being cared for and not neglected then I really don't think it's my place to judge.) I eat healthy for the most part but I believe in pizza nights and sometimes poptarts for breakfast when I have a busy day-- they're easy to eat and I think they taste great. Sure, I don't live on them, and for my son cookies or cake are treats for birthday parties or when Grandma is watching him, etc... and Leah's family probably does live on bad food, but I doubt that Chelsea's family does. Chelsea has gotten into great shape and apparently exercises (as does Aubree-- in her dance classes and softball games) so I really don't get why she's being slammed for making a quick and easy meal while moving into a new house. Hubby and I ordered pizza and soda or beer for ourselves and all helpers when we move into a new house or clean the garage or have a yard sale etc... and our son eats the pizza and loves it. We also eat hot dogs when we're at baseball games. I don't see how that's different than heating up corndogs while in the midst of moving but maybe if I was being filmed for a reality TV show (which I would never agree to be, but then I'd be missing out on some sweet piles of cash!), I'd be considered to be a bad mom too for not ensuring that my son eats only organic healthy high nutrition foods under any and all circumstances. If so then please pass that Worst Mom of the Year trophy my way please, and I will display it with pride, if the worst thing for Internet commenters to say about my parenting on an episode is that I fed my kid a corndog or a cinnabon! ...And Chelsea does have a job, as a reality TV show star with cameras following her around all the time, and viewers like us watching and commenting on and judging her every mood. She certainly deserves to get paid for that and to spend her money as she sees fit, just as we all do with the jobs we have. (Yes I count that as a job-- she is under contract to do something and is getting paid for it and is providing entertainment off of which MTV is profiting).

There are some couples/parents who just can't get along and these parents SHOULD divorce and be separate and never interact around the kids because that would just be too much toxic drama to drag the kids into. My own parents are this type; they like to brag about their 37 year marriage and say they don't believe in divorce because of their religion but they hate each other and treat each other horribly, and they've been that way ever since I was an adolescent. Although I'm in my 30's I despise being around both of them together (I live over 2,000 miles away so that I rarely have to be!) and when they have wanted to come visit my newborn I've told them to wait at least a month and to come separately, because I can not deal with their toxic relationship and I do not plan to expose my child to it. Yeah, it's nice when divorced parents can get along and be together at events for the sake of the kid, Leah and Corey style (but I don't think they are perfect models because clearly Leah still wants Corey and goes running complaining to him about Jeremy as a father and step-father and husband... THAT is not healthy for those kids to be around either!) But people like my parents never know how to do the right thing for their children or themselves. They thrive on drama. They cannot be around each other and not fight. So I think the best we can hope for in those kinds of situations is that the parents hate each other enough to stay far apart and do exchanges through grandparents (like some of the TM/TM2 parents have done in the past) and to never ever let their children see them being so mean and horrid to each other or even talking badly about the other parent to or in front of the kid. (Which IMO is a test that ALL of the TM/TM2 parents completely fail, and it's sad because, believe me, a child internalizes one parent's hatred/disparaging remarks about the other. We are all products of BOTH of our parents and what is said about one parent-- especially by the other parent-- we often take as reflections of ourselves, when we are children at least and often into adulthood.)