ReadMeLattice

He looks EXACTLY like Cole.

That's true too. David acts so nuts that I'm always shocked at first at how calm Jenelle seems in comparison. But he doesn't have a partner, he has a child to entertain. That would drive me crazy too, though it doesn't excuse any of his behavior. I think he'd act that way regardless. But damn! I'm just imagining literally watching my husband grade his students' papers and saying over and over, "this isn't fun." Wtf?! Of course it isn't and it's not supposed to be!

Well wtf else would this mean? And yes, exactly what others have been saying. "Dads" like this love to bitch and moan about how awful their baby mamas are, then refuse to pay child support OR truly go for 50/50. You want your kid so much, fight for them or shut up. Parenting isn't coming around on a Saturday twice a month to have fun with the kid, bring a box of diapers or a stuffed animal and call it a day. But that's *exactly* what Luises and Chrises of the world seem to think fatherhood means.

Ah, ok, makes sense. I had a long labor and I know that's why my pediatrician said my baby's head was like that immediately after birth (being stuck in the birth canal for a while), but she doesn't look like that anymore. I was wondering what her head shape had to do with Jenelle's negligence. Given how she throws her kids in cribs without even bothering to see if they're calm first, I would imagine that's definitely the cause for Ensley. Those kids have zero routine!! I can't imagine how stressful it would be to be one of them. Even Jenelle's best days are just so emotionally chaotic. There's no given time for anything, there's never just a snoozy slumbery day or an average meal time when they expect food. It's just constant, constant stress. Well, except sod laying. That has to be done right motherfucking NOW.

It will also now be dramatic and upsetting when she does it, likely the result of an accident (though of course I hope she never has any sort of accident, but it seems inevitable given the falling and their refusal to do anything about it). For Ali it will most likely unfortunately be the equivalent of waiting until a deaf child falls down because they couldn't hear someone calling out to them to stop to give them a fucking hearing aid rather than just equipping them with a hearing aid to prevent such problems. It could have been just a part of her life and no big deal. Now it will be a sign of "failure" in her eyes and her parents'. If they believe in God and miracles, why not believe God sent them Dr. Tsao?

Honestly I don't get *why* people like this don't just go to court? I know the deck is sometimes stacked against dads, but if he had a substantial record or other kids we'd likely know about it by now. He's a college kid and seems fairly normal. He'd have some rights at least. Is he dumb enough to think Kailyn is going to come around and be reasonable, or does he just want an excuse to be lazy, or...? Javi finally got it right-- get a lawyer when you're dealing with an ex like this.

Jesus. Dustin is damn good at his job.

Unfortunately even though I have a baby, I don't know much about them, lol. Ensley's head looks a little like how my baby's looked right when she was born (like a cone), which went down in no more than a day to become round. Is that what you guys mean by a "flat head?" Why would it stick around like that rather than resolving after birth?

That's very true. She needs more stimulation and needs to find ways to do that in a healthy manner. I've actually found life with a newborn "boring" at times, though I adore her and never run out of tasks to complete. If you just do the basics (changing diapers, feeding, sleeping, bathing) the routine can seem boring at least to me even if it's tiring, so I found lists of ways to stimulate newborns and activate their brains and I have fun experimenting with ways to interact with her and make her laugh or look curious before I have to go back to work. It struck me watching Ensley, who seemed pretty young in the episode, that Jenelle will never go beyond "the basics" with her, essentially keeping her alive until the next Instagram shoot. Jenelle doesn't seem interested in doing anything but keeping her kids alive to dress up for photos. She could easily find parents' groups, baby classes, activities for Kaiser or, I don't know, a JOB if she's that bored. I don't get why they take her either except to find things to try to prove wrong. It don't make no sense.

Wait. Does Mary have a nose ring?! Did I miss that earlier?!?!

The thing is, when it seems like Ali "wants" to walk, I'm not totally convinced--in other conversations she's said she needed it. When Leah said "she's so determined to walk" she had obvious pride in her voice, which Ali could easily pick up on. Even if subconsciously, the wheelchair is presented as a burden/"giving up"/confinement in their household. Just as Jace occasionally tells Jenelle what she wants to hear, and probably Aubree back when Mary would question her incessantly about Cole--kids know what they're being led to do/what's the hoped-for response, and will give it to please their parents and keep the peace. I don't dislike Leah this season as much as I have, but it's still clear that Ali could very well just be making that "choice" because she knows it's what makes Mommy & Daddy happy and the wheelchair makes them sad. It should not be Ali's choice, it should be her parents'/physician's. That is too much of a burden to place on her. And it might not be a problem *now* if they had established it as normal earlier.

That David-swinging-the-shovel bit made me actually breathe faster. It seemed so surreal and then I realized he reminded me of a friend I used to have that I later found out was addicted to coke. He's definitely drugged up for many of these scenes. That behavior is just not normal. Jenelle's "this is reality, bitch" made me want to smack her. And if Jace feels uncomfortable around David, why the fuck doesn't she care enough to even ask him why?!?! I mean I know she doesn't actually care, but I'd think she'd know to at least pretend. You should *obviously* care why your son feels uncomfortable around your male partner who is not his father. At least Briana has a job. Girl makes shitty decisions and is annoying but she's working while heavily pregnant while most of these girls think maternity leave is a lifetime. To be fair, as to 'what if the genders were reversed,' lots of people *do* get on women and claim they're gold diggers for wanting child support. I don't think it's a legitimate argument with either sex--child support is owed regardless. I didn't agree when Jo was angry that Kailyn went to the state and I don't agree with Kailyn now. There's an amount that you owe according to the law, male or female, and if your ex doesn't expect you to pay it that's a bonus, but if they ask you to, they're not doing anything wrong, regardless of how much money they make. I hope Javi got his fair share/Lincoln's fair share.

Oh, maybe I remember it wrong then, or made her background different in my mind because of her close relationship with her brother.

This is so true. TM is always fascinating to me in terms of how family issues can be cyclical. There is always the person who manages to break out and break the cycle, but the cycle continuing or worsening is far, far likelier barring some sort of combination of mentorship, opportunity, privilege (even slight ones, like a bit better education, or a bit more functional parenting than the previous generation) or simply an individual with an extremely high drive/work ethic or IQ/skill level. These girls are already very mediocre, with some worse than others in terms of morals and laziness--Catelynn was never going to be anything super-special, nor was Leah or Jenelle, nor was Chelsea for that matter. Add in their generational cycles of whatever--poverty, narcissism, abuse, single parenthood or what have you--and you've got, well, "a Catelynn" or "a Leah." Of course they can be individually blamed for their current behavior, but 'zooming out' also gives an interesting look at, say, why generation after generation stays poor or stays obese or addicted (i.e., why the opioid epidemic exists). If Nova or Jace ends up addicted to drugs or in prison, for example, I will totally get how that happened from watching this show. If Lincoln and Isaac wind up bitter towards women and materialistic, I get why. If Leah ends up with abandonment issues, Kaiser acts out violently to get attention, Ali has major hangups about her disability or Gracie is pregnant by 14, they will be responsible for what they do with that but it will also be incredibly predictable. I always find the nature vs. nurture argument pretty silly because it's always clearly both, minus some anomalies on either end of the spectrum (really bad or really great). I doubt that Kailyn's personality would have been all that different in a different family, for example, but it might have manifested in just a series of toxic relationships and self-centeredness, rather than toxic relationships, self-centeredness AND three baby daddies by 25. Amber is the only one I truly can't figure out. Her family never seemed all that dysfunctional and she was raised somewhat normally from what I could tell. She, I would argue, is one of the anomalies on the "holy fuck this person was always going to be a shitbag" end of the spectrum. Maybe she just did so many drugs so early that it permanently affected her.

Idk, when I think of dildos I think of women who are open about their sexuality. Jenelle's Neanderthal boyfriends probably think if she has an orgasm on her own she's cheating. David probably has a video monitor on her in the bathroom to make sure she doesn't touch herself because THAT IS HIS JOB AS THE BIG MANLY MAN OF WORK BOOTS ON THE LAaaaAaaaNnnDdd.

Yep! It's legal to some extent in 26 states now, not just Colorado/California. Not SC though. Very much still illegal. I know somebody already mentioned this, but after rewatching I'm still dumbfounded that 7(?) year old Ali is now being asked to make the medical decisions her parents were advised to make by a specialist 3+ years ago..."let me know if you need the wheelchair," seriously?!?!?!

I think she'll be ok after, but she would have been on the Daddy dole a lot longer had it not been for the show. She's not insanely extravagant so she'll hold onto what she has, but I can't imagine her having fully supported herself or putting her nose to the grindstone.

I mean...we saw that Horry County "trial." I don't have much faith in any legal system where Nathan, Jenelle and David can stay free for long.

@evilmindatwork you said that like a million percent perfectly. The girls are getting paid to be entertainment at this point, MTV has mostly stopped pretending it's for "educational" purposes except at reunions. Entertainment requires, at the very least, a storyline, and storylines require conflict, even if it's minor or not interpersonal conflict. Everyone's life has conflict. Pretending it doesn't is just weird. These girls have gotten really, really entitled. Chelsea never had to support herself, so maybe that's part of it for her--she doesn't know her market value because she's never had to learn it the hard way or even the medium way. I mean, I understand none of them have (they've all been supported by MTV and/or partners), but Jenelle, Kail and Leah all watched their families struggle at least. Chelsea had the Randy ATM AND the MTV ATM.

He is one unattractive dude. Kieffer and Gary were normal looking, but all of her subsequent partners have looked like something was seriously off with them. Courtland looked like (and was) a junkie/meth head. Nathan looked like steroids were about to ooze out of his bulging veins if they popped. And David looks like someone squeezed an inflatable doll and the air all went to its head.

Right, show me a family that doesn't fight or have rough patches between spouses, kids or otherwise.

Chelsea is very into the "perfect family" image. You don't get $300k for portraying that for a few posed shots. She got on the show for being a teen mom with a deadbeat baby daddy, then struggling to get a basic education and continuing to fight with said dad. Now that her life has changed she can't expect to make the same money for being a walking version of Instagram.

I was not, I don't think, though I frankly wouldn't know--they did tons of prenatal blood tests on me--but in some states/clinics I know for a fact they screen mothers at every appointment or at some point prenatally.

I know! She thinks she is super super hot! I've definitely worn some outfits that were hella unflattering but to dress like that every single time?!?!?! People asked her if she has it. I don't remember her ever actually claiming that, I actually believe she never did because when she was talking about PMDD and was asked if she thought it was PPD instead and never responded. I don't think PMDD would have anything to do with the Aubree situation and it would have nothing to do with being postpartum as it affects women during/before their monthly cycles. She would have had it a long time, not just after Watson was born.

It's true!! I've dated both men and women seriously myself and something is SO unattractive about Kailyn now and I am attracted to stocky men and women both (I don't find the Leah/Maci body type attractive in the least, for example), it's definitely not her size. She is mean on the inside and that shows in the way she styles and carries herself--plus you're right, she dresses in the WEIRDEST clothes for her body type. Things that are objectively, universally ugly and also especially don't fit her frame at all. I think Kristina is quite pretty and her attitude and bearing add to it so much. There is also something about people who don't look hygienic, or you can just *sense* that they don't ever leave their couches. Catelynn is big, for example, but it's not her size itself that makes her unattractive. Amber isn't that large but both of them look like they don't shower, don't ever eat vegetables and don't have any ambition. Catelynn just *looks* like a heavy smoker. Kailyn looks sloppy like that too.