MJS

I bought one of those kitties for my mom, with dementia. She loved it. It purred and reacted when you petted it. She knew it wasn’t real, but also responded to it as if it were. It was really sweet.

This show hits me in all the tender places. I want the life and relationships she has. The relationships with her kids, and mom, and brother is so beautiful. I don’t care about nitpicky stuff- this is purely aspirational and it makes me weep with its beauty.

Thanks for your comment. I’m so over reading comments from people hate watching shows! I love this show- everyone is flawed but I see such deep love between all of them and it’s an incredible unconditional love. The love Sam has for her kids, mom, brother, friends. The love the girls have for each other and family. It’s such an honest love that can tolerate imperfection and they seem to actually be interested in each other as people. I'd rather have their relationships than what passes for superficial acceptance in so many families. But I stay away from these forums these days- the intense negativity spoils this show I adore, unfortunately. Difference of opinions are interesting, but posters who seem to enjoy hating on a show so gleefully aren’t fun to read.

If you think the show has gone dark, don’t read the books. I sobbed through each one of her memoirs. The show sugar coated a lot of the reality of those books!

It is when someone is a Misogynistic creep and everything is Kate's fault.

Complete side track, but we just visited the FLW House and Studio in Oak Park and just loved it. Can’t wait to visit the other FLW sites!

Agreeing to go along with a direction is not the same being outranked or being required to follow a direction.

Yup!

Using “being a man” to represent strength and using gendered insults to diminish someone (calling him a pussy) is pretty sexist sounding. He can be called out for acting wrong without using sexist language, and without implying that doing the right thing is manly (being a man) but doing the wrong this is womanly (pussy).

I think they meant Randall's house in NJ, not the house they grew up in. I thought that’s where they were going with it too, given that they made the point of showing Randall's house in the today timeline. The cabin completely surprised me!

That’s not at all how I interpreted her sadness. She wasn’t crying because she could only rate an entry level job and somehow she was entitled to better. Instead of a two-member team supporting their family, she is now the sole supporter of her family, and her late 40s she has to start over, which requires an entry level job. It’s demoralizing to all of sudden have do it alone, especially when it wasn’t your own choice. That she’s starting from scratch is hard. She and Jack were talking starting a business together, or even if she rejoined the workforce she’d have him by her side. She’s had to be the tough one for a long time now, and she’s earned a few self pitying tears.

I also think the boyfriend may be the one pushing her to lose weight. Making her feel bad about herself is another thing abusive boyfriends do.

We didn’t even see her jumping to any conclusion. She saw it, looked concerned (maybe she’s worried about him) and going to take the photo.

Well, let’s not forget that before Toby left he told Kate “only boob juice” (ugh) until he got home so he wouldn’t miss the big first bite. He communicated to her what a big deal it was for him (perhaps he was overplaying it, but she wouldn't know that) and she was reacting to that. Then unexpectedly she let the moment get ruined (her internal monologue no doubt) and felt guilty. Then Toby got baby Jack to eat, seemed so happy, and didn’t want to ruin it again. But then he’s so excited about “Jack's first bite” video getting likes, so she felt compelled to be honest. Maybe so he won’t feel stupid later, having made a big fuss, finding out the truth. It’s a small thing all around, and it’s not a big deal if she had kept quiet or decided to tell. Either way it’s not a big deal, and just a new parent thing to get through. She also fully recognizes her frustration with his weight loss is rooted in complex feelings and history, much of which she owns and is her self-described “evil” feeling. She was very emotionally healthy about her reflection on it. And she chose not to confront him about the text in the middle of the holiday and on the heels of her “avocado-gate” misstep. Also thoughtful and self aware. I don’t think she deserves a lot of the criticism she gets.

Right, read too fast. I don’t think she’s with child- they explicitly said they wouldn’t have sex until they were married so I think it was just something GC and she said to stop the marriage.