Cynthia8036

I've always said this! I know that it's easier said than done, but surely there's some way that they could've put into the contracts that all or most of the TM money had to go into a trust or something for the kids. Honestly though, I wonder how many of them would've still been interested in the show if it were that way. My guess is very few, if any. For me it's not about rewarding them for getting pregnant, though, it's the claim that they want to show what being a teen parent is like. That's a load of crap and they all know it. The first season was so different. That's the last time that TM showed real life teen parenting. They claim to be showing how difficult it is to be a teen parent, but not a single one of them lives the life of a real parent at all, let alone a real teen parent!

My Grandma called her Dad "Daddy" until the day she died. My family is from southern Indiana/Kentucky, if that matters. I don't have any memory of ever referring to my dad as daddy, with exception of a couple times as an adult when it was said in a joking way. I think if I had it would've seemed weird to him.

At first I didn't like Anfisa, but the more I see of her the more I believe that the cold, heartless bitch act was a defense mechanism. She is just still so young. The Mom in me just wants to hug her and tell her that she IS worth more than she's settling for, that she doesn't have to sell her body and her soul to some idiot for a fancy purse, expensive shoes, or whatever it may be. She's obviously never lived an adult life. She literally can't even boil water. Now here she is, brought to a strange country by a lying asshole, who she trusted would take care of her. Instead she's completely alone with no idea how to take care of herself. I feel like in a way she's a victim and really feel bad for her. I think Anfisa was probably severely abused before Grandma stepped in. Somewhere along the way she learned that using her body was the way to get her needs met. Abuse in the early years really can cause permanent damage. Also, I think Anfisa is probably the only one of the whole bunch that's been completely honest. IMO, Jorge is the one at fault here. He's the one who lied and manipulated Anfisa from day one, because he knew he'd never have a chance in hell with an American woman as attractive as Anfisa. I also think Jorge's sister is way out of line. She needs to look at her "baby brother" for what he is, and to back off and mind her own business.

I had to DVR the latest episode, so I just finished it. I loved seeing the way Elena has blossomed, and the friendship between her and John is so sweet...They both seem to have really grown since we first "met" them. I think Elena's difficulties were probably more emotional/mood related than DS/disability related. She's become my favorite. I love her sense of humor, I could watch her all day! I also loved her speech. So much more authentic than the rehearsed "don't limit me" speech that Megan recites. I was so happy for Cristina, and loved seeing her family all helping her move in. I love her parents. Can't say enough good about them! I think Cristina will be very successful with their support. I wish we would've gotten to see more Rachel, she's so sweet. I'm not sure what to think of the Sean and Megan situation. I do think they both need to learn some boundaries. If they can't learn those boundaries then their parents need to be there to enforce boundaries for them, although it seems that both Sean and Megan are allowed to do as they please, no matter how inappropriate, and it gets laughed off...not cute. To me, from the first episode Megan has just come off as a brat who thinks she's better than the rest of the group. I can't really blame Megan though. All her life Megan has been told she is better. She was a cheerleader, had a boyfriend for 8 years (because he wanted a girlfriend who was a cheerleader...) she graduated high school, goes to college, is going to move to California and be a film producer, she's a business owner, a public speaker...meanwhile, her actual skills are near zero. The reality is (just my opinion of course, from what I've seen) she's probably one of the lowest functioning of the group. In my opinion, her mother has done Megan NO favors by making her the poster child for "inclusion" and creating these fantasies, rather than focusing on real life stuff, and things Megan CAN do. If I were part of their circle, I would no doubt have already told Kris exactly that. My daughter doesn't have DS, she has a developmental disability and an autistic spectrum disorder. She'd probably fit in pretty well with the Born This Way gang. If I had to say, I'd say she's very similar to Elena as far as level of functioning. She may not be a business owning public speaker, but she can handle her own spending money, she can cook a meal, take public transportation, do laundry, clean house, and she has a lot of other independent living skills that people thought she never would because we spent years doing them together over and over and over. Our school system pushed inclusion, we were really given no choice. They knew she'd never be able to get a diploma, so their goal was to keep her with same age "peers" and being a foster child until we adopted her (she was 15) she had no real advocate. We moved to a better school system, and when nothing changed we eventually chose to withdraw her from school. I had other children at home, she was my oldest. For a while she stayed home with me. She learned daily living skills in the only way she was ever going to learn them, by living them..over and over again. When she turned 18 we found a part time day program for her. She eventually "outgrew" the program and went on to a job in a comic and card shop. She spent her days organizing thousands of cards. What would've driven most people insane was perfect for her. I wouldn't change a thing, but my decision to take her out of school didn't go over well. No one understood why we didn't want her in regular high school classes. My own mother (who has 3 neurotypical kids) actually told me I was a horrible mother and ruining my daughter's life. That got off topic, sorry I tend to get long winded...My point with all that is, that sometimes inclusion just isn't the best option, and kids end up missing out on so many things they could learn. I think Sean and Megan are both perfect examples of that. I just imagine if as much energy had been put into teaching Megan things she could have really learned, I think she'd be in a much better place.

I've always liked Amy, but the more she talks about her "Grandma shower" the more I dislike her..Is this something that people actually do? I've never in my life heard of a grandma shower. I understand wanting to be prepared for the baby, but imo Amy asking for baby gifts is really tacky and comes of as self centered and greedy. I wanted to be prepared when my grandson was born, too. We live paycheck to paycheck and I still managed to buy what I needed for him without asking for gifts. I wouldn't in a million years have asked my friends to have a shower for me, or to buy me baby gifts! Having a party with her friends to celebrate the babies is one thing, I understand that. What I don't understand is why Amy is ok with asking for gifts from her friends..especially since she has the farm, a reality show and a net worth of $4.5 Million!! I don't get it.

I said the same thing about Anfisa. I think she's awful, but she's always (that we've seen anyway) told Jorge exactly why she's marrying him. Even if he didn't know before, she erased his phone and canceled his flight when he didn't buy her a $10,000 purse! To me, that says it all. Jorge knew that Anfisa only wanted him for his money, which is why he lied and told her he was a millionaire. I remember him saying that he sent her like ten messages before she finally responded, when he told her he was rich. I don't understand what the attraction is though. If I was going to pay for a wife like Jorge is, she would NOT look like Anfisa!

I thought it was just me, but I thought so too. I know that obese men can tend to have higher than normal estrogen and lower testosterone, so I figured as he lost the weight he'd look more masculine but it seemed the opposite with Joe. The more weight he lost the more feminine he looked. Someone mentioned he was wearing eye makeup, but I didn't notice that. I may just have to watch again and pay closer attention.

I've been lurking here forever, but I finally joined so I could comment on Joe...Something about the way Joe is with Sarah's daughter feels almost seems creepy to me. He barely knew the child when he started talking about being her Dad. I know that lots of step parents ARE Mom or Dad, but this guy had met his internet girlfriend what, one time and he's calling himself Daddy. It doesn't work that way. When he and Sarah were sitting outside (on a swing I think?) and he got up and grabbed Haylee, she looked anything but happy. The look on her face made me really sad for Haylee. I think that all the Daddy/Daughter stuff is for the cameras, and when the cameras are gone he and Sarah leave the parenting on Sarah's Mom. Really, I would be shocked to find out that Joe is the first "new Daddy" that she's had drug into her life. Sarah was too quick to move her new internet boyfriend in and marry him, I doubt he was the first. In his original episode I didn't mind Joe, until he dumped his Mom. He ate himself to the point of convalescence and then expected his Mom to take care of him, even dragging her across the country to take care of him. Then as soon as he's mobile he dumps Mom to run off with his internet girlfriend. I know being a caregiver is hard, I was my great aunt and grandmother's caregiver for almost 10 years(until her death in October) and I'm still my aunt's caregiver (she's developmentally disabled and will never live independently) It's one of the hardest things I've ever done, and it's really hard on relationships, but to me the way Joe treated his mom after Sarah came into the picture says a lot about the kind of man he is. Her too, for that matter. I would've been done with him when he shipped his Mom home for someone else to take care of. Then he couldn't even be bothered to help the poor woman get to his wedding...I was screaming at the TV, we know he had no job, why couldn't he go "help" his mom make the trip? From what I've seen of them, I think Joe and Sarah are both pretty selfish and worthless. That could have something to do with his sister not being around for the update too. If I was her I probably wouldn't want to be around him either.