Rootbeer

We also discover that someone, most likely his mother, actually told Jack that this incident, involving him, was the impetus for his parents' divorce. Just what any kid wants to hear from a parent, that they're the reason the marriage didn't work out. Especially, since, as we've seen the past few weeks, the marriage is over well before the BGE incident.

The National Institute of Health says that Class III obesity ( morbid obesity) shortens life expectancy by 14 years on average. Kate's father died of heart disease at a young age. She is definitely at risk for an early death. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-finds-extreme-obesity-may-shorten-life-expectancy-14-years#:~:text=NIH study finds extreme obesity may shorten life,20 large studies of people from three countries.

Of course. I also believe that if a person wants to work, they should. But, as depicted on the show, Kate is not going to be able to get a job that actually supplements their income, just one that covers childcare while she works. That's fine, but it won't offset a paycut for Toby. Also, there is no reason why Kate couldn't find a similar job in SF. Why is it ok that she has just one job that is her dream and doesn't want to consider any other options while Toby is not allowed to keep the job he loves?

Rebecca needs Miguel to be her caregiver. I think it is expecting a lot for Miguel to care for his failing wife while also managing a blind toddler and a baby. As for a nanny, who pays for that? Kate is not making enough to pay for a nanny who would make more in salary than she does. Also, Rebecca and Miguel are planning to move to Pennsylvania once the house is built. The foundation is already poured, they're leaving in a year or less, I expect. For Kate to expect them to put aside their own plans for her convenience would be selfish, IMO. This. All Kate had to do is tell him she felt the schedule was a little ambitious and she wanted to pencil in some down time and they could've picked and chose which things they would do. But, once again, it is Toby's responsibility to read her mind and, if he doesn't, he has failed.

Kate had already told Rebecca that she is not capable of watching her kids on her own. And, it appears she probably isn't. Here in the US, grandparents can and do help with caring for their grandchildren, but the show has already established that, aside from the fact she will be moving out of state in the near future, Rebecca is unable to do that. Then, maybe Kate should have told him that rather than stomping off in a snit. If Toby knew that she could perhaps get a job paying enough to offset the difference, perhaps it would have made him rethink things. However, as we've noted, Kate has no qualifications for a higher paying job and, if she works full time, her salary will pay for child care, which is fine, but not the same as offsetting a difference in salary. Toby is not the only one in this relationship who doesn't communicate.

Do we know for sure that Kate is qualified to take her place? We have no idea what position she held, let alone whether Kate has a realistic chance to replace her. What we do know is that Kate has no specific qualifications to teach, which means the job she is trying to get doesn't pay any better than the one she has and that working more hours won't solve anything as she doesn't make enough to support herself, let alone the kids. She would barely make enough to cover child care.

It would be the same for Toby if all things are equal, but they are not. Toby has a well paying job with benefits. Kate does not. Her best option is a job that pays minimum wage, during the school year. Parents face these cold, hard realities every day. I realize that Kate has an ace in the hole, a wealthy brother who indulges her every whim; but is that really the example she wants for her children? That, when things get tough, they can expect other people to pick up the slack? That they don't have to earn their own way in the world because Uncle Kevin will pay the bills? Also, Kate has made it extremely clear that she considers Toby to be the inferior parent, that she and she alone is capable of taking proper care of their kids, especially Jack. Toby cannot be at home if only because he would have Kate criticizing his every move. A team player she is not. I understand that Kate loves her current gig as a teacher's aide for music classes. She loves music but she didn't make it as a singer, this is a viable option. That's great, but, maybe now, with two preschoolers, one of them special needs, is not the time to pursue it. Maybe she could look into some virtual classes to help her to eventually get her teaching credentials so she could go to work once the kids are in school full time. While I think Kate is entitled to a divorce if she wants one; I also see this as part of her pattern. She immediately gives up when things get tough. She wants to be a singer, she auditions and discovers that her voice is not good enough. She doesn't take lessons or work on her stage presence; she just quits at the first obstacle. Seems like the same thing with the marriage; things got tough and she wants to bail without even trying to work at it.

Kate is resentful that Toby loves his new job as well as San Francisco, He was supposed to hate it because she does. She's also seemingly resentful that he changed his lifestyle after his heart attack and has evolved as a person and made some positive strides in dealing with his depression . She was resentful when he didn't enjoy being a stay at home dad, when they couldn't survive without him finding a decent full-time gig, when the only job he could find was hundreds of miles away. Resentful is her default mode. The fact is, that, if they divorce, Toby will still have to commute down to LA to see his children regularly, but he will now need a place to stay while he visits. Meanwhile he will be paying alimony and child support. Both kids are too small to fly to San Francisco on their own and lord knows, Kate isn't going to be bringing them back and forth. In the end, I think Toby is going to figure out a way to be with his kids and that means he is probably going to find a job in LA. Kate seems to have already left the marriage; I expect that the divorce will be her idea and she won't consider counseling or any attempt at reconciliation. But, yeah, I suppose she will still blame Toby, if only he got the job in LA while they were still married... Except it is pretty clear that that isn't the real issue between them anyway, Kate didn't try to tell him about the possible full time teaching job, so I don't think it was Toby's unwillingness to listen that was the entire issue here. Also, she is a teacher's aide, she does not have the credentials to be a licensed teacher. In California, the average teacher's aide makes a little over 15 bucks an hour. So, Kate is working 2 days a week which means she makes about 4600 bucks during the school year, before taxes, When she goes full time, she will make around $24,000, an increase of around $20,000. It will also mean putting Hailey, at least, in full time daycare and Jack will need part time care. Even if the job offer in LA was not as bad as Toby implied, Kate's entire salary is going to be used for child care, There is no way she can supplement their income, no matter how many hours she works.

It's too bad that Kate didn't realize all of this before she had 2 kids who are going to be deeply affected by her actions. Putting her personal growth ahead of her kids' best interest isn't the sort of self improvement plan most people would seek. I am really bothered by the fact that it has only been a couple months and she is ready to chuck the marriage without even trying to find a way to salvage the relationship. Plenty of marriages evolve over time as one partner grows and matures; Toby has made some big personal changes since they married, I don't see why Kate cannot get into therapy and work on her life including her marriage. Instead, she expects Toby to do all the compromising while she unrealistically expects them to stay in LA so she can work part time for minimum wage because she is stuck in a rut. Considering Kate lost her father as a teen and has spent more than 20 years spinning her wheels, refusing to grow up; it's pretty sad that she seems so quick to divorce her husband and turn him into a long-distance Daddy although, in real life, I expect that Toby would find a way to move back to LA so he has easier access to his kids if they divorce. That theme is a duet. Kate hasn't shown herself to care what Toby wants, either. She wants her own way in all things, just like Daddy used to do for her.

It would be nice to see either one of them suggest counseling and actually attend a session or two before calling it quits. Their main issue, from my POV, is lack of communication with one another and that is something that a good counselor can help them achieve. Even if they do divorce, they're going to be jointly parenting their kids for the next couple decades and they're going to need to do a better job of communicating.

Since Jill breastfeeds, I imagine the baby will be in the bedroom with her for at least the first few months.

This would be 'getting her ducks in a row' Pearson-style, since we all know that her salary even as a full-time teaching assistant wouldn't begin to cover their actual living expenses. The show has always played fast and loose with the economic realities of life; but we've also seen Kate being very dependent on others to pave the way for her and take care of her. Whether is was her daddy at the pool, living with her mom and working at a diner as an adult, working as her brother's personal assistant; Kate seemingly has never had to actually support herself, let alone her kids which is a pretty major thing for a middle aged woman. I personally don't know any 40 something women who've never had to support themselves at some point. It seems clear that she still expects someone else to pick up the financial slack for her even if she divorces Toby since she wants to remain in her current home and continue to work for subsistence wages. I don't see Kate making realistic plans for her future; I see her once again, living in her own fantasy and letting others do the hard stuff for her. Kevin will be paying her mortgage and a whole lot more once her divorce is final and any alimony she receives ends.

Kate works part time because she WANTS to, it has been very clear on the show that the money she makes is negligible and it appears that her attachment to that specific job in that specific school is a very large part of her desire to stay in LA. If Kate wants Toby home more often to help with the kids and so that she can get more sleep at night, then perhaps she should've been a little more open minded about moving to SF. I am sure there are schools for the blind there that have teacher's aides in music class.

I'm sure Toby does know about state assistance for kids with special needs, but, if so, he also knows there is a limit to what the state will provide and, like any parent, wants to make sure his child has every single opportunity to succeed. That means they are probably going to be spending a fair amount of their own money on extras not covered by the state. While the specific device he mentioned is something Jack wouldn't need for years and years and will probably be replaced by superior tech in the interim; he can't be sure and, as a guy who has been very strong in his desire to provide for the family all along, Toby is going to want Jack to have the best of everything. The fact that Toby's married to a woman who has not worked full time in years and whose main criteria for choosing a career is based on what she likes to do even if it pays poorly and is only part time; means that Toby is ALWAYS the one who is going to have to look out for the bottom line. Once they divorce, I don't think Kate will cope very well with having to downsize and sell the house because she cannot afford the mortgage. Toby will be paying child support and maybe some alimony to her for a set period, probably until the kids are in school full time, but they've only been married a few years, I don't see Toby being responsible for the entire mortgage for the next couple decades and Kate cannot possibly be making enough to cover it. The average teacher's aide makes about 15 bucks an hour in California. So, working two days a week, she clears less than a $1000 a month before taxes. She could make more working at Target or McDonald's but we know that would never happen. Even if she gets the full time job, we're talking under $25,000 a year since she won't be working summers.

Kate has worked a couple of days a week at a school for the blind as an assistant music teacher for what? 6 months, maybe? Maybe 100 days total? She doesn't have a degree in education, let alone in special education. While I imagine Kate knows more about educating blind kids in preschool and elementary school than Toby; I disagree that she is any sort of expert on the subject or has done extensive research into learning aids for high school and college kids who are blind.

Probably the same reason that every kid going off to college has to go to Harvard or another Ivy League school. And Abishola doesn't just want to go to med school, it is Johns Hopkins or nothing. I think, to an extent, it is lazy writing. However, there are a lot of wonderful opportunities for nurses with advanced degrees and I wish the show would pursue that kind of story for Abishola.

From what I have read, Chrissy's contract did not require her to lose weight; but did include a clause that, should she lose weight, it would be incorporated into Kate's story. Dan Fogelman apparently based Kate's character on his sister, who was morbidly obese and then lost a lot of weight; so I presume he had a character arc in mind for Kate which has gone by the wayside. Chrissy Metz has said that there has not been pressure on her to lose weight from TPTB.

How many alcoholics stop drinking because someone tells them to quit? How many smokers don't know the dangers of cigarettes and, if only someone would tell them, they would quit? I don't approach smokers unless their smoke is encroaching on my right to breathe clean air. I don't approach drunks unless they're trying to drive or do something dangerous. What gives anyone the right to tell Kate she is obese and needs to lose weight? She knows, believe me, she knows, and constantly reminding her of it is not going to help her. I've seen nothing on the show that indicates that Kate doesn't realize she is severely overweight and her health is endangered.

My recollection is same as yours. We saw that flash forward during Toby's depression storyline, but he didn't seem depressed to me in the FF. He was lying alone in bed when he got the call to come and he mostly sounded reticent and questioning, which makes sense if he's being called to come to his former MIL's deathbed. Also, when he asked if 'she' wanted him there, do we know that he was referring to Rebecca? Maybe he was asking about Kate.

Nothing Toby did was irreversible. People get pre approved for mortgages all the time; in a tight, expensive market like SF, it makes sense. As far as knowing the current value of the house in LA, every homeowner should have an idea of that, especially with the recent real estate boom. Once again, he didn't sign for a mortgage, he didn't sign a contract with a realtor to sell their house. Nothing he did was permanent. Kate had agreed to come and take a look at SF and see how she felt about living there. Toby just went ahead and took it s little further, but nothing he did was out of line, IMO. When Kate agreed to come to SF, I seem to recall it was at least, in part, to consider moving there.

As I recall, Toby started Crossfit and eating healthier without telling Kate. And, when she realized he had lost a significant amount of weight, she was kinda miffed at him about it. It's been a pattern in the marriage, Toby is open to change and doing new things and enjoys the challenge, Kate does not. She wants to remain inside her little bubble and wants everyone inside it with her to never change, too. Hence, Toby didn't want to tell her that he followed the doctor's advice and dieting and exercising even though virtually any other wife would be happy he was taking care of himself. He should've been upfront about it and she should've been supportive; its the same song they've been singing since they met.

Because Toby didn't actually pull the trigger on the house. He just arranged for Kate to see it. Not the same thing at all, IMO. No money spent, no commitment to purchase. Considering how easily Kate becomes offended/angered by things he does or doesn't do; I presume he didn't tell her in advance because 1. he hadn't committed to anything other than spending 10-15 minutes walking through the house and 2. If she knew in advance, she would most likely have gone off on him and refused to look at the house anyway. He's married to a woman who is generally a pessimist who hates change and new things; I can see why he tries to avoid confronting her head-on. It's another good reason that their marriage is doomed.

I think this storyline could mesh with Abishola's and they both come to the realization that they need to prioritize their time together and Bob cuts back at work (maybe Christina returns to co-manage with him) and Abishola realizes she doesn't want to spend the time to become a doctor at the cost of her marriage and looks into other ways to grow as a nurse.

Just a reminder, this Saturday March 26 at 8 PM ET, Hallmark Channel will air 'A Second Chance at Love' starring Gloria Reuben and Eriq LaSalle.

It still was as of last year; I think its become a tradition and isn't going away anytime soon. Other presenters are chosen for a variety of reasons, I think the studios have some say and want to promote actors with projects soon to be released, etc; so those are the folks who get the gig otherwise. Best Picture usually gets an icon to present; someone who has a substantial career, usually an Oscar for acting. Recall it was Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty who opened the envelope and announced the wrong Best Picture winner a few years back,