S9.E16: Flying By the Seat of Our Pants

[Tatum]

On 10/1/2021 at 4:59 PM, JocelynCavanaugh said:

That said, I think Gary is rather wisely looking at the long game here. He and Kristina annoy me at times, but they've done an admirable job of holding back on what they say publicly about Amber and not trying to turn Leah against her. No doubt they have done the vast majority of raising Leah, and Kristina is her real mom for all practical purposes, but it wouldn't help Leah at all to encourage her to avoid and look down on Amber. When she's older, she might resent them adding to that negativity and wonder if they influenced or alienated her. It benefits all three of them if all her memories are of them encouraging her to be successful and letting her choose how to feel about Amber.

There's also a decent chance that someday Leah will want to have some kind of relationship with Amber. Gary is right to encourage her to leave that door open. It would be a lot to expect that level of maturity and forgiveness from an adolescent, but he's establishing the framework for her to consider it in the future. Regardless of how Amber conducts herself or whether she ever gets it together, Leah is better off living with less resentment and not being forced to take sides between her bio parents.

I agree with this- in regards to Amber only, I would say he is being very mature and he's doing it for Leah, not to look good for the cameras.

 

THAT SAID- he really should get Leah off this show. Even if he asks her for her blessing in being involved and she gives it- she is 12 years old. She is not mature enough to make that kind of decision. He should have built enough of a nest egg at this point where the financial benefit to Leah cannot outweigh the cost of her whole life being laid bare for public entertainment. His exploitation of his child is no less than any other parent on the show just because in other ways he approaches parenthood with maturity.