Kate Plus 8 - General Discussion

[Honey]

Friends of my daughter (25 years old) didn't care at all about getting their licenses, most of them waiting until 20-21 years old.  Some of them never got them, and don't care to.

My mother taught me to drive, since my school didn't have drivers-ed.  I learned to drive in a VW bug in the cemetery by our house.  I got my license when I was 17.

[ghoulina]

13 hours ago, babyhouseman said:

They first had siblings Shoka and Nala. Nala was sent away because she was hard to get along with(probably didn't like Kate).

Normally I would say, "I hate when people treat pets like they're disposable. Would you just send a KID away that was hard to get along with???" 

But....um....Colin.

[BusyOctober]

Doesn't Kate have a 10k sq foot home?  Why couldn't she just host the stupid party in her own house if the weather turned?  Why lug all the food and supplies across town?  Did her "friends" with the conveniently empty party room just need more free advertising?  And why wouldn't you know at least a day or 2 in advance that an outdoor party was "iffy" at best?  All you need to do is watch the first 10 minutes of the local news to catch the weather...or go to the internet "OK, Google what's the weather in my town today?" 

As for her meltdown, they are only so the cameras focus on 'poor poor overworked, under appreciated, stressed out single mom with NO HELP whatsoever' Kate.  If she isn't shrieking/crying/harping/complaining then she has no story line. And of course her video tribute to the girls included Kate...voiceovers, in frame.  Blurgh.

I don't get the guest list. So that tells me this was totally a TLC-driven party.  Wouldn't 16 yr old girls want kids from their class/school/teams in attendance?  And Kate's faux friendly "why haven't we seen you in so long???" wasn't fooling me.  You don't have friends or maintain any relationships unless they feed your wallet &/or ego.  If she really wanted to include people from Ye Olde Memory Lane, how about the sweet old ladies who used to come to your pre-famewhore  house to do laundry, hold & feed your brood? How about the BFF you rode across country in a Winnebago and berated on TV?

[AZChristian]

Or how about the girls' grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins?

Oh, that's right.  Khate cut them out of the family's lives.

[DkNNy79]

I wonder if the girls don't want to get their driver's license because then Kate would have them driving the kids around and running all sorts of errands for her?

My uncle tried to give me driving lessons and then I blew out his tire running onto the curb.  So then I just paid a professional for lessons.

[ghoulina]

I thought I heard Cara say that she would LIKE to have her license, because she is involved in a lot of sports, but that she wouldn't "be allowed" to drive anyway, so why bother? It wasn't really followed up on, but I can see micromanager Kate not allowing them to drive any of HER cars. 

[gunderda]

14 hours ago, babyhouseman said:

They first had siblings Shoka and Nala. Nala was sent away because she was hard to get along with(probably didn't like Kate). The new ones are Shoka's children, Mak and Nanuq. 

ahhhh ok.  That whole part of the episode was very confusing to me because I thought the two puppies were getting trained but Mak looked a lot older and when the kids were talking in the TH's they would call Mak by a longer name.  So they have the two puppies (now not puppies) and Shoka?

[Linny]

I thought the party wound up looking really nice, but it also didn't really seem like a party for teenagers. There wasn't any music or dancing, and none of the kids looked particularly comfortable. Kate breaking out that long ass slideshow didn't help matters. Who wants to watch clip after clip of the baby twins with Kate cooing in the background?

It still feels like the elephant in the room is the absence of Collin and Jon. Can they not even mention Jon's name on the show? He's their father, it's weird to talk about the twins turning sixteen and not mention their dad in any way. And I hope Collin was given an opportunity to make the twins a gift, too.

As much as Mady and Cara complain about the sextuplets, you can tell they really love them. They seemed genuinely touched by the gifts they received from the sextuplets. I hope all eight can lean on each other for support in dealing with crazy Kate and absentee Jon.

[Amers]

The cake was very uncomfortable. They are 16. They don't need mommy standing there berating them on how to light candles. Her 16 things she loved about them was so attention seeking. She drives me insane. It's all about HER. 

[ghoulina]

Yup. I bet they would have loved a party where Kate wasn't there. They're 16 now. They don't require constant supervision. 

[movingtargetgal]

Mady and Cara must have a countdown calendar hidden in their room to keep track of how long they have left until their 18th birthday and be legally free from Kate.   

[OSM Mom]

2 hours ago, movingtargetgal said:

Mady and Cara must have a countdown calendar hidden in their room to keep track of how long they have left until their 18th birthday and be legally free from Kate.   

Which makes one wonder if they actually will break away from her. 

[movingtargetgal]

2 hours ago, OSM Mom said:

4 hours ago, movingtargetgal said:

Mady and Cara must have a countdown calendar hidden in their room to keep track of how long they have left until their 18th birthday and be legally free from Kate.   

Which makes one wonder if they actually will break away from her. 

I think what will factor in a lot is whether or not the twins will have access to any of the money they have earned over the years.  It is possible that Kate will still have control of their money thus maintaining control over the girls.   

[Whyyouneedaname]

I wish someone would have knowledge and give me some peace of mind that Colin didn't have to spend Christmas holiday with strangers.  That has bothered me since I read that he was sent away and Jon was not given access to him. I really feel that she has done so much to the minds of these kids that it will take years to repair. And now she can use "I sent Colin away, I can send you away" to torture them mentally to do her bidding. Shameful!

[QuinnM]

Quote

I wish someone would have knowledge and give me some peace of mind that Colin didn't have to spend Christmas holiday with strangers.  That has bothered me since I read that he was sent away and Jon was not given access to him. I really feel that she has done so much to the minds of these kids that it will take years to repair. And now she can use "I sent Colin away, I can send you away" to torture them mentally to do her bidding. Shameful!

Jon had not seen Colin for two years prior to this.  So if shame goes to anyone it's Jon.  We don't know where Colin is and neither does Jon.  Jon is probably being kept from that knowledge since he sells anything he knows.  Any inpatient facility right now has waiting lists.  So anyone getting admitted is probably in pretty bad shape.  So whatever Colin's problems are I'm sure all the kids know every horrible detail.  So they know he wasn't sent away so much as taken away.  So the kids see, if I torture animals or hurt people I will be sent to a place to fix me.  All that said most of these places have visitation unless Colin is not able to process that and the doctors feel best to not allow it. 

[smores]

I have a mother who is prone to the dramatics that Kate is.  There's no amount of "Ok mom, what can I do to help you?" that will fix the situation when they start flipping out.  While a normal person would say, I need you to do x, y and z and then you'd both go off and do those tasks and things would get done, someone like my mother or Kate just doesn't operate that way.  Your offer of help would be met with either a litany of stuff that they've already done and still have to do and why couldn't you have just offered to help at the beginning? But never mind, it's fine, I can do it . . . etc.  Or, they just don't stop with the drama and actually tell you what they need.  They'd rather complain about how hard they're working, and the fact that they HAD to do it alone, than let someone else help out.  

[Stephres]

I thought it was really telling that Kate made a 30-minute long video that ONLY included baby stuff. I remember speculating that Kate only likes babies, which might be one of the reasons she chose to have so many at once. She had 4 years before the tups were born and she could only include the first year or so in her tribute video, not even considering the stuff from the shows after they were born. It tells a lot about her I think. 

[ghoulina]

There may be something to that. I can think of several other notorious women who seemed to love babies/being pregnant, but had no use for actual children. Diane Downs comes to mind. I'm not saying Kate is as awful as a woman who killed her children. But that same self-centeredness applies. Kate loves them when they're babies because the babies are completely dependent on her and look to her for everything. Once they start gaining some independence and becoming their own people, they are not as big of a reflection on their mother anymore. It's an interesting way to look at it. 

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, ghoulina said:

There may be something to that. I can think of several other notorious women who seemed to love babies/being pregnant, but had no use for actual children. Diane Downs comes to mind. I'm not saying Kate is as awful as a woman who killed her children. But that same self-centeredness applies. Kate loves them when they're babies because the babies are completely dependent on her and look to her for everything. Once they start gaining some independence and becoming their own people, they are not as big of a reflection on their mother anymore. It's an interesting way to look at it. 

My opinion is that Khate loved the "fame" she got from being the mother of the 'tups.  She always had people to help her; her main job was going around and gathering freebies . . . which gave HER a chance to be the center of attention as the mother.

[rose711]

This show could be great if Kate was a completely different person. I think she and the show still have fans because there are tons of highly dysfunctional families out there. This one has the extra issue of lots of kids. This family is the way many families relate to each other.

i suspect they are all a little messed up in some way. I seem to recall they always treated Colin differently.

if this was a different show or network they would have an intervention about how to actually live as a family and how not to treat your kids like they are extensions of your own narcissistic controlling ego.

Edited January 7, 2017 by rose711

[rose711]

I don't think Kate would have let her son go outside of some compelling reason. It makes me feel weird to be talking about him. I just hope he's getting the help he needs. I suspect these family trips and vacations aren't actually very fun for anyone involved.

Edited January 10, 2017 by rose711

[rose711]

John doesn't have to have a lawyer. He just needs to go to court and if the kids want to see him, Kate can't stop them. He could even have supervised visitation if there was an issue.

i think maybe he doesn't fight because he doesn't want his kids lives dragged through the media. Or maybe Kate is so awfulthat he can't deal with it. 

Pretty much everyone who is close to Kate seems to have been hurt by her. 

I don't think there are any easy answers here.

[CarolMK]

It would be better for the kids if the show was cancelled, but then how will Kate make money? She doesn't intend to ever work at a real job again. I remember when she was a guest host on the View, she did very poorly. She's not going to be able to land another television gig unless it's some other d-list reality show. 

Then again, I never thought that the Little People, Big World saga would last this long, but it shows no signs of stopping. Along with the Duggar family, the second generation is taking over. I guess maybe the Gosselin kids will be the main focus of their own show in about 10 years, with Kate in the background. It will probably be the same with all the kids from the Sister Wives show. 

[bethster2000]

On 1/5/2017 at 5:00 PM, smores said:

here's no amount of "Ok mom, what can I do to help you?" that will fix the situation when they start flipping out.

This.  When you're dealing with a narcissist mother, all this does is validate her histrionics.

Khate doesn't get it.  She will never get it.  She's ridiculous.  In her supposed quest to "make things perfect," all she does is destroy everything in her wake and make everyone in the house completely miserable.

I was raised by a mother like that.

[Steff]

Kate made a big production at one time about how she wasn't allowed to drive until she was 18.  And how her kids wouldn't be allowed to even THINK about learning to drive until at least 18. 

 

She will hold these kids hostage until 25 if she can get by with it.  She'll make the Duggars look lenient  as far as freedom for the kids, because she will NEVER let these kids grow up & get away from her.  She's nothing without them & she knows it.

Edited January 8, 2017 by Steff

[MarysWetBar]

On 05/01/2017 at 2:06 PM, QuinnM said:

Jon had not seen Colin for two years prior to this.  So if shame goes to anyone it's Jon.  We don't know where Colin is and neither does Jon.  Jon is probably being kept from that knowledge since he sells anything he knows.  Any inpatient facility right now has waiting lists.  So anyone getting admitted is probably in pretty bad shape.  So whatever Colin's problems are I'm sure all the kids know every horrible detail.  So they know he wasn't sent away so much as taken away.  So the kids see, if I torture animals or hurt people I will be sent to a place to fix me.  All that said most of these places have visitation unless Colin is not able to process that and the doctors feel best to not allow it. 

What do you mean by taken away? Kate has already stated she had to send him away. Did I miss something somewhere?

Torturing animals?? Where did that come from?

[Maharincess]

1 hour ago, MarysWetBar said:

What do you mean by taken away? Kate has already stated she had to send him away. Did I miss something somewhere?

Torturing animals?? Where did that come from?

I agree, torturing animals?!  That's a horrible thing to assume!  Rumors and opinions become facts really fast around here don't they?   

[Maharincess]

On 1/5/2017 at 4:00 PM, smores said:

I have a mother who is prone to the dramatics that Kate is.  There's no amount of "Ok mom, what can I do to help you?" that will fix the situation when they start flipping out.  While a normal person would say, I need you to do x, y and z and then you'd both go off and do those tasks and things would get done, someone like my mother or Kate just doesn't operate that way.  Your offer of help would be met with either a litany of stuff that they've already done and still have to do and why couldn't you have just offered to help at the beginning? But never mind, it's fine, I can do it . . . etc.  Or, they just don't stop with the drama and actually tell you what they need.  They'd rather complain about how hard they're working, and the fact that they HAD to do it alone, than let someone else help out.  

Plus it seems that Kate thinks nobody can do anything right but her so I'm sure when the kids do help out they're criticized for not doing it the "right" way, which is her way. 

[Maharincess]

If they treated Colin differently, they got it from watching their mother.  I used to watch this show in the early days and Kate has never tried to hide the fact that Colin is her least favorite. To me it was obvious from day one that Hannah was her favorite and Colin was her least favorite. 

I hope that being away from that creature they call mom will help Colin. I hope he has somebody in his life who tells him every day how special he is.   He has always looked so sad to me, even as a really young toddler he had a sad look on his face all the time. 

[Chai]

14 hours ago, CarolMK said:

It would be better for the kids if the show was cancelled, but then how will Kate make money? She doesn't intend to ever work at a real job again. I remember when she was a guest host on the View, she did very poorly. She's not going to be able to land another television gig unless it's some other d-list reality show. 

Then again, I never thought that the Little People, Big World saga would last this long, but it shows no signs of stopping. Along with the Duggar family, the second generation is taking over. I guess maybe the Gosselin kids will be the main focus of their own show in about 10 years, with Kate in the background. It still probably be the same with all the kids from the Sister Wives show. 

I'm surprised Kate doesn't take a page from the LPBW book. They are filming episodes now with the two of them entering the dating scene. If she REALLY want to continue filming she could have another couple of seasons just welcoming Jon back to see the kids and the two of them co parenting for the kids sake, then each in the dating scenes.

I mean she is a producer, right?

[MarysWetBar]

10 hours ago, Maharincess said:

I agree, torturing animals?!  That's a horrible thing to assume!  Rumors and opinions become facts really fast around here don't they?   

To the point where I think talking about Colin and whatever issues she had with him that resulted in her sending him away, shouldn't be discussed . At least by me. Those kids are old enough to be on the internet now. 

I can't stop his hateful mother from sharing with the world, but I can do my part by not hypothesizing why he was banished.

[kathe5133]

I feel the need to mention.  Initially there were two dogs.  Shoka and Nala.  They were both sent away around the time J&K split because Kate was too overwhelmed to take care of them.  This was when they first split and the kids stayed at the house and Jon and Kate went elsewhere during the others custody.  I think the issue was Jon didn't really care for the dogs when it was his time and that, coupled with the unrest in the home, was affecting their behavior.  They were puppies at the time.  They were sent back to the breeder with the hope that they could be properly trained.

Shoka was brought back as a fully trained adult.  The decision was made that Nala wouldn't be good with kids, some dogs just aren't, so I assume she found a home elsewhere.

I don't think I understand why she got two more, (I'm a dog lover but two dogs is one too many dogs, in my opinion and three are just a special form of hell!) I guess it remains to be seen if they stay, but I've never seen any evidence that the animals were abused or neglected. 

[Absolom]

I thought the dogs only showed up after Jon was no longer at the house, but I could be misremembering.

[kathe5133]

15 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I thought the dogs only showed up after Jon was no longer at the house, but I could be misremembering.

Jon was "there" when they got the dogs, well we were told he was there.  I think they split before it was public knowledge.  I believe they were still in the old house.  I think they told the kids that they were getting two dogs, and then both Jon and Kate with all the kids were filmed at the breeders picking out the two puppies.  After they moved the puppies were brought home.  Remember Kate screeching for Jon to set up the pens once one of the puppies peed in the basement?  And also remember when Nala ate one of the kids toys and Jon brought her to the vet when Kate was on some meet and greet gig?  

Anyway, it was when the show was still Jon & Kate plus Eight.

[cpcathy]

Collin was the least favorite on the boys' side, Alexis least favorite on the girls' side. Remember when she banished her to sleeping in the basement?

[Awfarmington]

Poor Colin looks so awkward. Like all the kids are siblings and he's the new foster kid. He also looks much thinner...and sad.

[Chalby]

On December 30, 2016 at 6:04 AM, QuinnM said:

I hope none of us face putting a child in a facility. But I assure you that it wasn't about simple rules.  The behavior that necessitates inpatient treatment is never a simple thing. 

So true. I worked in one of those facilities and so much leads to a child's placement. To be sure, fighting against rules is a symptom, but so much is involved.

I thought it would be a good, uhm, like, idea for the kids to , uhm, you know, uhm, play trivia based on our past shows. Uhm, yeah, and Maddy should host it, uhm, yeah, because she’s good at that. Ugh, but I don’t know what I was thinking.

As soon as I heard that intro… click…

[Chalby]

On November 21, 2016 at 9:08 AM, ghoulina said:

Wow, she looks ROUGH in that solo picture. 

I'm just wondering what exactly Colin's diagnosis is, that he needed treatment away from home. From what we've seen on the show, nothing ever stood out to me about that kid, that made me think he really had issues. I mean, I know there are so many different things that kids can struggle with these days - but in-patient treatment seems really extreme to me. You can get IEPs and special help in school. You can do weekly therapy, even have people come to your home. I would only think of sending my child to a facility in a REALLY extreme case, and nothing about Colin ever said "extreme problems" to me. Anyone else? 

Wasn't it always Joel who was getting into trouble when they were very little. I just remember thinking, Oh boy, that poor kid has anger issues, but I just don't remember Colin this way.

[AnnaMayWong]

Wow !  Collin is thin. Wonder the reason that he was on this episode ?(NO snark. Truly curious.)

Edited January 11, 2017 by BookElitist

[AnnaMayWong]

... Will Collin even know the answers to these questions?... I mean, he doesn't live with The Family...   ◀((0kay, okay. THAT WAS a bit snarky. [kinda Sorry] ))

Edited January 11, 2017 by BookElitist

[babyhouseman]

This episode was filmed before Colin went away. Somebody said they saw the date of January 2016 on the cash register. So the episode is probably close to a year old. 

[mangosplums]

Collin looks thin, depressed and medicated. Doesn't look like participated in the game said anything, nor did any of his family care. 

Edited January 11, 2017 by mangosplums

[CofCinci]

2 hours ago, mangosplums said:

Collin looks thin, depressed and medicated. Practically dead. Doesn't look like participated in the game said anything, nor did any of his family care. 

Did you notice how rigid he sat with his hands on his knees?  Poor thing. 

5 hours ago, babyhouseman said:

This episode was filmed before Colin went away. Somebody said they saw the date of January 2016 on the cash register. So the episode is probably close to a year old. 

I thought Colin was already gone before then. 

The producers have a sick sense of humor.....

[ghoulina]

Ohhh, I didn't realize this was filmed before he went away. I figured it was after he came back. But I guess he's not back in real time? Sorry, I always get confused by reality filming schedules vs. real time. At any rate, seeing him did break my heart. He looked so withdrawn and sad. 

[cmccasandra]

I felt so bad for Colin. I wanted to scoop him up and take him with me. We are dealing with anger issues with one of our children, he is at home. He didn't look like Colin at all. Colin looked like he was an outcast and possibly over-medicated. I wish someone would have talked to him and made him a part of the game. I cried looking at his expression and how no one talked to him. :(

[ghoulina]

I know. He was virtually ignored. Has Kate turned the entire family against him? The boys used to all be so close. When Alexis would get an answer wrong, Kate kept encouraging her. Joel, I don't know how well he did, but he seems like a pretty confident young man. But poor Colin, it was like they unlocked his cage and let him out for filming. What on earth could have happened for him to be treated that way????

[BusyOctober]

I felt so bad for Colin.  He just looked so alienated on that couch.  I don't think Joel ever spoke to or interacted w/ him while sitting right next to him.  Sigh...poor kid.

Once again, its more flashbacks via a stroll down Memory Lane.  Haven't we seen these clips a kajillion times already?  I will admit, I loved seeing little Aiden's "I don't get my cupcake?" because I love that kid.

Here we go again w/ Kate and her ridiculous need to go over the top For. Every. Damn. Thing.  Yet another trip to a party store to buy tchotchkes ( that she probably already has stored in her house somewhere from previously scripted "family fun days").  And why did she need to go buy King sized sheets and drapery for "set dressing"?  She couldn't have opened her own linen closet and pulled out sheets or blankets or even sleeping bags she already owns?  The game night idea was cute, but it could have been done with stuff they had on hand. It was pretty obvious Maddie (& maybe Cara) came up with the questions.  Most of them were about the KIDS and THEIR activities vs. it being all about Kate per usual.

[Whyyouneedaname]

4 hours ago, ghoulina said:

Ohhh, I didn't realize this was filmed before he went away. I figured it was after he came back. But I guess he's not back in real time? Sorry, I always get confused by reality filming schedules vs. real time. At any rate, seeing him did break my heart. He looked so withdrawn and sad. 

actually Kate tweeted "this was filmed a looong time ago" in reference to the puppies not being there. So yes I do think it was before he was sent away.

[Absolom]

1/3 episode ratings:  916K viewers and a .31 rating.

Last week's post was apparently lost in the reorganization.

 

1/10 episode ratings:  804K viewers and a .29 rating.

[ghoulina]

3 hours ago, BusyOctober said:

Here we go again w/ Kate and her ridiculous need to go over the top For. Every. Damn. Thing.  Yet another trip to a party store to buy tchotchkes ( that she probably already has stored in her house somewhere from previously scripted "family fun days").  And why did she need to go buy King sized sheets and drapery for "set dressing"?  She couldn't have opened her own linen closet and pulled out sheets or blankets or even sleeping bags she already owns? 

I wonder if TLC pays for these types of things? Maybe Kate figured she could get a bunch of new bedding and drapery out of it.