Except Chelsea (and Cole)

[geauxaway]

18 minutes ago, TheRealT said:

They're so... thirsty. You would think that a happily married couple with a "perfect" family would be less concerned about how they are perceived and determined to check every. single. box. to prove how "perfect" they are. Who wondered or cared whether they're having sex or not? Really? Do people pregnant with their third child together really have to make a public announcement that they had sex? Does anyone need to publicly announce that they had sex?

Not normal people.  No.

[DangerousMinds]

They are trashy famewhores.

[Christina87]

For a girl with an involved, loving father, Chelsea always shocks me. I would never publicly say something like that (even if I had the urge to, which I absolutely do not lol!) because of how it would reflect on my family, and how grossed out they would be! As a dentist, my dad has a reputation to uphold in the community, and my family would be so mortified if I put such trashy business out there, and they had to face their peers who had heard it. I’m not saying that if you’re not upper middle class that you’re trashy, or that people expect you to be trashy...but it’s just so weird to me. I had a lot of dentist, doctor, lawyer, and businessperson kids’ friends growing up, and none of them would ever behave like Chelsea. She is SUCH an outlier. It really makes me wonder about randy. Is he trashy deep down? Does he have no shame? Is he friends with other people in his socioeconomic class, or is he one of those “I don’t care what they think of me” lone wolf types? I don’t ask this to be stuck up at all, but genuinely super curious. I’m at such a loss as to how Chelsea can behave like this and ever show her face around town! And how randy goes to the country club and says, “congrats, Mike! Your daughter just got into law school! Well, mine announced on her show, Teen Mom, that her husband came in her last night.” Barf!

Edited November 29, 2020 by Christina87

[TheRealT]

37 minutes ago, Christina87 said:

For a girl with an involved, loving father, Chelsea always shocks me. I would never publicly say something like that (even if I had the urge to, which I absolutely do not lol!) because of how it would reflect on my family, and how grossed out they would be! As a dentist, my dad has a reputation to uphold in the community, and my family would be so mortified if I put such trashy business out there, and they had to face their peers who had heard it. I’m not saying that if you’re not upper middle class that you’re trashy, or that people expect you to be trashy...but it’s just so weird to me. I had a lot of dentist, doctor, lawyer, and businessperson kids’ friends growing up, and none of them would ever behave like Chelsea. She is SUCH an outlier. It really makes me wonder about randy. Is he trashy deep down? Does he have no shame? Is he friends with other people in his socioeconomic class, or is he one of those “I don’t care what they think of me” lone wolf types? I don’t ask this to be stuck up at all, but genuinely super curious. I’m at such a loss as to how Chelsea can behave like this and ever show her face around town! And how randy goes to the country club and says, “congrats, Mike! Your daughter just got into law school! Well, mine announced on her show, Teen Mom, that her husband came in her last night.” Barf!

I think several different dynamics are at play. For one thing, I think that many people in Randy/Chelsea's social circle would be kind of shocked/turned off/whatever at a grown woman with three kids posting about her husband coming inside her. They probably won't shun Chelsea or her family publicly, but they will gossip and judge. I don't think that gossip and judgment necessarily matters to Chelsea in a material way because she probably has more money than most of those people, certainly has more fame/social clout associated with fame, and isn't dependent on them for job/social opportunities. The daughter of dentist who's married to an accountant/lawyer (or who holds those professions herself) who hopes to get some of her/her dad's social/professional contacts as clients is in a very different situation.

Beyond the practical considerations, I think it depends a lot on what kind of communities dentists (for example) and their kids live in to determine what's considered socially controversial, embarrassing, or "bad." I don't get the sense that most of Randy's friends/family would be shocked or scandalized at his kid not graduating from college or having a child/getting married at a young age. I assume they'd be more impressed if a kid graduated from law school or whatever, but I don't think Randy's/Chelsea's community necessarily saw young people who didn't attend/graduate from college as "losers." In contrast, many dentists (for example) live in communities where young people who don't attend/graduate from college (at least) are considered "losers." I think even really dumb kids in communities like that are more likely to attend/graduate from college, just because it's more expected and more of a "requirement" to merit marrying/getting respect from higher-achieving members of those communities.

Especially if they were able to get married, I doubt that Randy felt like he was often put in the hot seat to explain/excuse his daughters' life/procreation choices. It's not like anyone who knew Chelsea (for example) would be like, "Chelsea is so bright. She was the top student in biology in 10th grade. What happened?" I don't think anyone ever expected much from Chelsea in terms of academic or professional achievements. If she had gone to some shitty college and dropped out senior year to marry Cole, I think most of the people who knew her would think she was doing really well for herself. (And they'd pretty much be right.)

[Jeanne222]

What are Randys other children doing?  Personally I think Randy marches to his own drummer!

[iwantcookies]

Aubree must be mortified 

 

[Christina87]

10 hours ago, TheRealT said:

I think several different dynamics are at play. For one thing, I think that many people in Randy/Chelsea's social circle would be kind of shocked/turned off/whatever at a grown woman with three kids posting about her husband coming inside her. They probably won't shun Chelsea or her family publicly, but they will gossip and judge. I don't think that gossip and judgment necessarily matters to Chelsea in a material way because she probably has more money than most of those people, certainly has more fame/social clout associated with fame, and isn't dependent on them for job/social opportunities. The daughter of dentist who's married to an accountant/lawyer (or who holds those professions herself) who hopes to get some of her/her dad's social/professional contacts as clients is in a very different situation.

Beyond the practical considerations, I think it depends a lot on what kind of communities dentists (for example) and their kids live in to determine what's considered socially controversial, embarrassing, or "bad." I don't get the sense that most of Randy's friends/family would be shocked or scandalized at his kid not graduating from college or having a child/getting married at a young age. I assume they'd be more impressed if a kid graduated from law school or whatever, but I don't think Randy's/Chelsea's community necessarily saw young people who didn't attend/graduate from college as "losers." In contrast, many dentists (for example) live in communities where young people who don't attend/graduate from college (at least) are considered "losers." I think even really dumb kids in communities like that are more likely to attend/graduate from college, just because it's more expected and more of a "requirement" to merit marrying/getting respect from higher-achieving members of those communities.

Especially if they were able to get married, I doubt that Randy felt like he was often put in the hot seat to explain/excuse his daughters' life/procreation choices. It's not like anyone who knew Chelsea (for example) would be like, "Chelsea is so bright. She was the top student in biology in 10th grade. What happened?" I don't think anyone ever expected much from Chelsea in terms of academic or professional achievements. If she had gone to some shitty college and dropped out senior year to marry Cole, I think most of the people who knew her would think she was doing really well for herself. (And they'd pretty much be right.)

This is really good insight! I think it does depend on community, as well as your own professional aspirations, like you mentioned. I grew up in a small town in the South, but not a rural area where everyone got married young, etc. Most people in my small town aspired to a professional job, and being a doctor, dentist, lawyer, or banker in my town was the ideal. You are also soooo right in that children of these kinds of professionals who didn’t attend college were considered “losers,” and it was better to scrape by and barely graduate with a degree in underwater basket weaving than not go to college! I can’t think of a single one who didn’t go, but I can think of a few who spent yeeeeears in community college, and then spending yeeeeears at a four-year college, finally graduating at 28 or so. Still, that is considered a better path than not going. Chelsea’s experience is sooooo foreign to me, and I absolutely cannot imagine her growing up in my small town, and how trashy her family would be viewed. They would literally be gossiped and negatively talked about constantly, and people would cast a HUGE side eye at randy for raising his kids to be trashy adults. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but that’s how it is here, and I just can’t imagine a town where Chelsea is considered the norm. Of course, this goes for anyone on Teen Mom, but the others didn’t grow up in Chelsea’s socioeconomic class. 
 

It is interesting in general, though, how different communities can be. My last boyfriend, who I was with for several years, grew up in the city where I currently live. His childhood and social dynamic is so different from mine! His family is more or less anonymous, and he never hears anything about his high school classmates, unless they are Facebook friends. Some smaller communities within the city are like a small town, but his family was not in any of them. Even the community I live in now is so different, because it’s mostly middle to upper middle class professional families, but the kids take much more diverse paths. I have met several who are not going to college for one reason or another, and there isn’t the same outrage of, “your dad is a lawyer! You have to go to college!”

However, no matter how different the community is, Chelsea’s remarks are super trashy! Sheesh! She put images in my head that I don’t want, lol!

[Marley]

Lol what are they teenagers? Ooh you had sex you guys are so cool. Lol what jokes.

[Tatum]

On 11/28/2020 at 10:31 PM, Christina87 said:

It really makes me wonder about randy. Is he trashy deep down? Does he have no shame? Is he friends with other people in his socioeconomic class, or is he one of those “I don’t care what they think of me” lone wolf types?

I think Randy drank the Koolaid. He may have started out the series as an upper middle class professional, but he's been known to jump into one or two twitter fights to defend Chelsea and other bush league behaviors. I think he likes the D list fame as much as Chelsea does. Or maybe he's just grateful to not be on the hook for supporting her and applauds any effort she makes to make money?

[TheRealT]

4 hours ago, Tatum said:

I think Randy drank the Koolaid. He may have started out the series as an upper middle class professional, but he's been known to jump into one or two twitter fights to defend Chelsea and other bush league behaviors. I think he likes the D list fame as much as Chelsea does. Or maybe he's just grateful to not be on the hook for supporting her and applauds any effort she makes to make money?

I agree with all of this, but, also, Randy has always been pretty permissive, even when Chelsea was a teen mom and he was supporting her. He spent years haranguing her about getting her GED, but never gave her any real consequences for failing to do so. So even if he disapproves of her talking about Cole coming inside her publicly, I don't think she would really care and, at this point, I could see him not even bothering to express his disapproval about such things to Chelsea.

And I don't think either of them worries too much about their public reputations. They come from what I assume is a fairly socially conservative community, but they don't seem particularly religious and they don't really rely on the general public to earn a living. I believe that Randy's dental practice grew as a result of his exposure on TM2. People who are turned off by the famewhoring and generally tacky behavior probably wouldn't be going to him anyway. I imagine that very few, if any, of his patients who were otherwise happy with him would get a new dentist because of something trashy Chelsea posted online. Chelsea makes a living off of her public reputation to some extent, but her audience is much broader and she seems to think they like stuff like that. Again, I think a small number of people might unfollow her on IG or whatever, but people who were deeply offended, or even just annoyed, by such things probably wouldn't be following her anyway and certainly wouldn't be stans who buy all of her merchandise or whatever.

[ShaNaeNae]

That had to be one of the most grossest, cringeworthy things I’ve seen on this show. That’s saying a lot. And why did she waste money on ovulation tests if she gets pregnant all the time? Twice had been by accident, the other two seemed to be pretty quick. But the most squick came from running to the outhouse to take a pregnancy test. That was the most WTF thing I’ve seen in a long time. Can’t wait 20 minutes to get home? I feel grossed out just touching the door on one of those things. If she got pee all over her hands she had nowhere to wash them. So now we know she probably doesn’t shower often (as evidenced by her around the house look, has 3 day old makeup that she keeps applying new coverage over and has dried pee on her hands. 🤮

[JBC344]

I think Randy is an overall decent guy but "high class" he is not. He has backed off recently but for a while there he was a complete famewhore.

Is being a dentist considered high class? I guess it depends where you are located and also if there is a specialty or entrepreneurial aspect to what you do. 

[christie]

1 hour ago, JBC344 said:

Is being a dentist considered high class?

High class? No. Middle class? Definitely yes.

[Jeanne222]

Cole was looking pretty hot!  Think he might ever cheat?

[heatherchandler]

3 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Cole was looking pretty hot!  Think he might ever cheat?

Eww.  Once he opens his mouth to speak, no one wants to fuck him.

[DangerousMinds]

Gross.

[iwantcookies]

3 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Cole was looking pretty hot!  Think he might ever cheat?

I doubt it he seems like his balls are in Chelsea’s purse 

[Christina87]

I couldn’t be attracted to someone so full of himself either! I work with a guy kind of like cole, and it’s super annoying. He skips no chance to brag! It would suck if everything your husband did was for an Instagram audience of sad women who swoon over him. He’s totally the type to swoop in and load the dishwasher when you’ve been doing chores for 3 hours, and make a big deal about posting it online. I couldn’t be with someone who needed all that validation!

[Scarlett45]

On 11/28/2020 at 11:32 PM, TheRealT said:

I think several different dynamics are at play. For one thing, I think that many people in Randy/Chelsea's social circle would be kind of shocked/turned off/whatever at a grown woman with three kids posting about her husband coming inside her. They probably won't shun Chelsea or her family publicly, but they will gossip and judge. I don't think that gossip and judgment necessarily matters to Chelsea in a material way because she probably has more money than most of those people, certainly has more fame/social clout associated with fame, and isn't dependent on them for job/social opportunities. The daughter of dentist who's married to an accountant/lawyer (or who holds those professions herself) who hopes to get some of her/her dad's social/professional contacts as clients is in a very different situation.

Beyond the practical considerations, I think it depends a lot on what kind of communities dentists (for example) and their kids live in to determine what's considered socially controversial, embarrassing, or "bad." I don't get the sense that most of Randy's friends/family would be shocked or scandalized at his kid not graduating from college or having a child/getting married at a young age. I assume they'd be more impressed if a kid graduated from law school or whatever, but I don't think Randy's/Chelsea's community necessarily saw young people who didn't attend/graduate from college as "losers." In contrast, many dentists (for example) live in communities where young people who don't attend/graduate from college (at least) are considered "losers." I think even really dumb kids in communities like that are more likely to attend/graduate from college, just because it's more expected and more of a "requirement" to merit marrying/getting respect from higher-achieving members of those communities.

Especially if they were able to get married, I doubt that Randy felt like he was often put in the hot seat to explain/excuse his daughters' life/procreation choices. It's not like anyone who knew Chelsea (for example) would be like, "Chelsea is so bright. She was the top student in biology in 10th grade. What happened?" I don't think anyone ever expected much from Chelsea in terms of academic or professional achievements. If she had gone to some shitty college and dropped out senior year to marry Cole, I think most of the people who knew her would think she was doing really well for herself. (And they'd pretty much be right.)

Basically everything you said. 
 

I clicked on the link- it wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I’m an adult with a professional reputation to maintain so I have to be careful what I say online. Here thoughts are anonymous, no real names or photos so one can be more candid. I’d never say such things online. I don’t mind sex jokes, but again not everything is for the internet/tv. Aubree must be mortified!

[geauxaway]

9 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Eww.  Once he opens his mouth to speak, no one wants to fuck him.

Can you even imagine his sex voice?  Eww is right!  That’s probably why Chelsea has to brag about it on camera, because all I can picture of him in the bedroom is a 2 pump wonder.  

[Scarlett45]

Additionally on your thoughts @Christina87- I think Randy was academically gifted and intelligent (he wouldn’t have made it through dentistry school if he wasn’t), but personality wise he is a total fame whore. Remember, he’s the type of parent that let Chelsea be on 16& Pregnant and encouraged her to do TM2! There are plenty of professional people (who excel at their jobs) who are fame whores or lack social graces. Now I don’t think Randy is a “bad person”, but I think we were more mortified by the sex jokes than he would be (and that’s his daughter). 
 

I also think @Christina87 there might be some proximity bias- I know how much you love your Dad and how great he is, and you see how much Randy loves Chelsea and is also a dentist so you assume that loving your kid, and having a professional career means you want the same type of life for them that your parents wanted for you; which isn’t necessarily true. There are are a lot of other cultural factors at play. 

[geauxaway]

21 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

There are are a lot of other cultural factors at play. 

I think it may be a regional or community thing, too.  In the city I grew up in (population approx 80k) the dentists and doctors kids were definitely the rich kids.  It was a big small town so everyone knew Dr so and so’s daughters and sons.  It probably would have been talked about (and not nicely) if one of their kids became a teen mom and brought reality show filming to town.  Yes this was in the 80’s / 90’s when I was growing up, but it is definitely how it would have been received.

[Scarlett45]

13 minutes ago, geauxaway said:

I think it may be a regional or community thing, too.  In the city I grew up in (population approx 80k) the dentists and doctors kids were definitely the rich kids.  It was a big small town so everyone knew Dr so and so’s daughters and sons.  It probably would have been talked about (and not nicely) if one of their kids became a teen mom and brought reality show filming to town.  Yes this was in the 80’s / 90’s when I was growing up, but it is definitely how it would have been received.

Well to me, region and community is definitely a part of culture.
 

In mainstream North American culture (if there is such a thing) there are stereotypes about certain professions (especially physicians/dentists/lawyers), like there used to be people (not so much now because most of the USA is overweight/obese) in the 80s/90s who asked “how can a dr be obese? Or smoke? Or have an obese child?” Well Drs/dentists etc are people too, with their own personalities, issues etc etc. 

Randy may be a great dentist, and a loving father (I don’t doubt he loves his girls) but that doesn’t mean he expects xyz behavior from them. 

[Tatum]

On 12/2/2020 at 9:26 AM, JBC344 said:

I think Randy is an overall decent guy but "high class" he is not. He has backed off recently but for a while there he was a complete famewhore.

Is being a dentist considered high class? I guess it depends where you are located and also if there is a specialty or entrepreneurial aspect to what you do. 

Well...high class as in yachts, prep schools and boarding schools, and summering on Martha's Vineyard/Hamptons/Nantucket? No, definitely not.

 

But high class as in probably being one of the wealthier families in a rural, low cost of living area in an almost recession-proof field? For sure. Lots of high earning incomes are tied to feast or famine industries (like sales or technology)- Randy has probably been earning a comfortable living consistently for 30 some years at least. I also think he has a fair bit of financial savvy when it comes to savings/investment and money management. So he likely has always been and will always be solidly upper middle class, and possibly what passes for "rich" in his neck of the woods.

 

Then again, having money doesn't mean you have a lot of class. NO parent with any class would have allowed their underage daughter to film 16 and Pregnant in the first place. A pregnancy in high school may be tolerated and made the best of, but is certainly not something to be celebrated and exploited.

[Scarlett45]

20 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Then again, having money doesn't mean you have a lot of class. NO parent with any class would have allowed their underage daughter to film 16 and Pregnant in the first place. A pregnancy in high school may be tolerated and made the best of, but is certainly not something to be celebrated and exploited.

Ding ding. Randy LET HER be on 16 & Pregnant and encouraged her to do TM2, having a better idea than Chelsea in what that would entail. 

[Christina87]

3 hours ago, Tatum said:

Well...high class as in yachts, prep schools and boarding schools, and summering on Martha's Vineyard/Hamptons/Nantucket? No, definitely not.

 

But high class as in probably being one of the wealthier families in a rural, low cost of living area in an almost recession-proof field? For sure. Lots of high earning incomes are tied to feast or famine industries (like sales or technology)- Randy has probably been earning a comfortable living consistently for 30 some years at least. I also think he has a fair bit of financial savvy when it comes to savings/investment and money management. So he likely has always been and will always be solidly upper middle class, and possibly what passes for "rich" in his neck of the woods.

 

Then again, having money doesn't mean you have a lot of class. NO parent with any class would have allowed their underage daughter to film 16 and Pregnant in the first place. A pregnancy in high school may be tolerated and made the best of, but is certainly not something to be celebrated and exploited.

I agree with every word of this so much! Randy is definitely a fame whore, and loves being on TV. We don’t know much about his background. Who knows? Maybe he wanted to be a movie star, or some other kind of entertainer, but decided doing something academic was more realistic? Maybe his parents were in the circus, or were stand up comics. Perhaps he came from a family where ignorance was celebrated, and crudeness wasn’t shunned. It’s very possible that he didn’t grow up in a “classy” environment, and perhaps grew up in an environment where fame was considered the best thing ever. His being a dentist might be a complete anomaly for his family!

One thing I have ALWAYS thought is that randy was a stage father in a way, encouraging Chelsea to be on teen mom. He seems to thrive in the spotlight, while she doesn’t. She strikes me as introverted, and so insecure that being in the spotlight wouldn’t be fun. I definitely see randy encouraging her to get started with it, when she was a teenager and fame sounded at least somewhat cool, and wanting her to keep going when she was tired of it. He could tell her, “it’s not that bad! Just control the narrative, and don’t show them anything bad, and then nobody will criticize you.” 
 

Sure, he might have realized that MTV was realistically her best shot at supporting herself. However, most dentists would vastly prefer to shoulder the cost themselves than be on teen mom. I think randy saw teen mom as HIS shot to be on MTV, and I would argue that was his primary motivation for encouraging her to pursue it (though he would tell people it was to help others, and for Chelsea to support herself). He also seems to thrive off of Chelsea being the “best one,” and loves being the “example” of a good dad. In fact, he might even claim he does the show himself to show the world what a good father should do. But deep down, I think he wants fame. I get this feeling from him more than anyone else on the show, with the obvious exception of javi!

Bottom line, Chelsea would have been fine without the show, and most upper middle class professionals would much rather have taken the financial hit of a baby than be on a trashy MTV show for everyone to judge. It’s not hard to see why the others signed up. Leah was living in poverty, Kail had no family, and while you could argue that Barbara and Jenelle were financially stable (owned a home, both had cars, jenelle wasn’t expected to get a job, seemed to have everything they needed), Barbara had to work nonstop to provide those things, and being on the show allowed them to live a drastically more comfortable life, with less work. The Houskas would have been about the same day-to-day, at least in the beginning. Nothing can convince me that the driving force behind Chelsea joining the show wasn’t randy! This was his chance, and he wasn’t going to lose it. Now that I think about it, cole is pretty similar in being a stealthy fame whore, who loves setting the “example” of what a good man looks like. The difference is that randy is a lot smarter than cole, and just shows himself in a good light, without the outright bragging like cole does. 

[Tatum]

31 minutes ago, Christina87 said:

Bottom line, Chelsea would have been fine without the show, and most upper middle class professionals would much rather have taken the financial hit of a baby than be on a trashy MTV show for everyone to judge.

For sure. Not to mention, I believe the girls got somewhere between $10,000-$25,000 a year in the first 1-2 seasons. For Leah, Kail, and Jenelle, that was probably not money that could be turned down just for allowing a film crew into their lives.

 

That would absolutely not be a reasonable compensation for a guy pulling 6 figures while living in a place where the average house cost $150,000, who was worried about being judged down at the local VFW. And I wouldn't make the argument Randy just gives no fucks what people think- I think he's more in the camp of any publicity is good publicity.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Tatum

[TheRealT]

1 hour ago, Tatum said:

For sure. Not to mention, I believe the girls got somewhere between $10,000-$25,000 a year in the first 1-2 seasons. For Leah, Kail, and Jenelle, that was probably not money that could be turned down just for allowing a film crew into their lives.

 

That would absolutely not be a reasonable compensation for a guy pulling 6 figures while living in a place where the average house cost $150,000, who was worried about being judged down at the local VFW. And I wouldn't make the argument Randy just gives no fucks what people think- I think he's more in the camp of any publicity is good publicity.

Yeah, I think it's fair to assume that Randy heartily approved of/encouraged Chelsea to do the show. He himself has been featured on the show every chance he got for the whole time. I believe that he said he saw a bump in his dental practice once he was on the show, which makes sense. In addition to that, he seems to be a bit of a ham and an outgoing guy. In the beginning, he was getting emails or whatever from random people saying they thought he was a great dad and a real hoot and had new patients coming in saying they had seen him on the show. So I can see how he got sucked in (not that I don't think it's gross and tacky). As the SM aspects of the "job" picked up, he was seeing increased opportunities to make money/get attention and he went with it, sometimes wallowing in the mud with random "haters" just to stay in the game/get attention. At this point, I think the whole experience has probably changed him into a tackier guy than he would have been without the show, but he always had the tendencies.

[Christina87]

46 minutes ago, TheRealT said:

Yeah, I think it's fair to assume that Randy heartily approved of/encouraged Chelsea to do the show. He himself has been featured on the show every chance he got for the whole time. I believe that he said he saw a bump in his dental practice once he was on the show, which makes sense. In addition to that, he seems to be a bit of a ham and an outgoing guy. In the beginning, he was getting emails or whatever from random people saying they thought he was a great dad and a real hoot and had new patients coming in saying they had seen him on the show. So I can see how he got sucked in (not that I don't think it's gross and tacky). As the SM aspects of the "job" picked up, he was seeing increased opportunities to make money/get attention and he went with it, sometimes wallowing in the mud with random "haters" just to stay in the game/get attention. At this point, I think the whole experience has probably changed him into a tackier guy than he would have been without the show, but he always had the tendencies.

He is sooooo much like cole! Both of them really get their kicks from people writing them about how great they are as husbands and dads. They probably are so much in that little world that judgmental comments from community members just go unnoticed! If 63927493 people on social media are fawning over you, while 20 you know in real life are judging you, I could see how you could ignore the “haters!”

[TheRealT]

27 minutes ago, Christina87 said:

He is sooooo much like cole! Both of them really get their kicks from people writing them about how great they are as husbands and dads. They probably are so much in that little world that judgmental comments from community members just go unnoticed! If 63927493 people on social media are fawning over you, while 20 you know in real life are judging you, I could see how you could ignore the “haters!”

To me, it's not even really about "ignoring the haters." It's good to "ignore the haters" if you're sticking to your own values rather than bending to others' opinions. If a single mom (just to make up a random hypothetical) were being judged by her "respectable" community because she chose to have a child without a partner, I think it would be good/admirable for her/her family to disregard community members who were judging her/them.

The reason I judge the Houskas for their (IMO) trashy famewhoring is because I see it as a reflection of their values (or lack thereof). IMO, they don't have particularly high standards for themselves on almost any level. Most dentists (to pick a random, high-level occupation) who would be mortified to have their daughters on 16 and Pregnant would be upset because it was contrary to their own values, in addition to concerns about how people in their community would judge her/the family. At the same time, many "high-class" dentists wouldn't necessarily give credence to community members' judgment because their daughter married a man of a different race/religion (for example), which would be admirable.

I don't think Randy ever had particularly high aspirations for Chelsea or a particularly high estimation of her capabilities. His "dream" for her was probably that she'd attend college for a couple of years or more and marry a nice, successful guy in her early 20's. He'd also probably have been fine with her killing time in beauty school or some respectable low-level job until she got married if that's how it worked out. I think he was probably disappointed that Chelsea got pregnant by a loser in high school, but he never seemed crushed, like he had had dreams of her joining his dental practice or getting on the Supreme Court some day. Or even dreams of her being a kindergarten teacher, really. Or even a manager at the local supermarket. I think having those kinds of hopes/aspirations for one's child is part of taking it seriously when the child takes the path of being on 16 and Pregnant instead. Since Randy never expected much of Chelsea, he saw the show as a potential opportunity (for her and for him). Even though the starting salary for TM2 was low, it was ok/good money for someone with Chelsea's earning power with additional income for Randy to help cover the cost of subsidizing Chelsea/Aubree. Randy wasn't worried about how the show might negatively affect Chelsea's future career because her "future career" was (at best) being an aesthetician married to a guy who worked for the department of transportation.

To me, that's kind of sad and showing a certain level of lack of respect for oneself/one's child, but that's me. I think, in Randy's world, he's an outlier who was unusually smart and ambitious to become a dentist, but it's normal to be far less smart and ambitious and only aspire to get whatever kind of steady job and earn enough to buy a (relatively cheap) house, get married, and have a couple of kids (if you're a man), or to marry someone like that and maybe somehow supplement the family income (if you're a woman).

[Christina87]

1 hour ago, TheRealT said:

To me, it's not even really about "ignoring the haters." It's good to "ignore the haters" if you're sticking to your own values rather than bending to others' opinions. If a single mom (just to make up a random hypothetical) were being judged by her "respectable" community because she chose to have a child without a partner, I think it would be good/admirable for her/her family to disregard community members who were judging her/them.

The reason I judge the Houskas for their (IMO) trashy famewhoring is because I see it as a reflection of their values (or lack thereof). IMO, they don't have particularly high standards for themselves on almost any level. Most dentists (to pick a random, high-level occupation) who would be mortified to have their daughters on 16 and Pregnant would be upset because it was contrary to their own values, in addition to concerns about how people in their community would judge her/the family. At the same time, many "high-class" dentists wouldn't necessarily give credence to community members' judgment because their daughter married a man of a different race/religion (for example), which would be admirable.

I don't think Randy ever had particularly high aspirations for Chelsea or a particularly high estimation of her capabilities. His "dream" for her was probably that she'd attend college for a couple of years or more and marry a nice, successful guy in her early 20's. He'd also probably have been fine with her killing time in beauty school or some respectable low-level job until she got married if that's how it worked out. I think he was probably disappointed that Chelsea got pregnant by a loser in high school, but he never seemed crushed, like he had had dreams of her joining his dental practice or getting on the Supreme Court some day. Or even dreams of her being a kindergarten teacher, really. Or even a manager at the local supermarket. I think having those kinds of hopes/aspirations for one's child is part of taking it seriously when the child takes the path of being on 16 and Pregnant instead. Since Randy never expected much of Chelsea, he saw the show as a potential opportunity (for her and for him). Even though the starting salary for TM2 was low, it was ok/good money for someone with Chelsea's earning power with additional income for Randy to help cover the cost of subsidizing Chelsea/Aubree. Randy wasn't worried about how the show might negatively affect Chelsea's future career because her "future career" was (at best) being an aesthetician married to a guy who worked for the department of transportation.

To me, that's kind of sad and showing a certain level of lack of respect for oneself/one's child, but that's me. I think, in Randy's world, he's an outlier who was unusually smart and ambitious to become a dentist, but it's normal to be far less smart and ambitious and only aspire to get whatever kind of steady job and earn enough to buy a (relatively cheap) house, get married, and have a couple of kids (if you're a man), or to marry someone like that and maybe somehow supplement the family income (if you're a woman).

Very well said! You put it into such good words about the difference between a normal professional’s reaction to being on Teen Mom, vs something like marrying someone of a different race or religion. That is spot on! My parents definitely don’t care about judgment either if something fits their values (which being on a trashy MTV show never would!). That is such a good point! 
 

Now I am really curious to learn more about randy! It would be so interesting to see how he got interested in dentistry, and who encouraged him to pursue it. 

[DangerousMinds]

3 hours ago, Christina87 said:

He is sooooo much like cole! Both of them really get their kicks from people writing them about how great they are as husbands and dads. They probably are so much in that little world that judgmental comments from community members just go unnoticed! If 63927493 people on social media are fawning over you, while 20 you know in real life are judging you, I could see how you could ignore the “haters!”

Looking at the way he raised Chelsea and her sisters, I wouldn’t give him any prizes for being a great dad.

[geauxaway]

He’s a dentist that throws botox parties.  And if we had a Randy thread, that should be the title.  

[iwantcookies]

It’s a good thing Randy let Chelsea be on Teen Mom. Otherwise he’d be supporting them forever. And no MTV $$$ no Cole. 

[Jeanne222]

Is Cole still working?  Didn't he have a regular job?

[iwantcookies]

Just now, Jeanne222 said:

Is Cole still working?  Didn't he have a regular job?

I think Coles full time job is a social media influencer/Chelsea’s butler 

[Tatum]

11 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Is Cole still working?  Didn't he have a regular job?

I believe he has a bachelor's degree. Here is a brief blurb about his job prior to dropping out of the workforce to play Chelsea's Girl Friday:

https://warmful.com/teen-mom-dads-jobs-revealed-cole-deboer-living/

Edited December 4, 2020 by Tatum

[heatherchandler]

17 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

Looking at the way he raised Chelsea and her sisters, I wouldn’t give him any prizes for being a great dad.

Weren't all of the Houska girls teen moms?  I think I remember that there were several high school babies in that family.  

4 hours ago, Tatum said:

I believe he has a bachelor's degree. Here is a brief blurb about his job prior to dropping out of the workforce to play Chelsea's Girl Friday:

https://warmful.com/teen-mom-dads-jobs-revealed-cole-deboer-living/

Where did you see that he has a bachelor's degree?  

From the article -

Highway Maintenance workers, they monitor and maintain roads and highways. When required, their main duty is to fix-up broken pavement. 

So, he fixes pot holes.  I mean, hey, honest living.  But I don't know if you need a degree to do that.

 

[Tatum]

55 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

Weren't all of the Houska girls teen moms?  I think I remember that there were several high school babies in that family.  

Where did you see that he has a bachelor's degree?  

From the article -

Highway Maintenance workers, they monitor and maintain roads and highways. When required, their main duty is to fix-up broken pavement. 

So, he fixes pot holes.  I mean, hey, honest living.  But I don't know if you need a degree to do that.

 

Yes, I remember some people joking that Cole's job meant he held up road signs.

 

But didn't he play soccer in college? I thought I heard that somewhere.

 

Anyways,  I googled "Cole Deboer college" and came up with a few sites who all cite Wetpaint for saying he has a college degree. The articles link the Wetpaint article but the link is inactive. I couldn't find a linked in for him either.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/125017-what-does-cole-deboer-do-chelsea-houskas-future-husband-has-a-stable-job

Assuming he has a degree, it may have been a case where you don't need one for this type of work, he just had one and couldn't get a job in his field.

 

But I do believe he was gainfully employed when he met Chelsea and for several years after. I am not convinced he did not deliberately seek her out, although Chelsea absolutely swears Cole had no idea who she was and had never heard of the show. I find that extremely unlikely.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Tatum

[Snarky McSnarky]

Chelsea reportedly left the show because...

“Chelsea was becoming more and more concerned about Aubree being on-camera, now that she’s older,” an anonymous insider told The Ashley’s Reality Roundup. “Chelsea didn’t like that her segments were becoming more and more about Aubree’s personal life and her relationship with Adam’s family.”

“She always knew she would leave the show once Aubree reached a certain age,” the person continued. “She didn’t want her to go through puberty on-camera and be subjected to hurtful and sometimes creepy comments from viewers.”

Her replacement is apparently Ashley Jones.

https://heavy.com/entertainment/teen-mom/chelsea-houska-replacement-ashley-jones

[TheRealT]

5 hours ago, Tatum said:

I am not convinced he did not deliberately seek her out, although Chelsea absolutely swears Cole had no idea who she was and had never heard of the show. I find that extremely unlikely.

Isn't the story that they eyefucked at a gas station without talking, then Cole reached out to her via SM? How would he do that if he didn't know who she was?

[TheRealT]

1 hour ago, Snarky McSnarky said:

Chelsea reportedly left the show because...

“Chelsea was becoming more and more concerned about Aubree being on-camera, now that she’s older,” an anonymous insider told The Ashley’s Reality Roundup. “Chelsea didn’t like that her segments were becoming more and more about Aubree’s personal life and her relationship with Adam’s family.”

“She always knew she would leave the show once Aubree reached a certain age,” the person continued. “She didn’t want her to go through puberty on-camera and be subjected to hurtful and sometimes creepy comments from viewers.”

Her replacement is apparently Ashley Jones.

https://heavy.com/entertainment/teen-mom/chelsea-houska-replacement-ashley-jones

Jiggawhat? If she didn't want her segments to be about Aubree's personal life, why did she make them almost exclusively about Aubree's personal life? Is she suggesting that MTV demanded to delve into Aubree's relationship with her paternal family? Obviously, that's absurd. Even if the producers suggested it, Chelsea was fully able to just say no (like she did when they wanted to explore how her anxiety affects her as a wife/mom; what was up with Cole's employment situation; or any other issues that were about her/Cole). There was NOTHING negative/embarrassing about either of them or their mutual biokids, while there was a TON of ultra personal, potentially embarrassing, AND potentially damaging to her relationships with her family stuff about Aubree. They didn't do so much as a "Watson is having a hard time getting potty trained" or "Layne is going through a spitting phase" story about the De Boer kids, which is good and I don't assume that the toddlers have "problems," but no one is perfect and I'm sure they could have featured more about the De Boers than, "Look how cute the babies are! Isn't Cole perfect?! Chelsea is such an amazing mompreneur! Aubree hates her bio dad and his family!" At least the toddlers would be totally unaware if they were being humiliated on international TV weekly (not that that would make it ok). It's just so disgusting that they intentionally threw Aubree under the bus for money and they won't even take responsibility for it; they're acting like it just happened somehow. That's gaslighting the public, which I don't care about (though it shows how they suck), but, a million times worse, it's gaslighting Aubree. When (not if) she fully realizes what they did this season, are they going to try to sell it as something MTV did and which they quit in protest of? They both know that is an outright lie.

Edited December 5, 2020 by TheRealT

[geauxaway]

3 hours ago, TheRealT said:

what was up with Cole's employment situation;

I maintain that they are ashamed and wanted to keep that on the down low.  They know it goes against his perfect bread winner manly man provider for the family husband and dad image.  

[TheRealT]

3 minutes ago, geauxaway said:

I maintain that they are ashamed and wanted to keep that on the down low.  They know it goes against his perfect bread winner manly man provider for the family husband and dad image.  

Yes, much better to put Aubree's "imperfect" and "shameful" business on blast while protecting Cole and Chelsea!

Edited December 5, 2020 by TheRealT

[geauxaway]

4 minutes ago, TheRealT said:

Yes, must better to put Aubree's "imperfect" and "shameful" business on blast while protecting Cole and Chelsea!

They’re so delusional.  If they think getting out when Aubree is 10 is going to save her from the effects of being in the public eye they are dead wrong.  She’s known nothing else in her life.  The damage is done, and I really hope they are equipped to deal with the fallout.  Even the most “perfect” child (there is no such thing), would be effected by this.  It’s how her brain and her life were imprinted from day 1.  

[iwantcookies]

Yet they are still on social media making $$$. Hypocrites!

[StatisticalOutlier]

22 hours ago, Tatum said:

Yes, I remember some people joking that Cole's job meant he held up road signs.

But didn't he play soccer in college? I thought I heard that somewhere.

Back in 2015, @MyPeopleAreNordic posted about Cole playing soccer at the University of Sioux Falls. 

https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/14538-except-chelsea-and-cole/?do=findComment&comment=1548547

Before I found that, I was doing my own sleuthing and found a recent article about his doing the 75 Hard Challenge (whatever that is):

Quote

Cole also talked about how Chelsea would “remind” him to get the daily tasks of the challenge, which included reading 10 pages of a nonfiction book and taking progress photos, done. “She’d remind me, you know, like ‘Hey did you read yet? Did you take a picture yet?’,” he explained before also admitting that he hadn’t “read books since college” so he was “pumped” about that part of the challenge.

Confirmation of the college stuff, but even better, he has to be reminded to take a picture?  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

 

Quote

Assuming he has a degree, it may have been a case where you don't need one for this type of work, he just had one and couldn't get a job in his field.

I hear that.  My first job out of college with a BA in Economics was as a file clerk for a state agency.  Back when there were files.

 

On 12/3/2020 at 4:42 PM, TheRealT said:

I don't think Randy ever had particularly high aspirations for Chelsea or a particularly high estimation of her capabilities. His "dream" for her was probably that she'd attend college for a couple of years or more and marry a nice, successful guy in her early 20's. He'd also probably have been fine with her killing time in beauty school or some respectable low-level job until she got married if that's how it worked out.

I thought she graduated from beauty school.  I'm remembering some sort of ceremony with people on a balcony overlooking all the student haircutting stations, maybe?

ETA:  You know, there are interesting things about every job.  For example, in file clerking, the folders were color-coded by the second letter of the last name.  At first I was like, Whaaat?  But it makes it pretty easy to spot misfiles, because if you slide Negron in between Nagron and Nathrop, then Negron will be a different color, tipping you off that something's wrong.

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by StatisticalOutlier

[geauxaway]

2 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I thought she graduated from beauty school.  I'm remembering some sort of ceremony with people on a balcony overlooking all the student haircutting stations, maybe?

I think she got a cosmetology / esthetician cert.  I don’t think she is certified to do hair.  I have no idea the continuing ed requirements for what she did get, but I’m sure it’s lapsed by now.  I’d be shocked if she kept up what she needed to.  

[TheRealT]

3 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I thought she graduated from beauty school.  I'm remembering some sort of ceremony with people on a balcony overlooking all the student haircutting stations, maybe?

I think she graduated from aesthetician school (or whatever it's called), which qualified her to do nails or eyebrows or something. I think it is a step down from "beauty school," which I think involves becoming qualified to do hair.

[Jeanne222]

On 12/4/2020 at 7:20 PM, Snarky McSnarky said:

Chelsea reportedly left the show because...

“Chelsea was becoming more and more concerned about Aubree being on-camera, now that she’s older,” an anonymous insider told The Ashley’s Reality Roundup. “Chelsea didn’t like that her segments were becoming more and more about Aubree’s personal life and her relationship with Adam’s family.”

“She always knew she would leave the show once Aubree reached a certain age,” the person continued. “She didn’t want her to go through puberty on-camera and be subjected to hurtful and sometimes creepy comments from viewers.”

Her replacement is apparently Ashley Jones.

https://heavy.com/entertainment/teen-mom/chelsea-houska-replacement-ashley-jones

Ashley Jones...really.   She'll fit right in with Brianna and Jade!