S09.E02: A Little Holiday Spirit

[Kohola3]

This exact comment could have been said about the Gosselins, Roloffs, and Duggars at one time.

 

I can't stand fundies so never even considered watching the Duggars, Watched one episode of the Roloffs and their future was glaring back at the beginning, and Kate Gosselin's famewhore attitude had me turning that one off in about 10 minutes.  I thought every one of those groups were revolting so no happy viewing from me even if their families were supposedly happy.

[RedheadZombie]

Bill's Christmas lights didn't bother me, because I grew up in a house like that.  Every year, my mom went full out.  It took her at least a week, and she did it all by herself.  There would be a complete santa/sleigh/reindeers on the roof, the entire house and the picket fence with lights, and standing life-sized carolers and santa/frosty.  People would come from all over to see it, and if they came before the lights went on, or after they went out - they would actually knock on our door and request them to be turned on.  Years later, I met people in high school who would say -  You live there?  We always heard that a little deaf girl lived there, and her parents decorated to make her happy.  It was the strangest thing.

 

I think it is contagious, too.  One kid starts crying, then other kids think there must be something to cry about, etc etc etc.  I thought they all handled it well.  No one insisted that Zoey have her picture taken with Santa and he talked to her for a reasonable distance.  

 

Zoey was handled so much better this year.  Last year she was very unwillingly placed in Santa's lap, and screamed through the whole thing.  I posted about it, and was told that Zoey would have felt left out if she didn't see pictures of herself on Santa's lap.  I disagreed, and I bet Zoey warmed up to Santa this year because she wasn't forced this time, and I bet she won't look back and feel she was left out.

 

[4leafclover]

Count me in as someone who sees this as "happy viewing."  Having never watched the Gosslins, Duggars or Roloffs, I prefer to continue seeing Bill and Jen and their family as a win for TLC.  As for the "age-appropriate" reading to the hospitalized children and the stockings, every year at our house our grown son reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to all the children in attendance.  By the middle of the reading the teens are listening too.  By the end, children, babies, teens, tweens and adults are ALL listening and enjoying and saying the final lines together.  The stockings were small tokens and not meant to be anything more.  The children could play with what they wanted and leave the rest--or leave it all.  Didn't matter.  Christmas is not an "age-appropriate" holiday--its for all ages!

[Jellybeans]

I love the story and would listen to someone reading it out loud!

[Literata]

This exact comment could have been said about the Gosselins, Roloffs, and Duggars at one time.

 

I've watched all from the beginning, and I like Bill and Jen very much. In contrast, Matt Roloff frequently infuriated me, Jon and Kate were uncomfortable to watch (so why did I keep watching? No idea), and I, like many others, have snarked about the Duggars from Day One.

[Absolom]

I've only seldom had a slightly queasy feeling watching The Little Couple.  I was outright nauseated early on by Kate Gosselin and Matt Roloff.  I think what has saved the Kleins for me is the adoptions.  If they hadn't done the surrogacy and adoptions, I think I'd have taken both of them in dislike but it may have been more of a function of manufacturing episodes and drama than the real people.  

 

To see the Kleins now as a happy and relaxed family and having fun decorating and enjoying the kids is a far cry from the couple they were edging toward while building the house.  

Edited June 9, 2015 by Absolom

[bybrandy]

Kate and Jon were never a happy family and Matt and Amy were better than Kate and Jon but the seeds of their bickering were in those early episodes.  Didn't watch the early Duggers can't comment but Kate and Jon?  I don't remember ever thinking they were happy.   

[SandyToes]

Just getting to this one - loving Will making cookies.  Wants his knife to cut the butter (just like Mom), and I thought his speech was right on. Too sticky, making cookies, stirring, lots of good vocabulary. Loved "Watch me!"  hee.  So very typical of kids. Thinking  what their lives were like 18 months ago makes their progress pretty great, I think. Bill and Jen went from two to four nearly instantaneously, plus all the very serious health issues. Loved the Christmas light business - very typical in parts of Houston.  It's easy to go overboard when you are so excited about something. In many ways, this is their first real Christmas as a family - Jen was so sick last time (and we only saw part of what she went through.) Loved Jen's reaction to all the lights and inflatables. :-)

 

Everything we see them do as a "tradition" is brand new for this family - I feel honored to be allowed to watch them create their family memories.