S07.E07: SanFran, Here We Come!

[formerlyfreedom]

Jen goes to San Francisco to give a speech at a conference, but it turns into a family vacation when Bill, Will, and Zoey tag along to make sure she follows her doctor's orders to take it easy.

 

[HelloDolly]

Jen is one tough lady!  How she had the energy to travel with the family, speak at the conference and make time for her sweet family simply amazes me.  Bill continues to prove he's the best father to these adorable children.  I just want to squeeze Will & Zoey...so cute it makes my teeth hurt!  Thank heavens there is ONE reality show on TV that relies on goodness/reality instead of manufactured drama.  This is always "must watch" TV at our house every Tuesday.

[Goldielocked]

Didn't you love it when Bill told Will that "mommy and Zoey are going shopping" and Will said, "uh-oh!"  Tooooo cute!!!

[HelloDolly]

Both children are obviously very bright and inquisitive.  It is truly joyful seeing them grow and discover the world, right in front of our eyes.  The laughing...and then NOT...on the carousel, lol.  Adorable!

[Goldielocked]

I agree--this is a truly remarkable family and I'm glad they let us take a peek into their world!

[EmmeRose]

I just love the whole family!  I noticed that Will is speaking in more sentences too!  And Zoey seems to be picking up English rapidly!  She is a very bright little girl!

[Madame]

Zoey is certainly smiling a lot more, but she can still get that "What fresh outrage is this?!" expression when she's not sure what's going on.  Fortunately Bill doesn't seem to find it "intimidating" anymore.  She was so cute just chilling in her sunglasses next to Jen on the ride. 

I thought it was very funny that Jen way over-thought her opening joke, because, of course she did.   I loved how she was all just, "Welp, it bombed." 

[MrMattyMatt]

Cute episode.  Too bad Jen's Chemo-Brian joke fell flat, I think she just had a bad delivery. 

[Jellybeans]

A happy episode.

Chem Brain is a real thing- my dad sure had a bad case of it when he was fighting prostate cancer.

Loved Will's response to Mama and Zoey going shopping!

[LegalParrot81]

Cute episode last night.  Ah, the dreaded Chemo brain, my Mom had it for quite a while. 

Will's reaction to the girls going off shopping cracked me up. 

Will was having so much fun on the tea cup ride, the photos of him going from smiling to green were a little sad.  Zoey on the other hand was just hangin' out, going in circles, stylin' in the cool shades. 

Last night proved something I suspected, Will can do full sentences. I think it's just easier for him to get right to the point, such as cake.  LOL

Edited April 16, 2014 by LegalParrot81

[camom]

I know he's had years of practice, but I really like how Bill handled the children who were curious about his size.  Children are going to be inquisitive, so it's good that he's not offended and very matter of fact about it.  A wonderful example he's setting for the kids.

[car54]

I think showing Bill and the kids playing with normal sized kids asking questions is what this show is all about--they have done so much to help people understand and accept little people.   I loved how matter of fact he was answering questions.   He and Jen are setting such a fine example for Will and Zoey--so that they understand how to deal with people who ask questions or stare.   
I got a huge kick out of how wild the kids were at the museum and the store--it will be fun seeing them get out and about now that Jen is feeling better.

[joanne3482]

I wonder if Jen felt like the tea cup on the carousel was the only viable option for them. Bill expressed concern about them riding it, but the horses seemed too tall for them to get the kids up on them and I didn't notice any benches like I've seen on other carousels. 

[Greeneyedlady]

 

I wonder if Jen felt like the tea cup on the carousel was the only viable option for them.

That's what I thought, too.  Didn't see anything else within easy reach for them.

[LegalParrot81]

I think the horses were too tall.

If Bill would have kept it at a slower spin, I doubt there would have been potential for puking, but I think his inner go fast child came out and he got that cup going around at a pretty good clip.

Edited April 16, 2014 by LegalParrot81

[Greeneyedlady]

So when Will said, "No more, Baba.  Bad."  Maybe he meant Bill was bad instead of the teacup!!!  lol

[LegalParrot81]

Nice little bonus scene from last night's show.

http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/little-couple/videos/bonus-scene-what-sound-does-a-sea-lion-make.htm

I didn't realize this Jen's undergrad degree was in marine biology. 

[Greeneyedlady]

Thanks LegalParrot81!  Doesn't surprise me about her undergrad degree--she has said many times she loves the ocean.  It seems a tad unusual for a medical doc though!

[Everh]

Since all my opinions are influenced by my feeling that The Kleins should not be filming anymore, I am not entertained, nor am I educated by the show. Yes, the children are adorable and I would love to watch them grow and flourish, but I would be happier if they had the privacy they deserve.

        I said it once, I will say it again. Will is still in diapers, is having additional problems probably due to Zoey's arrival, but he should be having and conquering these problems in private. He needs at his age to learn the word no, which Jen and Bill do not seem to utilize much.    I do not think its cute watching the children tear thru a store grabbing at things and throwing them on the floor. Jen cackles and Bill stands there seemingly useless.     It is my hope that when the camera's are off, the word no is put into play.

      Do people really think we are being educated?  If we were, we would see the grandparents, the nanny or crew helping full time.  It seems at least to me that both Jen and Bill are both too stiff from their disabilities to actually do a lot of the care and work involved with the children.   Especially Jen.  There is no way she can take even one child anywhere alone. Where did the tray of fancy finger sandwiches come from for the tea party?  The only education I am getting out of this is that it is just one more phony TLC show.  

        Jen said she goes to the simulation convention every year, she could of been the keynote next year.   I am sure beyond every reasonable doubt that this was one more fake storyline.  A doctor is going to risk her newly found diagnosis of health to go on a germy airplane, stay in a germy hotel room and be around hundreds of people that soon after chemo?    Sorry, but this is just more of the Jen is the greatest nonsense.  Where was the I can now get to know my new daughter and spend every waking moment with my kids?     

 These are good people, maybe not people I would want to know personally, but good nonetheless.    They have been bitten by the C lister fame bug and I do think they want/need the money.    This is not reality.......this is I wanna be on TV.   This is Jen and Bill going to Mr. Chow's in Los Angeles, where every other C and D list celeb goes to be seen and photographed, not to eat.   Oh, they pretend to eat.  

[MrMattyMatt]

I also found it interesting that Jen's speech at the convention was the "closing" Keynote.  I've been to many conferences and usually, the openers are usually the ones that have the most appeal.  By the time the closing comes around, many people have already left the convention or are out sightseeing.  She did seem to have a fairly large audience though.  I think she probably got the gig more on her "celebrity" than anything else.  I'm not knocking her credibility at all.  She says she's the director of simulation at her hospital, which is really awesome. 

I though her response when asked if she could be in a group photo was a bit much.  "You just can't get too close as I'm immuno-compromised"....  Really, you were just on a plane and through airports, then goes off to the mini amusement park on a carousel.  Then they showed her shaking various people's hands.   She did state she had a very hard time not doing that....   She was certainly risking it, but it's her health, her life.   I doubt they would have shown any of that had she gotten seriously ill by not taking the doctor's advcice to stay home.

[Greeneyedlady]

In the previous show, I remember both Jen and Bill giving the oncologist the final word on the travel plans and she gave them her approval, as long as Jen felt like it and would be careful.  In one of their travels, it looked like they were flying first class but I wasn't able to tell if they used a commercial flight to SF this time.   Maybe a charter flight thru TLC?  And given their difficulties along with having a filming crew, they probably don't have to leave the plane with all the other passengers, thus not exposing Jen to throngs of people.

[Absolom]

I enjoy seeing the kids and they're adorable looking to me. I hope Jen and Bill know when it's time to pull the plug. I don't know how long the contract they signed runs, but perhaps when this one ends they won't sign on again or possibly only for a once or twice a year special. I'm not surprised that they haven't worked much on toilet training with Will. A lot has been going on and I always found that a fairly quiet stable environment worked better for easier toilet training. Summer was better than winter for us, too. Ratings last night: 2.759 M viewers and a .8 rating.

[roamyn]

How does having the Nanny or grandparents educate "us"?

To see them doing the parents job, or hovering around all the time only gives the impression that little people are helpless and need taller people around to take care of them.

I think saying that is offensive to all disabled peoples.

[Fostersmom]

Why did Bill and the kids have to go again? Other than an episode plot, I mean. 

The group photo being too germy was just ridiculous. You rode on a plane with it's recycled air and have spent a week with tons of doctors who came in contact with god knows what before they arrived at the conference. But yeah, the group pic might push it over the edge. 

Bill did a good job keeping the kids corralled at the park and with the other kids asking him questions. I did wonder where the parents of those kids were though. I don't remember seeing a parent other than Bill. The kids were rowdy in the store, but as a store manager, I've seen 1000 times worse on a weekly basis. It would have helped if Jen could have stopped shopping while Bill was trying to get them back out of the store. She kept trying to show him stuff and it was obvious he was annoyed. I hate that giant ass stroller they have too. I know most strollers built for two kids are that style these days, but seriously no one wants to have to deal with your massive ass stroller, trying to get around it, or watching as you knock stuff down in stores. And yeah, it makes it much easier for your kids to grab all sorts of stuff in those. 

[Greeneyedlady]

 

To see them doing the parents job, or hovering around all the time only gives the impression that little people are helpless and need taller people around to take care of them.

And that is EXACTLY why (according to Bill and Jen in interviews) they do this program--to show the able-bodied that people with disabilities can be functioning individuals, doing all the same things we do, and who deserve more than taunts and stares.  

[FinePoint]

I realise Jen's a doctor and I'm not, and therefore she has much more medical education than I do, but....I totally thought the same thing about travelling right after chemo. Although her oncologist finally gave her the okay to travel, the doctor's first response was that it would be best to stay home for a while. If the conference organisers knew she was in cancer treatment, I bet they'd understand and ask her back next year instead.  Even if it was a once in a lifetime speaking opportunity, why risk your lease on life? No matter what your med school loans are, how much the TLC money may help pay for the kids' educations, or anything, I personally don't think the filming money is worth risking your health. (And I know the doctor said okay go, and Jen's a doctor too, but that doesn't mean the rest of us don't have valid concerns about this).  

It just seemed odd to me that she'd seal herself inside a tube with people with who knows what illnesses, breathe their recycled air for what, 4 hours or so? And then attend a conference with doctors who have been exposed to who knows what pathogens recently at work. No matter how clean that hotel may be, or how much those doctors may have washed their hands, or how much she may have washed up after touching the carnival ride, and even if you wear a mask on the plane, it would seem like it would just be common sense to stay home for the first month or so after finishing chemo and not go anywhere you don't have to. I have no personal experience with this; I'm just going with what seems like common sense and what seemed to me like the oncologist was trying to emphasize that staying home would be prudent, even if she did relent and say she wanted Jen to travel if that's what Jen wanted.

Edited April 17, 2014 by FinePoint

[roamyn]

I agree abt the trip. I understand they needed some normalcy & get out of the house. And she was probably asked a year ago to be the keynote. But she could've cancelled when she got diagnosed. What if she was still in treatments?

I'm sure she wore a mask on the plane, but there are things you can do in Houston to get out of the house and have fun.

[all4mom]

I thought (and posted) the same thing when she insisted on being present at Zoey's very routine checkup when even Bill, in the preview (although it was cut out of the show), said, "We don't need you here."  Instead the martyrdom of being Super Mom, exposing herself to germs in the children's outpatient clinic -- heck, even I fear contracting germs when I visit my "family" (read: kids included) doctor -- and the hospital cafeteria, where they met up, and no mask?  Don't most "compromised" cancer patients take this precaution while undergoing chemo, esp. if the recognize the danger and express concern about it?  And then she had to take over the appointment...  To say Jen is "competitive" is an understatement.  I personally see her as annoyingly anal and controlling and believe she runs all over Bill (but, of course, with a big smile).  After all, they relocated to her job, leaving his behind; acquired her dogs, leaving his behind; moved in her family, leaving his behind; vacation at her beach (I believe Bill likes to camp), etc.  Now Jen has clearly gotten the "big head" (no pun intended) from all this hero worship.  Agree that small kids running wild in a store, raising havoc, isn't "cute" or educational.  Of course Jen can't "handle" Will herself; we saw that demonstrated when he took off for the garage in Florida.  Does she lift him into the bath sink herself?  So, apparently, they would like us to believe, given the complete absence of full-sized adults that HAVE to be helping behind the scenes.  Alas, this show, too, is "reality" TV.  Much more educational, in my opinion were the Hennons, who were truly all on their own with Charlie and bravely human.

Edited April 17, 2014 by all4mom

[all4mom]

As for the stroller, why not the one seat in front, one seat in back type?  That would take up a lot less room in the store aisles, and I anticipate that Jen will be doing A LOT of shopping!

[Absolom]

I don't think Jen was being a martyr going to Zoey's appointment. She'd had to very reluctantly miss their first medical appointment with her and as a lot of mothers do she pushed herself to get to the second one. It's something I can see quite a few mothers doing with it being a complex or anything.

I don't know about the trip to San Francisco. It seemed somewhat on the cusp of medically reasonable. She seems to have done it without ill effects and perhaps there was some push from production to get the episode. If that's part of it, then not so good.

I had to look up the Hannons. I found them dull and toward the end whiney. I'd even forgotten their existence. Oops. I don't think theirs was a story with widespread appeal and traction and thus had low viewership and was ended.

[Everh]

How does having the Nanny or grandparents educate "us"?

To see them doing the parents job, or hovering around all the time only gives the impression that little people are helpless and need taller people around to take care of them.

I think saying that is offensive to all disabled peoples.

My point was is that Jen and Bill do not seem able to do certain things. They are both extremely stiff.  My comments pertain only to Jen and Bill, not all little people. It would be offensive if I generalized  which I clearly did not.      An easy example would be Matt and Amy Roloff.  Their limitations are clearly much different than those of The Kleins. 

          Jen cannot comfort either child with a normal hug. Neither one could ever run to stop one of the children from running in the street.  So, the truth (educational) is that their real reality is that they are very limited and do need a lot of help.  It is not a criticism, it is what I see when I watch the show.  I think on almost every episode both before and after the adoptions are their needs for naps.  Again, it is not a criticism, but an observation that people with jobs and children cannot stop everything because they want to take a nap.

        Bill and Jen in my opinion act both mentally and physically like a much older couple, more like grandparents.  They think normal kid play is acting out or bad behavior.  Bill seems more relaxed and a loving and playful parent when Jen is not around. I think he does realize kids will be kids, they get messy and make noise.

Nicer people, beautiful children, same old made up, scripted show. No reality.

[all4mom]

"I don't think theirs was a story with widespread appeal..."  No, because they were flawed and imperfect and not afraid to show it.  Also, Becky's 'sassitude' cracked me up.  I guess I'm weird that way!  We seem to prefer fantasy to reality on reality TV, for some reason.  Given that Will will soon outsize her, Jen had better start making more of an effort to get on his good side...  I do see favoritism on her part toward Zoey, but this is hardly surprising given her own words to Bill in a TH: "Just wait till Zoey gets here.  That's all I'm gonna say about that!"

Edited April 17, 2014 by all4mom

[Everh]

I do see favoritism on her part toward Zoey, but this is hardly surprising given her own words to Bill in a TH: "Just wait till Zoey gets here.  That's all I'm gonna say about that!"

I remember when she said that and thought wow, that is a statement from a very immature and entitled person.

[Madame]

If a male doctor were offered a prestigious hospital position, and his telemarketer wife agreed to move so that he could accept it, it would be business as usual.  I don't think Bill is "walked over," I give him props for being a good modern husband who recognizes that his wife is the career superstar in the family.  He's proud of her and I like that about him. 

"Just wait til Zoey gets here" was a joke. Probably a half-serious one, but nonetheless she was laughing at herself.  One of the things I like about her is that she can recognize, and laugh at, her own craziness. 

[Greeneyedlady]

 

If a male doctor were offered a prestigious hospital position, and his telemarketer wife agreed to move so that he could accept it, it would be business as usual.

Excellent point!  And, I might add, if a male doctor beat cancer and persevered to keep a long term obligation as a key-note speaker, he would be revered and applauded for his tenacity!

[MrMattyMatt]

I agree, Bill certainly got the "trophy" wife, specifically in terms of career.

[Absolom]

I don't think the Honners were cancelled because they showed their flaws.  I think they were just not interesting people for TV.  They had no hook beyond see I'm a little person having an average size kid.  They had no sparkle that I could see.  The viewers have already spoken.

Bill has humor and a willingness to get involved in things.  Jen while it can be irritating is happy with life and shows it.  They aren't all moaning about they can't do this and can't do that or need help or a place to live. 

[all4mom]

Oh, Jen is being revered and applauded.  No worries there!  Agree that Bill seems fine with her being the superstar, on the show and in life.  Many couples have this dynamic going on (one Type A making all the calls and the other Type B, being okay with it), and it works, although it's less acceptable these days when it's a man bossing a woman.  Granted, Jen drives the train in the nicest possible way (always the big smile and laugh).  It's also true that Bill is apparently over the moon for her and willing to let her have her way in any and everything, being secure enough to let her lead.  He has also put up with some rather rude (IMHO) treatment from the in-laws in previous shows (their disrespect in the first Rocky and Maggie "bored" meeting, for instance).  I took her comment to be a "serious joke"; it was clear from early on that Jen was determined to have a daughter NAMED ZOEY and that they'd be a twosome.  As for "beating cancer," very many also very wonderful and worthy people have NOT "beat cancer"; it's not a character trait, talent, or an act of willpower.  She submitted to treatment, as has just about everyone who's ever had cancer.  Going into remission is simply being lucky, and she is that!

Edited April 17, 2014 by all4mom

[LegalParrot81]

Looks like an Episode thread has once again been turned into the Opinion thread.

[all4mom]

It's very difficult to make every post pertain ONLY to the thread topic, particularly when there are a bazillion different threads for each show.  Just my opinion (no pun intended).

Edited April 17, 2014 by all4mom

[Bella]

It's not a bazillion threads, it's nine. That's the way it's going to be here.

You can move further discussion that does not relate to this episode into the "Little Couple: Big Discussion" thread. 

[4leafclover]

I love the stroller they are using, and even if it can be awkward in certain smaller stores as we saw in SF, it is what works for them.  When they went shopping for it, they had a difficult time finding one that had handles that weren't too high and one that both of them could easily set up or unfold, as well as one that could accommodate a little person riding in it.  They made modifications to the one they bought and this is the result.  If I had 2 young children, I would want this one too.

[Jellybeans]

I thought the stroller was perfect too. There are not that many strollers available for little people and two kiddos.

[4leafclover]

Weren't Will and Zoey precious while they were watching the sea lions?  Zoey was mesmerized!

[all4mom]

"...it turns into a family vacation when Bill, Will, and Zoey tag along to make sure she follows her doctor's orders to take it easy..."  Someone was asking why Bill and the kids had to go along, and I just noticed this at the top of the page.  According to TLC, anyway!

[Greeneyedlady]

Yes, I too enjoyed watching Will and Zoey watch the sea lions--they are adorable!

[letitgo]

Jen is sure enjoying dressing the kids!  All their clothes are adorable!

[4leafclover]

Those little jeans Will was wearing--I just wanted to squeeze him!

[Jellybeans]

the kids are benefiting from Jen's good taste in clothes.

[LegalParrot81]

I think a front to back stroller might also be a little difficult for Jen & Bill to maneuver because of their low center of gravity.  Front to backs can be a little difficult to steer, with the stroller they're current using the overall weight is more evenly distributed.

Zoey and her cute sunglasses.  These two both love their eyewear.  LOL