S08.E09: Playing Family Picnic

[lezlers]

25 minutes ago, Adiba said:

I think Barb was in a no- win situation here. If she says something, she's putting Jace in the middle-- if she doesn't, she's not standing up for him. Likewise, if she takes the bullet for Jace, Jenelle won't listen anyway. I do believe a therapist or third party advocate for Jace would be helpful in relaying his feelings to Jenelle and to Barb. Poor kid.

All she has to do is tell Jenelle that when neither David nor Jace are around.  Perhaps on a written medium.  If only there were a way to electronically send a written message to someone else...

[KikiBda]

On 5 September 2017 at 9:28 AM, gotta watch said:

UBT scared the beejesus out of me with his violent fit of rage in the yard. You just know ALL the kiddos have seen him doing things like that over the years/months. How frightening for those poor babies!
When Jenelle went in her bedroom to sulk, where were the Roll and Endtable? She still had 2 children in the house at that point? Was Kaiser cooking mac & cheese for himself and changing Ensley's diaper?

Agree.  Why couldn't she just go out with the kids...why did she feel like she was dong nothing.  She is a grown ass woman just take the kids and do something fun while he gardens.

[Adiba]

12 minutes ago, lezlers said:

All she has to do is tell Jenelle that when neither David nor Jace are around.  Perhaps on a written medium.  If only there were a way to electronically send a written message to someone else...

Hey completely I agree that Jace shouldn't be around during this discussion and caught it the middle-- but Barb talking to Jenelle without David aound? Good luck with that -- he's always there.

My opinion is that even texting wouldn't work with Jenelle.  She'd only call Barb to rehash and argue, imo. That's why I think a therapist may be useful in conveying whatever Jace's true feelings are to Jenelle. Not that she'll listen or believe it ("Barb's brainwashed him") if his feelings do not coincide with her "Brady Bunch, instagram-perfect" vision.   

[CofCinci]

When Jenelle was crying that she was bored, did anyone else think of this scene:

[GreatKazu]

3 hours ago, ghoulina said:

 

Kaiser looks like he spotted some wholesome, happy family on the other side of the park that he wants to run away with. 

Brandon and Theresa?

Jo, Vee, and Baby Vi?

Javi and the boys?

The Marroquin family?

Gary, Kristina, and Leah? 

Edited September 6, 2017 by GreatKazu

[imjagain]

1 hour ago, CofCinci said:

When Jenelle was crying that she was bored, did anyone else think of this scene:

LOL,  I love that saying. 

David is a scary ass man for sure. I would definitely cross the street if I saw him coming  my way. I think he's a psycho.  If I could,  I'd pay good money to make sure Jace and kaiser were never near him. Big but coming... BUT,  I'd lose my fucking mind if I was working my ass off and some simple minded dumb ass person started to whine that they were bored and didn't want just sit there watching me work.... Bitch what!?!? 

Janelle deserved to  have someone lose it on her lazy entitled ass. I think  David actually said "well go some where!" I know we all think it's David that doesn't want Janelle out of his sight, could it be,  Janelle that doesn't want David to far away from her? Maybe it's both with these 2 idiots. 

[guilfoyleatpp]

2 hours ago, CofCinci said:

When Jenelle was crying that she was bored, did anyone else think of this scene:

lol @MyPeopleAreNordic. Wanted to make sure you saw this. 

[ReadMeLattice]

40 minutes ago, imjagain said:

LOL,  I love that saying. 

David is a scary ass man for sure. I would definitely cross the street if I saw him coming  my way. I think he's a psycho.  If I could,  I'd pay good money to make sure Jace and kaiser were never near him. Big but coming... BUT,  I'd lose my fucking mind if I was working my ass off and some simple minded dumb ass person started to whine that they were bored and didn't want just sit there watching me work.... Bitch what!?!? 

Janelle deserved to  have someone lose it on her lazy entitled ass. I think  David actually said "well go some where!" I know we all think it's David that doesn't want Janelle out of his sight, could it be,  Janelle that doesn't want David to far away from her? Maybe it's both with these 2 idiots. 

That's true too. David acts so nuts that I'm always shocked at first at how calm Jenelle seems in comparison. But he doesn't have a partner, he has a child to entertain. That would drive me crazy too, though it doesn't excuse any of his behavior. I think he'd act that way regardless. But damn! I'm just imagining literally watching my husband grade his students' papers and saying over and over, "this isn't fun." Wtf?! Of course it isn't and it's not supposed to be! 

[TonAmi]

Maybe if Jenelle's house wasn't something out of Hansel & Gretel she'd have more fun. 

[Miss Chevious]

It's not the house, it's her. She'd be the immature child that always wants to be "entertained" no matter where she is. It's her mindset that needs an overhaul but I fear it's too late for that.  She's an entitled, spoiled, lazy bitch that expects everyone to cater to her every whim. MTV, you've created a monster.

[Mkay]

4 hours ago, KikiBda said:

Agree.  Why couldn't she just go out with the kids...why did she feel like she was dong nothing.  She is a grown ass woman just take the kids and do something fun while he gardens.

But, but.......

What if Kaiser starts crying in the car and David can't answering the phone because he's working in the yard.  Hahaha

[Christina87]

Jenelle pissed me off sooooo much, and I'm seriously wondering why these two are getting married. They seek to have exactly zero fun or good times together. All they do is yell at each other and Barbara. David is right to be annoyed at Jenelle's need for entertainment, while jenelle would be right to be fearful of him (but she's too stupid to be). New flash: YOU ARE NOT MARRIED. GET OUT. NOW! It is obviously not working. The way Jenelle spoke to Barbara made me want to slap her across the face. Ummmm Barbara wanted her place as a grandparent but YOU made it impossible!!! I'm soooo glad we know that barb retained custody, because I would be freaking out otherwise. 

Kail is always insufferable, so I didn't really pay attention to her segments. 

Briana is the whiniest brat ever!!! It's like taking the worst of whiny Jenelle ("I haven't touched another man's skin in 2 years!"), whiny Leah ("fiiiiind a jooooob close to home!") and whiny Chelsea ("daaaaad-uh! Adam-uh hung up on meeeeeee!") and putting them all together! Good god! Roxanne was yelling at her to be grateful, and for once, I agreed. Brittany totally did not want to be at that shower! I had to question why they rented a huge house just to receive gifts. They're grifting, but not well. 

Leah looks so much better these days, and I hope it's not an act. I feel so sorry for Ali! She breaks my heart every time. 

Chelsea sure was snippy with Angie, but I agreed with Angie! Chelsea almost whispered her disagreements, like she didn't want to argue on camera. Angie seems so nice and normal. I wonder if maybe since the oldest girls were born before Randy graduated dental school, they were not spoiled nearly as much. Maybe the older girls and/or Mary have criticized Randy's doting on Chelsea and probably Emily. 

Edited September 7, 2017 by Christina87

[BitterApple]

21 minutes ago, Christina87 said:

I wonder if maybe since the oldest girls were born before Randy graduated dental school, they were not spoiled nearly as much. Maybe the older girls and/or Mary have criticized Randy's doting on Chelsea and probably Emily. 

I would bet on it. My own family is similar where my brother and sister were born while my dad was finishing grad school, and I came along when my parents were established and had disposable income. My sister always tells me I was way more spoiled than she was, lol. I also think Randy had a heaping dose of "Divorced Dad Guilt" and probably over compensated with Chelsea and Emily. I don't think it's a coincidence the older two Houska girls stayed on the straight and narrow while the younger two were teen moms.

Regarding Roxanne and Briana, maybe we should tell them to look to the Duggars if they want tips on how to gift like a pro! #donate

[KittyKat133]

I know it's been said already but it's totally absurd, ludacris, ridiculous, desperate and tacky that Brianna is having a second baby shower.  In general I'm really tired of this second baby shower stuff. They call it a "sprinkle" but it's a full on shower. A friend of mine is having one and she just had her first baby 8 months ago. I'm having my second baby, and it's a boy, my first was a girl and I would never ever even think of having another shower! 

It's not even like Luis family is throwing it! The GD coven is throwing it for her! So not even a week before she's still talking about adoption but she decides to have a shower. So they are gonna trick all her friends and family into thinking this is a blessed occasion with two happy parents when meanwhile it's a miserable shit  show! What a coup!! 

Brianna needs to grow up and get it through her head that it's not all about her all the time. Brittany is not her baby daddy and she needs to stop treating her like that. When she had the nerve to bark orders at her mother and sister to get things done I wanted to reach through the screen and Smack her, and HARD , I mean Cher style from moonlight hard "snap out of it"! It makes me sick to see her using everyone instead of taking responsibility. You would think she would want to keep this pregnancy quiet and not draw too much attention  to the fact that she is having another baby with another loser but instead she turns it into a self absorbed circus just to get gifts..... nice one. 

As for jenelle, I love that barb called her out as "playing picnic" that's exactly what it is. And I disagree with some of you on here. I actually think in this particular situation jenelle needs to hear it from jace and not barb that he doesn't want David around. It absolutely should have been handled differently and more privately but it remains that jenelle needs to know it's coming from him and not from barb. Jenelle just wants to play happy family for her Instagram, she doesn't really care how jace feels. The only reason she wanted him so badly on Mother's Day was to "take pictures" not because she so desperately missed him. She should be sending flowers to barb on Mother's Day for taking care of jace all these years! Instead she calls her a bitch!!! Girlfriend is so delusional! 

[nikita]

11 hours ago, Moogen said:

Endtable seems to have a pretty severe case which is why it's strange that she's not been prescribed a helmet by a pediatrician

OhmyGOD, dude. I cannot have my baby wearing a helmet in my IG posts. You always do this! Leave me alooooone.

Edited September 7, 2017 by nikita
OhmyGOD, dude. Quoting snafu. You always do this! Leave me alooooone.

[Grandma Saracen]

I just appreciate Dr. Tsao so much, and he was looking a little more frail and sad in his scene, and I just felt like telling him, "we get it".  Ali handled it all like a pro, but as others have stated, they're giving her too much control over the choices she's making... which is not setting her up for success.  She's a smart kid, so she'll take all the control she can get. I just really feel for her. I feel for her parents, too, and her siblings, but mostly I feel for her. I wish they had established a routine and normalized her wheelchair and other aids long ago. This season's hard. 

[GreatKazu]

1 hour ago, Grandma Saracen said:

I just appreciate Dr. Tsao so much, and he was looking a little more frail and sad in his scene, and I just felt like telling him, "we get it".  Ali handled it all like a pro, but as others have stated, they're giving her too much control over the choices she's making... which is not setting her up for success.  She's a smart kid, so she'll take all the control she can get. I just really feel for her. I feel for her parents, too, and her siblings, but mostly I feel for her. I wish they had established a routine and normalized her wheelchair and other aids long ago. This season's hard. 

I think we need to stop by Dr. Tsao's office on our way to see Barb so we could let him know how great of a doctor he is and what a gentle bed-manner he has with Ali. 

[ReadMeLattice]

@Christina87, totally, Chelsea's nearly whispered "well you guys are nice to talk to" would have been much more of a full blown fit about their suggestion that she not have it outside in October had the cameras not been there. 

[Sprockets]

3 hours ago, GreatKazu said:

4 hours ago, Grandma Saracen said:

 

I think we need to stop by Dr. Tsao's office on our way to see Barb so we could let him know how great of a doctor he is and what a gentle bed-manner he has with Ali. 

You could send him a note!  

[Mr. Miner]

3 hours ago, Lm2162 said:

@Christina87, totally, Chelsea's nearly whispered "well you guys are nice to talk to" would have been much more of a full blown fit about their suggestion that she not have it outside in October had the cameras not been there. 

Chelsea and Jughead are already married. I would think their families and friends could give two shits if they have another wedding that they felt obligated to attend. Such a fucking waste!  

[BitterApple]

Is Chelsea just having a reception or are they actually reenacting the entire wedding complete with bridesmaids, ceremony, etc.? 

If it's the first, I find it a tad obnoxious but not quite as self-indulgent as having an entirely new wedding with a guy you've already been married to for close to a year. 

I think brides in general badly over-estimate the level of interest friends and family have in their Speshul Day. I've attended dozens of weddings in my life and can't remember a thing about any of them. I certainly wouldn't spend money to travel to the wedding of a woman who's already married.

[imjagain]

22 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Is Chelsea just having a reception or are they actually reenacting the entire wedding complete with bridesmaids, ceremony, etc.? 

If it's the first, I find it a tad obnoxious but not quite as self-indulgent as having an entirely new wedding with a guy you've already been married to for close to a year. 

I think brides in general badly over-estimate the level of interest friends and family have in their Speshul Day. I've attended dozens of weddings in my life and can't remember a thing about any of them. I certainly wouldn't spend money to travel to the wedding of a woman who's already married. 

This all day. 

I'm happy if you found someone to love and they love you back. Congrats and good luck.  But yeah I don't care that much about your wedding. Especially if you are already married a year and now throwing another party for your wedding or whatever. 

[crazychicken]

11 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I would bet on it. My own family is similar where my brother and sister were born while my dad was finishing grad school, and I came along when my parents were established and had disposable income. My sister always tells me I was way more spoiled than she was, lol. I also think Randy had a heaping dose of "Divorced Dad Guilt" and probably over compensated with Chelsea and Emily. I don't think it's a coincidence the older two Houska girls stayed on the straight and narrow while the younger two were teen moms.

 

Considering Angie just became a grandmother at age 36 I suspect she lead the charge on teen pregnancy or was pretty close herself.

[GreatKazu]

43 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

Is Chelsea just having a reception or are they actually reenacting the entire wedding complete with bridesmaids, ceremony, etc.? 

If it's the first, I find it a tad obnoxious but not quite as self-indulgent as having an entirely new wedding with a guy you've already been married to for close to a year. 

I think brides in general badly over-estimate the level of interest friends and family have in their Speshul Day. I've attended dozens of weddings in my life and can't remember a thing about any of them. I certainly wouldn't spend money to travel to the wedding of a woman who's already married.

It is just a reception for family and friends since her wedding day was just an intimate affair with the parents and siblings who lived nearby. I think I heard Chelsea say she didn't want to plan a reception somewhere else where people needed to travel because no one is interested in doing that and she didn't want them having to travel. 

Edited September 7, 2017 by GreatKazu

[BitterApple]

9 minutes ago, crazychicken said:

Considering Angie just became a grandmother at age 36 I suspect she lead the charge on teen pregnancy or was pretty close herself.

Jesus Christ, they're the Messer clan with money. 

[vmcd88]

Why Jenelle couldnt have taken her kids and done something (go to the beach/park).  Was she required to sit there on the steps while David is working on the yard?  Their argument was insanely funny.  Her yelling about how its Mother's day weekend. That's right folks it's not just a day, it's a weekend.  She is one of those people who you try to be nice to and give a rational response, but will only get the point if you curse them out.  They deserve each other.  

Brianna and her family really are idiots.  They rented a house for her baby shower.  Wait what?  Seriously.  Just when you think it cant get dumber than that.  She tells Luis he has to act like they are still a couple in front of the family.  The coven is crazy and I'm sure the extended family knows Brianna will never leave the coven.

[Sprockets]

18 minutes ago, vmcd88 said:

 

Why Jenelle couldnt have taken her kids and done something (go to the beach/park).  Was she required to sit there on the steps while David is working on the yard?  Their argument was insanely funny.  Her yelling about how its Mother's day weekend. That's right folks it's not just a day, it's a weekend.  She is one of those people who you try to be nice to and give a rational response, but will only get the point if you curse them out.  They deserve each other.  

Brianna and her family really are idiots.  They rented a house for her baby shower.  Wait what?  Seriously.  Just when you think it cant get dumber than that.  She tells Luis he has to act like they are still a couple in front of the family.  The coven is crazy and I'm sure the extended family knows Brianna will never leave the coven.

 

Jenelle is who Barbara would be without a job.  She learned all of her behavior from Barbara, who no doubt learned it from her parents. . . .this one reason I'm agraid for the children.  

TM probably had to have the Witches of Trash Town rent a house because there would be zero room for the film crew during the party in that tiny place they live.  The extent of the "rental" was probably making a deal with a real estate agent to film in a house that's for sale.  I hope the owners are cool with glitter and spray paint residue.  

[imjagain]

6 minutes ago, Sprockets said:

Jenelle is who Barbara would be without a job.  She learned all of her behavior from Barbara, who no doubt learned it from her parents. . . .this one reason I'm agraid for the children.  

TM probably had to have the Witches of Trash Town rent a house because there would be zero room for the film crew during the party in that tiny place they live.  The extent of the "rental" was probably making a deal with a real estate agent to film in a house that's for sale.  I hope the owners are cool with glitter and spray paint residue.  

I don't understand why they rented a house? I get that their tiny apartment would have made it hard to have a party. Why not  rent a party venue? People do it all the time. I prefer it. I have a large home but I rented a place at our local park. Once the baby shower was over we cleaned and I went home to my peaceful home. 

[GreatKazu]

Quote

Jenelle is who Barbara would be without a job.  She learned all of her behavior from Barbara,

Apparently, Jenelle's abusive father is blameless. 

[BitterApple]

Regarding the shower, I thought it was hilarious how Brianna said ON CAMERA that the only reason they were having it was for the presents. I'm sure that made their family feel just wonderful. 

Edited September 7, 2017 by BitterApple

[TeeMo]

I finally got around to watching this episode and the scenes with Ali at the doctor were heartbreaking. Thinking about what comes next for her is just unfathomable. But it also made me wonder why we never really see Leah or Corey do any advocating for MD related research organizations. They both have a big platform with lots of fans (Leah especially) and could likely raise a lot of money. It would certainly be a better use of their fame than trying to sell fans overpriced lipstick. 

[DangerousMinds]

IMHO, Jenelle is a sociopath, and Barb is not, job or no job.

[lovesnark]

12 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

IMHO, Jenelle is a sociopath, and Barb is not, job or no job.

This X1000. Barb feels emotions and has empathy for others. The only emotion Jenelle feels is anger. EVERYTHING is about her and if she's not getting the attention she thinks she deserves, there's hell to pay.

[Sprockets]

22 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

 

IMHO, Jenelle is a sociopath, and Barb is not, job or no job.

 

Perhaps.  I see both of them going from 0 to 60 in one second flat, screaming in front of the children, using the children as pawns for thier own agendas, etc.  

34 minutes ago, GreatKazu said:

 

Apparently, Jenelle's abusive father is blameless. 

 

Is he?  I wasn't aware he was in the picture, or that he had been abusive.  

[BXD]

Poor Kaiser can never do anything right. Getting yelled at for having toys in the kitchen! :(

I can't even express how sick it makes me that she won't take Jace's concerns about David seriously. Even if Barb was putting the words in his mouth, she still needs to have a one-on-one talk with him about any feelings he has.

It was also very telling when Jenelle said on the phone to her mother that she should have learned to "act sane" for the cameras by now-that obviously says a lot about what goes on behind the scenes! Very scary!!

[lovesnark]

11 minutes ago, Sprockets said:

Perhaps.  I see both of them going from 0 to 60 in one second flat, screaming in front of the children, using the children as pawns for thier own agendas, etc.  

Is he?  I wasn't aware he was in the picture, or that he had been abusive.  

Jenelle's father was abusive to Barb. Beat the crap out of her. Barb left him and worked hard to buy a home and raise the kids by herself. Her ex never bothered to attempt to see his kids and when asked why, he said 'I was in the phone book, none of them called me'. Of course, Jenelle blames the lack of a father on Barb. 

[poeticlicensed]

2 hours ago, GreatKazu said:

I think brides in general badly over-estimate the level of interest friends and family have in their Speshul Day. I've attended dozens of weddings in my life and can't remember a thing about any of them. I certainly wouldn't spend money to travel to the wedding of a woman who's already married.

Destination weddings are the worstest. My niece wanted to get married in the caribbean, and we were all expected to be over the moon about laying out boatloads of cash just to get to the wedding, then I suppose give them a gift. Luckily, they broke up before the planning was underway. I also know someone had a destination wedding in Vegas over a holiday weekend. She thought it would be convenient for everyone to not have to take a day off work, but she never thought that airfares might be a tad higher to travel to a vacation destination during a high traveled weekend. It takes a special kind of arrogance to not consider your guests when planning a wedding. 

[AirQuotes]

1 hour ago, imjagain said:

I don't understand why they rented a house? I get that their tiny apartment would have made it hard to have a party. Why not  rent a party venue? People do it all the time. I prefer it. I have a large home but I rented a place at our local park. Once the baby shower was over we cleaned and I went home to my peaceful home. 

 

1 hour ago, Sprockets said:

 

TM probably had to have the Witches of Trash Town rent a house because there would be zero room for the film crew during the party in that tiny place they live.  The extent of the "rental" was probably making a deal with a real estate agent to film in a house that's for sale.  I hope the owners are cool with glitter and spray paint residue.  

The coven lives in Kissimmee where Disney World is and nice, huge houses with pools rent out for vacation rentals.  They are dirt cheap per night.  Way cheaper than hotel rooms go per night.  Even with the cleaning fee.

I think it was all a huge waste of money.  They should have just skipped the fake party and just bought the baby stuff they need with the shower and house rental money.

I almost had a stroke when they were spray painting on the patio!  My blood pressure was already up from them yelling at the grandma for not doing whatever it was she was supposed to be doing with the flowers fast enough.

[GreatKazu]

1 hour ago, DangerousMinds said:

IMHO, Jenelle is a sociopath, and Barb is not, job or no job.

Word!

Jenelle has no empathy or sympathy. Barb has a heart. Jenelle is no mother. She is just a breeder. Barb is now a mother to three of her grandchildren. She works her ass at Walmart to provide for those children. Barb is not a perfect parent. Show me someone who is. I was not a perfect parent. Barb is a hustler. She gets shit done. She has endured from her years as an abused woman while raising her children without his help. Let's see Jenelle try and raise her brood without any guy by her side the way Barb has done. 

[ReadMeLattice]

I'm torn about the way Barb interacts with Jenelle. Not to get too personal but I have an abusive family member and I can have a short fuse sometimes a la Barb (though not that severe), and I try REALLY hard to remain level headed around this person no matter what they do but I'm just not that Zen yet. I don't know how you *couldn't* occasionally blow up at Jenelle, but there's also a child involved who sees all this and gets the brunt of Jenelle's and *latest soulmate's* rage whenever it happens. Like, would I want to yell and grab the camera from David too? Would it be understandable? Yes. But should I when I'm in a custody battle and a child is there? No. Would I be able to help myself? Not all the time, no.  So...idk. Her biggest error is not pulling away from Jenelle, and her behavior in front of Jace is sometimes objectively inappropriate and even harmful (aka exposure to the fighting). But...I also totally get her struggle, so...I see both sides. 

[BitterApple]

I think Barb is a better person than Jenelle, but I've always looked at her as the lesser of two evils, not someone who's particularly competent as a parent. 

[ReadMeLattice]

12 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I think Barb is a better person than Jenelle, but I've always looked at her as the lesser of two evils, not someone who's particularly competent as a parent. 

Somewhat like Javi, I see her as a good person but highly emotionally immature. She is also a volatile and abrasive person. I actually like her and think she's fundamentally a good person, and obviously a very hard worker, which I deeply respect in a person. She works her ass off and deserves a vacation and a raise and people around her to treat her with kindness. I feel really bad for her. She does have major flaws, though, and I can't put ALL of the blame for how her kids turned out on her ex. 

I especially find the Barb/Jenelle connection really sick. They have a bizarre, codependent, obsessive bond. They hate each other's guts but still seem to constantly be in contact. I know that at this point that is primarily Jenelle's fault, but I don't understand why Barb can't disconnect *somewhat.* I understand not just totally writing off your child, but she is still 1000% invested in everything Jenelle does, which, it's clear, is not going to be non-destructive anytime soon. It's very unhealthy.

Edited September 7, 2017 by Lm2162

[Scarlett45]

@Lm2162 there's nothing in the world as strong as a mother's guilt- that's why Barb cannot disconnect. We talk about this idea a lot in my Sib Group, we see it more clearly with Leah but it applies to Barb too. (Especially given what we know about Jenelle's brother and his mental health problems etc). 

 

Not making excuses for Barb's mistakes but I am not surprised by them if that makes sense. 

Edited September 7, 2017 by Scarlett45

[ghoulina]

20 hours ago, lezlers said:

All she has to do is tell Jenelle that when neither David nor Jace are around.  Perhaps on a written medium.  If only there were a way to electronically send a written message to someone else...

Yea, but Jenelle would immediately tell David. And I guarantee they'd say some shit about Jace to him next time they saw him. I didn't love the way Barb handled it, but the more I think about it, the more I think the posters who said she can't win are right. 

 

4 hours ago, BitterApple said:

Jesus Christ, they're the Messer clan with money.

Chelsea's family dynamics are really odd to me. An old friend of mind just became a grandma and she's not even 35! She had her oldest daughter at 14 (which was essentially a rape situation - the dude was much, MUCH older) and now that kid just had her first baby at 18.  It's insane to me. But my friend came from a really shitty background with little parental involvement - motorcycle gangs, drugs, etc. Chelsea's family seems so vanilla....and stable. I know the parents divorced, but they all seem to get along and be in each others lives. I just don't get how there are THAT many teen pregnancies going on in that family. 

 

2 hours ago, DangerousMinds said:

IMHO, Jenelle is a sociopath, and Barb is not, job or no job.

Agree. Barb doesn't always exhibit the most positive behavior. She has things she could work on. But she also clearly has the ability to exhibit love, compassion, understanding. Jenelle is fucking dead inside and she scares me. 

 

2 hours ago, BXD said:

Poor Kaiser can never do anything right. Getting yelled at for having toys in the kitchen! :(

I had to rewind that scene because I need new glasses and it looked to me like Kaiser grabbed an AXE off the fucking counter top. I was yelling at those assholes to keep deadly weapons out of the kitchen for a full minute before I realized it was just a toy. But, hey, my scenario is believable as hell. 

Edited September 7, 2017 by ghoulina

[ReadMeLattice]

@ghoulina I'm surprised David doesn't flaunt guns and military-grade weapons all over the place, along with axes. He seems the type for sure. 

Edited September 7, 2017 by Lm2162

[BitterApple]

1 minute ago, ghoulina said:

 I just don't get how there are THAT many teen pregnancies going on in that family. 

I don't get it either, especially considering the demographics. I don't know any educated professional who had one child become an unmarried teenage parent, let alone three out of four. 

[Scarlett45]

2 minutes ago, BitterApple said:

I don't get it either, especially considering the demographics. I don't know any educated professional who had one child become an unmarried teenage parent, let alone three out of four. 

IMO it's got to be the cultural dynamics, and not just the dynamics of their particular family. After the first teen pregnancy why were the other girls not encouraged (or ordered) to use contraception? At least Leah's Mom did have her on the depo shot (I believe Leah had no intention of becoming pregnant and Corey was revenge sex to hurt Robbie). If you have a culture with latent sexism, no discussion of healthy sexuality between consenting peers (in the case of teens) and parents that are "okay" with the idea of a teen pregnancy then there you have it. Randy and his professional goals may be an outlier to both of their extended families and attitudes about teen parenthood. 

2 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

Destination weddings are the worstest. My niece wanted to get married in the caribbean, and we were all expected to be over the moon about laying out boatloads of cash just to get to the wedding, then I suppose give them a gift. Luckily, they broke up before the planning was underway. I also know someone had a destination wedding in Vegas over a holiday weekend. She thought it would be convenient for everyone to not have to take a day off work, but she never thought that airfares might be a tad higher to travel to a vacation destination during a high traveled weekend. It takes a special kind of arrogance to not consider your guests when planning a wedding. 

See I LOVE destination weddings! I think they are great to give people who really aren't interested an excuse not to go (but it's still polite, and you don't have to invite everyone). For those that do want to go it's a built in vacation. Granted all of my family lives in the Chicago are and we are a teeny family at that, so when I travel it's only for vacation. 

[RamonaSenomar]

2 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

Destination weddings are the worstest. My niece wanted to get married in the caribbean, and we were all expected to be over the moon about laying out boatloads of cash just to get to the wedding, then I suppose give them a gift. Luckily, they broke up before the planning was underway. I also know someone had a destination wedding in Vegas over a holiday weekend. She thought it would be convenient for everyone to not have to take a day off work, but she never thought that airfares might be a tad higher to travel to a vacation destination during a high traveled weekend. It takes a special kind of arrogance to not consider your guests when planning a wedding. 

Hey, now.  I disagree. 

Back in 2002, my now-husband and I started to price a wedding when we realized the venue, catering, and photographer were already putting us in the $20k range ... and we hadn't even gotten our tuxedo and gown yet!  We decided to fly to Hawaii to get married, but since we'd already asked the best man and maid of honor to be part of our special day BEFORE we flew to Hawaii, we also told them they were under no obligation to come with us because we knew it was a completely unexpected cost for them.  They said they'd love to attend, and DH and I offered to (and did) pay for a good chunk of their travel costs. 

We didn't want a reception, and because we had been living together for over a year. we also didn't want gifts.  We never once expected any of the people who would've been on our guest list to drop everything to attend our wedding.  In fact, I think in our case, we DID consider our guests when planning a wedding.  At that time, we lived in RI.  Everyone (except DH's mother) would have had to travel out of state to attend our wedding and reception.

So we flew to Hawaii instead. 
I purposefully under-estimated the level of interest everyone would have in our wedding

:)


 

[teapot]

28 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

 

I had to rewind that scene because I need new glasses and it looked to me like Kaiser grabbed an AXE off the fucking counter top.

oh, did you have a question?

 

(oops, wrong family, I was thinking of the Coven!)

[ghoulina]

11 minutes ago, teapot said:

oh, did you have a question?

 

(oops, wrong family, I was thinking of the Coven!)

Bahahahaha, you stumped me for a minute!!!