Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Did you catch the similarity?

For those of you who ready yesterday's post, you might have noted the parallel that was seen in a repeat episode of Jon&Kate. It was the one where the couples give their advice on how they survive bringing up their kids.

The two discuss how kids will try to splits parents. [check]

The two talk about how they keep their kids on a routine. [check]

How consistency is a major key to maintain everyone's sanity. [check]

Did you know that there are actual websites dedicated to people writing about how much they dislike this couple. Seriously. There are websites dedicated to this topic. It's so sad. I mean, if you don't like this couple and how they are raising their family then don't watch them. Turn the channel. Simple, right? But it's not simple for them. They continue to watch and then criticize this couple. [sigh] I have to say that the websites I found over the weekend just busting on Jon&Kate brought me back to my teenage years.

Starting in junior high people talk smack about others that they don't know. They make judgments on others by heresay versus actually witnessing events in person. "They told me THIS happened" or "I heard that she said this" kind of thing. I was on the bad end of the stick on this kind of thing in junior high/high school. It was horrible. People hated me all because this one person was spreading lies about me. A girl I didn't even know was talking trashing about me to the [gulp] popular girls in school. Why? Because I had a crush on a boy that she liked. Can you believe it? Thankfully, she moved away at the end of freshman year. The popular girls got to know me and we all were at peace. But guess what? That girl ended up moving back to our neighborhood for her senior year. By senior year, we were not separated by the popular versus not-popular lines. We were all friends by then. All the seniors had melded into a pretty relaxed group. But not ONE of those old friends of that girl would speak to her. Who did speak to her? ME. She was in my history class and I spoke with her. I was the only one. I took the high road and was cordial with her. It was about forgiveness. It was about growing up. It was about realizing that rumors are for children.

So I try hard to not make judgments about other parents. I see other parents with their kids and sometimes what they do makes my eyebrows raise a few millimeters. But I don't say anything. They are doing their job. Raising their child. The only time I'll step in is if someone else's child is interfering with MY kids. Then I'll step in for sure. I'm the Mama Bear protecting my kids, so don't cross the line. But I see stuff all the time and I don't write about every single weird thing that's happened. And I don't know these parents' names either so it's not like they know I'm talking about them. You know?

I know. I know! I'm talking about other people right now. But those websites have some harsh words on them. And when I say harsh....I mean there are some down and dirty things being written. Just rude. It's hard for me to believe that stuff like that is out there. And they make it clear exactly who they're talking about. That's what is bad about the entire thing. Now are there websites dedicated to other families on tv? How about the Duggars? Michelle is expecting her 18th child in January 2009. Anyone writing hateful words about that family? How about Kimora Lee Simmons and her two little girls? Jet setting and running around 'living the life'. Any hateful words there?

I just think that since Jon&Kate are a young couple that shows everyone their REAL selves that people feel comfortable 'talking back' about their behavior. But PLEASE! We all have our moments. They've got 8 kids in the family. What are the odds that someone will be upset each day? How about each hour? How often are your own kids upset? Multiply that as many times as you need to so that you get somewhere near 8 kids. I mean, I only have two of them and they try my patience when they're tired.

Jon is a regular, laid-back, go-with-the-flow kind of guy. Kate has her dirt, control, and OCD issues. I think that's why I watch the show. Because they are real and they let it show. They don't make it like they're all a-okay all the time. They argue. They make up. The kids cry. The kids hit each other. There are time-outs. I'm not saying that I love these people. I really like them as a family. We ALL have faults. We do. Even if we don't think something about us is a fault, another person can view it as one. Some people smoke. Some people think it's okay to spit. Some people wear too much cologne or perfume. Some people don't wear deodorant. [shrug]

I mean, my older sister loves The Baby Borrowers. I watched one episode and realize that I don't like it, so I no longer tune in. Simple. But as I said before...I enjoy the Jon&Kate and their kids. If you don't? Turn it off. Then you don't have to see these two people raise their eight kids the way they want to. K?

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