My Take on Jon & Kate

For some reason, I’m compelled to state my opinion on this whole Jon and Kate Gosselin situation that’s been dominating the tabloids lately.

For those who may not be familiar, Jon and Kate Gosselin and their 8 children (a set of twins and sextuplets) chronicle their life on a TLC reality show, Jon&Kate Plus 8. This show has been going on for some time and is immensely popular. I enjoy watching it because it makes me feel a little less overwhelmed since I only have 3 kids instead of 8.

Lately, the Gosselin’s activities outside the show have garnered them less than positive media attention.

Apparently Jon, age 32, who got married at 22, has been quoted as saying since he married so young and immediately had kids, he never got to hang out, party, and hook up as the young 'uns typically do. Apparently he is taking care of that now - from photographs and witnesses he is carrying on with a 23 year old.

Kate has been quoted as saying there is definitely trouble in the marriage, and while she views her marriage as important, she’s not sure where it is going right now. She said she wants to focus on her kids and providing for them. And she is doing so, by writing and promoting their second book, filming the show, and doing lucrative speaking engagements, which frequently involve travel. Jon admittedly does not like the public appearances and speaking, so she’s doing these activities on her own.

What angers me a little is now the tabloids are focused on painting Kate as a monster. Like it's all her fault her husband is straying. Jon seems to be getting a free pass.

Here is why they think she is so terrible:

• She went tanning on the sextuplets’ birthday So what – it was also Mothers’ Day – a girl can’t take an hour or so for herself?


• She traveled 21 days out of the last 30, and cares more about fame and making money than her kids... It’s called a book tour, probably scheduled long ago by her publisher, to promote a book that will likely help pay for college for 8 kids. Jon doesn’t work, and their show won’t last forever, so someone needs to make some coin. I’m sure it wasn’t fun for her to try to promote a book about their family when every magazine showed her husband out at bars with a 23 year old, and showed said 23 year old in a bikini in Kate’s own front yard. How embarrassing. Further, if Jon were the one doing the traveling, I doubt the magazines would be adding up how much time HE is away from the kids. Such a double standard.


• She is having an affair with her married bodyguard So far all they can come up with on this one are some unproven suspicions and some photographs of them together in the airport – um, traveling with her is his job. Kate has said his wife is often with them too, but of course she doesn’t get photographed.


• She fired 40 nurses when the sextuplets were babies …OK, that seems a little extreme – but we don’t know WHY they were fired. Perhaps she fired a service that provided the nurses. She is a former nurse herself, so I imagine she has high standards.


• She berated a nurse once for washing her hands in the kitchen instead of the bathroom, stating it was cross-contamination. Those who watch the show know Kate is a germophobe – like a lot of people. She had 6 premature infants in her home – she might have had a valid concern there in trying to keep the kitchen sterile, as the babies’ bottles were likely made there.


• She treats Jon badly. Those who watch the show have seen her snap on Jon. She does seem like a bit of a control freak, but he usually (on the show at least) seems good natured about her neurotic-ness. It doesn’t give him a free pass to carry on with 20 year olds.


• She’s estranged from her family and rejected cribs donated by her pastor father’s parishioners because they didn't match. No one knows why she is estranged from her family, it’s been reported that they don’t agree with their decision to put the family on TV. Are they paying the bills? As for the cribs, so what if she didn’t accept donations. Maybe she wanted to buy them herself. There are a lot of hazards with donated baby stuff, with recalls, missing pieces, and such.

Can you see where I’m going with this? I’m on Team Kate. She is by no means perfect (who is??) but I don’t think she deserves the blindsiding negative media she's getting. Jon seems like he's a good father, but in the husband department he appears to be a whiny little boy who needs to grow up.