Many of us watch Jon and Kate + 8 because their children are so beautiful. We love to hear them interact with each other and the adults around them. Their smiles are adorable.Some of us like to watch with our children. Recently, CincyMom shared, "I watch J&K on Tuesdays a.m. with my daughter (p.m. kindergarten). She has such funny comments on it. She said about the new house, 'I think all fancy homes are white. That's what fancy homes do. How cute!"
Do you watch Jon and Kate with your children? Do you have a special "mom" moment to share? Does your mom love to share her favorite memories from when you were young?
30 comments:
When I was a nanny I would watch Jon and Kate with the one year old I took care of. She loved to see the kids, and it was of course something I enjoyed as well.
My mom and I are the only girls in my family (since I have 4 brothers) so we have always had a special bond. It was fun around Christmas to scan and upload about 100 pictures from my childhood, especially when I got to see old photos from when I was really little. As tough as it had to be to have 4 kids under the age of 7 and move from West Virginia (where family and friends all lived) to California (where my dads new job was) my mom rose to the occasion. I can't help but admire and respect her for that.
I have many special "Mom Moments" both with my own kids and my mother. This one sticks out because it is recent and it involves this blogging world.
In October, I flew home to a big celebration for my Mom's birthday. One night I sat down to catch up with what was going on with this blog. My mom asked me to explain it to her. I tried to the best I could (it really is not that easy to the outside world)and was explaining to her why we all have made up screen names.
She wanted to know who I was. I pulled up a comment section and asked her to see if she could figure who I was out. As she read down through the names, tears came to her eyes and she gave me a big hug. Nina Bell was her mother and my grandmother. Now every week that we talk, she wants to know how the blog and Nina Bell are doing.
Oh there are soooo many, but they are less frequent now that she is older-and much more special.
She knows I am a cheese-ball!
I won't let my kids watch J/K show or Little People Big World anymore because of the disrespect shown. In one show it's wife/husband disrespect, in the other show it's children to parents. I thought at first I had found safe family shows since my kids are allowed to watch very little tv, but soon we had to turn these off.
Mom to 4, I think its great that you monitor your childrens TV watching so closely. More parents need to follow suit. One of my friends recently made the point that "If there is a behavior on the show that you do not want your children to mirror, then they should not watch it." Even though my nephew is only 15 months we listen to music and only let him watch Sesame Street and Little Einsteins (he loves patting along with Quincy and the kids!).
Its great to have standards, and I admire your implacability :).
I was very sick with various respiratory illnesses when I was young. I had missed almost my entire kindergarten year of school. My mom took me to every doctor in the area - ear/nose/throat, pediatricians, lung specialists, etc. She took no crap from anyone who tried to just tell her it was a virus or I'd just grow out of it. My mom was convinced it was allergy related and demanded tests. She was right. I had several crazy allergies and they were making me really ill. I began allergy shots and things got better!
I remember nights where she would come into my room and feel my back (that's how she would know whether I had fever or not); filling up the old-fashioned steam vaporizer; rubbing me down with Vicks vapor rub and wrapping me in cotton tshirts. She did whatever, whenever at whatever cost - be it time or money to see me get better.
My son (almost 2) just had his first ear infection and is taking antibiotics for the very first time. My mom calls every day and says "how's the baby?" Does he have a temperature? And, then she'll recall something from my childhood and a remedy she would use.
Funny thing is, as much as my mom can drive me crazy (in a good way), I am just like her as a mother. I'm persistent with my child's doctor. I also find myself checking in on my dude during the night to make sure his vaporizer isn't out of water or to feel his back or head for temperature.
My mom is not the kind of person who compliments often. It's just not her personality. Over the Christmas holiday my mom, in front of my H and inlaws who were over, told them how proud she is of me as a mom. It really made my Christmas!
Nina, I just wanted to say your posting touched my heart. I'm sure your mother appreciated your screen name.
My daughter watches J&K+8 once in a while. She likes watching because of the kids. My daughter is a year younger than the 6 and she thinks that's so cool.
I started watching J&K because of my teenage daughter and my soon-to-be DIL. They are part of that crazy teenage/young adult fan club. It is a way to connect to them.
My mom passed away 8 years ago and I still miss her everyday. As I parent my own kids, I realize how much I must of drove my mom crazy. I was the youngest of six. I'm sure she wanted some alone time and I never let her get any. I refused babysitters (even my grammy), came home for lunch everyday for school (so she had to be home everyday at noon), insisted on going on every errand with her (she offered toys to kids who stayed home), etc. I even watched her get ready for bed every night (she developed this crazy getting dressed & undressed process under her robe). Heck, when she was having cancer treatment and staying with me I still didn't leave her room when she did the robe - dress/undress thing. And the really neat part of her parenting, is that I never felt that she didn't want me around her 24/7. I never realized until I was parenting how difficult I must of made it for her.
I don't think she would like J&K - she was, understandably, not that interested shows about families as she got older. I think I wore her out! :)
Nina - I love how your screen name came about!
My youngest (she'll be 12 on 2/2) watches J&K in the afternoon. Reruns are on from 5-6pm. We monitor the tv our kids watch and I'm delighted that she has something like this to watch. She's also a big Animal Planet fan(loves It's Me or the Dog). She asked last night if she could watch 'Life of an American Teenager' cause all the kids in her class (6th grade) watch it! Why would anyone let kids this age watch a show about pregnant teenagers (that's the show she's referring to; not sure if I got the name right). We use the parental controls on the tv; need to do something about the basement tv cause it has nothing control-wise. The buttons on the tv are all broken it's so old lol.
I also watch J&K on Mon nights and when my daughter is home from college she watches with me. But uh oh, they've gone and moved House to the same time so . . . choices must be made!
Nina - great story! I would have loved to have seen the look on your mom's face! :-)
Nina Bell,
That is a really touching story; I got a lump in my throat reading it. It's a great sounding screen name too.
My son is 16, and a handsome 16 year old boy has better things to do than bother with "the Gosselin World." Lol! My daughters watch with me though, and they enjoy it. They have their "favorite kids" and they give their opinions quite freely regarding Kate and Jon.
We watched the 'Giving Back' episode together, and the sick children really moved them. My youngest had almost waist-length, chestnut brown hair, that she took good care of. She had cousins and a teacher who previously had donated their hair to "Locks of Love." The organization collects pony tails to weave into high quality wigs for children who are balding due to illness. The St. Jude's episode inspired her to donate her hair this Christmas. It was harder for me to let her cut it, because she would occasionally let me help her brush it in the morning. That last morning before she cut it wasn't easy. We took good care not to pull too hard, "because it belongs to somebody else now."
Mom to 4, VOR, sd6aliasfan,
Welcome! Hope you stick around.
I just want to say, I am very much enjoying the wonderful stories you all are sharing.
I am racking my brain to come up with something as interesting. My 17-year-old is past the sweet moments some of get to experience daily (Cincy Mom!). I probably should have written down some of the things she said when she was younger.
As I am sure some of you can relate, we have our good days and bad days! However, as I have mentioned before, she loves J&K and when things get tense or it sometimes feels we don't have a lot in common at this juncture in time, the show and the cute things the kids say are one of the fun ways we can connect. She frequently comes into my bedroom, plops herself on my bed and turns on the DVR and begins playing some of the cute moments that are her favorites.
She loves all the kids. Her favorites change daily. Kate gets on her nerves sometimes, but we have had some honest discussions about different personality types and what sometimes drives people's behavior "tics". I have also shared with her some of the hateful things that are said on the internet by grown woman about both the parents and the children and she is appalled by the behavior of these so-called adults.
Nina Bell said...
Mom to 4, VOR, sd6aliasfan,
Welcome! Hope you stick around.
I second that!!!
Thanks for sharing about your daughter, Saint. Very touching.
My daughter got me into the whole Jon & Kate world. She watched a lot of Discovery Health and told me there was a special I had to watch. We've been watching together ever since.
My daughter loves to shop and taking her would upset me because I couldn't buy her most of the things she wanted. I simply had to stop taking her. A year ago at Christmas I was shopping for her and got the idea to buy her gift cards from stores at the mall for her main gift. We had such a great time shopping together that we did it again this year.
Ninabell, your comment was really touching, thanks for sharing. Motherhood has been the greatest thing that has happened to me. Children are a gift. I enjoy watching the show, mainly to see these precious little kids play and learn. My son is a teenager now so it brings back so many special memories when he was their age, especially the show when the little ones first started preschool and learning to ride their bikes. Those are some of my favorite memories with my son when he was a little guy. Every now and then my husband {and son} will catch alittle bit of it with me, but I'm the one that watches it the most.
The main reason I still watch the show is because my kids can not get enough of the Gosselin children - they find them funny and adorable! (and I swear, from no prompting form me, they just asked me this season why the Gosselins get to take so many vacations! My kids have no clue how I feel about some of the things Joan and Kate do on the show. I just love hearing my kids tell me what they like about each episode.) They are 5 and 7, and for the most part, I don't let them watch tv with me (and they don't really watch much. They love it when I'm busy - especially over this holiday vacation - when they got to sneak in Zack and Cody!)
Mom, it's funny you mention that story about allergies. My daughter is in Kindergarten, and when we went to get her exam and booster shots, I mentioned to her doctor that I thought Paige has allergies because there are times she complains of having "ear confections" and she seems to be very clumsy and falls down a lot. I'm pretty sure it's an equalibrium problem, but one thing led to another and she wanted her to see an neurologist which led to Paige having an EEG. We got the shock of our lives when the neurologist said it came back abnormal (she said, after our last visit, that she had some activity on the left side of her brain.) This led to a 24 hour EEG at the hospital, which came back normal. So now we don't know what to think. Our neurologist, who came highly recommended, unfortunately hasn't been the most informative person and it's been a frustrating experience.
AAP, I hope they are able to find out why your daughter is not feeling well! That has to be terrifying to watch your little one be so unsteady and have ear 'confections' all the time... could you keep us updated on how she is? (Email is fine even if you don't mind sharing).
Saint, I am so proud of your daughter for being so gracious! That takes a lot of courage to give up something like long hair and to want to help another with it. How adorable that she cautioned you about it being someone elses too-- I am sure that as a mom you realized you had to have done something right!!
Nina I had no idea that is how you got your screenname but that is so wonderful! Glad your mom got the chance to share in the Gosselin world a bit :).
Mom, you brought up a point that I think of a lot-- I wonder how I will be as a mother and hope in some ways I am just like my mom though in other ways there are definite things I want to do differently. Kinda interesting how we grow up and strike out on our own then end up right back where we started from in some ways. I have noticed with my nephew that I say or do things with him out of habit that are exactly like my mom :). Can't wait till I get married and have little ones of my own, especially after reading everyones wonderful stories!
Lizabeth -
Right now she is fine. Because it's winter she hasn't had any ear confections or falling spells. (I, on the other hand, am still dying apparently from allegeries. The doctor said my cold and cough is due to post nasal drip, and it's just not going away. To make matters worse, I just had to have my wisdom tooth taken out because I cracked it on a cough drop! LOL. We're going down hill in my family fast this past 6 months!)
I'm keeping an eye on Paige, and next time it happens will pursue the allergy issue again, so there's more of a history of the ear infections and her falling vs. the abnormal EEG she had which I honestly would like to believe was a fluke. I'm pretty confident her falls aren't seizure related (my friend's husband has epilepsy so I've seen what a seizure looks like.)
Thanks for asking!
My daughter is a Jon & Kate fanatic. Its the only reality show she watches. She is almost 8 and relates to the twins and enjoys comparing all the "cool" places they have both gone to. We have a Gosselin list of the places we have not gone to and hope to do someday.
She likes to talk about when the twins get upset about things and how it also happens to her. Ie: Cara crying over not wanting to wear her sandals, Mady at Dutch wonderland crying to stay in the stroller. All of their actions both good and bad she likes to discuss with me because its very interesting to her. This is why I love the show. It brings up discussions with my child as to how we would handle the situations they go through. She sometimes feels jealous with the baby and feels bad the girls deal with that times 6!
This show has been wonderful for my child to watch and how we bond over loving it. To Mom of Four who does not let your children watch, you might want to see it through a kids eyes. You might feel differently.
AAP, best wishes for your daughter. I'm sorry for the worry the you must be going through,
So many sweet stories. I really enjoy the personal stories here. This thread and the one about the pets reminds me of all the heartfelt / touching/ make you teary stories I used to like to read in Reader's Digest.
I couldn't think of anything specific, it was a flood of memories. For some reason what did stick out was when I would return from trips and they would be so excited I was home. Such a change from “I don't want to go home, I want to stay at so an so's”. Even at the heaviest, it was only about once every 4-5 mos until they were teenagers, so it wasn't out of the norm or usually for extended says. I was surprised how much they missed me and it was nice to be missed.
My little one has seen me watch J&K sometimes, but she's usually in bed. On a couple of the shows I caught during the day, I thought she might like the kids but she wasn't interested at all. There's some I wouldn't let her see like the cupcake birthday, she is over empathetic and would get upset at the kids crying. Also, I'm SP and she's not used to seeing the squabbles except in a funny Disney kind of way. We have on PBS/NIK/DIS most mornings. There are many moments with her. The boys grew up so quick and I remind myself of that all time with this one.
AAP-
I highly reccommend a neti pot for your cold- sounds gross but works miracles. I had a terrible sinus infection that wouldnt go away, Ive been hearing about the benefit of the neti pot and I was desperate for relief bc I was totally blocked. I was so stopped up that it took several uses before I could breathe again but after 2 days of using it 2-3 times a day I was COMPLETLEY well! If you do get one I suggest the squirt bottle. Feel Better soon and I hope that things improve with your daughter. I know Worrying about your child is a painful thing.
MomTO4,
I understand your not letting your children watch the show. Even tho the kids are cute the way Jon and Kate treat each other is not what I would call quality kid TV...as if there is much of that anyway.
It may bring up discussion as to how Mommy's and Daddy's should not talk to one another, I hate to think any child is keeping a list of Gosselin family vacation's on their family's score board.
I think when you attempt to watch the show thru a child's eyes, most people would see how inappropriate this show is...in so many levels.
Anya:
You prompted me to write what my daughter said in my journal, so she can see what she said later. I have one for each of my kids and try to chronicle fun things for them that I would totally forget the next day much less in 10 years. I'm pretty bad now that they're older. I need to get back into it.
Funny update with daughter: She is home sick today and on the way back from the doctor she was talking about Barak Obama (at age 5). She wanted to know if he lives in "that White House." And next comment was "No fair. That is the fanciest house of all."
Ha ha. I just love what they say.
FIONA said...It may bring up discussion as to how Mommy's and Daddy's should not talk to one another
Well, I obviously have less of an issue with the show than you do, but I do think for children of the right age, watching the show with a parent can spark some interesting discussions. If nothing else, it will show them all families are different, but it can also be used as a vehicle to discuss why your families values are important to you.
CincyMom said...Funny update with daughter: She is home sick today and on the way back from the doctor she was talking about Barak Obama (at age 5). She wanted to know if he lives in "that White House." And next comment was "No fair. That is the fanciest house of all."
See, that's why I *so* miss that age. I am sure at age 5, the White House does seem like the fanciest house in the world! It's probably small potatoes compared to Tom Cruise's or George Lucas', but we won't dillusion the little one just yet!
We do not accept anonymous commenting. Please resubmit your post and choose a screen name .
How nice to finally find a J&K+8 blog without lots of ugly name calling because someonecan't stand Kate & someone else loves her, gets hateful to the person who doesn't like her. They basically cuss each other out for no good reason! It's so wonderful to find a site where people respect each others opinions! Great Mom stories. Mine, too is 17 and off to college this fall. Be's my only one & I am already freaking out!! He doesn't really watch J&K, but he has seen enough to (teasingly) tell me that people who can't figure out Birth Control shouldn't be allowed to breed *LOL* Dont freak out; he's kidding. But he did/does like being an only child. Anyway *waving* Hey Y'all I'm Scarlett.
Welcome ScarlettO
Hope you look around and make yourself at home.
Just had a super-sweet moment this morning with my little girl. She's only 14 months old, so no funny things to say just yet. But when I dropped her off at daycare, she walked right up to me (I was crouching down to say goodbye), gave me a big hug, then lifted her head and pursed her lips and gave me a kiss! That has NEVER happened before. She's been making the kissing noises lately but I didn't realize she had figured out how to give kisses. And she usually only hugs back if you hug her first, never initiates. Oh, it made it so hard to leave her there today! So sweet!
Aw, Rachel, how adorable!
Post a Comment