A Housewife's Thoughts on Jon & Kate

Yes, you can add me to the list of millions of bloggers who feel that they need to comment on the state of Jon & Kate Gosselin's (now dissolved) marriage. I can't resist. I have to address this at some point . . . because if you know me outside of blog-ville, you know I'm a big fan of the show. Was a fan. Am a fan? I guess don't know where I stand right now as far as the TLC series goes, but I certainly have some opinions about it's main stars.

And by the main stars, I mean the kids. Cara, Mady, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Leah, Colin, and Joel (listed in birth order, without having to look it up). I miss seeing them on the show, for pete's sake. THEY were why I watched it so faithfully. I loved to hear Alexis say, "Al-der-gator" and to laugh at Aaden's goofy little animal antics. I thought Cara was such a doll, Leah was certainly the cutest, and I always had a choice word about what I would do with a daughter like Mady. And now -- with all that Jon and Kate have going on between them -- we don't get to see the kids any more. I miss them! I'm tired of watching about 10 minutes of what the kiddos are up to and then the remainder of the episode being the dialogue between two very estranged and unhappy people that are not even sitting next to each other on the couch. Now that the divorce is official, maybe the kids will reclaim the spotlight of their TLC series.

I say I watched for the kids -- and I did -- but I also watched to see what Kate was up to. Didn't we all? I felt that Kate and I had a LOT in common, almost from the first time I watched the show. And when I read her book, it only solidified my feelings. (Yes, I read Multiple Blessin8s over the Christmas holidays.) She always knew she wanted to have a big family. She loved being a mom more than any other job she could imagine, and she couldn't see herself doing anything else. Kate's very opinionated and can be seriously strong-willed. She just has a way about her that was always reminding me of . . .well, me. And yes, I found her saying things to Jon that I had, myself, said to my own husband. Not the worst of the worst things, of course . . . but there were plenty of times she spout off to Jon, and I would watch knowing that poor Jim had heard the same thing come out of my mouth. Like I said, she and I had/have a lot in common . . . good AND bad.

Throughout the past few seasons of the show, I really thought Kate was a totally devoted mom. She had a genuine love for her kids; she seemed to always have them in the forefront of her mind, no matter what. I thought she was creative when it came to entertaining her kids. I took advice from her, tried her recipes, even bought a Little Tykes picnic table because I saw how practically she put one (well, she has two) to use.

And they were a team, Jon and Kate -- it wasn't always Kate doing the work. Her husband was right there beside her, and I loved seeing that in a big family with so much to handle. They seemed like a well oiled machine. They seemed to love each other and their kids so very much . . . and I envied that. I hoped that Jim and I could be so lucky as to find our groove they way they had in the first season or two of the series. I watched the way Jon and Kate planned things (outings, dinners, holidays, etc.) and found myself trying to do the same in my own household. And, often, it worked. I got a lot of good ideas from Jon and Kate because I felt -- on a smaller scale, of course -- I could relate to them.

But now -- oh, now -- I don't feel like Kate and I are at all alike. I can't relate to "Jon & Kate" anymore. And it's not because of the bad things Kate's done or said to/about Jon . . . or the things that Jon has supposedly done to Kate. It's because they've both changed so dramatically. Kate's gone from a regular housewife and mom to this . . . other thing entirely. She's absorbed in her money-making and her fame. It's very sad, really. And Jon seems to care more about the fact that he's "only 32" than the fact that 9 years ago he had twin daughters and started a family. He's fed up with the life he created, and now he wants out.

Their entire lifestyle has also changed, which makes them seem less 'normal' and more 'showbiz' to me. They were once this regular old couple in a regular old Pennsylvania house. They shopped with coupons. They made meals ahead of time and froze them in their garage freezer. They folded laundry and packed lunches and hung their kids art all over the kitchen. They were regular people, just like Jim and me. Now they are just two rich people with a lot of kids. They live in a big ole house and get ridiculous perks that show up as advertising bits during their show.

None of the original "Jon & Kate" seems to remain, now that their show is a big hit and they've hit the big time. It's absolutely not the same show it once was. I miss the 'A Day in the Life' episodes or the shows where we watched Kate grocery shop for her large clan. I couldn't care LESS about watching them cook with Emeril or get free motorcycles from American Chopper. Who wants to watch a bunch of rich people raise a whole bunch of kids doing ridiculous things that are way outside the realm of REAL life? I especially don't find it interesting to watch a bunch of rich people who appear to be now sacrificing everything their family had for the money they get from TV.

That is the thing that gets me the hottest . . . the way Kate and Jon both continue to say, "It's for our kids. Everything is about our kids." NO, clearly, it is NOT. If it were, you would have abandoned the show when your marriage got rocky in an effort to focus on your family. There is no way that she can say, "It's for the kids," when IT seems to be exactly what is destroying their family. I think that her kids would grow up happily in a house with two parents that love them and are there for them every day . . . without gobs of money that they could be making from reality TV. No amount of money can buy the kind of stability that a two (happy) parent home can bring, in my opinion.

I just wish they had not given up on their marriage. I wish they could go back to the old Jon & Kate. I wish Jon would give Kate a second chance -- but he's so checked out of that house, there seems to be no way it's remotely possible. I don't really fault Kate that much in the dissoluation of the marriage . . . she changed into a famous lady, yes, but she's ALWAYS been bossy. She's always been strong willed. Jon knew that when it married her, and he just got fed up with her bossiness PLUS 8 kids. Poor Kate; she's going to be a single mother of 8. That is so scary to me . . . but not as scary as being ALONE. She's going to be all alone. I do feel bad for her, despite the fact that I also feel she should have put a stop to all of this to save her marriage -- regardless of the money they would walk away from.

Easy for me to say, right? I sit her in my modest home with my two cute kids and totally judge some people on a heavily edited television show while reading the gossip magazines and catching up on papparazzi TV all about their private lives. I shouldn't have so many opinions about Jon & Kate . . . but I do. Maybe it's because I felt like I was like them, once . . . I even wanted to BE them a few times. Or at least meet them. Now those feelings are gone. I'm sad about that. Nobody likes to see their idols go down in flames.

But go down they did . . . RIP Jon & Kate. I'll keep watching to see your cute kids grow up, but I'll miss you guys a lot.