I've been catching TLC's late night reruns of "Jon and Kate Plus 8". The series chronicles the hectic lives of a Pennsylvanian married couple who have twin girls AND a set of sextuplets (three boys, three girls). That's a lot of people in one room.
The first time I saw Jon and Kate Gosselin and their large family was in an hour-long documentary shot after they had the sextuplets. One of the main plotlines of that show was Kate receiving a free tummy tuck from a plastic surgeon and getting a makeover. As a series, the show is now more "slick." The show's open, bumps, and teases are heavily produced. Each episode tallies with on-screen graphics how much the family requires, for example, to take a trip or for a week's meals.
There are a couple of seasons of the series already on the air. The twins are 6 or 7 years old and the sextuplets are 2 or 3 years old. Episodes depict very ordinary family events that are huge challenges for Jon and Kate. Hosting a birthday party for the six young ones, taking a couple of the kids to the eye doctor, shopping for Christmas presents, buying groceries to feed a family of 10 for the week.
Honestly, the show is compelling. Watching Jon or Kate prepare eight plates of food as the children sit around a long dining table, or maneuver in the kitchen with three or four young ones underfoot is something to see. The kids are normal and well-behaved -- by this I mean they're NOT setting the house on fire or maiming one another -- but they're still kids. Someone will be crying, another will be shouting, all will be in motion at the same time.
As parents, Jon and Kate perform some really remarkably kind and loving gestures. At the sextuplets' birthday party, each of the six younger children was serenaded by "Happy Birthday to You." It meant doing it six times, but each kid felt special on a day that IS special even if it is shared with siblings.
In one memorable episode, Jon and Kate dared to bring all eight kids to Toys R Us to help the kids buy Christmas presents for one another. At one point Kate wanted Jon to distract half of the kids while she attempted to make a purchase. When she needed help, she yelled to her husband in the store using words like, "Hello! Stop playing with those toys and help me here!" Later in the parking lot, Jon, with his back to the camera and his voice low but still captured on the wireless mike, complained to Kate that her yelling at him made him feel like a dog.
It is not, by the way, the only episode where Kate bosses her husband around.
Lately I've been watching newer episodes that seem rather contrived. In one episode, the entire brood went shopping for new beds. In the chaos that ensued with eight restless kids in a store (one of the kids was constipated and crying), Jon said more than once that they should've left the children at home. Another episode had the whole clan on a road trip to Disneyworld. Most parents I know would not brave shopping expeditions and extended road trips with two young children, much less six three-year-olds and two six-year-olds. The Disneyworld episode was flat out product placement.
These outrageous outings strike me as scripted or this show's version of introducing conflict. In the last episode I saw, Jon and Kate flew to Utah for a ski vacation with all the kids and two grown-up friends to assist. The trip and new ski jackets for everyone were donated by some company (whose name I did not note). The flight was diverted due to bad weather and the family spent several additional hours trapped on the plane.
Allowing a documentary crew to follow your unusual family for one or two specials is reasonable. But have Jon and Kate really considered what it means to their young children to grow up in front of reality TV cameras? The Olsen Twins grew up while making television, yes, but re-runs of "Full House" show them delivering their lines, not throwing a tantrum like Mady Gosselin did when she wasn't allowed to wear her flip flops on a trip. Will Mady live that down as she enters puberty a mere five years from now?
I'm not sure I can fault the Gosselins for choosing to do a reality show whether its to share their knowledge of raising multiples with other parents, or to make some coin to raise such a large family. But maybe the best thing for me to do is simply turn away and give them the privacy that all families need.
