News of The Day: Jon and Kate – Oy

I want you all to join me in a little exercise. Stop what you’re doing, go to the nearest window, and stick your head out. Take a deep breath and yell, “Jon and Kate … SHUT UP.” Don’t you feel better? I know I do. I think we’ve reached a point in our relationship with Jon and Kate Gosselin where we need to vent.

I’m a person of routine, some call it OCD, I prefer to call it routine. I get up in the morning. I make coffee. I sit down at my computer and go to my homepage to see what’s happening in the world. AOL mentioned Jon and Kate no less than four times today and that’s just on my homepage. What, exactly, have these two done to earn our minute-by-minute attention? What is their claim to fame, the fact that they managed to have eight kids? I work with a woman who has six and number of grandchildren that she helps support. Can she get a little love?

I don’t have a clue why these two hold such an attraction for the public. What’s today’s drama about? Does Jon have a new girlfriend? Did Kate cheat during the marriage? Oh right, Jon took money out of their joint bank account. Kate, honey, let me tell you something. If you look up dog in the dictionary, one definition is soon to be x-husband. This kind of thing happens every day, sometimes the x-wife steals the money. How does this warrant an interview on the Today Show? Just as an added aside, if you can afford to hire Marty Singer as a lawyer, how bad can it be, really.

We live in a world of Reality TV. I accept that. I’m not happy about it but I accept it. Even given the meager definition of entertainment these days, I don’t see how two parents exploiting their eight kids in news worthy. Let’s look at Reality TV for a second. What did these two do to warrant their own show? They are not the Top Chefs or America’s Next Top Models. They aren’t COPS or forensics scientists. They don’t design clothes or chase fugitives. I just don’t get it.

I feel old when I write a column that discusses the problems with today’s society. I’m not really that old but I do remember a time when privacy was something people would strive for. My parents weren’t perfect. As an adult, I know how dysfunctional our family was but as child, I didn’t have a clue. That’s because my parents understood their job was to shield my siblings and me from the complexity of adulthood. Relationships are complicated. I can’t help but feel bad for these eight Gosselin children. What type of value system are they being taught when their parents air all their dirty laundry on TV?

As a community, we need to stop supporting this type of behavior. Whether you have one child or eight, we need to redefine our priorities. I don’t need to know who the Baby Daddy is or that you slept with your father for ten years. Do you enrich the lives of your children, in any way, by talking trash about their father to the media? Of course not, children are meant to think their parents are Gods until the time the old enough to know differently.

I do find comfort in knowing that eventually Jon and Kate will have worn out their welcome with the public. Those two and their eight little Gosselins will fade into obscurity. The kids will grow up and then have their own TV show called something like ‘Gosselin 8: We all Growed Up Now.’ One will be a recovering alcoholic. Two will be in rehab. We’ll follow the life of one as he/she serves out a prison sentence. They all hate their parents and exploit their kids. Reality TV, much like abuse, is doomed to be a vicious cycle. Then, I suppose, I’ll stick my elderly head out the window, take a deep breath, and yell again.

Until next time … Peace
Darla