Kate Gosselin - Mother of the Year

[formergothardite]

It's been five years. Time for both of them to stop blaming each other and move on.

Jon is gross and doesn't really want the kids. Kate is controlling and does want the kids, so long as they do as she says.

Cara and Mady are screwed. If they don't please their mother and keep her happy, their lives will be miserable. And they haven't seen their dad in a year, so it's not like they can go there.

It is time for them to move on, but if he had been a woman with a man treating him this way he would have gotten a lot more sympathy and understanding.

Neither of them are fit to parent and I wish there was some way to get those kids to a place where there are adults who will put their needs first.

[Palimpsest]

I just wish there was one person to speak for those kids that isn't Kate or Jon. They need a guardian ad litem like nobody's business...

This. Perhaps even the judge will get fed up with these poor excuses for parents this time and finally get a GAL in there.

Perhaps the Gosselin kids will be able to look back someday and realise that one good thing came out of their fractured childhoods: The Gosselin Law. Outrage at the selling of the kids childhoods meant that the PA Child Labor Laws were revised and amended to include children on reality TV and put a few safeguards in place. Not enough, IMO, but a few safeguards.

[bookgirl14]

Even if Aunt Jodi got booted from TLC, what's stopping her from stepping in now? Surely any judge will start to realize that neither parent has any of the child's best interests in mind.

[lilith]

Even if Aunt Jodi got booted from TLC, what's stopping her from stepping in now? Surely any judge will start to realize that neither parent has any of the child's best interests in mind.

It's incredibly difficult to take custody from biological parents and give it to a non parent without clear evidence of physical or sexual abuse or neglect. As it should be, in my opinion.

I think John and Kate are incredibly self centred and that the younger kids should have someone to represent their interests and the twins should be allowed to speak for themselves and have their wishes respected, but I don't see that they've done anything to justify terminating their custody. The courts can order protective steps to be taken without taking the kids from their parents.

[ljohnson2006]

And Jon is material for Father Of The Year. Have you seen him and his skanky girlfriend on Couples Therapy?

[Palimpsest]

And Jon is material for Father Of The Year. Have you seen him and his skanky girlfriend on Couples Therapy?

I haven't watched Couples Therapy, and don't think I need to. Both Gosselin parents are incredibly flawed and the kids are so screwed. Bring on a GAL.

I don't do twitter and I read some comments on 15 Minutes for the first time in ages last week. Something rang a bell. 15 Minutes posters are making fun of a Lauren@ljohnson2006 for her tweets. And if those tweets are real, Lauren@ljohnson2006 is, IMHO, out of her tiny mind with love for Kate Gosselin. In a very creepy way.

I just looked back at this thread and Curious called you out on the strangeness of your avid criticism of the Duggars and equally avid defense of Ms. Gosselin weeks ago.

If you are Lauren@ljohnson2006 on Twitter, I don't know whether to laugh at you or groan and slap you upside the head. Those tweets re. Kate are ... just ... weird!

[lizziesmom]

The time for a GAL has come and gone and that ship has sailed. I don't know what the custody arrangements are but I do know that Kate and Jon's relationship is toxic and seems to have always been that way. This kids would be damaged, divorce or no divorce. Their father may be incredibly immature but their mother never met an insult she didn't like when it came to Jon. The way she interacted with her sons too seems to indicate a hatred of men in general. I hope the money set aside for the kids can be used for their psychiatrists because I expect they will need time on the couch.

[Mela99]

And Jon is material for Father Of The Year. Have you seen him and his skanky girlfriend on Couples Therapy?

Him being a shit human being doesn't make Kate a better one.

[formergothardite]

And Jon is material for Father Of The Year. Have you seen him and his skanky girlfriend on Couples Therapy?

And Kate is Mother of the Year? She isn't trying to use her children to get back in the spotlight?

Neither of them are good parents but at least at this point Jon isn't trying to put the kids back on television.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-254670 ... brity.html

Kate's sister says she hasn't seen any of them or spoken to them in six years. Kate has no contact with any of her family or former friends. Steve the bodyguard no longer works for her, and documents show she took out a 750,000 loan on the house due to be repaid in 2018, just four years away. The kids schooling is allegedly 200,000 a year (I don't believe that figure. 20,000 a month for the school year??)

[chaotic life]

$200,000 year would put their school tuition at $25,000 per child, assuming there was no sibling discount. That's middle of the road for high end private school tuition. My sister paid $35,000/year for my niece's private school education--and I told her she was crazy for it.

The problem with a GAL is that barring evidence both parents are severely negligent or physical abusive, the courts aren't going to have the power to remove the children from one of their parents. I really think Kate's family might be the best option for the kids. I know she has four siblings and that the rest of her family is very close knit. I don't know a lot about Jon's family except that he reconciled with them after the divorce and that his father was a dentist who has passed away. At most, the grandparents might be able to sue for grandparent rights, which would give them visitation rights but not custody of the kids. I strongly suspect Kate is Narcissistic which would make her emotionally and verbally abusive but not so much physically abusive and proving non-physical abuse is often next to impossible. Jon opens his mouth and demonstrates that he still lacks the maturity to be the better parent than Kate. Though, he behaves in much the same way a few other men I've known divorced from NPDs behave--which is why people who know them tend to try to keep their distance, because their own co-dependency and inability to get over the NPD spouse becomes frighteningly unhealthy and creepy the longer they continue to rant while the rest of the world moves on.

The best anyone can really hope for the kids is that they go searching for their family when they are adults and discover that the reality their mother gave them of the world is as messed up as their mother herself is.

[Miggy]

I don't know about US schools but here you are advised to budget on double whatever the tuition fee is for the actual cost of attending an independent school. School uniforms, books, sport, music, excursions are usually extra on the tuition fee. Imagine $400,000 a year!!! (Not that it would quite reach this with sibling discounts, shared uniforms, etc. but it's a wonderful idea.)

[bionicmlle]

The radar story today abt Kate's family is probably the most important one out of all of this mess. Assuming it is true, at least they can google themselves (now for the twins! And hopefully in the 'tups teens) and see that they have family that love them and want to be involved.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

The grandparents wouldn't qualify for visitation bevause they would have to show they had a strong relationship with the kids that has been cut off, but they never had a relationship with them. Kate is not normal, she doesn't let anyone around the kids because she thinks everyone is out to get her.

[Stephanie66]

Full tuition at the kids' school is 18K a year for the upper school. I believe it is around 12K for the lower school.

[nana sew dear]

Jon and Kate have both made pretty poor decisions but I think the difference is that Jon can learn. Kate apparently knows it all already. She cleans better than the cleaning ladies she interviewed (she didn't dust under the stack of books!), she knows organization better than the professional organizers that came to help, she has better taste than the people doing her FREE home decorating, there's a word misspelled on the yard sale flyers that I didn't make, etc, etc... It may be a painful lesson but I see Jon as relatively young, basically normal and capable of learning. If life is just, a shit load of karma is about to fall on Kate's head.

Kate will never again have a real job. No one is going to pay her to be as fabulous as she thinks she is. Someday she will be a very lonely old woman and I am convinced at least one of her children will break off all ties to her. I only hope the kids can get through this without falling into drugs and alcohol or anti-social behavior. From what I could see from the years of watching them they seem to be pretty good kids. The only two I didn't enjoy were Hannah and Mady. I don't think what was shown of their behavior really indicates how they really are, though. I'm sure the editors showed them at their worst for "entertainment" sake. How awful would it be for anyone to be filmed at their most embarrassing moments? If you knew you would have multiples wouldn't you at least google "the Dionnes" out of curiosity?

I just hope the kids are resilient and the survive without too much damage. Who else is for a national adoption of California's Coogan Act, that covers kids on reality television?

[NotALoserLikeYou]

How is she rich enough to pay that much money and keep paying it for another decade or more as they complete high school and go to college? And she must be using that money for her mortgage.

[Stephanie66]

How is she rich enough to pay that much money and keep paying it for another decade or more as they complete high school and go to college? And she must be using that money for her mortgage.

There are lots of people wondering that. I have heard the trusts can be used for the kids' tuition, so that could be how that gets paid. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if the family gets discounted tuition, as they have 8 kids in there at once. I know my second child got slightly cheaper tuition.

The house could have been paid off with money they had from filming, plus their old house sold so that money could have been used. Still, it's an expensive house to maintain grounds keeping wise, plus she has a salt water pool.

[Coconut Flan]

I believe though that she still has the mortgage on the house. It was still there about six months ago.

[Stephanie66]

It's kind-of ridiculous that the mortgage isn't paid off. They certainly made enough money in the last few years to just get it paid off. It would be very scary to have a huge mortgage hanging over her head with no obvious income.

I highly doubt the kids' trusts can be used for mortgage payments.

[lizziesmom]

It's kind-of ridiculous that the mortgage isn't paid off. They certainly made enough money in the last few years to just get it paid off. It would be very scary to have a huge mortgage hanging over her head with no obvious income.

I highly doubt the kids' trusts can be used for mortgage payments.

If they're about to get tossed out on the street because Mom can't pay the bills, it's possible that the trust money could be used for that purpose. I just hope that neither Jon or Kate are the trustees. That would be like putting the wolf in charge of the sheep.

[Coconut Flan]

I don't remember the exact terms, but she can use it for their health, education, and I believe welfare. She could use the trust for school payments for sure. The trust she and Jon keep saying was for college or for the children for later is the same one that she can draw out of their current expenses.

[lizziesmom]

I don't remember the exact terms, but she can use it for their health, education, and I believe welfare. She could use the trust for school payments for sure. The trust she and Jon keep saying was for college or for the children for later is the same one that she can draw out of their current expenses.

That's pretty standard language for trusts. Health, education and welfare and pretty inclusive. If push came to shove, keeping a roof over their heads would fall under their general welfare.

[chaotic life]

Fortunately, her nails, hair and make-up would NOT fall under their welfare needs. I think that is the one thing about trusts, is that it would hold her accountable for how she spends the funds versus just giving her carte blanche to do whatever she wanted with all of it.

[lizziesmom]

Fortunately, her nails, hair and make-up would NOT fall under their welfare needs. I think that is the one thing about trusts, is that it would hold her accountable for how she spends the funds versus just giving her carte blanche to do whatever she wanted with all of it.

The real issue here for me is who is administering the trust. Is it an independent third party like a bank who might stand up to her, or are she and/or Jon the trustees? If she or someone she can control is the trustee all kinds of mischief can happen. In my last year of practice (retired due to health issues), I was involved in a case where the uncle of a young lady had been the trustee of a trust established with life insurance proceeds of her dad. The uncle was the dad's brother. The matter went to court because when she went to him for her college money she discovered that he had pretty much spent every penny of the trust. She got a judgment against him but he's pretty much broke so it doesn't do her any good in recouping her tuition money.