Meri (Sisterwives) has a boyfriend er catfish MERGED

[dianapavelovna]

I'm with y'all about the better kids. But are y'all watching right now? Retconning their childhood is really creepy. Drawing them with Kody as children just is really fucked up to me. I think Robyn's kids are really messed up because of how hard she's shoving them into The Family.

Yeah, I totally WTF'ed at that. She can't change the fact that Kody isn't their biodad and wasn't in their lives from the start. Trying to will only cause more harm than good IMO.

[bionicmlle]

Interesting developments.... Catfish disappears for a few days and locks the blog because of a big "move to Chicago" although quite active on Twitter and seems to have made it to a Bears game, church and to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.... Aaaaaaaannnnnnd Meri has some new ITMs that are in new outfits we haven't seen previously this season in her interviews - she is talking about "personal stuff" she is going through and then has a meltdown on teaser for next week about "what I have brought into this family."  

 

TLC is calling actively changing story arcs and I will eat my hat if Meri isn't in the studio a couple times a week right now to respond to editor's requests for interviews that match their clip revisions as well as address national media reports.  Gotta keep those viewers comin' back for more.

[IreneIssh]

Wow, did anyone see the episode last night? I didn't but apparently, they had an artist draw Kody with Robyn's kids as babies??? 

So, creepy. Just blatantly trying to recreate history. Those poor kids. That has to be hella confusing. 

[jerkit]

I think Robyn's attempts to rewrite history is SO messed up.

My biological mother died when I was 10. My dad remarried and my step-mother adopted me and since then, I've called her mom. BUT, no one ever tried to pretend like the first 10 years of my life didn't exist, like I'd always been her daughter. It's so unhealthy and weird, IMO.

[Justme]

She could have put the picture in a nice frame. She put it in poster board you use for science projects. 

I was glad the kids got to spend a couple of weeks with their Dad.

[ClaraOswin]

I haven't seen it yet. But wow...that is so wrong and so disturbing!! Why would they do that?!

If they do a "rebirthing" ceremony or something I will lose it.

[sisterwives]

Robyn is so fucking WEIRD. Like something about her just doesn't rub me right and this rewriting of her children's lives with Kody as their father is messing with my head. It's not even like their father is completely out of their lives either -- didn't they visit him in Montana? So now they're creating two narratives that just... can't possibly exist or be healthy for children to be processing now that they've had their entire lives uprooted, shoved into an overstimulating environment with lots of in fighting and isolation. I know that Christine doesn't like it being described this way, but they do live in a compound. They don't go out, don't have people visit besides their family, nothing. It's just them. Those poor kids. Robyn is seriously unhinged. There was an episode where Robyn sobbed about how she gave her purity to someone else and that now she has to approach Kody, the luv of her lyfe~, and say "I gave something that rightfully belonged to you to someone else." Like girl wtf? That's just bizarre and weird especially to say in the presence of her children. Like if she hadn't given up her purity or whatever, her kids wouldn't exist as they do now. If I were her kids, I'd feel really weird about that in conjunction with the picture of Kody as daddy and the aggressive meshing of families. 

I feel sorry for Christine. It's obvious that Kody doesn't like her and that her time is up now that she's done having children. Meri is a douche and I have no idea how someone so selfish could even function in polygamy and Janelle has checked out of her marriage. Once she gets the older ones into uni or in the work force, I'd be surprised if she DOESN'T leave.

[polecat]

Wow, did anyone see the episode last night? I didn't but apparently, they had an artist draw Kody with Robyn's kids as babies??? 

So, creepy. Just blatantly trying to recreate history. Those poor kids. That has to be hella confusing. 

That's creepy as hell.

[defraudingjezebel]

Robyn is so fucking WEIRD. Like something about her just doesn't rub me right and this rewriting of her children's lives with Kody as their father is messing with my head. It's not even like their father is completely out of their lives either -- didn't they visit him in Montana? So now they're creating two narratives that just... can't possibly exist or be healthy for children to be processing now that they've had their entire lives uprooted, shoved into an overstimulating environment with lots of in fighting and isolation. I know that Christine doesn't like it being described this way, but they do live in a compound. They don't go out, don't have people visit besides their family, nothing. It's just them. Those poor kids. Robyn is seriously unhinged. There was an episode where Robyn sobbed about how she gave her purity to someone else and that now she has to approach Kody, the luv of her lyfe~, and say "I gave something that rightfully belonged to you to someone else." Like girl wtf? That's just bizarre and weird especially to say in the presence of her children. Like if she hadn't given up her purity or whatever, her kids wouldn't exist as they do now. If I were her kids, I'd feel really weird about that in conjunction with the picture of Kody as daddy and the aggressive meshing of families. 

I feel sorry for Christine. It's obvious that Kody doesn't like her and that her time is up now that she's done having children. Meri is a douche and I have no idea how someone so selfish could even function in polygamy and Janelle has checked out of her marriage. Once she gets the older ones into uni or in the work force, I'd be surprised if she DOESN'T leave.

I think Robyn is doing all of these kind of weird, drastic things because she wants to solidify her position as the favored wife. By creating memories and a past w/ Kody, she can further ingratiate herself with Kody. 

I feel sorry for the other wives too. I know, almost beyond the shadow of a doubt that once all of Janelle's kids go off to college/leave the home, that she will no longer even put up the façade of being involved with the rest of the wives. Maybe she'll be friendly with Christine but that's it. 

[AngelGirl8811]

That is so messed up! You can't rewrite history like that. You may want to recreate the past and show Kody that you love him so much that you are willing to do anything to prove that you should have been here from the start butttt Robyn that doesn't work. Your kids don't need that, they don't need you to change the past. 

[apandaaries]

Just catching up and damn.  One week they are crying to the judge about the deadbeat dad, and then next week the kids are having an extended visit in Montana with their biological father.  Not only that, but the kids are bursting with excitement while Robyn sobs about their poor relationship with him.  I do not think that the children fully understood the meaning of the adoption, except perhaps for Dayton.  No wonder Sobyn didn't want the kids to actually talk to the judge.  

That portrait is one of the creepiest things ever.  I agree that Sobyn is rewriting history to further ingratiate herself to Kody.  A shame that everyone else in the family has to endure that.  

While I do appreciate their use of therapy and enjoy seeing parents who parent (for the most part -- Kody isn't winning father-of-the-year from me or my awards committee), I think there's a lot being edited out or just not shown to the cameras.  We know there is a hugely religious component to their lifestyle, and we barely see that covered here.  Madison is in another religion-- sort of.  She wanted to be mainstream LDS, which isn't that far from their beliefs.  She claims to not want to live a polygamous lifestyle, but that's what Janelle's mom said before she married Kody's dad.  I suspect they accept those claims on the surface, but might put pressure on them later.  

Also, polygamous Mormons have been around for awhile.  I think this gives them an advantage over our other fundies, because they have a longer history.  They know and have seen people change their beliefs (like Janelle and Christine's moms, in different directions).  I think this makes them appear more open-minded.  

According to this site, Kody and Meri filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and Christine filed for bankruptcy in 2010: http://www.bustle.com/articles/31308-what-does-kody-brown-do-for-a-living-hes-not-the-only-sister-wives-bread-winner  

And then, Kody started pimping out the family.  

Not sure if they're better than our other fundies, just more aware of the outside world and better able to craft an acceptable image. 

[Georgiana]

This is really sad.  Before now, I have wondered if maybe there was some abuse or something that could justify Robyn's actions in regards to completely cutting off the children from their father.  But you don't just send kids to go stay on an extended visit with a parent you think is abusive.  No.  If that were the case, Robyn would be fighting tooth and nail to keep them from him.  If he is good enough to trust with the kids for an extended visit, then he is good enough to be in their lives in some capacity.  He is their father.  No amount of crazy paintings will change that.  He has a right to his kids, which he may give up, but more importantly THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO HIM.  

It looks to me like ROBYN has issues with her ex and the divorce.  It looks like he is just fine as a father, but not fine as a husband and ROBYN cannot handle it.  This behavior, this creepy attempt to re-write history, this adoption....it's not normal.  She's not trying to handle the present; she's trying to erase the past.  She's trying to completely remove him from her children's lives because it ruins her denial/delusions.  This woman needs therapy and help because she is taking her issues out on the kids by cutting them off completely from their biological father because SHE can't handle it.  And I wonder if this is why she is so desperate to be #1 wife: she still has issues from the break up of her first marriage.

Those poor, poor kids.  

[SilverBeach]

I've stopped watching this show, post legal wife switch.  I'm a Robyn hater.  

My sincerest wish: original three wives leave, perhaps getting a rebrand of the show.  All of them find happiness with decent men and/or true sisterhood amongst themselves.  

In a few years, Kody takes on a few young, hot wives to unseat Robyn as queen (preferably ones with fertility problems or taking birth contol behind his back - this world need no more Kody DNA running around) and they are never on tv again.  

 

The show was much better in the plyg house. There was actually some insight as to how this arrangement might work. Post Robin, just a train wreck. Like the teens except for Mary's daughter. No wife  will ever leave because this is their eternal life they are talking about. Enough about the adoption already. We get it. Robyn's takeover is just about complete.

Wow, did anyone see the episode last night? I didn't but apparently, they had an artist draw Kody with Robyn's kids as babies??? 

So, creepy. Just blatantly trying to recreate history. Those poor kids. That has to be hella confusing. 

Just creepy and terrible. What is the point of this? Ugh...this has got to be damaging the the children. To use your children as pawns in your Kdouche takeover plot is reprehensible. Why are the kids going to see their biodad if he is being written out of history? Completely crazy.

[withaj]

The show was much better in the plyg house. There was actually some insight as to how this arrangement might work. Post Robin, just a train wreck. Like the teens except for Mary's daughter. No wife  will ever leave because this is their eternal life they are talking about. Enough about the adoption already. We get it. Robyn's takeover is just about complete.

Yeah, but there were so few episodes in the plyg house... mostly about Robyn joining the family and their move!

[apandaaries]

Yeah, but there were so few episodes in the plyg house... mostly about Robyn joining the family and their move!

I so preferred the plyg house.  It seemed like a more honest depiction of their lives -- Janelle working nonstop and her son making breakfast for the kids; Christine being crazy about toasters and burning bread every morning; Meri not completely depressed and suffering from health problems (and whatever else led her to the catfish).  But you could see that they still connected as a family, and Christine's knowledge of each kid's personality was kind of amazing.  She still has that, but Kdouche no longer appreciates that or anything else about her.  

It was also such good window into the real Kody -- the guy who'd have all those kids, yet keep his hair ratty and nastily long (E2TA: cuz he must think it's sexy like that - bleh)  while driving around in a convertible.  If he didn't have his weird theology to support the polygamous lifestyle, that dude would have been a cheater. 

Now we're stuck with the inevitable dissolution of the onscreen family, with a strong focus on Sobyn.  Yuck. 

Of course, I still watch what I can, because 

ETA: I still think it's a fairly accurate (though highly edited) depiction of their lives, it's just that adding Sobyn hasn't improved their family.  She seems to have fractured it, instead.  Sure hope Kdouche isn't planning to try to get to seven wives, as some polygamists aim to do.

[withaj]

I agree that Sister Wives is a much more accurate depiction of the Brown family than 19KAC was of the Duggars -- of course, I also find the Browns less objectionable in general (and I think they are inherently less horrifying, theologically speaking). I had forgotten about the convertible -- you're totally right, Kody would be a terrible womanizer if he didn't already have 4 to keep him busy.

[defraudingjezebel]

I agree that Sister Wives is a much more accurate depiction of the Brown family than 19KAC was of the Duggars -- of course, I also find the Browns less objectionable in general (and I think they are inherently less horrifying, theologically speaking). I had forgotten about the convertible -- you're totally right, Kody would be a terrible womanizer if he didn't already have 4 to keep him busy.

Kody is a total dudebro. He'd be the creepy old dad hitting on the young waitresses at Buffalo Wild Wings if it weren't for his huge and harried family (and AUB affiliation). And I agree that Sisterwives is infinitely more open about its train wreck-ness than the Duggars in 19KaC, since they managed to hide their fucked up-ness scarily well. 

[eandre31]

That fact that this family seems so happy and determined to write Dayton, Aurora, and Breanna's biological father out of their life makes me so angry.

I am a single mother who's son's dad leaves much to be desired in the father department.  However, I have never kept my son from his father or made it harder for him to see his father. I always made my son available to his dad, even when his dad wasn't always receptive. My kid is 8 now and loves his dad. I may think he's a loser with no job or ambition who doesn't know how to parent anymore than a babysitter does, but I would NEVER let my son know I think that. He has a relationship with his dad and that is AWESOME and important. He is my ex, but he is not my son's ex. My son will grow up knowing that his dad loves him, no matter the struggles he had at being a dad. He will also grow up knowing that his mom loves him enough to not cut his father out of his life. 

How do these people not realize the damage they could possibly be doing by recreating their childhood with Kody. That picture is creepy and what it represents makes me want to vomit.

[Kittikatz]

Considering the family Robyn's ex comes from, I wouldn't be surprised that Aurora is glad to be away from him. The Jessops have been marrying girls her age off to middle aged men for generations. I know very little about that particular Jessop, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had made some comments to her about wanting her married. It's a status improver to give daughters to men in power. Christine and Meri's extended families have also done this, but it appears that this family has rejected that practice. The only girls potentially at risk were Robyn's, since if their dad got custody, he could do that to them. This is, of course, assumption. I just don't think it's that big of a leap that Aurora would be so relieved to know that there's no way anyone would be marrying her off now.

While it is possible this girl is scared of a forced marriage, I think that given her biological father's apparent distancing of himself from the FLDS, that a more mundane reason for the emotional onslaught is just as likely... it's easy for adults to forget how frightening it can be to simply exist as a child or young person - even under 'normal' circumstances. Children typically have very little control over their lives -  and that lack of autonomy and enforced dependence on other people can, in some people or some situations, create a super charged emotionalism that may not appear logical to anyone else. In cases where there is the spectre of something truly awful happening - in this case, the possibility of Robyn passing away could have resulted in this girl loosing whatever life/sense of belonging she has in Las Vegas, which has to be frightening for a teen. Also, the adoption is a public acknowledgement of the Brown family wanting her and her sibs. Belonging is important to almost everyone, and is especially critical for young people, so I can see the reason for the emotionalism, even though the adult me is rolling her eyes... That said, I hope that these children never have cause to even think about forced marriage - I remeber being terrified by my father when he decided that i "turned pretty" when I was thirteen, and started to speculate loudly and frequently about how much money he could "get for me". I spent hours contingency planning about how to avoid being alone with him and how to get away from him if things went sideways. The feeling of terror was heightened when had a school mate went to India for holiday and never came back - her parents forced her to marry someone she had never even met, so frightening and horrible things can happen to children at the hands of  uncaring parents/family members, and if this adoption makes these children more secure and gives them more legal protections it is probably a good thing.

[purple_summer]

Kody & Robyn were saying in the episode that the kids "come back different" after going to see their bio dad...I couldn't quite parse out what they were alluding to but something is happening while they're in Montana.

[Georgiana]

Kody & Robyn were saying in the episode that the kids "come back different" after going to see their bio dad...I couldn't quite parse out what they were alluding to but something is happening while they're in Montana.

To be honest, this is a pretty common complaint among households where mom and dad live separately for whatever reason.  It can be (and often is) perfectly normal.  Even in situations where the parents co-parent extremely well, Mom and Dad are never going to provide identical environments.  There are always differences, and when Mom and Dad DON'T co-parent at all (as is the case here) those differences are going to be more extreme.  

The kids "coming back different" is probably just re-adjusting from being on a different schedule, having a different set of rules, being in a different place, etc.  Plus, since Dad doesn't get to see the kids much in this case, he might go all out when they are there and treat it more like a vacation as opposed to normal life.  The kids probably come home tired, overstimulated, and emotional.  They may push boundaries and challenge rules since those rules might not be in place at Dad's house.  They may question things because "Dad does it differently".  This is all totally normal.  After a day or two of decompression, they are probably fine again.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard my friends who split custody complain about how the kids "come back different" from their Mother/Father's house, I could buy FJ.  And in all those cases, I know the other party and I know they are excellent parents.  

[Eternalbluepearl]

Yes, both sides in a divorce typically feel that the children come back acting different after spending time at the other house. That didn't strike me as weird, just weird to me that it seemed like Robyn and Kody mentioned it a lot. I think it disgusts Kody that those 3 kids have a different family that they are a part of and occasionally interact with. 

[JMO]

I'm still catching up. I'm finishing the adoption episode. Has anyone else noticed that any talking head done with Meri that was done in real time (not recorded after) she's always doing something on the computer and getting texts?

[FundieFarmer]

Apparently AllAboutTheTea agrees the portrait is weird AF. 

http://allaboutthetea.com/2015/11/03/sister-wives-robyn-brown-plots-to-erase-her-kids-biological-past-through-creepy-family-portrait/

[Grimalkin]

I agree that Sister Wives is a much more accurate depiction of the Brown family than 19KAC was of the Duggars -- of course, I also find the Browns less objectionable in general (and I think they are inherently less horrifying, theologically speaking). I had forgotten about the convertible -- you're totally right, Kody would be a terrible womanizer if he didn't already have 4 to keep him busy.

Just because he has four wives does not mean he is not a womanizer or cheating. He does not seem to like most of his wives, we don't really know what that man does all day apart from "meetings".

      Do we know for sure the dad is a deadbeat? He could just not really make much money which would mean less money for Robyn. He could of given up his rights because he wants his kids to have insurances too. Who knows.