Recap: Kate Plus 8 "Six Teenagers!": Glitter and sawdust and an awesome gender-specific party that Mother will never leave

The Duggars have the patience of Job, I'll give them that. It's incredible the way JimBoob has gradually eased himself back into the show over the years, with the promos for next week prominently featuring him at yet another wedding. Nobody will notice the family actually got fired, right?

Coming up on Kate Plus 8. Well, this party looks reasonably cool, with camping, mani-pedi's for the girls, archery tag, and the return of some yesteryear characters in Ashley, Jamie and Steve.

The thing is, kids don't need fancy ski trips, lavish parties, private lessons in whatever, or to get on a plane and go somewhere where the humidity is 90% and it's off season so the Air B&B mansion is half off. Rather, kids just want to blow up an air mattress and sleep in their own back yard. I'm glad they finally get to experience something cost effective and normal on their special day.

Kate has dreaded age 13 since they were born, Kate says. Well, that's a rather negative outlook on a rather wonderful age. Need we say more, she asks?

Pretty please do not say more.

But, of course, we're not getting off that easy. She will say more. A lot more. Kate struggles with party ideas, and to top last year's birthday every year. Not only is this woman in a competition with everyone else, but for goodness sake she's even in competition with last year's Kate. Sheesh. Her kids can speak now, and have minds of their own. Why not ask them what they want to do for their birthday. That will take a lot of burden off you to think of something. You'd be surprised how much a teen knows exactly what they want for their birthday.

Between Aaden and Mady and Kate, and producers of course, they came up with the idea to do a camping birthday, with the boys camping and the girls "glamping."

Sounds like an excuse to do a huge shopping spree at REI to me!

Lol, why make something easy. Kate has to remove an entire giant swing set in order to have room for one of the tents. The kids are bummed about this. At least she's not just dumping it into the dumpster, she's going to give it to a friend. That's nice. I actually remember when we removed the swing set at our house when I was a teen and I did find it surprisingly sad, even though like these kids, I hadn't used it in years. I remember us kids protesting, and our parents calmly reasoning with us that we never use it, and it will make caring for the lawn easier and provide more room for things we do more of now, like kicking a soccer ball around. Every kid should grow up with a swing set, and then have to watch it go when they are a teen. It's a right of passage and actually, a life lesson.

No one consulted Mady about this, Mady protests. And that's another reason that seemingly little things like removing a swing set are good for kids to see. I guess these kids are an exception since they do pay their way, but, for most kids, it's a life lesson in that it wasn't really your swing set, it's your parents' set to decide what to do with it, and it's not really your lawn, you aren't paying the property taxes and mortgage or doing the lawn upkeep. In life, many things that don't really belong to you will be taken away by someone else it does belong to making the decision. And if you don't like that, you need to work hard to get your own property someday so you can make your own decisions about swing sets. And also, it's good to teach kids that it's okay to let something go that was special to you, move on and let other children enjoy it, and just have the memories. Kate is too busy actively trying to teach her children things to notice that she just did so without trying.

We go on some long unrelated tangent complete with flashbacks about which sibling is which's favorite. Weird, divisive question and who cares?

Some guys who apparently don't want their business associated with Kate (their shirts are blurred out) set up the tents. Heh.

Some intern had fun with the drone getting a nice high speed shot of the house from above. It really is a sprawling property, with impeccable landscaping. I would do so much more with the outdoor space though. All they've got is a "meh" pool, and that deck fit for preachers and gays alike. I'd do an expansive outdoor space with an outdoor TV for watching sports, built in grill area with a sink and fridge, a bar, and lots of kinds of plush seating to choose from. A ping-pong table, corn hole, and other outdoor games are a must, and these kids would have everybody over at their house all the time. Seeing it now from above, the deck doesn't really serve much of a purpose. You have plenty of room at ground level to house all the same furniture across a much bigger area, instead of crammed onto a small deck. I don't get the point of the deck at all. The only thing I remember Kate saying about it is that she was tired of carrying things from the kitchen upstairs, I guess, to the original patio area downstairs. Well, that's a poor layout of a house then, and something you should have thought of upon purchase. Also, that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to create a smaller outdoor area when you could use the huge area downstairs and make it up really nice.

Jamie's back again. They must have come to terms on her contract because she was gone for awhile prior to these past few episodes. The boys' tent is going to be deep in the woods, which is cool, but kind of strange how isolated they are back in the woods when the girls are right near the house. The kids are arranging a cool fire pit, which should have been done years ago, but better late than never.

It's kind of nice the girls come to help the boys set up their stuff, though they seem to only be doing it to have an opportunity to boss them around, and the boys don't really appreciate much of it. Aaden is in that stage of his voice changing where he mostly just sounds stuffed up. Heh.

Kate's already called it quits even though I haven't seen her helping with much anything, announcing exhaustedly this is the last big birthday party she's doing for them. Good, she should butt out for once and let them go off with their friends for their birthday or heaven forbid have Jon host the party one year.

The day of the party is here, and Kate has a million and a half excuses why she had to do everything last minute (i.e. why she intentionally creates drama for the cameras). Funny thing is as she says this she and Jamie are doing things that absolutely could have been done ahead of time, like putting a pillowcase on a pillow. It's really a good thing she is not someone's regular employee because she would be a pain in the neck.

Wow, we're getting a knock in at her parents and childhood early this episode. We're only 16 minutes in and this is the party Kate always wanted as a kid but never had. I'm really, really sorry to her parents they have to continue to hear spiteful comments like this from their daughter on such a public platform. I'm betting her parents did the best they could with what they had, did not value spending money as the only way to show a child love as Kate does, and I hope, hope they know that for the vast majority of adults, a good childhood does not mean an over-the-top, lavish, expensive birthday party. If all they threw for their children were modest birthday parties here and there over the years, they did nothing wrong. Many families can't afford to throw parties at all, other than just inviting family and a few friends over for cake and ice-cream. It's expensive to throw a big party with a bunch of kids every year. Kreiders, ya got dealt a nasty kid here who is in the minority, not the majority, when reflecting on what makes a great childhood, okay?

Kate and Jamie are assembling things. Kate argues with everyone, even the instructions, yelling at the instructions and Jamie that clockwise, counterclockwise, it doesn't matter.

Jamie is like, eh, it probably does matter. (It probably does!). But Jamie was never one to push her until absolutely necessary.

Steve is our "Head of Security" Kate says with a straight face as he shuttles her around the property and does shit for her more like a personal assistant would do than a bodyguard on the roof watching for snipers.

I just spit my orange juice. Head of security?! Lol. Like there's an entire secret service in place for these has-beens. And for head of security, he sure hasn't taught her well, as just the other day she was encouraging fans to approach her and talk to her in The Cheesecake Factory. Not very wise to invite such close access to total strangers.

More like Head of Dolts, chief head! Steve is usually behind the scenes, explains Kate. Ha, he sure is!

I guess this is part of the slow master plan to ease Steve into the picture. A long conversation about a compass and setting up a scavenger hunt for the party. There is something about how he is talking here that rubs me the wrong way. He's so matter-of-fact, direct, and rings rather arrogant. Nothing is thought through because he already instantly knows the answer. He seems like the kind of husband who never asks for directions, always decides what the plan will be for the family without caring what anybody else thinks, and never lets you touch the credit cards. In other words, an ass. I never liked anything about Steve, unlike friends like Ashley and Jamie, who seem okay to even really cool sometimes.

This also seems like something that could be mostly set up the day before. They're like an old dysfunctional married couple, with Steve making a-hole comments to Kate like she should go back to the house to be safe, and that she's disorganized. I don't like someone like this. I know it's Kate, and she's annoying as hell, but it doesn't mean you get a free pass to be an asshat to her.

Steve says, interestingly enough, that a lot of people don't tell her things, but he tells her the truth. If she's wrong, he tells her. I'm not at all surprised people don't want to offend Kate, because when you do, you usually get cut off from the children. Doesn't seem like Steve would care much if that ever happened. But again, Steve sounds like an ass. Yes, of course you should tell someone the truth about themselves. Prince William said years ago he can't stand lackey friends, and only surrounds himself with people who are willing to call him out. Otherwise he fears he'll go haywire. But, the way Steve says it, he makes it sound like he's always right and Kate's always wrong, and thank goodness he is around to save her from herself. I can't believe Kate puts up with this condescending crap. I'd fire this guy within a day if only for the terrible example he's setting for the kids.

Mady is working on the girls glamping area, and it's really nice, with lots of pinks and whites and comfortable seating. Cara is nowhere to be found. Maybe she is doing what normal kids do on the weekend, go play sports, hang with friends, off at a music lesson, upstairs doing homework.

The archery tag people arrive in an absolutely gigantic vehicle. Yeesh! This party is really starting to $$$$$$$$$$. Also this is a good excuse to kill time showing a bunch of flashbacks to archery tag. Aw, the kids are absolutely thrilled about this.

Boys vs. girls, Kate announces immediately. Good golly, enough already!!

The kids are conforming to the usual gender stereotypes, with the girls wanting a prissy glamping experience and the boys a more rugged, GI-Joe like party. They are this bound to their gender stereotypes because they are being raised by a mother who adheres to strict gender stereotypes. On the one hand, this rigid adherence to typical gender roles is beyond antiquated, and is the kind of thinking that eventually makes some children uncomfortable to be who they really are. I'm not implying gay necessarily, but just non-conformist or just not into things like nails and dressing up (perhaps, Alexis). On the other hand, there is a lot of pressure on parents lately to do away with gender roles and raise kids homogeneously or nearly so, and in my view, that is really crossing a line into parental rights that people have no right to interfere with. We say a lot about Kate's bad parenting here, but I think the only thing she should be legally forced to do is not abuse her children and get her kids off T.V. Otherwise, if a parent like Kate, possibly in large part due to religion, or for other reasons, wants to raise a boy or girl in a certain way based solely on their genitals, that is their right to do so and they should not feel pressured or shamed by social constructionists for doing so.

Ashley's back, wearing an awesome Johnny Cash shirt. Ashley is going to take on the drudgery of sticking with the boys for the party. Poor thing. It looks like for much of the party the girls and boys will be separated. Wouldn't a good mother want to help out with both parties? It's so sad she sticks Ashley on doing the bulk of the work with the boys, instead of switching off so she spends equal time at both parties. If she thinks her boys don't notice this, she's mistaken.

I don't see Kate doing much work herself, but she sure can delegate the work to everybody else. She is manipulative and everybody falls for it for some reason. Or maybe the only people who fall for it are the ones willing to stick around.

The party begins, with a few friends arriving. I don't think this is going to be a big blowout with dozens of kids, but it's okay, smaller parties are okay too. I've always wondered if the reason they never seem to have endless friends is because a lot of families won't agree to filming, and that would be sad.

Mady is being really great as she helps out with the girls party. I saw shades of Mady's kindness when she was a tyke, along with a flash of temper, too. But when she's regulating herself, she is a kind, cool big sister. She helps organize the mani pedis and the crafts and the girly girls love it.

Oh, their hair stylist hanger-on Ronnie and main beard is here, lugging around water like a regular cabana boy. He sure is their toy, isn't he?

Andrea is here now too. I think this is the same Andrea nanny, or is it? She seems to be incredibly close to Ashley. I'm so lost, are they sisters, BFFs? I had no idea there was a connection between Andrea and Ashley.

The boys and their three or four-odd friends start a scavenger hunt with the A's. They're so cute with the war paint and camouflage. If they cover them all in paint and never show the boys in the same frame, you'll never notice Collin is gone. Typical teen boy stuff, like daring each other to eat a worm.  Aw, Collin would have loved this.

All the girls can do is complain that the boys are making noise. They're having fun! Geez! The girls are nothing if not obnoxious. Not only do they seem to do everything they can to ruin the boys' fun, but once the boys are actually having fun, they resent it. It's sad the animosity that has built up, mostly on their end. For the boys' part, they seem far less annoyed with their sisters, and were even pointing out earlier how cool Hannah is. Incidentally, Hannah is the one complaining the most about them. I wonder if she felt guilty afterward. Probably not.

Poor Alexis, she admits this is not her thing and she would rather be down with the boys. But her mother, as is her right, has decided her genitals dictate that she will have her toes painted for her birthday, so alas, here we are.

I'd rather be down with the boys too, they're having a blast on their scavenger hunt, using a compass and finding all the clues. "America!" Aaden shouts as he finds a clue. They're so funny. But he forgot, "F--- yeah!"

Kate can only discuss what she heard about the boys' party, as God forbid she would actually help with any of theirs. Kate was shocked to hear (she didn't actually witness it) Joel took the lead on the scavenger hunt, but, it's okay that he doesn't normally take the lead, as that's just a very normal boy thing, Kate remarks. To not take a leadership role? What in the world is she talking about? Okay, her gender stereotypes are out of control. Girls are bossy and boys are just blind dumb followers? Maybe in her family, because she made it so. She's insane. If anything, for many children it's the opposite, with boys easily falling into leadership roles without opposition, and girls having to be encouraged to take on roles of leadership in a society that has for many years discouraged it or at least made it harder to do so. She's lost her mind.

There's Kate over at the girls party of course, doing the only work I've seen her do this entire time, hand out lemonade. I hope the duchess takes a long rest after that, looked taxing.

Well I'll hand it to Steve, the scavenger hunt he allegedly set up is legit. One clue they have to cut out of a tree, another they have to wade into a creek to get it. Kiwis just intuitively know cool bushwhacking stuff to do like this I think.

They have a creek on their property? I never remember seeing this! What a lost opportunity to get a canoe or kayak and have hours and hours of fun every summer. An idyllic childhood is at their fingertips right in their own backyard, and mostly for free.

It's approaching time for food, and you can't take Kate out of Kate. She screams at the girls to come over and find their seats immediately. Why? Why can't they meander over and sit down like a normal party? She's so high strung and ridiculous, there's no way these kids are going to put up with much of her as adults. Naturally the boys are eating their meal totally separate out in the woods, and Aaden has learned what every growing child should learn, that food tastes so much better cooked over an open fire. Unfortunatly, this lesson wasn't thanks to his mom or dad, but his nanny.

The girls are probably doing glitter, the boys say, which is probably true. "You know what man glitter is? Sawdust!" one of their friends says. Heh! I love their friends, too!

Can Kate please stop hovering over the girls during their filet minot meal yammering on? They're 13 for gosh sakes, nobody wants Mommy there! I don't have any problem if she's there for the party, but hang back with your friends and watch, you're not just one of the girls. Sheesh.

I'm scratching my heads a little over the girls party. There are only five girlfriends there, which is less than two friends per girl, and they all fit easily around one table. But the tent is set up more for a party of 20, with several tables, chairs, and tablecloths. Did a bunch of people not show up? Weird. The demographic of their friends is interesting, too. Mostly nerds with glasses. I don't think these girls are all that popular--filming doesn't necessarily make you the toast of the school by any means. But as long as they are nice friends, that's what's important. I'd put money on these boys being far more popular, their friends are definitely the cool guys. And no surprise, as they are kind, easy going and funny, unlike the girls usually.

At least they finally come together for cake and ice cream, though separate cakes. The cake for the girls is double the size of the boys' little cake. Sheesh. The boys' cake is super cool though, in the shape of a campfire. The girls' cake is so pink I couldn't tell you what it's about.

Happy birthday to Collin? Who's Collin??? And what kind of facility doesn't allow a child to have a birthday visit and party? F that. Kate reads her PR statement, she is comforted that Collin is receiving exactly what he needs, and that hasn't changed. Yeah, not much is changing with Collin--he ain't coming home. She admits this is the second birthday without him, and for those not paying close attention, I think that knowledge is going to hit them like a ton of bricks. Second birthday without your son? Woman, get off the camera and get your priorities back out of whack. Outrageous.

It's "bittersweet." What is sweet about your child being gone for over a year? There is nothing sweet about this. They can't do anything without realizing Collin is missing. Eh, Kate seems to be getting along just fine without him, I don't get any sense any of this is painful for her. She only finally said something, and she should, because she opened the barn door and everyone got pissed she never closed the loop on it. Only, this was not the closure everyone was seeking here at all. If anything, her statement only raised more questions, and provided no indication of when the end will be in sight, as people naturally want to know. Dolt.

I'm glad they're coming together again for archery tag. Watch some kids you don't know play archery tag. You guessed it, nothing interesting happens. Why the holy F is Kate playing? God, go away!!! They are not toddlers where it's appropriate to get right in there and play with them. Leave them alone to have fun with their friends and go watch with your adult friends. I cannot remember a single parent my own or my friends ever butting into our parties like this, not at this age. It would be bizarre. I wonder what their friends think of her helicoptering, it has to be annoying.

Pool time, and all the girls can do is complain about the boys, who are doing nothing wrong. Kate says the boys were off the wall. Because they splashed each other a little? Please. The girls bail on the pool, to which I say good riddance. Kate says the most developmentally accurate statement I've ever heard her say, in that at this age they talk a big game about how boys and girls are gross, yet there's this little underpinning of curiosity there, like hmmm. Heh, yep that's thirteen all right.

Nighttime arrives, and Kate is still at their damn party like she's also turning 13. Go away. 

The girls find a spider in their tent, and embrace all their stereotypes reacting dramatically.

Kate goes around to all the girls and hugs and kisses them goodnight. What about the boys, did they get all this fussing? And does this mean she's finally going to leave their party? Go already!

Meanwhile, the boys sneak into the girls tent with bull horns. Lol. Kate goes on about how she had just got them settled into bed and now they're going to be all crazy again. What's the big deal? Let them run around a bit while you go to bed. They're not toddlers, you can close your eyes and leave them be, with a few ground rules (no pool, stay in the tents area), and they'll be fine. She really is a classic helicopter parent, still thinking she has to tuck her toddlers in at night and keep a close eye on them all the time. It's obnoxious and strange. Kate makes some remark about all the girls taking showers and how long it took. I never remember taking a shower at somebody else's house for just a one-night sleepover, that's kind of odd.

Kate says, well, maybe she'll consider another party next year, if she's alive. I don't find that joke funny. Especially in light of the constant advertisement in the corner of this episode for Princess Diana: Tragedy or Treason?, which I guess must be TLC's contribution to the endless stream of documentaries out this summer as we approach the 20th anniversary of Diana's death. Her son Harry turned thirteen weeks after his mum died, and twenty years later is still crushed over losing her. The things Kate jokes about are not funny, and the things she finds no humor in are usually hilarious.

Where we you when Diana died? I vividly remember it was a Saturday night, and like normal kids Prince William's age, I had two or three girlfriends over and we were hanging out, giggling and doing whatever it is teen girls do. We had the T.V. on and watched as the news scrolled by at the bottom, then interrupted the program. I went to tell my mom something bad had happened to Princess Diana, and I remember it seemed like only a few minutes later Peter Jennings showed up to announce she was dead. Even at my age I clearly remember saying, "Oh my gosh the poor boys!"

Twenty years later, after they have broken their silence this year about how they really feel (still crushed) I'm still saying those poor boys. I wish them lots of help, whether it's therapy or some other outlet, so they can finally process so much of which they say now they never did. Their mum would have wanted them to find closure with this and be happy, and I think they know that.

Kate's still out with all the kids, freaking out over a snake they found. For the tenth time for goodness sake go away and leave the kids alone. The boys remark that Alexis was showing off about the snake, picking it up, and she never would have done so if it weren't for their friend Luke. Lol, nice. She need not fear though, for all the tomboys I've known growing up who are straight, me being one of them, they eventually end up in surprisingly stable and healthy relationships with men, and early on. I wonder if it's because while all the other girls were off with girls, we spent a lot of time getting to know boys without the baggage of a romance. Which means our social skills with boys got really good really fast, because we've had a lot of practice. So by the time we were teens we knew what boys are all about while they are still a mystery to other girls. It does not surprise me Lex is apparently one of the first to show an interest in a boy, and I think she will do well with the opposite sex like other tomboys I've known. I would love to see her have something to one-up the other girls for once, like the best boyfriend. Crossing my fingers.

The boys adored the party. That's sweet. It looks like the girls loved it too. All in all it was a great party despite the gender stereotypes and poor Lex really wanting to hang with the boys. I doubt Kate noticed that other than buying all the camping equipment and the archery tag, this was a very economical party--and the kids seemed to love it the best of all their past parties.

Kate takes the time to blah blah on and on about herself and how in five years she's not sure if she'll still be single. The kids are annoyed she is single. Judging by this party, probably because they want to see her off with a boyfriend and out of their damn hair. Sorry, was anyone asking about Kate and her love life? I thought this was about the children's birthday. Also, in five years? She'll still be single.

Discussion Thread: Six Teenagers! 7/24/2017

Six Teenagers!(Season 6, Episode 3)TLC

The sextuplets turn 13 with an outdoor excursion that finds the boys roughing it while the girls go "glamping." Also: Kate reflects on past birthdays and looks ahead to having eight teenagers under one roof.

Recap: Kate Plus 8 "Kate Goes Skiing... Sort Of... ": The third time the family has never been to New England

Coming up on Kate Plus 8! The Counting On promo segments are at it again, with the host doing an impromptu play on The Newlywed Game. Where is the craziest place you've had a Bible study? she asks. Ooooh, this could get wild. I bet one time somebody even did it in the kitchen, right there on the counter next to the lunch meat and mayo. So kinky.

Watch someone else take a skiing trip. Watch someone else have an expensive vacation.

Tubing is "da bomb," says one of the kids. Da bomb? Apparently the kids were born in 1989, which makes them way older than the toddlers Kate insists they are.

Skiing scares Kate because she can't go down, who will take care of the kids? Who I guess are still suckling at the teat. I don't know why driving her car doesn't give her the same fear, since you're far more likely to be hurt or killed pulling out of your driveway than you are skiing, though skiing is admittedly more dangerous than the average activity. And following the logical line of succession,  the kids will go to Jon if she kicks the bucket, so I don't know what she is worried about.

A long explanation how, why and when they chose to go skiing that you can basically tune out until she gets to the part where she says they had not "done" the New England states before.

Except when they did, time number two, in an episode called "New England Adventures", lol. And except when they did,  time number one, when they met that weirdly obsessed fan Em from Connecticut and ran in the Rod Dixon Kids' Marathon there, Kate, kids and all. So, this would be Kate's third trip to New England that we know of.

I'm not sure anyone has a good explanation for why Kate has no memory of their two other free trips to New England, or why she didn't realize she was in New England on those trips, or what is going on with that strange comment. Who even knows at this point.

Does anyone get the feeling the two boys, who by the way are about as chill and awesome as can be, are mocking this whole thing at this point? With a little snicker, Aaden says he felt "emotional" to hear he was going skiing. Joel was "happy." Heh, they're too much.

We kill some time flashing back to some other boring ski trip. Oddly, we completely skipped the obligatory 15 minutes of packing and yammering, plus boarding the flight, before we finally get to the destination. I just realized the episode actually starts with the family already in Vermont, unpacking a bunch of bins from a trailer. Well that is a welcome break, since the only thing I could care less about than a family's vacation is a family packing for said vacation. I wonder if production reads here, since we always complain about the boring packing segments every time they show it.

I guess they rented a house, though it's hard to get any context here with the tight camera angles and little explanation. The twins complain the lavish vacation house has a weird layout. How very Love it or List It. Sheesh.

Why is poor Alexis always getting screwed? This time, it appears she might be without a bed, and stuck with a couch. I think the kids are far too demanding on vacations, but I don't think it's too much to ask one has a bed to sleep on, instead of a couch. And why is there always a shortage of beds when this family travels? With Air B&B, it makes it very easy to see exactly how many real beds you are getting. If you aren't sure, you need to ask. I understand they are a big family, but there are many listings that accommodate big groups, you just have to filter for them. We've traveled with extended family several times and never had a problem finding places. It makes me suspicious that when TLC books these they intentionally pick odd numbers of rooms and a shortage of beds, to cause conflict. If that's the case, it's really sick, since the odd people out are always going to be kids like Alexis.

Kate of all people saves the day and somehow finds a bed tucked away in a closet, pulls it out and sets it up. Thank you--geez!

For kids who don't ski, except for Cara (who is a regular skier by all accounts), they sure have quite a lot of ski clothes and accessories. The plastic bags and other packaging everywhere is a dead giveaway they had it grifted to them for the trip.

I like the intern class this summer, who choose a variety of rap and pop music for a segment in which nothing happens. This show has never had music like this before, very cool.

Aaden is yawning and rearranging pillows on the couch as they explain their skiing lesson. I guess that's his version of picking lint. If it's boring for a person to talk about their own vacation, one can imagine how boring it is for a stranger to watch a person be bored talking about their vacation.

Kate and the kids are right that snowboarding is so different from skiing and incredibly hard. I've tried it a few times and I found it so disorienting and difficult I was afraid I would break my neck at any moment. And I can ski, skate, and rollerblade just fine, and don't usually quit things right away without giving it a good try. After trying snowboarding, I was done in a few minutes. Still, Mady is being very childish about falling and blaming things on her instructor. She is Kate's daughter.

Kate is surprisingly encouraging, telling her she did well, which she actually did, and that falling is just part of it. It really is. It's darn hard, and as long as you learn to wipe out without popping a collar bone, you're good. I don't mind Kate this first day, shockingly. She actually let the kids just do their thing and didn't try to make it all about her. She is really at her best, and even tolerable, when she lets the children be.

These private lessons with Jason and Sarah, or is it Suzie, must have cost production a small fortune.

Kate says she was setting up a spa day in case it rains tomorrow. Oh yeah, I'm sure the boys will love that, and the less prissy girls like Alexis. Sigh. So that's why she was so easy going today, she was thinking about massages and pedicures tomorrow.

We're back, and just Kate's luck, it's raining. Spa time!!!

She's so flipping selfish, making the boys do the spa day she wants. Why doesn't she leave them be for the afternoon with the nanny who is surely there and go do this herself or with whoever wants to come? C-nt.

The easy going awesome boys are all about it, because they're awesome. Because I don't think I've ever seen them complain about anything, ever. Because they understand not to judge a book by its cover and if you're just game for everything, life usually turns out way more fun, even if there are a few misses along the way. But, can I say, that just because you have awesome and agreeable boys, doesn't mean you should make them do girly prissy things like spa days that are really more about your own selfish wants or your girls' wants. It is wrong to take advantage of someone just because they're easy going. (Yet happens all the time to such personalities.) But, I'm glad they're down and not unhappy about this lame activity. I'm not sure who is more awesome, Joel or Aaden. Joel says with a big smile he'll probably get made fun of at school for all this, but it's all good. Aaden says eh, not into spas, but I took one for the team. God, how did she end up with boys like this? (Answer: Jon) It would be nice if Kate and the girls took one for the team for the boys for once. Geez.

On a side note, I love, LOVE Kate's grey and brown vest pullover. I see a logo on the breast, but can't make it out. Where can I get it?

Kate gives a handy tip, don't get kids hooked to spas young. Writing that down. I can see why the reaction to this episode was more nasty than usual, as for one thing, it really does feel very 1 percent, which I think is a turnoff for most viewers, even well-off ones. There is something uncomfortable about watching people flaunt money. Some viewers may be jealous or feel left out, sure, but even if a viewer is not necessarily jealous, they're still embarrassed for them, and neither feeling is pleasant when one is simply trying to veg out and watch T.V.

I guess it stopped raining, because they're back at the slopes with the private instructors who surely cost a fortune. I see three separate private instructors. We're approaching thousands of dollars at this point for two days of this for seven people.

Oh, ya'll knew we were overdue for a big slam on Kate's childhood, and here it comes. She actually blames her lack of adventurous spirit on her childhood, in which she didn't have a lot of opportunities, unlike her children.

Does she think adventurous people must be born into wealth and opportunity? Tons of adventurous people come from humble backgrounds, and tons of adventures are cheap or free. One of my favorite places to road trip in California is the humble town of Bishop. There are lots of adventures to be had off the 395 highway in California. For example, you can go free climbing in Bishop, without ropes, for maybe a hundred bucks for the mats, which last years. I've seen those guys and gals, and nobody looks rich to me. Kate really is obnoxious with comments like that, implying it's her parents' fault she is neurotic. Bitch, STFU!

Do you want an adventurous child? Then teach them that life is an exciting and interesting gift, and that each new and strange experience and landscape and people should be embraced and cherished. Teach a child to not be afraid to fall, try new things, talk to fellow human beings, or take the unbeaten path. Sleep in your car at Mono Lake, hoping a ranger won't come by to kick you out (they won't.) Pig out on a breakfast burrito in Lone Pine the next morning then drive down the 395 and stop at whatever town along the way and see where it leads. This costs next to nothing, Kate, you tool.

Mono Lake, CA, by Admin. After car camping for free
until sunrise with several other adventurous spirits! 

I'm betting her parents gave their kids plenty of adventures and opportunities, they just weren't the things Kate wanted to do, like eat lobster, have a spa day, and go to Disneyland. Just because you subjectively don't like your parents doesn't mean that objectively they were bad parents, just saying. Rant over.

Why is the music so ominous? Alexis sails down the slopes on a snowboard and suddenly falls backwards and says her wrist hurts. Oh, that's why the music was creepy! They immediately head to a clinic and get an X-ray. She's fine, just a hairline fracture, she doesn't even need a cast. Much ado about nothing but heavily promoted on the previews. At least it was a little bit more than a splinter, justifying the dark music.

We're only 25 minutes in?? Ugh, this episode feels much longer than the one last week.

The day is wrapping up, now back to the house. Our Kate really knows how to stuff her face with pizza, lol. Is it really necessary for Kate to explain what charades is to us? What's next, she'll explain what a hairdryer does? I mean, really, TLC.

As per the usual, Mady is stacking the teams heavily in her favor. That gets so old. Mady, Cara and Joel all say the family really does not play games together much. They're not that family. Well, we figured it was all for show for the cameras.

Watch another family play charades. Mind-mouth, mind-mouth, mind--and, I'm falling asleep.

I'm going to fall over about how nice and sweet the boys are. They both agree their sister Mady is pretty. It would be so nice if just once the girls showed some kindness in turn to them.

You know the funny thing is, I predict that when this woman Kate here is someday old and grey, it's going to be these boys dealing with the bulk of her issues. Picking the nursing home, dealing with selling the house, sorting out the bills, calling insurance, talking to the lawyers. The girls will have their excuses why they can't commit to helping with any of this of course. Just started a new job, got kids to deal with, money is tight, work is so busy, yada yada. But the boys will be there no matter what, though. At the end of the day, it's clear they truly understand what love, loyalty and family are all about on a much deeper level than anyone else in this ridiculous group. I hope Kate appreciates it because they're the ones I recommend she call when she gets into a bind in her old age.

Mady's team loses, to which sadly I have to say, good. That's good karma for her trying to artificially stack the teams like she always does. It's immature and unfair, even mean. And this is proof it doesn't always work anyway, so I don't know what the point is.

The next day, I guess, they go tubing. Now this is more my speed! Oh the hours and hours of fun I had as a child tubing at the park with family and friends.

Hey, ya don't gotta pay a swanky ski resort to go tubing. Just grab some cheap ones at Costco and head to any old hill. Done. Feels like a big waste of money to me.

The twins spend an inordinate amount of time begging Kate to go tubing. Leave her be, twins, it's not worth the aggravation. Of course Kate agrees to go and it's all a bunch of yelling and drama. I'm rather surprised and more than a little skeptical that Kate finds this so scary. She was raised in Pennsylvania, tubing is practically a way of life, right alongside hoagies for lunch and pierogis for dinner. Let me guess, her parents never took her tubing or whatever other B.S. that is all their fault.

At the end of the gentle ride down the hill Kate walks away from her tube, dramatically proclaiming she is done. At least pick up your tube and bring it back, you slob! One of the kids, apparently somebody with manners, retrieves it for her. Heh.

All the kids adore this activity. Now that Kate has quit it seems their fun is even greater. The boys especially love it, proclaiming they must have been going 200 mph on those things. Heh, more like 20-30 tops, but when you're a child, it really does feel like 200. I love childhood because of stuff like that. You somehow feel everything so much more deeply. Music, tubing, adventures, all feel so intense. Like drugs without the drugs, heh.

They hit the slopes again on their last day. I'm a little unsure how long this trip was, but if we go by what we see, it was short, only three or four days. I'm unclear if tubing was its own day or on the last day.

At least Kate didn't cause a whole lot of drama about skiing until the last day, when she finally decides it's been about the kids for far too long and she would like to suit up herself and try it. She has her own private instructor naturally, more thousands of dollars.

The music the interns chose gives me a chuckle, it's very Olympian and dramatic. Heh.

Kate is incapacitated with fear, whether genuine fear or fake. She's not even skiing yet, but can't even walk to the start of the ski lesson area. Grow up, TFW.

Alexis is right back out there on the slopes, so I'm guessing her injury was truly nothing or a doctor would have forbid further skiing.

Kate screams, whines, protests, and bursts into tears. The histrionics are out of this world. If she hates it this much, stop. Don't ruin everybody else's fun. The patient instructor should not have to work under such conditions. Also, the kids should not have to spend their time reassuring her as if she's the child and they are the parent. Heh, even Mady is not buying Kate's excuse that if she breaks an arm there will be no one to take care of all the toddlers she has. Mady's like, we're almost 17 and the younger children are 13. Seriously!

The segment goes on forever. Poor kids dealing with all this embarrassing drama. Mercifully, the episode is finally wrapping up. They head up for a nice meal at a restaurant at the top of the mountain, though we never see them actually eating. Wonder if they couldn't get a permit. They have to ride a gondola up. That's loads of fun. They ski back down the mountain and everyone seems to love it. Kate is over the top impressed the kids could figure out skiing on this trip. Yeah, most 13-year-olds and 16-year-olds could handle this just fine. She's always seemed rather ignorant of their abilities and developmental ages. It's too bad Kate refuses to get over herself and learn this great sport too so she can do something fun like this with them and not always be that parent who just "watches". The instructors are still with them. That seems unnecessary at this point, and very, very expensive.

You guessed it, it was one of the best moments in their childhood. Kate was in tears. They all skied!! Collin who?

I generally keep personal stuff to a minimum in recaps, but this is such a major life milestone, it's too exciting not to share. I bought a house. My first house! And perhaps even my last, that's how much I love it and how perfect it is for me. I've been saving up for a down payment for five years. At times it felt daunting. At times the American dream seemed impossible, even though I've been very blessed to have had steady employment every year since school. But since school, real estate couldn't be more haywire. Watching housing prices crash then skyrocket again, and all the other mountains and valleys the market has been through over the years, has been intimidating to those wanting to dip in, and at times tragic for those who already had. Finding a house that was just right, beating out several other competitive offers, and making it through escrow was one of the most challenging things I've been through. Through it all, I just kept saving and pressing on, believing that through hard work and discipline, this dream could be a reality.

We just made it through escrow and I sign papers tomorrow. And you know what, the years-long wait has made it so much more rewarding. I lived in shitty apartments with shitty neighbors and shitty landlords and put up with it. The rice and beans, coupon cutting and bargain hunting, working long hours and several side jobs, and putting off "wants" in favor of needs was my life. When I finally step through my roundtop wooden front door, with its cute little built in look-out window, I'm going to know this house actually is mine, all mine. Well, twenty percent of it anyway! The bank has the other 80%, but that's okay, it's a mortgage I can afford, one that won't keep me awake nights.

Nope, I'm not rich. I don't go on free trips, unless you count a few whirlwind business trips now and again, usually in August when the humidity is 90%, I don't go to the spa on someone else's dime, or at all, and I don't have a corporation handing me a company card. Like most people, things are rarely just handed to me, other than maybe an extra donut. But man, somehow even without all these so-called perks, life feels darn good right now. Working hard for something and having to wait for it is good for the soul. And that's all I can pray for for the Gosselin kids, that they too will know hard work and rewards and life's little and big joys that have nothing to do with some network plastering your likeness all over T.V. and paying your way.

Welcome home to Admin.

Discussion Thread: Kate Goes Skiing... Sort Of... 7/17/2017

Kate Plus 8

Kate Goes Skiing... Sort Of... (Season 6 | Episode 2)

7:00PM | TLCHD1250

Spring break takes Kate and her kids to Vermont for a week on the slopes. Skiing lessons, tubing and a trip to the hospital make for one wild week.

Recap: Kate Plus 8 "A Haunting at the Gosselins": life hacks, Pinterest fails, and no babysitters or assistants to be found

Counting On gets an "after show"? Ha, what a rip-off of Breaking Bad's brilliant after show.

Coming up on Kate Plus 8. If they just don't show all seven kids in the same frame, no one will notice Colin is gone. The boys are still the best, laid back and handsomer by the day, and the girls are still whiners and way too prissy for me.

This coming up is basically a Cliff Notes version of all three of the episodes in the mini-season airing over the next few weeks. A kid gets hurt skiing, Kate makes Vermont all about her by freaking out, a couple parties get thrown while Kate loses her mind. There, you've seen the mini-season.

Kate says typically (grr, that word is annoying) she gets the kids costumes and then she takes them trick-or-treating. A mother was taking kids who are 12, 15 years old out trick-or-treating? I'm sure they're the coolest kids on the block.

This year production decided to do a party instead of trick-or-treating. Um, your kids are teenagers. They should have stopped trick-or-treating a few years ago and let the little ones enjoy this holiday in peace. 

I find Kate's explanation as to why they got rid of the chickens to be surprisingly credible. They were a lot of work, came with a lot of problems, like rats in the barn in the winter months, the return on eggs wasn't all that great, and so she decided her farming days are over. You might wonder why she's complaining about the work when she has the kids to do it, but I have a funny feeling most if not all of these kids weren't really putting in the time it required to take good care of them, and since Kate is terrible at getting her own children to do what she tells them to, things fell into disarray. Plus with Collin away, the one who loved the chickens the most, she was really up a creek. I just hope they didn't get rid of the flock by eating a whole hell of a lot of chicken soup last winter. 

At the end of the day I find the abandoned chicken coops rather sad, even pathetic, and very indicative of today's rather blasé culture. Here was a worthwhile, wholesome endeavor that they took on, devoted so much time and effort to, yet now when the going gets tough, they quit. Surely there was some other alternative, like downsizing to maybe five or six hens instead of a fuckety-billion. Quitting this is not the best example to be setting for the kids, but such is Kate. 

Anyhow, most things worth having are a hell of a lot of work. From children, to a house, to chickens. Most normal people find the tradeoff to be rewarding. The eggs taste better, truly. She doesn't get it, and it's sad.

The barn's disgusting, full of feces and other unsanitary matter. Kate blames this on the barn being old. I blame this on not taking pride in your home or making an effort to keep up with the cleaning and upkeep. You can't clean out a barn once every ten years, it's like going into a war zone after that long. With Kate it's like trying to teach a 12-year-old some basic life strategies. One of them being if you don't let things go for ten freaking years, the job will be a lot easier. Clean out the barn every spring, and they wouldn't be in this terrible bind. 

Ew, the cameras catch a live rat diving between the floor boards! Right out there in the open! This is not funny, it's unsanitary and dangerous. 

They find a dead chicken and Kate freaks out. This is getting to be like one of those horrific episodes of Hoarders, where they're uncovering rodents and dead carcasses and it's that moment where you realize so Butters didn't really "run away" like mom claimed. Eventually there is some dispute if this mass really is a chicken; the kids finally prove it's just a massive pile of poo not a dead body. Either way, flipping horrible. Little hint, if you ever can't get in the mood to tidy up, turn on Hoarders and you'll be scrubbing the floors in no time.

Jamie the lackey is here! Woot! Ha, Jamie immediately pegs the barn as gross and disgusting. Yep.

A bunch of flashbacks about Jamie. Kate says they have their fights from time to time. Because I guess they are 12. Hey Kate, not every adult friendship results in knock down drag outs. 

The barn is actually pretty conducive to a really cool haunted house, with all the cobwebs and stalls. Jamie and Kate tour the barn as if they're going to actually do the work themselves, but Kate lets slip that the crew is mostly going to set up this haunted house. Well, at least she admits it. 

A lot of comments were made during this episode about the long commercials. We're on our first set, and for me they began at 13:30 on my DVR clock. The running of the bulls commercial with bulldogs is inspired. Nice one, Geico. We return at 19:30, a whopping six minutes later. It's like the old days of MTV where the commercials went on for ages! Remember that?

Kate had "scheduled" Jamie and her two girls to come out for the haunted house. Scheduled? Like you might schedule the termite inspector? She so frequently lets slip such impersonal and detached phrasing, and her true self comes out.

Jamie's from Michigan. Halloween was on a Monday last year. Did the girls miss school for this? That doesn't seem very responsible of the adults.

Kate is teaching Jamie the wonderful life hack of stacking up a bunch of bread and then cutting off the crusts all at once. Amaze.  Heh, I like Jamie's slightly snarky response to Kate's patronizing tip, "okay, okay, you're like Cake Boss."

Why not get this catered? a producer asked. He must be mocking her. Because of course Kate would have it catered if TLC would pay for it. Kate rambles on for a couple minutes about why, giving every excuse under the sun why, but let's be honest, mostly it has to do with because TLC won't pay for it and it's a good opportunity for her to mug for the cameras anyway.

There has to be some kind of messed up psychology behind Kate saying that food is how she shows her love to her family. I can see a psychologist saying that people who use tangible things as the primary way to express their love are either insecure about showing love and/or are hiding behind the tangible because they are unable to express love in other more genuine ways. Not that making up a big bowl of chicken soup for your sick honey isn't love, it's just, if it's the only way you are able to express your feelings, something might be wrong with you.

Wow, Jamie's girls have really grown up, and they're both very pretty, though seem to be quite camera shy and tongue tied, as I would expect from many teens. Kate claims they were off school. At the end of October, with a Thanksgiving holiday coming up in three weeks? That would be unusual, but without knowing their school I can't say it's a lie. Maybe the school is really into celebrating Halloween, who knows.

They'll be up all night prepping for the party, Kate says. Sounds like pretty poor planning to me. I'm not going to feel sorry for you because you didn't budget your time.

Hm, the bloody fingers they're making out of bread and jam look nothing like the Pinterest photo they're trying to model them after. Pinterest fail.

 There's a hilarious web site that collects Pinterest fails called "Pinterest fail: where good intentions come to die." Heh. A lot of the people who comment are actually rather supportive of one's humble efforts, and the people who post their fails are usually self-deprecating, which I think is such a great trait. I love blogs that have nice commentors! Check it out.

The kids eventually get home and start helping with making cupcakes. Mady wanders in to harass the kids, and later makes fun of them on the couch. You know what I think is obnoxious, when the only thing you can come up with to make fun of someone is based solely on their developmental age. That's Mady. Like, if they were infants Mady would be making fun of them because they're not walking, and if they were three they'd be made fun of because they can't ride a bike. They're infants. And three! Sheesh.

Cara is not even making eye contact with the camera in this episode. She looks pissed about something. I guess the bribe didn't materialize this time.

Leah is just one loud shrill. It is really sad her mother has allowed this method of communication to happen.

Oh, nice, Hannah lets loose a major failing on Kate's part. Apparently Hannah had her costume planned two weeks ago, well in advance of Halloween, like a responsible person. Unlike her mother. She picked it out on the internet and sent Kate the link to order it. Kate said she would get it for her. But, according to Hannah, Kate never even opened the link and the costume wasn't ordered. And there's where Kate really sucks as a parent. I'm not saying she has to buy whatever Hannah orders her to, but don't tell the child you will get it, then not even open the link. That's messed up! Hannah will be telling this story again on the therapist's couch in ten or so years. Heh.

There's Kate in the pigsty of their dining room, crap everywhere, making a present costume for one of the girls. I predict this will be another Pinterest fail. This segment goes on forever. Oh, there's a crated dog when the entire family plus three minus one is HOME. God, she's the worst.

Commercials are starting again, at 28:20. These ones were shorter, we're back at 31:20.

They're embarking on what looks like a day long costume project. There's sequins everywhere.

More dogs trapped in crates with everybody around. I don't object to crate training, but it should not be used all the time and it's rare they should be used when the household is home. Kate is whining about how stressed she is, almost to the point of tears. But everything she is stressed about was completely preventable. The untidy house she still needs to clean, the unfinished costumes, the decorations not yet out. Why on earth didn't she start all of this earlier? It was obvious with all this work they weren't going to finish in time starting only a day or two beforehand. Kate claims this is so not her. Wrong, it's exactly her.

She loved this party, and now she hates it, she shouts. Well, that's not a nice thing for children to hear when they're looking forward to having friends over. Now they're burdened with feeling like this is unpleasant for their mother, and that doesn't feel good to a child.

Kate says now this won't be fun. It appears even an off camera producer is trying to get her out of her funk, promising her it will be fun.

Oh, she's reverted to her same old same old crap that people aren't helping her. Bull and shit. It's all on camera almost every single one of these kids chipping in and helping out, not to mention Jamie and her children, who appear to be working so hard they don't even have time to speak. It is so obnoxious and frankly, mean, for her to make comments like that that just aren't true.

Kate is having a meltdown worthy of the most mentally ill. Even Jamie has to go comfort her. I can only shake my head. Not only is this reaction not normal, but it's terrible that kids have to bear her emotional burdens. Jamie, bless her heart, appears to be acting as a buffer to the kids. She smiles at them, tries to make light of it, but makes sure the kids do not go near Kate at the moment. Jamie is a sycophant, no question about it, but there are moments here and there where I really, really like how she conducts herself, such as right now. I firmly believe she is very intentional in her protection of the children from this meltdown. This is not by accident.

Wow, Kate is still going on about her messy house. She had weeks to clean it beforehand, so that's just her fault. And, a little something about that messy house. It's cluttered messy. Not dirty messy. The floors, sinks and counters are clean. That is a dead giveaway that she does have a housekeeper, a normal housekeeper who cleans, but does not "tidy up." From my limited experience with housekeepers, you, the homeowner, are responsible for tidying up the clutter before they come over, and if you don't, they just clean around it. They don't presume to put things away or they could be there hours beyond what they anticipated and would want to charge you a lot more. A housekeeper who actually tidies usually comes in daily or at least several times a week, and you have to pay them boatloads more.

Mady remarks that even when the kids do help out, it doesn't seem to help with the stress, and Kate makes her own stress anyway, so what's the point. Yes, Mady, correct. The truth is your mother is mentally ill. Mady at the age of 16 is able to describe what is mental illness, but is just not quite there with identifying it by name.

They kill some time with old clips of Kate melting down.

What's really, really unbelievable is that Kate declares boldly that these types of parties will always be stressful and that will never change. Not only is it sad that she thinks it won't change, but it's so easy to change one wonders why she is so against it (i.e., starting to plan earlier.)

Kate says this is too much to do with one person. Bitch, you are not one person! You have seven kids to help who are helping, plus two more and Jamie, who might I remind her flew out there to help, plus all the time in the world, as you don't work. It's no one's fault but her own she didn't leave herself enough time to reasonably put together a party of this magnitude. Her kids are kids, they don't know yet about proper time management, plus they're in school all day and can't be bothered to plan this. They have jobs: school. This is not on them to figure out, not when they have their own obligations to do. For all her crap about all she learned in last year's Kate's Advice episode, she actually has learned nothing. She did the same exact thing years ago on the RV trip, claimed that she had to do everything on her own. It's very rude and ungrateful when it's untrue.

I remember reading once, I forgot where, about a mom who was raised in a "late" family. Always running five, ten, or more minutes behind. Even as a child she felt the stress of it, the constant scrambling to get anywhere or do anything, and she vowed when she grew up if she had a family of her own, she would not put them through that. That she would make special effort to give herself double, maybe even triple the time, and avoid the constant discomfort she grew up with. She had her family, and although she can't say they are never late, they are not "that late family," and she finds her house much more peaceful for it. That's how I see Kate. She's created constant discomfort in the household because of her poor planning, and if she thinks it won't affect these kids, she is mistaken.

She has no babysitter or assistant. Well I don't know why you would have a babysitter when your kids are all teenagers. The babysitter could end up younger than her clients. Ironically when Kate makes this statement, she is outside with Jamie, nowhere near the house, and the kids are nowhere to be found. Who is watching them while you bitch about having no one to watch them? Lol.

As for having no assistant, well that explains it. Nobody is wiping her ass anymore like the good ole days, so the little pieces of poo that are constantly stuck there are putting her in a bad mood. Makes sense now.

I would say I cannot believe the things that come out of Kate's mouth nor that she is serious, but at this point, I'm starting to believe it.

I enjoy the happy pink Outdaughtered countdown clock in the corner. Bet Kate hates that something like that is taking up any real estate on her show.

Heh, when Jamie is pushed enough she starts ragging on Kate, and there she blows, mocking Kate saying she will probably have a meltdown over Jamie putting the tablecloth on the wrong table. Heh.

Mady says Jamie is the opposite of Mother. Oh boy do I love when Mady pulls out the Psycho on us.

Guests start to arrive already. Kate doesn't understand why guests are here early. They're just not late people like her, that's why. They like to arrive at things on time or early. I bet some of them might be school friends and live more than an hour away, so they probably gave themselves extra time for traffic or other snags. In short, they sound like responsible people who are trying not to be rude to their hosts and waltz in hours late.

The food was questionable, Mady remarks. Taking a look at it, yeah, I get that. It's mostly Pinterest fails. The guac vomit coming out of the pumpkin mouth is an odd shade of green, and the hummus puke coming out of another pumpkin's mouth is kind of messy, with residue stuck to the pumpkin's upper lip. Simply wipe off the excess will ya?

This is kind of a stilted party. People are just standing or sitting around. Where is the music? The games? 

Commercial again, starting at 39:10 and going to a whopping 44:10. Yipe! I like the theory that shows like Kate's have to capture more commercials because of all the advertisers who pulled out of the Duggars. Way to take one for the team!

The Outdaughtered promo has pretty high production values. It almost looks like a commercial for Tide, with all the spaghetti and other messes flying everywhere, only without the clean-up portion of it. Real people wrote the music, not just the interns. They show all the girls on the potty. Gross. In any case, the budget allocations TLC is making is glaring, with promotional materials for shows like Outdaughtered clearly getting the bulk of it. 

We're back, and the party finally seems a little more lively, with some of the kids throwing around a football with their friends. Mady makes a comment that not all parties are for the little kids finally. She is turning out to be as ungrateful as Kate. She's had tons of activities and parties for her and her friends. She is not usually left in the dust. 

The haunted house, put together by production, is not bad. It's a lot of spider webs and things hanging from the wall, a graveyard, and a few live action people in costume. I like the hospital room with a dead body on the table. A real rat appears, not part of the script. Again, not funny. Dangerous and unsanitary. The real rat turns out to be the creepiest thing about this all.

Cara finally speaks and says the haunted house wasn't scary. See, this is where these kids have been taught nothing about manners. I know Cara is just telling the truth, and that the twins are maybe pushing a little too old for "haunted houses," but production, people Cara knows and spends a lot of time with, put a lot of time and effort into this. To just deadpan directly back to them it wasn't scary at all, is mean. Basically she's telling them despite all their well-meaning efforts, it was a fail. These twins are well old enough to understand that sometimes you just tell people it was great, and thank them, even if you thought it was lame. White lies don't hurt anything.

This party looks fun now. Eat a donut on a string. I'm pleased to see plenty of boys there, for Aaden and Joel. They seem to rarely be allowed friends of their own around. Also makes it easier not to notice Collin is missing with all kinds of smelly boys running around. What I find kind of sick is that earlier in this episode Kate was bragging about the Lego costume she made for Collin one year. Yet there is no explanation of where Collin is or when he is coming back. Some nerve. A casual viewer of this show, if they notice he is even gone, would be so confused.

Everyone seems to be really enjoying themselves. I wonder why Jamie's son Clay didn't fly out though. Maybe he's still pissed at how unfairly he was treated by Kate and the kids on the RV trip, getting blamed for everything. He should be mad. 

Of note, Cara and Mady seem to mostly be paling around with Marley and some other school friends. I don't see them hanging out with Jamie's daughters much. Wonder what that dynamic is about. It's just kind of funny, because Kate claims Jamie's daughters might as well be her own, yet her own kids don't even seem to hang out with them.

The final round of commercials start at 50:50, and end at 56:40. Wow.

Proof that Kate didn't help with any of this, she goes through the haunted house as if she has no clue what she will see in there. If she helped to put this together, she would know what is coming around the corner and shouldn't be so terrified.

Afterward, they gather around on hay bales around an awesome campfire. What? This is beautiful. They have lovely stringing lights hanging up, and a huge area to run around near the fire. Why don't we see them doing normal stuff like this more? Why are so many of Kate's instagram posts them gathered around the television set, instead of this lovely fire pit? They were lucky to get such a mild night in October, assuming this was really October. Some of the kids aren't even wearing jackets.

The kids really enjoyed the party. The twins are unreasonably vile toward their younger siblings. Cara's favorite part was the fire after all the "dumb" little kids left. Why is that comment necessary? There's healthy sibling rivalry, and then there's cruelty, and I have no idea why Kate has allowed these twins to be so darn cruel. One day, Cara, your siblings will be all you have. And sometimes, when siblings are so tortured in childhood, it makes it hard for the victims to move on from it.

You guessed it, it was all worth it in the end. They made memories. Yes, Kate, they certainly did. And please make no mistake, while they may have memories of a cool haunted house, they also made a memory of yet another mental health episode on the part of their mother that nearly ruined the whole thing. 

Discussion Thread: A Haunting at the Gosselins 7/10/2017

The Gosselins invite their friends over for a Halloween party and turn their barn into a haunted house; Kate stresses about party planning, food prep and costumes while trying to deal with guests arriving before everything is ready.