Breaking news: Jon awarded custody of Collin

Collin spends the weekend with Jon

We hope this marks a transition home to Jon permanently! Sweet Collin looks so happy and healthy.

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Recap: Kate Plus 8 "A Decade of Kate" and "The Big FOUR Oh!": Kate wouldn't dream of not taking the kids, until she dreams it

Coming up on Kate turns 40 and she's old now 😂😂😂 ..... 

But first, before the oh-so-monumental episode in which like every other 40-year-old-woman before her, Kate turns 40, TLC shows a whopping three-hour recap of the entire last ten years of the show, narrated by a male voice. Three hours! I watched the whole thing for the recap, and not ten seconds of this massive beast was at all meaningful or necessary. The narrator sounds like maybe that Extreme Couponing guy. I keep waiting for him to announce, "Kate's amassed a four-walled, floor to ceiling stockpile worth over $30,000 dollars!"

Turns out this truly is a look-back, with absolutely nothing new, not even a new couch interview from Kate, which I guess we should be grateful for. All her yammering on explaining away and re-writing history during clip shows gets really old. Just like Kate, old! Of course a lot of the old clips they show I didn’t really much remember it's been so long, so I’ll just highlight a few that stood out, especially knowing what we know now.

• Collin was one of the last babies to go home from the hospital, along with Joel. This is significant to me for two reasons. One is that he and Joel had the toughest time getting going when they were premies, which can be a risk factor a child will develop special needs. The other is that Collin certainly lost out on crucial bonding time with his parents the other children were getting, which can also be a risk factor for special needs. As it is, by virtue of there being six babies I think they were all at risk for not getting enough bonding time with their parents even if their parents were perfect. Interestingly enough, Kate describes Collin as laid back, and the biggest child. I always saw him as generally laid back anytime we've seen him on film, so the idea ole Kate here couldn't handle him in the family home was always hard to believe.
• Kate's terrible makeup job back in the day, yeesh. That blush makes her look like a domestic violence victim. She often doesn't even have it placed on her cheeks evenly, channeling Tom Hanks from toward the end of Philadelphia.
• The mind games Kate played with toddlers surely has to have affected them later. For instance, allowing them to take a piece of chocolate from a park worker, then immediately turning around and forcing them to give the chocolate to her, Kate, to be eaten later because it will melt. A toddler doesn't understand that! That's way too complicated for them! Give me back the chocolate now for safe keeping to eat later because it will melt in your hand now? That's like Harvard for a toddler. If you must do this take-back to such a young child, don't give them the chocolate in the first place, take it directly from the worker yourself for safe keeping for later. At least then the chocolate won't have to be taken from the toddler after they actually got to hold it for a moment. Naturally a few of the toddlers end up hysterical over this. Sigh, these little ones know it's no guarantee they're seeing that treat ever again.
• It's nice that Jon is shown a lot during the old clips, as he was as involved with these kids as Kate and arguably much more involved. There is a sweet moment where he teases Cara after her cooking class, warmly placing his hand on her shoulder and telling her, "You didn't save me some cake? What kind of chef are you?" Cara looks up at him with such a loving little grin. These kids adored their dad and he them, and Kate sabotaged that special relationship, and that's a fact. 
• Kate's trip to I think Wyoming with the three boys is the only time in the history of the show I can remember her doing something with just the three boys. If someone can remember any other time I'd love to know. It's embarrassing and pathetic that horse trainers have to give her lengthy and specific instructions to please not scream on or around the horses as it freaks them out. Kate laughs this all off of course, which makes me mad. A close family friend of ours was killed in 2004 when a horse got spooked for unknown reasons and kicked her neck (she was bending down to clean its hoof). It's not funny, Kate. Horses are gentle animals but huge and skittish, which means many people have been hurt or killed by horses who, though they weren't trying to hurt anyone, got freaked out over something and accidentally did so. Interestingly enough, there was a successful campaign from many folks to plead with the barn to not put the horse down over my friend's death, and they didn't. Us family and friends generally supported that decision and still do. He wasn't trying to hurt her and she wouldn't have wanted him killed over this. To top this all off Kate whizzes around on an ATV without a helmet. Kate's just an idiot and very, very oblivious.
• Now here's some really interesting insight into how Kate handled a child who has special needs. She remarks that Collin, and Hannah, like to play by themselves. How interesting that the two independent (and perhaps more free-thinking) children are the first two to leave Kate. She then laughs as she remarks that she doesn't understand when the children complain they have no one to play with. A sibling is a wonderful and special relationship but the children are craving friendships and other social interaction with peers outside the family. She doesn't get it, but it's actually not good enough to simply stick a sibling in front of a kid and tell them to go play and expect that to meet all their social needs. These kind of complaints from the kids suggest they in fact were not getting enough social interaction outside the family unit and were craving more of it. It suggests Kate was lazy about their social development, and ignorant, and again, this can contribute to a child developing special needs. 
• The boys swim trunks are at least three sizes too large while the girls' suits fit them perfectly. Not only do they look ridiculous and pathetic, but cheaping out on swim clothes can be dangerous. All that extra fabric can make it harder for the child to float and swim. Get them trunks that fit for god sakes, you cow.  
• Don't you just want to strangle Kate and her terrible command of the English language? Why is it "ironic" that the show arranged for a trip to Alaska and Alaska is on their wish list of places to go? That's not what irony means! Irony does not mean a coincidence!  

• I've since been to Australia myself in 2015, including the Australia Zoo, and so seeing the footage now of the Gosselin trip there I have a pretty neat context for everything. What really stood out to me was the family's trip occurred during a persistent drizzle. Having been there I know that zoo is so exposed, with long, long open walks between exhibits. That's good, that means the animals are given lots of space in their enclosures. But it sure sounds like a miserable trip in the rain. I don't like zoos in general, but for what it was I found the whole thing to be clean, laid out well, and very appealing. Here's a photo I took of one of the kangaroos in the enclosure. They really do let you get right up close and pet and feed them just like Steve Irwin did. 

And here's the incredible, gorgeous beach we stayed at near the zoo called Dicky Beach. That's an old shipwreck that was there that they've since removed and placed in a museum. When people ask was Australia worth it, I tell them well it's a nice place but it's an awful lot of money for an American to spend to go so far to see some exotic animals in their natural habitat. I was working there, so I was very, very fortunate to have my expenses covered. But, I will say if you like beaches, go. The beaches are just fantastic, as you can see. I don't think the Gosselin episode in Australia really captured the beauty whatsoever that I saw on that continent.

• My God, I forgot this comment from the Mother's Day episode but Kate says she always is asking herself why she was "chosen" to have twins and sextuplets. LMAO, she's coo-coo! She's not an Israelite wandering in the desert. She went to a fertility doctor and got too many eggs implanted and they almost all fertilized. No "choosing" involved other than her own very questionable choices when it comes to her own reproduction. What is wrong with this woman? Also I don't believe a doctor told her she would never have kids. I think she's Kate being dramatic. That is an extremely rare thing to say to a woman nowadays, especially a woman only in her 20's. Basically you're only told that if you have no uterus. The technology is so good now and has been for awhile that statistics show most woman have a very, very high likelihood of having a biological child if they want to, though you may need fertility treatments.

And that wraps up the long and pointless recap show. Good news is, Kate has been getting even older as we suffered through this. Now onto the big 4-0! 

Coming up, the family is going to Mexico for Kate's 40th. I predict a lot of offensive Mexican stereotypes ahead. Mady says Kate is constantly talking about how she's 40 now and it gets annoying. Mady's right, Kate fixates. Whatever it is on her little pea brain at the moment, it's all she wants to talk about. Whether it's her divorce, or dating, or organic food, or running, or turning 40, she goes through these cycles where there's nothing else playing but that one track. It's annoying enough when you're just watching her yammering on TV or social media, it must be hell to live with.

Deanna and Andrea are over at the house putting up badly clashing decorations. Haven't seen those two young ladies in awhile have we?! Do Deanna and Andrea not understand how to twist two steamers together? It looks like a first grader did this job, it's terrible. Maybe they don't care.

Kate was "invited" by Generations resorts in Mexico to spend three days and nights there and she "jumped at the chance." Ha, I bet that heifer did. The days of a resort offering her a free stay are probably long gone now, but it's true that many resorts do do this for celebrities. It's worth it to them to get some paparazzi photos taken at their resort and develop a reputation for hosting celebs, almost free publicity. They even would put offers like these in Oscar gift bags. You have to pay the taxes on the stay and figure out how to get yourself there, but Kate could probably swing it so production covers that. In fact I'm wondering if this offer wasn't really exclusive to her at all but just something found in a swag bag she picked up somewhere. The most shocking thing I discovered working for a celeb is that the richer you are, the more freebies you get. It can get to the point where half your expenses are freebies or heavily discounted. At the time, iPods were the big freebie thing, and celeb had amassed about six of them in the span of as many months. It was insane, especially for someone like me from a little town back east who at the time had never even known someone who had an iPod much less so many you couldn't even hold them all at once.

In any case, bring on the Mexican stereotypes! They have a bunch of plastic sombreros out everywhere and they're setting the table with a Mexican theme which I guess in Kate's head means sombreros and lots of clashing bright colors. Right on the money.

Kate tells the kids this is a send-off party for she and Deanna to go to Mexico alone. So, you tell little kids you're going to leave them again with sitters for days on end while you go off and have all the fun in another country, and this is funny? There really is something wrong with this woman. Sure enough, Hannah is downright mad Kate won't be there when she wakes up for school, and Leah bursts into tears! My god, will Kate end the prank already now that children are sobbing? (She won't. She blows this off as the kids just being dramatic teenagers. Right, a kid who would prefer their mom be around for their lives in dramatic. Flipping tool.) What is her obsession with tricking or surprising the kids about trips? Why not just tell them from the beginning they're going and give them some time to build up some fun excitement about it? She prefers sobs and anger to tickled as pink kids who are thrilled for weeks on end leading up to the trip? Again, something is wrong with her. It's no surprise a kid like Hannah realized she prefers to live with Jon. Eventually you get tired of the emotional manipulation.

We have talked a ton on this blog about Kate's mental state and the terribly nasty things she does to others, including her own children. As Concerned Aussie just posted recently, "She's never seemed to have any foresight in her relentless pursuit of revenge and the limelight and her mental deterioration has been evident over the last few seasons. Now though, I think it's clear she really is evil, an it's getting harder for her to hide it."

All I would say to that is it's clear she was evil a long time ago and this little prank she played on her own children proves it.

Leah lets slip on the couch that Kate is never around and here she is about to take off again, and I'm sure that's just about true around this time period. This was Kate's heyday when she really was traveling the country, spending a heck of a lot of time in New York getting her hair and nails done, and going off to L.A. for whatever and all that nonsense. It is obviously totally believable to the kids she would take off on them again to another country in the middle of the school year, and that speaks volumes. Kate deserves that comment slipping from Leah. Had she never played this cruel prank on the poor kids, Leah never would have let slip her mother is not around. Bam.

It doesn't surprise me someone like Kate is solely focused on the fact that she is now 40 and single instead of in her 30's and single, because she's one of those insecure and old-fashioned women who still thinks a woman's self worth is defined by her relationship. I haven't heard her say a single positive thing about this milestone birthday, what a drag she is to listen to. Mady says she needs to shut up and this is all about Kate knowing darn well she doesn't look 40 but loving to tell everyone she is 40 for that very reason, and no truer words were said. Mady's got her pegged. Kate's one of those women who gets herself all skinny and toned and dolled out in a beautiful outfit for some fun event and then tells everyone she is fat and ugly and waits for the compliments to flow. Yep. I kind of think Kate does actually look all of 40, she looks exactly her age, but that's not the point. The point is that Mady is right, Kate doesn't think she looks 40 and loves to show this off.

Kate gradually seems to realize this prank is not funny, especially after some of the kids have stormed off to their rooms to sob. Um, so anyone else could have understood this was a bad idea before she ever even started. Why didn't Deanna tell her this was a bad idea, or Andrea? Are they this much in Kate's back pocket? So Kate tells them the truth and the kids are happy but the emotional damage is done.

Lol, the terribly strung streamers in the back as Kate lies and said it was never a thought in her mind to not bring the kids on this her second trip to Mexico. Right, just like the first time she went to Mexico  in 2010 with Steve for "work" and didn't bring the kids.

I'm really realizing now how terrible Kate is as describing things, which probably plays a huge role in why she's never really made it on any kind of spin-off like a cooking show where you really do have to be able to speak. The extent of her description of the outright gorgeous Mexican resort right on the sparkling clear aqua water is, wait for it.... "oh my gosh." I'm not kidding.

It looks like they're heading straight from the airport shuttle to go snorkel with turtles. That's an amazing activity, but did they at least get a nap and some food or anything first? This can't have been an easy travel day.

Deanna, who is only slightly better at describing things than Kate, says they saw a beautiful corral reef. Wait, what? Why didn't they show that on film? I only saw a few turtles. Stupid.

The kids hit up a marketplace that is all just touristy junk, which unfortunately, is on every corner in Mexico. You have to go pretty far off the beaten path to get yourself some really great authentic finds, and that's not advisable for Americans to really do right now. Oh, this is a shopping trip for Kate's birthday present? I thought this was for the kids. Figures. At only 200 pesos each to spend, some of the kids are struggling to buy what they really want for Kate. Poor Collin looks really bummed he can't afford the 550 pesos bear figurine he wants to get. Has it occurred to the kids if they pooled their money they could get Kate something really fantastic? Apparently not. Maybe Deanna or Andrea could help them by suggesting this? Don't hold your breath. The twins finally figure it out and pool their money with one of the younger girls.

Collin is somehow able to negotiate getting the bear he wants for a flat 200 pesos, and he's blown away with gratitude. "Thank you, thank you, oh my god," sweet little Collin says. Awww. Yeah, stay tuned on this one.

Also, if something is listed for 550 pesos and you're willing to chop off a whopping 350 pesos from the sticker price (about 18 bucks), doesn't that suggest this is all really just junk meant to bilk tourists for whatever money they have in their pocket? Sigh. I'm glad to see the kids happy to shop, but I wish someone was teaching them how to be more discerning while traveling, find the good stuff, the gems, and avoid cheap-o tourist traps like these on vacations.

The Mayan ruins wouldn't let them film for reasons nobody explains. Well boo-hoo! I take great joy in this for some reason. Screw this show and their entitlement thinking they can just go wherever and film whatever they like. They have to film this excursion on their iphones, which really seems like breaking the rules if they intend to use the iphone footage on their show anyway, which they do. Can Mexico sue?

Is this all still the same day, their first day off their flight? I'm not familiar with this place. Is the market, sea turtles and Mayan ruins all in the same vicinity? This trip looks just exhausting so far.

The next day it's Mud Buggy driving on ATVs. Looks just awesome, and just expensive. You can predict Kate doesn't enjoy any of this at all and complains the whole way. If Deanna is slightly more descriptive than Kate, the kids are slightly more descriptive than Deanna: It was a dirt road, and muddy.

Andrea is an awesome nanny. She is having fun, engaging the kids, and driving through the biggest puddles. It's criminal she doesn't seem to be around anymore. Now that's what a nanny should be: fun, funny, adventurous, encouraging. See Tiggy Legge-Burke, the patron saint of modern nannies. The little princes put on their wellies and grabbed their fishing rods under her watch, spending countless hours along the river at the nanny's home in Wales. No doubt she played a huge role in how well-adjusted they turned out after the tragedy of their mother's death and their unusual upbringing. Tiggy didn't much approve of things like movies and tennis, she thought the boys were better off doing something that would make them muddy, and she was right. She had moved on before Diana's death clearly in part because Diana didn't like her and it was causing too much conflict, but when Diana died, it was Tiggy Charles called, asking her to come back and help him with the boys. And she did exactly that for a couple more years until about the time William graduated from high school. Her son was in William's wedding years later.

Despite the tension between her and Princess Diana, I think Diana would have been grateful for the love and support and fun Tiggy gave the boys during terribly sad times.

I really don't like how slow Kate is driving and how she says she doesn't want to drive recklessly. Even some guy who works there complains. I'm sure the cars and track are made such that it's almost impossible to do anything that would hurt you. Good grief, she's one big killjoy as per the usual. Kate finally gets it together and drives like a real person, flying through the mud and making Cara happy. Kate can stop with the timid I'm such a safe driver act because we know for a fact she's such a lead-foot on the roads she once amassed four speeding tickets in two years, one for hitting almost 90 mph! God, her constant act is obnoxious and no one believes it.

After a whirlwind day yesterday, apparently the racetrack is all they did today because suddenly it's nighttime and Kate's ditched the kids and gone out on the town with Deanna. Deanna is 40, too? Geez, she acts like she's all of 26 and, like, uh, ya know, a millennial. Coulda fooled me. Seems like by 40 you would have learned how to twirl two streamers together nicely or at least know how to look up how to do it. Why is Deanna acting like by age 40 you're basically invisible as a woman and must retire yourself to the attic to knit and that she's such a strong and powerful feminist she will be able to overcome all this? So dramatic, self-fulfilling, and in my view a pretty inaccurate description of the state of women in the world, unless you're in Hollywood (even then, that's getting better).

They head to Sur Steakhouse, and my first thought was you've got to be kidding me, they're going to Lisa Vanderpump's restaurant, a British woman? But turns out Sur Playa del Carmen isn't associated with Lisa at all and is supposedly owned by locals.

Some interesting truth comes out that Kate actually initially planned this whole trip with just Deanna, no kids. Just like her prank on the kids. Wait, I thought she wouldn't dream of going on this trip without the kids. Heh. In fact that's not true, per her own admission she sure did dream it, and only planned for the kids to come later as an afterthought. More than likely, because production wanted to make an episode. Tool, and liar.

Deanna goes into some meandering diatribe about how she used to think she and Kate needed a man in their life (like, to share, or they each get a man?), then they start trolling the venue for available hunks, and I think Deanna's a terrible role model for Kate's kids and wouldn't want her around any kids at all much less these vulnerable kids who are going to be messed up enough from Kate.

Kate's goals are for the kids to grow up and be best friends with each other. Well, when you ostracize certain ones and call them liars, that's unlikely, Kate. 

I cannot imagine eating an entire dinner out with these two dimwits. What a mind-numbing experience. Their stupid conversation consists of dating, being defensive about dating and all their other lame choices that they think were good ones that in fact has left them both single and alone, yammering on about a divorce that was five years ago, patting themselves on the back for what wonderful strong women they are apparently seeing no irony in all the man trolling they did all night, and drinking overpriced fruity drinks with leaves in them. When Kate is with Deanna she forgets she has eight kids? Huh? She would like to forget this? Why? She's unbelievable. I can see enjoying a night out not having to parent eight kids constantly, but to forget you even have them is kind of a weird thought.

Can I say something about being single and alone? I've been there and done that, I did it for a long time well into my thirties, and it was fine, it was something I needed to go through before I could give myself fully to a man and be the best that I could be as a woman. But around about the time I was ready to find my forever relationship and stop with this dating crap, I found it very detrimental to be around other single women. Toxic even, especially when those women were bitter and angry about being alone and single. It would make me bitter and angry, and I knew I'd never find someone in that state of mind. No, I needed to be around women who had found their other half, who knew how to do it and what to look for, and who would be encouraging and give me good advice. I needed role models who were living out what I wanted. I needed women who believed what I wanted was out there. He was. Point being, I think Kate thinks Deanna is a wonderful friend and support to her. But I think Deanna has actually been harmful to Kate, does not give her good advice or encouragement when it comes to relationships, because I realize now Deanna too is forty, single and bitter. You know who would have been better best friends to latch onto all these years during this post-divorce era? Beth and Jodi.

It's Kate's 40th birthday out, Kate calling it one of the most memorable nights in a long time, and it's just her and some dolt of a friend she met not a few years ago who's super bitter and gives bad advice. No family, like sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, parents. No husband or boyfriend you love, no life-long friends or at least long-term friends, just one co-worker who doesn't even live in the same state. At the end of the day, watching this all is actually quite sad. But as they say, you reap what you sow.

No, TLCgo app, I do not nor will I ever want to watch any show called Dr. Pimple Popper.

They spend forever showing the kids swimming in a giant hamster ball. Then Joel, Aaden, Hannah and Leah go off with Andrea to make cakes in what looks like a kids' baking class place. They never explain why the other kids didn't go but they went to the beach with Kate and Deanna. Weird. You guessed it, boys vs girls competition for best Kate cake. Typical. It's just one birthday for one person, doesn't it make more sense to team up together and make one really great cake for her? Grr.

Later I guess they're having a party with the kids now. In a rare occurrence, Kate compliments both cakes very nicely with specific and sincere comments, and the boys are so proud of themselves, which is sweet. Kate didn't even do anything that makes me want to strangle her like pick a "winner" or something. I'm shocked.

Someone says something about how "Mom" won't want them to eat all this sugar but I can't tell who. Mady, who has a mean streak the size of Texas, says the cakes looked like crap and she couldn't eat them out of self-respect. Where are the adults to make her stop with such cruel and inappropriate comments about her siblings? The cakes were just fine for an 11 year old, but even if they weren't, you don't have to be so nasty. I don't care if she doesn't want to eat it, but there is no reason to be hurtful.

The kids start giving Kate the gifts they bought and Kate is so excited and appreciative until she gets to Collin's bear.

Collin tells her it's supposed to represent himself and Kate, which is adorable, and you can armchair psychology that one pretty easily. In front of Collin, Kate says "Ohhh" as if she doesn't like the gift, and demands to know where the other seven cubs are. Wth? Kate, I doubt Mexico sells a bear figurine with eight bear cubs! She then calls the gift "off the wall" on the couch, which it wasn't at all. No more off the wall than that weirdo turtle container some other kid gave her where the lid is the shell. What are you supposed to put in such a stupid thing? I know many viewers found this segment just downright outrageous, but the editors cut so quickly out of it we're spared Collin's reaction. I hope the little guy wasn't too hurt by all this, but it would be hard not to be. Remember when he found out he scored the bear? "Oh my god, thank you!" I also think when comparing the bear incident to the cruel prank she played on the kids making them think she was leaving them to go to Mexico without them, they are both equally terrible things to say to her children.

The titles of these episodes are usually stupid and uninteresting, but this time I wonder if that "oh" in the Big Four-Oh title was a play on Kate's stupid "ohhh" when she saw Collin's gift. That would be unusually creative of the editors, but who knows.

Kate goes back to being over the top excited over the rest of the children's gifts. Blech.

Kate gives an awkward speech to someone, not sure who, about how she feared her birthday was going to be just another day with the same old same old. Okay, well that's not our problem. If you want a 40th birthday trip to a foreign country, then plan it yourself. Go online to Orbitz and book some flights and hotels. Deanna said she was game for it, and the kids wanted to go. I don't understand why this was TLC's problem or anyone else's problem to figure out. Kate's lucky she got this trip thrown into her lap after being so helpless about the situation. Has anyone read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, a modern self-help classic? I would almost call it a philosophy book more than anything else, and it's extremely highly regarded. Kate basically violates every single habit all the time, but one of the habits is that you don't just sit around passively letting problems happen to you. You go out there and fix things before they even break. What I'm saying is I have no sympathy for Kate here thinking this birthday was going to be so sad when she could have had something fun planned ages ago. Kate was pathetic and waited for 40 to happen to her, instead of grabbing 40 by the horns and making something great out of it. And I'm highly suspicious the reason she didn't plan anything is she was holding out on TLC to pay, so I also find her trite. (The Seven Habits author also believes strongly in what he calls "abundance mentality," which is what we've talked about so much here, that just because another person is "winning" doesn't mean you're losing, that there is no such thing as a fixed pie or rarely so. Kate disregards that one, too, pretty much constantly, and to her detriment.)

At the end of this all I find it sad that Kate is clearly saying this was the best birthday ever because she got to go on such a fantastic free trip. Sure, fantastic trips are wonderful on birthdays and all don't get me wrong (I went to Italy for my 30th, not for free though), but it is not the trip that makes the birthday, it's doing such an amazing thing with family and friends you love. Even if it's a day trip to the next town, it doesn't matter so much where you go. Kate does not get this, of that I'm sure. She admits she brought the kids along as an afterthought, remember? And now there's just one episode left, another birthday episode this time of the Tups, of the long and painful SEASON THREE of this terrible, terrible show.

Jon: I have custody of Hannah. Kate: No you don't. Realitytvkids.com: Stop calling your 14-year old a liar, Kate

Some back and forth among Jon, Hannah and People Magazine, i.e. Kate, has resulted in quite a dispute over who has custody of Hannah right now. Hannah has said at least three times in Instagram live videos on her now-closed account that she lives with her father now, though still sees her siblings. Then in his own Instagram live a few days ago, Jon said the same. Jon and Hannah have also posted many happy photos of each other together over the past several months. Kate has not posted any photos of her with Hannah in ages. Then today, People magazine published a story claiming that Jon does not have custody of Hannah despite his claims.

So what's going on? Well obviously, Jon and Hannah are telling the truth and Kate is not, did you suspect anything else?! We're here to offer some solid information straight from the actual court docket on their family law case. As follows:

According to a common sense reading of the court docket on the Gosselin family case, Jon has had custody of Hannah since at least April 5, 2018, when a final custody order was made. This from this entry: Appellant, K.I.G., defendant below, filed a notice of appeal from the final custody order entered April 5, 2018.

Then on July 24, Kate's appeal was closed: "Notice of Appeal Closed July 24, 2018."

Happy 4th of July!!! 🇺🇸

A post shared by Jon Gosselin (@jongosselin1) on Jul 4, 2018 at 5:37am PDT

The contentious battle over this particular child, Hannah, has raged since at least 2015, when Kate began calling the police on Jon over Hannah, who would defect to Jon's. Kate even went so far as to imply Jon could be molesting the child. Then in August 2017 a police report details an incident where Kate tried to pull Hannah by the arm out of Jon's car, which required Hannah to receive medical attention. And then there's the lawsuit filed by Kate sometime in the Spring of 2018 ticked about Jon seeking custody because he promised he wouldn't in exchange for no more child support payments. Now why would Kate be suing him if he didn't have custody of Hannah? Here's Jon's response, arguing this alleged agreement, which can't even be produced, violates public policy.

The docket matches what Jon and Hannah have been saying. The social media posts match what Jon and Hannah have been saying. The history matches what Jon and Hannah have been saying. In any event, TFW, please stop going to the press, or having Deanna or some other lackey go to the press, to call Hannah a liar. She's a child. It's despicable and you, Kate, should be ashamed of yourself.

Recap: Kate Plus 8 "Mother's Day Surprise": Friends, the Mary Kay Leturneau haircut was once cool

Coming up on Kate Plus 8, the high holiest of Gosselin holy days is upon us, a time of fasting and feasting, prayerful meditation, gifting and re-gifting, and celebration. It is .... Mother's Day. No, no, no, do not fill this whole episode with old clips! I hate my life!

So, confession, my own birthday is very close to the day to the Tups, so I too know about how the birthday will every seven years or so fall on Mother's Day or darn close. For me growing up that was never made an issue. Each were celebrated every year as if any other birthday or Mother's Day, just as you would treat a child the same who was born on or near Christmas. And to my great shock, Kate has agreed to allow the children their birthday day, and she will celebrate Mother's Day on another day. That is probably the most unselfish thing she has done in years, and I can't work out what the catch is, there must be one. Apparently Leah was the one who told Kate she felt sorry that Kate had to share Mother's Day with their birthday. Kate's response was Mother's Day can be any day. Wait, rewind. Did Kate say "any" day, or EVERY day? Not sure which one I heard. Because that could be the catch, she'll give them their birthday, but she gets every other day! Moo-ha-ha!

Like good little parental alienated children, Alexis dutifully recites the script that she is most grateful for Kate because she "takes care of us alone!"

Oh, brother. Here we go. This episode aired on May 10, 2015. I know, uncharacteristically timely. Usually we would expect a Halloween episode around about this time. But we're now three years later, and there's a world of difference between trying to brainwash 10-year-olds and trying to brainwash 14-year-olds. See Hannah.

The kids are planning a surprise breakfast for Kate, which mostly consists of Mady ordering everybody else about. Mady is really, really firm with the kids, constantly raising her voice and pushing them around. It's awful to listen to. She learned this from her mother, and it won't serve her well. It won't work for teachers, or professors. It won't work for friends. It won't work for boyfriends. And good luck with marriage.

Kate takes about five minutes to simply tell us she doesn't know what the kids are up to. Yeah, I know people like that. Moments you will never get back.

So, like, Kate left her kids alone with the crew this whole time? Unbelievable. They're probably old enough the crew won't molest any of them easily, but what about their comfort during filming, their safety? Where is their mother to watch out for children who are getting too tired filming, being pushed too hard, are hungry, who need a break from it? Collin is here, and we know now he has special needs! Terrible.

Lol, old pics of Kate. I'm a good deal younger than Kate, yet still close enough in age to be in the same sort of fashion era growing up. It was all about the same for a long period. How come in the late 80's, 90's, all of us kids dressed and styled like 40-year-old tenured school teachers? How was this cool? It's so bizarre. And hilarious. There's Kate, all of 16, and through no fault of her own, dolled up in a snazzy turquoise turtle neck, busy black and white patterned v-neck cardigan thing, little gold necklace and matching ring, dark red nail polish and lipstick, and the Mary Kay Leturneau haircut from her molesting days, bangs and all. See what I mean?! Teacher haircuts were once outrageously cool!

And just some ramblings, but putting myself back in that time period, I'm going to guess Kate was cool. And I think the information we have was she did run with the cool kids, had a cool boyfriend, was a cheerleader, was reasonably popular. What it took to be cool back in the day was often a little money from your parents, to buy the right clothes and get into the right sports, like cheer. Indeed, Kate's clothes look pretty on point for what they are. So all this ungrateful nonsense from her about her parents not treating her right or giving her what she needed to make it, it seems like Kate was doing just fine for herself even back in the teen years. Try being an uncool kid to begin with whose parents genuinely couldn't afford any of these latest styles, or any of the things that would transition you into making cheer (like a little gymnastics lessons) like how I and many of my friends in the rural Northeast grew up. It's not fun at the time, but you grow up and eventually realize everybody did their best and thankfully it doesn't matter one bit you weren't cool then and didn't do cheer and you were probably better off not being part of all that anyway. 

Some boring old clips. Kate tells the story again that she always wanted to be a mom since she was a really young kid, would even have dreams about adopting piles of kids on her doorstep. Pull over the furniture because I want to armchair this. First of all, I don't think it's normal for a pre-pubescent girl to feel that strongly about children just yet. Many little girls will claim they want a baby, but it has more to do with just liking to play babydolls and imagining yourself married to Leo with six kids living in New York City, you're a lunch lady and you drive a Mercedes because that game MASH predicted that, and little to do with what motherhood really entails and the much more complex feelings a mature adult woman often has about having children. 

So, I think Kate's obsession with not one baby but many babies was not normal at her age, and I wouldn't be surprised if the baby obsession was related to her fanciful desire to have someone or many someones love her in the way she thinks other people didn't, namely her parents. Her parents surely loved her unconditionally, but Kate is the type to interpret discipline, telling her no to things, or having rules she doesn't like, as a parent not really loving her. That would be Kate.

Kate says she went to nursing school to bag a doctor husband. Just kidding, she says she went to nursing school to have knowledge about caring for her children and supporting them. You have to be a nurse to care for your kids properly? Can't you just call Kaiser if they get sick? They have a 24/7 hotline and the nurse always helps you out, although the preliminary just-making-sure-this-isn't-an-emergency questions are always kind of ridiculous. If I wasn't breathing I wouldn't be calling a 1-800 number, lady, shouting in my entire ten digit member ID into my iPhone, shouting in the last four digits of my social security number, saying "correct", and shouting 4, then 2, then 4 again, then 1 to finally get to your ass. 

If you want to know how to take care of kids you could also pick up a parenting book or do a basic first aid for babies and children course through the Red Cross and skip the incredible expense of nursing school. It's just a weird reason to go that doesn't really make sense. How about, I went to nursing school to help sick people? Nah, too cliche. 

Also, how was Kate going to get these kids anyhow? Did she even know Jon at this point? Maybe in nursing school she learned how sex works? 

I'm enjoying the old pics of pre-botoxed Kate, though! She truly has progressed over the years. Or, regressed, if you like.

Kate was definitely a girl's girl back in the day, which I can't help but interpret as shallowness. She's always got jewelry on, always in a cute outfit, always has her nails done, always has her hair styled in some trendy teacher hairdo. In an old Halloween photo where she's the spitting image of none of the kids (they all are dead ringers for their dead father), she's got her hair dyed blond and in a tight perm. That can't have been cheap. What did she miss out on exactly during childhood? Because her childhood sure looks happy and privileged enough to me.

Oh, did anyone catch the old clip of Kate talking into the camera about how not-glamorous she felt when the six babies were maybe three months old? It looked just like a screen test tape we always suspected she may have sent off to TLC to get her show. Busted.

Does anyone care about her boring fertility story for Mady and Cara? I sure don't. She had to wait awhile to take a pregnancy test because it's not like today when you can take a test a few minutes after conception. Um, they still don't have those.

Once in a great while Kate will say or do something really genuine, and a tiny part of me wants to like the woman. They show an old home movie Kate herself filmed, showing her pregnancy test with the twins. A faint line. She then pans down to the counter where she's taken two more tests! Much stronger lines. She's pregnant, and it's the most wanted pregnancy ever, she says  Because, yeah, ya totally do line up those tests and keep peeing on them one after another in disbelief! And I almost, almost, teared up a little at year 2000 Kate finding out such good news.

I think you get to a certain age and you just can't help but cry when you hear someone is pregnant especially someone you care about, or even when you know someone else is finding out someone they care about is pregnant! How many of us both laughed and definitely cried as our dearly departed Golly Gee found out she was going to be a grandma not once, but twice, in this lovely tribute video one of her sons made. ("You better not be joking me, I'll kill you!")

Had Kate been more like 2000 Kate throughout these long years, she might actually have some viewers left who genuinely care about her.

Wow Kate needs to stop being, like, a likable person; this episode is getting spooky. She says the twins were such easy-going babies she was like, hm, I'd like another! Dude, I know so many parents who had an easy first child by sheer luck of the draw and were then like, parenting is easy, adulting is a breeze, I don't know what everybody else is talking about with terrible-this or that. Let's have another! 

Famous last words.

There were so many old clips and Kate yammering on I nearly forgot that in "present day" the kids are still making breakfast for Kate. Nothing interesting happens.

Is it just me, or is it really mean when adults say to children, "It's the thought that counts." It's basically just a nicer way of saying your work sucks. I have vivid memories of various adults saying this to me and other kids when I was a kid and even at the time I knew exactly what they were really saying. If there is one thing I caught onto pretty quickly as a child, and still do believe today, it's that many adults assume kids are stupid or don't know wtf is going on. Wrong.

Well, at least the younger girls seem happy and excited to have helped out with the breakfast, including the pancakes and fruit salad. Kids this age desperately need to be assigned mild to moderately challenging tasks and figure them out on their own, it's crucial to normal development and good self esteem.

There's a discussion about "Collin's card-making station" which I guess is where they will make the Mother's Day card, but I don't see Collin anywhere. I'm guessing if he were even still around at this point, this was one of the last episodes he was in the house for, but not actually on camera. It was a slow progression with that kid that gradually took him out of the show.

Mady, who is far too old to still be whining about this, says the day the sextuplets were born was the worst day of her life and it was pretty awful after that too. While it certainly would be hard on a little girl to have so many younger brothers and sisters, now at her age, it's time to grow up. Also in defense of Kate and of course Jon, they went to great lengths to make sure Mady and Cara felt special and privileged and there were many things the twins got to do that the sextuplets were left out of. Mady is, sadly, a selfish and ungrateful child. Some children come by unselfish characteristics naturally, others, like Mady, must be taught and if they're not taught, unsavory aspects become a solid part of their personality, and it's unattractive.

Kate rattles off some of her parenting "rules" as we watching boring old clips. Stick to a schedule, no means no, don't give in. And generally I think her parenting advice is just bad. The first two there are definitely numerous exceptions to when it's beneficial to depart from the schedule as well as just let things go. And don't give in is definitely terrible advice. In fact, most parenting experts will advise you to really pick your battles, that you should only come down hard on the important stuff, and that it's best to let most things go for happy, well-adjusted children and a peaceful family. In other words, you give in a whole awful lot. I'm reminded again of GollyGee, who, in an adorable small video within her video tribute, her son David is refusing to sit up for a family photograph, instead preferring to recline against mom's legs with his hands under his head. GollyGee in short order gives up, shaking her head with a bit of a smile. She gave in! Because at the end of the day, does it really matter David didn't sit up this one time? And you can look back on the photograph and video, as we have, and laugh at the little boy's antics, at doing things his way as kids like to do. No tears, no whining, no battles that day in that house. Had GollyGee "stuck to her guns" as Kate advises, that family photo might very well have turned into a horrific battle of wills and spoiled the whole day. And it didn't result in raising a serial killer. David turned out all right, didn't he? (Thanks for stopping by to say hello, David!) GollyGee was a good mama. Kate is not.

I'm kind of surprised they show the clip of Collin distraught in the furniture store, begging to be changed, because that was surely one of Kate's most evil moments. She's chatting away on the couch as if her behavior in that store that day was normal.

I think the TLCgo app is showing way too many commercials. They just showed ten in a row, followed a few minutes later by seven! I pay for TLC through my cable company, it's not like I'm getting this for free. A paying customer shouldn't have to sit through excessive advertising.

Kate's prattling on about how she taught all the kids to cook. Fascinating. A producer then asks Mady who taught her to cook and she says Kate actually taught Cara, and then Cara taught Mady. Heh. That struck me as kind of funny, though I'm not sure it was a totally fair comment. Who knows who taught her, but I wouldn't put it past Kate to grossly exaggerate how much time she's spent working with the children to teach them to cook and playing the part of the loving attentive mother. Probably not as much as she wants us to believe.

Kate again proves that she doesn't understand child development at all, despite nursing school, when she talks about their eating habits and how the children are trying to "challenge" her with their picky eating. It's not all about you, you cow! Good lord. Picky eating is a completely normal stage of child development and has far more to do with kids genuinely having very sensitive taste buds that don't adjust easily to the plethora of foods that adults easily love and chow down on. In fact a British study found that a child's food likes are almost 75 percent based on genetics. That means it leaves only a small percentage to be determined by a parent pushing it down their throat until they give in and eat it. Kate's so freaking stupid. Most kids grow out of pickiness naturally, as long as they are getting enough variety of nutrients it's just not something to stress about. I woke up one day and loved the things I hated as a kid--salads, feta, coffee, Chinese food, hummus, limes, cheesecake, sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, zucchini, carbonated drinks, and lots of other foods kids will often avoid. Love them now! Nobody did anything to push them on me, I just started eating them because my taste buds developed into adult ones.

Kate really is rich talking about how much she struggles with sibling rivalry. Good grief, I can rattle off dozens of examples of both her handling sibling rivalry terribly or even outright encouraging such rivalry. For starters, when you blatantly play favorites with your children, sibling rivalry is inevitable.

Mady says twice that her younger siblings are brats, and there's a perfect example of the kind of completely unacceptable behavior towards one's siblings Kate has allowed and encouraged. It is not acceptable to name-call your siblings with such cruel and nasty names.

The producer tries to get Mady and Cara to say what a hard job of it Kate has raising eight kids, and they actually won't really go there. Mady says in actuality they all make it a lot easier for her. Heh. Well, I like that comment. For all Kate's whining and playing martyr about raising these kids, the kids do their best to help her. And I think that is a fair comment, we've seen plenty examples of the children pitching in and overall cooperating to prove they aren't total nightmares and can be very helpful when it comes to their care. The boys especially seem super easy to me. There's a huge difference between raising a child who is helpful and cooperative versus one who is constantly resisting you (even if it's due to things out of their control like special needs).

Kate gets lots of emails from strangers saying they're worried Mady is mean. Really?! This makes Mady laugh. How does that email go exactly? "Dear Kate, your daughter Mady is mean and I'm concerned. God bless"? Sounds like something GollyGee would have had the nerve to do! Heh! Also, I know I keep talking about GollyGee, but there's a lot about this episode that brings her to mind, and one of them is I think I understand much better now after her death and getting to know better who she was in her private life, why the kids meant so much to her. And I think so much of it had to do with her truly relating to raising three boys. She raised three boys, she did it right, Kate was doing it oh so wrong, and that really bothered her because she knew how much better their mom could have done by those boys. She would never toot her own horn about what kind of mother she was, but we know now she was amazing.

I catch a little glimpse of Collin at the card making station. He looks fine, even politely asking a sibling to hand him a pen and setting the table perfectly, explaining he "observed" how to do that in a restaurant. Aw. He's so cute. This is the kid who needed to be locked up for years? Was this the last episode where we really heard from him? Also he didn't learn how to set a table from his mother? Maybe this is because she eats all her meals standing at the counter.

Kate has a theory and I fall asleep. What the hell is a "girl mom"? She had girls first and so that made her a girl's mom? I really have no clue what she is talking about. Her theories are about as useful as those of the Flat Earth Society.

Oh I see this was just an opportunity to slam the boys for being normal little kids and to make a host of stereotypical and exaggerated comments about the girls. You can guess that the sum of it is the boys don't understand anything at all and all the girls do is have drama. As I have proposed many times, it is women themselves who often set women and girls back the most, and this is but one example of a woman, one who is semi-famous and has a bit of a platform to boot, using terribly exaggerated and untrue stereotypes that girls are all emotional fluttering basket cases who can barely make it through the day without a meltdown worthy of a truck of ice on a 100 degree day. Maybe if Kate did some work as a mother for once to help them better regulate and cope with their emotions, you wouldn't have so much drama. Children need to be taught how to handle intense emotions everyone will feel boys and girls alike, just as much as they need science and math. Make no mistake little girls watch this show, and it is disappointing they have to hear Kate say these things. I hope their mothers are around to set things straight.

I don't much like her comments about the boys, either. If boys are stupid with glazed over eyes all the time, does that mean they don't hold any responsibility for their actions, like when they go too far with a girl who doesn't want to? After all they're just a stupid boy. One could take it there.

Kate gives some cliche advice about doing your best that nobody cares to listen to. Also, I think doing your best is a cop out, because only you the person really knows for sure what your best is, so you can use it as a crutch to do half-ass work all the time because after all, that's just my best!

The kids and Kate do some terrible acting pretending that this all wasn't arranged by producers as the kids finish breakfast and Kate pretends she's surprised and impressed and goes out to eat her pancakes and read her card.

Collin made an incredibly creative card in which you actually can remove the heart from the center of it to hold it. That's really good, Collin! At least Kate takes the time to read each card individually and spend a moment with each child telling them how much she enjoyed the card. They need much more individual time with their parents.

Why is Kate still talking??? Eat your breakfast, bitch!

Shockingly, Kate admits it's not the kids' fault she has so much to do. Of course it's not. They didn't ask her to trick the fertility doctors into having a fuckety billion kids at once. So STFU already.

Oh, I hate her guts. While the kids are cleaning up without complaint, Kate has to say, "who are these children?" Oh shut up! There are piles of tapes in the archives of these kids helping out and working hard. Just stop it.

Ha, the bird is on Kate's shoulder, totally channeling Tanya Harding's stage mother. Nice. From now on this bitch's nickname is Lavonna any time she has that bird. It's just such a great villain name anyway isn't it? Lavonna Golden!

Lavonna Golden

Ick, they made a nice table for Kate to eat at  with tablecloth and all, but instead she eats on the nice couch. I think that's gross. All that syrup and crumbs. She's a slob. And also they made the trouble to put a table together for her, so sit at it!

Gross! The kids are massaging her feet. Yuck. And look up grooming behavior, because it often starts as massages and other gone-too-far touching. I'm not saying Kate would groom her kids, I don't see any evidence of that, but it's still gross to engage in grooming behavior even though you're not really trying to groom them.

Woo-hoo, a clip from the book signing I attended in Santa Monica! I think that will always be my favorite Gosselin memory. I arrived directly from work and Kate was sandwiched in between two narrow bookshelves and WTF? I somehow immediately ran into a Radar online reporter who was maybe about my age, we somehow immediately hit it off which was fun, and she explained that Kate was embarrassed by the low turnout so thought moving her in between the shelves would help. I see, so like, if you move yourself into a tiny house and invite some friends over to it it will make it seem like you have a lot more friends. Good thinking actually. I logged onto realitytvkids to "livestream" from the event and so the night began with a bang!

Why is Kate talking about what the haters say about her? Nobody was talking about that. I thought we were talking about breakfast! Again, she insists she's just doing her best--a cop out, see?

Nobody does everything right so cut me a break! she insists. Um, Kate, nobody suggested you must "do everything right" whatever that means. I hate when she misstates what the criticism is then answers the misstatements. It's called strawman-ing, and it's a cheap debate tactic and she knows damn well she's doing it. Aw, did the book signing bring up bad memories? Poor thing.

Kate wouldn't ask for eight different kids. That's kind of a weird thought to have. Except Collin. She would like to return Collin. I know it's maybe thirteen years and six months past the warranty period, but could they pretty please make an exception for her? She'll accept store credit!

It's kind of irritating to hear the brainwashed kids talking about all the good things about Kate she has drilled into them she does for them, but when you think about it, it's probably a really good thing they are able to see the positives of Kate. Some of them apparently already and soon more of them are really going to have problems with this woman and the choices she made for them (filming, Jon, the physical abuse), but in order to work through all those issues and have a rebuilding point with Kate and develop some trust, they're also going to need to be able to find some of the positives about her. For better or worse she is their mother to deal with, and cutting her out of their lives is always a method of last resort. So, for those who want to keep her on board as their mother, they have to work with what they have and what they do have is a mother who growing up let them have a lot of pets they love, on some level cares for them and on some level loves them. It's a start.

Gosselin v. Gosselin: PA docket shows the children have a Guardian ad Litem, and Kate filed an appeal past the deadline resulting in its denial

The public record docket, linked to us by one of the lovely ladies here, shows some interesting information.

• The best news of all is that at least one of the children, and hopefully all of them, are now listed as having a Guardian ad Litem, family law attorney Lauren Marks, who is a party to the case and invited to respond to any motions or requests. Marks' bio reveals she's a Penn State grad with experience as a public defender as well as experience as a GAL in "highly litigious" cases. She seems to be over qualified for this post! 
• Kate filed an appeal of an order in May three days late, to which the Courts asked her to "show cause" (I.e. explain) why the appeal should be heard. On June 14, they "quashed" the appeal due to her tardiness, which means she can no longer appeal. 
• The filing fee to file Kate's appeal was $90.50. Not to mention attorneys fees, of course.
• A briefing schedule is in place, which basically means deadlines to turn in your documents, with a brief due Monday July 9 for Kate. It's unclear what the briefing relates to.

The full docket can be viewed here.

June 4, 2018

Comment:

Per Curiam Appellant, K.I.G., defendant below, filed a notice of appeal from the final
custody order entered April 5, 2018. Appellant's notice of appeal was docketed below on May 8, 2018.
An appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order from
which the appeal is taken. Pa.R.A.P. 903(a). This Court has no jurisdiction to excuse the failure to file a timely notice of appeal. Valley Forge Center Associates v. Rib-It/K.P., Inc., 693 A.2d 242, 245 (Pa. Super. 1997); see also Pa.R.A.P. 105(b) (an appellate court may not enlarge the time for filing a notice of appeal).
Accordingly, Appellant is hereby directed to show cause, within ten days of the date of this order, as to why this appeal should not be quashed as having been filed untimely on May 8, 2018, thirty-three days after entry of the subject order. Failure to respond to this directive may result in quashal of this appeal without further notice.

June 14, 2018
Comment:

DOCKET ENTRY
Docket Entry / Representing Participant Type Response to Rule to Show Cause
Appellant
Quash Sua Sponte
Per Curiam Through this Court's June 4, 2018 Order, Appellant was directed to show
cause why the appeal should not be quashed as untimely. Appellant filed a response on June 11, 2018, but did not present legal argument to justify this Court's jurisdiction. An appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the order from which the appeal is taken. Pa.R.A.P. 903(a). This Court has no jurisdiction to excuse the failure to file a timely notice of appeal. Valley Forge Center Associates v. Rib-It/K.P., Inc., 693 A.2d 242, 245 (Pa. Super.
1997); see also Pa.R.A.P. 105(b) (an appellate court may not enlarge the time for filing a notice of appeal). Because the notice of appeal was filed on May 8, 2018, more than 30 days after the entry of the April 5, 2018 order, the appeal is hereby QUASHED.
Appellant's request for leave to file a notice of appeal nunc pro tunc is DENIED without prejudice to Appellant's ability to seek relief in the trial court.

Gosselin v. Gosselin: Jon's Petition to Open and/or Strike Judgement

In jaw-dropping court documents, Jon's attorneys essentially lay out a 2012 agreement in which Kate blackmailed Jon to not seek custody legal or otherwise under penalty of $125,000 in child support arrears plus $8,000 in interest and fees.

https://radaronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Jon-Gosselin-Slams-Kate-132K-lawsuit-docs-1.pdf

According to Jon's lawyers, Kate has been unable to produce the actual documents of the alleged agreement. She is however asking Jon to pay up now that he has asked for custody.

Jon's lawyers are asking the bill nonetheless be reduced to zero, arguing that the 2012 agreement would be prohibited by law, is vague, has not even been produced to review, is against public policy and not in the children's best interest.

Jon has found Collin, and Hannah is with him full time

In a very unexpected sextuplets birthday post, Jon wrote on Instagram that he and Hannah visited Collin for his belated birthday (Jon posted a few days ago on Hannah's birthday that he now has her every day and night). Collin has been missing for two years, and Kate has offered little explanation why, other than he is getting treatment.

Glad I could celebrate my son Collin’s 14th birthday with him and his sister!

A post shared by Jon Gosselin (@jongosselin1) on May 12, 2018 at 3:00pm PDT

Jon also commented:

mandapanda184 @jongosselin1 Oh good. So the reports that Kate shipped him somewhere without letting you know where, aren't true?
jongosselin1 @mandapanda184 that’s true but I found him

Recap: Kate Plus 8 "Kate's Most Memorable Moments": Nana Janet is dead, next?

Noooo! is all I can say to this one. Not another clip show! Ugh!

You can pretty much guess what this episode will be comprised of. This includes Hannah pooped in Hannah's underwears, cupcake gate, and lots of whining about a divorce that even then was ages ago--over five years ago when this episode first aired!

This is like the T.V. version of clickbait on the internet, draw viewers in with what looks like new material, then bait and switch them with something recycled you've already seen before if not many times before. They seem to do this at least once every season and sometimes more. This episode seems even more gratuitous when you realize that only a few months later they are going to air a three hour clip show ("A Decade of Kate") of much the same drivel. There was only one other "real" episode between this clip episode and the Decade clip show! This is great for TLC's budget but very disrespectful to viewers.

Kate says she wants to look back on the old clips because she has annoying teenagers now and needs to remember when they were little. So go pop in a DVD and look at the old clips. Don't burden viewers' time with this. How rude.

As Kate has said on more than one occasion, it was so much easier to corral toddlers. Well right, you can child abuse a two-year-old into submission a hell of a lot easier than you can to a walking talking 10-year-old with opinions and who can run away and rat you out to mandatory reporters. That must stink for the child abusers.

Babies are so cute so that you don't abuse them, Kate essentially says. I'm not even joking, she actually says this. I'm glad Sherlock over there has figured out the morbid evolutionary reason why human beings are born with big heads and eyes. The editors immediately launch into a clip of Alexis having a diaper blowout as all babies will eventually, and Kate freaking out. So, like, if Alexis weren't cute, Kate would beat the shit out of her for that? Besides, she hit them anyway, cute or not, so I guess her theory doesn't apply to her.

There's no manual how to raise one baby, Kate says, let alone six. What? There are dozens of manuals about raising children out there, delving into all the nuances of babies practically week by week, so I'm not sure what she is talking about. What to Expect the First Year is a popular one, as well as On Becoming Baby Wise and many others. If you have six kids, I guess if you're Kate you just buy six of such books. Funny enough, just days after I wrote this portion of the recap, the Roseanne reboot, which is hilariously sharp and timely, made the same joke. Dan was telling Darlene look we did the best we could raising your kids, there's no manual on this. Darlene looks at him in disbelief and says yes there are! Heh!

They throw in so many little clips, many of which I nearly had forgotten about, and one of them is when Kate is in a battle of wills with young Mady, ordering her to put on shoes she says are hurting her feet. Kate's reasoning? Kate wears shoes that hurt Kate's feet so Mady should put them on. Even all these years later she still blows my mind. Kate is a consenting adult, and if she wants to wear shoes that hurt her feet that's her choice, but Mady is a kid and clearly doesn't want to do the same. Plus, she is a growing kid, so more likely than not, the reason her feet hurt are because she's outgrown the shoes. In any case, no one should wear shoes that hurt their feet--it is a warning sign something is wrong with the fit, and could eventually cause permanent damage in your later years. There are lots of shoes that fit properly and are still cute, this need not be such a big deal.

They show gum gate yet again, and Kate again doesn't take the opportunity to apologize to Aunt Jodi.  She doesn't say anything at all about it this time.

Every moment of when the kids were young was hard. The grouchy moments were every day. That is a very pessimistic way to remember their toddlerhood. Sheesh. 

They show the clip where Kate showed her post-pregnancy belly. At the time I thought that was brave of her to show that, but then she turned it into a freebie for tummy tuck surgery and my good graces vanished. I also don't believe Kate when she says that she never imagined someone would offer her free plastic surgery as result. Please. Today's Kate talks about her old stomach with absolute detest, calling it the jowls of a dog--ouch!  That seems rather offensive to people who are carrying some flabby skin for whatever reason, and can't afford fancy surgery as a quick fix. A post-pregnancy belly isn't usually attractive, fair enough, but it's still you and it's the battle scar of bringing children into the world, which should be special. Kate marks the tummy tuck as the beginning of the rest of her life, and I just find this whole segment very shallow and inconsequential. 

Kate reminisces about the one time they made Korean food with Jon, who is only shown from the hands down. It's amazing the way she is able to speak about this segment in such depth without ever mentioning why the kids are Korean in the first place, due to the sperm donor's ethnicity she selected perhaps online. What an elephant in the room, or shall I say Korean elephant!

This episode is a little disorganized as newer episodes tend to be because nobody in production cares, and we go from the producers feeding Kate things to talk about via old clips to suddenly the viewers asking questions. Can't she answer these questions on twitter? 

Kate's favorite free trip was Australia/New Zealand, which is coincidentally without a doubt the most expensive free trip ever given to her, and she somehow swung it so she could go twice. We kill time reminiscing about the koalas for what feels like an eternity. I forgot how much the kids manhandled those poor koalas. Geez. Woo-hoo, the only old clip I ever enjoy seeing: Brad, the patron saint of haters, telling Kate about herself before pushing her off a high rise.

Kate says she wouldn't let the younger kids do this jump today. They are now the same ages as Mady and Cara when they jumped (age 10). Why? It's perfectly safe. Probably safer than crossing the street to get there. Usually parents get more lenient with subsequent children, not less. If a kid wants to do it and you can afford it, let them. Such drama over nothing and you run the very real danger of imposing your fears on your kids. Contrast this was Amy Roloff, who with gumption and style, jumped out of an airplane to celebrate her one year anniversary with her new boyfriend Chris. She acknowledged she was terrified but stuck to her goals to try new things and do something wild with Chris to mark the occasion. She was optimistic and pleasant the whole time, and as a viewer, I was rooting for her, and eager to see how this would shake out. I had no doubt she would go through with it. I had been cautious of Chris, I suppose I'm always going to worry about someone having ulterior motives when dating a little person, but he seems to have developed into quite a thoughtful and supportive boyfriend for Amy, and she's giddy in love with him. It's cute, and I hope he is what he seems.

Kate reveals the real reason she finally jumped i.e. was pushed off the building by Brad. Because she didn't want her 10-year-olds to be braver than herself. Well, of course the reason has to do with some kind of imaginary competition with her own children from Joan Crawford here. Typical.

Invariably somebody asks her what's with Kate showing no interest in dating, does her blood run cold or something? Kate says she can't meet anyone because she spends all her time in the kitchen or grocery store. The hell? I would almost buy this excuse if she had even a part time job, but she doesn't work. You do not spend 16 hours a day in the kitchen or grocery store, it's impossible. She then goes on to say something even more absurd, in that she would love to get out of the house and check out the great new local restaurant but the right person hasn't come along yet. Just, the f. The F! This woman cannot be implying that one must have a boyfriend in order to have a nice and novel evening out. Abraham Lincoln called, and he wants his century back. Yeeshhhh. We know now that Kate is only interested in dating if she's getting paid to do it, hence her new dating show. Heh.

We launch into another long and boring justification for why they had to get the mansion because their perfectly adequate solidly middle class house was just way, way too small. From all the clips they showed, the old house looks huge. The toddlers have plenty of places to run, the grounds were big, the dining room is plenty big enough for a long table, and the kitchen, although not huge has good flow to it creating the illusion of more space. There is something rather funny about all their excess back in the day happening right smack dab in the middle of a bad recession. They really alienated so many viewers by being so greedy. Kate actually says now the mansion is starting to feel too small too. No, she really says this. I really think that for many adults one of the hardest things to come to grips with is to be happy with what you have, to not always be wanting more. This usually applies to material things like your house and all your stuff. But it can also apply to things like how many children you will have, and your marriage. I've read quite a bit about this because I struggle with it too in some ways and I don't want to get sucked into this "creep." Like when the new iPhone comes out, something in me just wants it. Even though my current iPhone works just fine and I paid a lot of money for it. It's hard to not buy the newest thing, but I'm getting better. 

The best way that helps me conceptualize all this and not worry about the Jones is to think of life not as a fixed pie 500 meter dash where it's you versus the world and if you don't win the next guy is. Rather think of it as a recreational sport, things like cycling or hiking (non-competitive). You can play it alongside people you like and enjoy, but you're really only ever playing versus yourself. How high you can climb, how far you can peddle. You could enjoy it alongside an elite athlete because how he does is irrelevant to you. So don't worry about a co-worker getting a promotion, or that perfect wife of your second cousin's on Facebook, or that great house on the market that's just a little more expensive than yours, so, you can afford it right. Because they're all hiking their own hikes and you're hiking yours.

I believe the number one reason adults find themselves unhappy or unsatisfied in adulthood is because they never really worked on being happy with the way things are. And Kate is clearly one of those. She has a house that should make even the saddest person happy for a dozen lifetimes, and yet there she is, feeling unsatisfied with it. The pathetic thing is Kate doesn't even seem to recognize her own unwarranted dissatisfaction. At least a lot of people recognize it and try to address it.  

We then go into a long recap of all about when they first got the German shepherds. There are a couple telling comments in the old clips, too. One, after the only thing the dogs did was pee in the house (they were very, very little puppies!) Kate has a meltdown and barks at the distraught children "He's going back and I'm not kidding!" Because when a living thing doesn't function just perfectly you return to the manufacturer. See Collin. 

Kate then says when she sent the dogs back to the trainers, she knew they were coming back, or "at least one" would be back. So, all along she never intended to take Nala back, but tricked the kids into thinking they were both going to get training and come back? Vile. 

Nala was high strung and would make a good police dog, Kate remarks stupidly. High strung is not really what they are looking for in police dogs, how dumb is she? And besides, even if Nala would have made a good police dog, Kate probably ruined it by keeping her for as long as she did, interfering with training that often occurs during a puppy's formative years to try to make a police dog out of them.

By the way, just this winter a police dog in California undeniably saved many lives when he bolted for and pinned down an erratic and dangerous criminal who had just abandoned his stolen car to try to run away from the cops on foot. The driver had tried to plow over a female cop with his truck a few weeks before and has a long criminal history and is looking at life in prison for this little stunt of his. The dog's attack was so fierce it accidentally smashed the poor pup's teeth out on the curb! Here is the incredible video. Thank you, Officer Puskas! 

We talk about the then-five years ago divorce for awhile. It's boring, except the part where Kate claims the bright side of this is the divorce taught the kids things, like about trust and people's intentions. The F! One, she just made a totally uncalled for and very nasty slam at Jon, directly implying the kids learned they couldn't trust him and that he has bad intentions. Of course some of the children are estranged from Jon, this has been the narrative they've been brainwashed with for these past five years. One need not literally spell out "You can't trust your dad" in order to implant the idea firmly in a young child's head. And two, no TFW, a divorce is never good for children, no study has ever shown so. Sure, some kids may be better off not having two parents together who are miserable under the same roof, so in that respect it's best for everyone to split up and something that just has to be done, but the divorce itself is never beneficial to the kids. 

How do you say so organized, a very dense fan asks. Kate doesn't! She's a slob.

Emeril when he visited was so gentle and soft-spoken with the children, it's like they just shut down, mouths agape, having no idea how to interact with someone so kind and low key. Kate reveals that all the time she name drops that Emeril cooked in her kitchen. Lol, that must be obnoxious to what few girlfriends are around to hear that.

In a rare sweet moment between Kate and one of the kids, she helps Leah learn to swim in Hawaii. Kate's reaction is appropriately proud and excited, like a mother who adores her kid should react when her little bird finds its wings. You can tell how much this makes Leah happy in turn, not just to swim, but to make her mom proud. The kids desperately needed so much more of these quiet moments and less of all the anger and stress.

Is there anything more irritating than a grown woman trying to make whale sounds at a whale? That is all.

With only 13 minutes left in this episode, the editors for some strange reason decided now was the time for Kate to recap what we're doing here. Like if you came into this episode midway you'd be really confused I guess? Kate sums it all up in a really....slow....manner, weirdly emphasizing random words. Is she reading a cue card, just took her meds, or what is going on here? And couldn't she just say "it's another God damn clip show, people" and that's all anyone would really need to know to understand?

Since I'm really getting bored and the clips they are showing at the moment are absolutely pointless--(we still have 13 minutes left of this, yeesh!), I'm just going to say a few thoughts on the TLC app for Amazon Fire TV. It's basically wonderful. The TLC app I was using before on my computer was and still remains a piece of crap, showing endless commercials every few minutes and refusing to remember the place I last left off. The Amazon Fire app keeps me signed into it unless I don't log in for months, it always remembers my place in the episode even if I leave the app for a long time, and has simple and easy to use one-click commands to play, pause, add closed caption, fast forward at different speeds and the like. I only wish there weren't ads that you can't skip, but there's a handy countdown when they do run the ads (Ad 2 of 5 and so on) so you more or less can guess how much longer you have to go grab yourself a coke with a lemon before the show starts up again. Well done to TLC and Amazon Fire. All the Amazon Fire apps have been good to excellent, which leads me to believe they have extremely strict guidelines for developers that keeps them in compliance with smooth operation.

Nana Janet is dead by the way, and I don't remember Kate ever mentioning that other than in this clip show just now. Google explains that she died in October 2009. Except there are no tears or any emotion from Kate when she explains this. She could just have easily been explaining how one of the children missed her because she was gone to have tummy tuck surgery, as she will a bit later. It's all the same affect, all the same chipper explanations, just literally a short run-down of how helpful Nana Janet was and then out of left field Kate says Nana Janet left us all too soon. She left us.....all too soon? She's ..... DEAD??? Good Lord, I'm glad I knew this before this moment due to reports on the blog, because this news really would have hit like a ton of bricks, wouldn't it have?

We come to that dreaded moment in the episode where the editors realize they're only at 37 minutes and they've got to make it to 43. To kill time they add in some loosely related to not-at-all related clips about everything from bedtime to "I have a weiner" to ice skating. A really long explanation about how the kids I guess remember better because of the show, which I suppose is another excuse why they needed to do this show? But Kate's explanation doesn't make any sense. I'm convinced the kids are not "remembering" the actual experience at all, they are simply remembering the episode. And I still don't know how home movies you make yourself couldn't accomplish the same thing.

Kate is adamant she will never regret the show because of all the memories she made. So like, if you don't have a TV show you can't make good memories with your kids? The hell is she even talking about? And I really can't stand people that go around stubbornly refusing to have any regrets about choices they know damn well were poor ones or at the very least questionable. There have been a heck of a lot of downsides to filming these children she refuses to acknowledge, a little humility about that would do wonders. Let's take it there. God forbid what if someone one day were to ever hurt themselves due to the pressures of this damn show and the fame? Would Kate regret all of this then? I'm just curious how far it would have to go before she would finally give this line up. Time will tell.