Jon Gosselin is doing the right thing by stopping the filming of the new show “Kate Plus 8.” It seems like everyone other than Kate Gosselin believes it is the right thing to do. I believe part of her knows it is the correct thing for the mental and emotional well-being of her eight children, but the breadwinner of this large family is struggling with how she will pay her bills. I can empathize with that completely.
I am sure the amount of money they are making right now may be hard to equal in other “normal” jobs, but as I said before, Kate Gosselin has found her career. It is the career of a writer, TV personality/mom, and TV host. She has written a book — and I am sure has another book or two in her for single moms or women going through conflicted divorces. These are all admirable jobs she does very well. I wish that she would recognize she doesn’t need to subject her children any longer to the chaos that has exploded around her. She can be her own full-blown TV personality brand, just “Kate.” That sounds really good, just “Kate”!
I am sure she is frustrated that her plans have been stopped by her soon-to-be ex-husband because, as we have unfortunately witnessed, their divorce has become a series of power and control struggles that were never resolved within the marriage. They now get played out via lawyers, managers, television crews, and networks.
After watching Jon Gosselin on Larry King the other night, I must say I am less disappointed in him as a father than I was before his decision to stop the taping of the show. I am still disgusted by many of his actions, but at least he appears to acknowledge some of his mistakes. Like you, I don’t know what his motives are — whether they are for more money or more control of the show or possibly true concern for his children. I actually don’t even care about his motives at this point in time. You see, even when we do the right thing for the wrong reason, it is still right.
Jon seems to be aware that he has not been much of a man or a father lately — and that he sees how his passive and self-centered attitude has contributed to much of the demise of his marriage and his current life. My hope for Jon is that he takes some time to discover his own career path so that the pressure to make money via reality TV is diffused.
Any therapist would recommend stopping the show at this point for the welfare of the children and to create a better environment to hammer out the details of the divorce. Being under the scrutiny of the public is creating problems now, in addition to future problems we can’t foresee. Witnessing the venom of both of their parents’ anger towards each other is traumatizing enough for the children, let alone to have countless magazines and DVDs to memorialize it for their future consumption. The Gosselin kids deserve better. They deserve a respite from the glare of the cameras, the public, and parents not battling it out on television.