If you keep up with the comings and goings of Jenelle Evans, then one, bless your heart, because you sure are trooper, huh?
And two, you know that she hasn’t gotten along with her mother, Barbara Evans, for a very, very long time.
Even back in the first season of Teen Mom 2, we saw Jenelle and Barbara get into horrific fights — mostly because Jenelle couldn’t seem to comprehend the idea of being responsible.
She left her newborn son, little baby Jace, at home while she went out partying at night, and she expected her mom to pick up her slack.
Meanwhile, Barbara had (and still has) a job, but she still cared for Jace throughout the nights while Jenelle was out, and during some mornings when she was too tired to parent.
Eventually she signed temporary custody over to Barbara, with the understanding that “temporary” custody could mean she’d get him back in a few months or that Babs would have custody until Jace turned 18.
After that, Barbara acted as a full-time parent to Jace while Jenelle ran off with various boyfriends, got addicted to heroin, etc.
The kid will be eight years old next month, and Barbara still has full custody of him.
And, according to Jenelle, that’s why she’s “lost all respect” for her mother.
Seriously.
“We don’t talk much,” she admits in a new interview with Us Weekly.
“We only talk about Jace and meeting up to drop him off or pick him up and other than that, we aren’t talking.”
The issue, she says, is that she’s “frustrated” that Barbara just won’t give her custody of Jace.
“I told her,” she claims, “if you want to be back in my life in any way, you can give me back my son and we can start from there.”
“As long as I don’t have Jace, I don’t see us having a real relationship.”
Does Jenelle not understand anything?
It’s not like Barbara can simply change her mind and give Jace to Jenelle — she’s not keeping him to spite her.
She stepped up when Jenelle was in a really dark place, and she’s been the only real parent Jace has ever known.
And really, it’s only been a year or so since Jenelle’s had her life together. For several years, she was completely out of control.
As she admitted in another recent interview, she almost died of a heroin overdose — shouldn’t she be grateful for Barbara and how she’s dedicated so much of herself to Jace when she couldn’t?
Also, just a couple of months ago, Jenelle agreed to an official visitation schedule for Jace.
Instead of going to trial and possibly getting custody of her son — the thing she’s said she’s wanted for years — she agreed to go to mediation with Barbara, and their lawyers worked out their new schedule with the new rules.
That was her opportunity to get Jace back, but she’s still saying she’s waiting on Barbara to just hand him over.
Again, does she not understand anything?!
In the interview, she also says that “Ever since the court date, I haven’t filmed with her. I think it’ll just be pick up and drop offs unless my director really pushes.”
“As for me and my mom on camera together having a conversation? No, you won’t be seeing that.”
Which is sad, because we did see them have a nice moment in a sneak peek for the upcoming season.
We should have known it wouldn’t last.
Ideally, someone can sit Jenelle down and calmly explain to her how this whole custody thing works, since she hasn’t seemed to be able to comprehend it yet.
And then, maybe that person can clue her in on just how much Barbara has done for her and Jace over the years.
That’s the dream, anyway.