Last night on Kate Plus 8 Season 4 Episode 5, the venerable Gosselin matriarch threw a party to celebrate the completion of her deck.
Yes, it’s officially come to that for the former Mrs. Jon Gosselin.
Picking up where last week left off, Kate Gosselin and her charges were pretty much the pinnacle of domestic bliss in Pennsylvania.
Or not. As usual, Kate’s personality became the focal point.
If you watch Kate Plus 8 online these days, on the surface it’s totally harmless to see this mother of sextuplets and twins navigate life.
Although it can never be a show about big family dynamics or single parenting exclusively, thanks to the fact that it’s Kate leading it.
Let’s face it, her personality has been described over the years as … difficult. It’s been called a lot worse, but let’s just go with difficult.
This week, she encouraged her three sons to put together a magic show for the family while the five girls were treated to some pampering.
Kate, of course, took heat for being too involved in it all.
“I wasn’t micromanaging for the fun of meddling in their magic day,” Gosselin said of the way she coached her sons through the tricks.
“I was trying to look out for their best interests!”
Clearly, Kate meddling to the point of annoyance is being grating is nothing new, and clearly she is not a perfect parent – no one is.
What’s interesting about Kate Plus 8 in its current form is that all the controversies and scandals of the past are still hard to ignore.
Whatever you think of the family, the Gosselin kids look so different and act so different – they’re older! – that it’s such a different show.
Yet the Kate factor is what always dominates.
In part, this is due to her own making and reports that she ditched the kids for four days and/or forced Mady and Cara to return to TV.
But in part, it’s unfair to dredge up the past.
Not in the sense that it takes away from what they’re doing now. If anyone but Kate raised these eight, what would the show be like?
Just some food for thought.