Jon & Kate plus 8 trainwreck

Honestly, I don't even know where to start with this family. I first blogged here about the reality show that everyone seems to be talking about.

I started watching Jon & Kate plus 8 when we finally got cable TV. I was fascinated with how a family could handle SIX babies. All at the same time. Oh, and twins thrown into the mix too. I remember when we had to deal with all night feedings, no sleep, sheer exhaustion, and that was with only three kids, and it was never all at the same time.

At first it was really interesting. I could see that they got alot of help and free stuff, and that is great. I couldn't even fathom the cost of six kids in diapers. Wow.

After it became more that just a two hour special, and turned into a weekly show, I still watched. The "little kids" as they call them are the same age as Nicholas, so I could relate somewhat. Ken and I are asked often (although not so much lately) if we watch Jon and Kate. Ken is Chinese (Jon is half Korean) and Kate is Caucasian, so maybe that is why people assume we watched the show. Either that or my three kids acted like there were eight of them sometimes...

I did get fed up with watching awhile ago - what bothered me most then was the way Kate treated Jon. I couldn't believe the way she yelled at him or sometimes treated him worse than the kids. Now what bothers me is the fact that they (and I think it is more her than him) seem to be pimping out their kids for money. Yes, the kids are cute, and yes, the lure of $$$ per episode must be tempting. But what happens when the kids get older? What happens when they google mommy and daddy and see all the crap that has been put all over the internet. Those kids have had no say in the matter of being on reality tv, and the fact that the cameras have almost been there since day one makes this way of life for those kids normal to them.

So tonight is the episode where they talk about "life altering decisions". Speculation is that divorce is on the horizon. I wonder if they will pull the plug on the show and try to repair what is left of the relationship? Likely not. But stranger things have happened.

toilet training officially delayed - probably forever.

I thought toilet training the third time around was going to be a cakewalk. And since the first two human beings I had to toilet train were boys, I figured that with a girl it would be easy.

Renee showed signs of being ready quite early on. She was thrilled when I got her a princess toilet seat. Yes, I know I said I'd never cave to the boy/girl stereotypes, but she picked the toilet seat out, and if she was happy to pee on a princess, I was happy to oblige.

We took the family to Disneyland in April. We left Renee behind. And before you think I am the meanest mommy in the universe, I'll have you know that Renee was spoiled ROTTEN by grandparents while we were away. AND my mom had her almost potty trained. I was thrilled. I don't know what she was bribed with, but whatever it was it worked. Until a couple of weeks ago when I royally 'effed things up.

I was in the bathroom trying to fix my hair, and Renee wandered in telling me that she had to pee on her princess toilet. Just as those words escaped her tiny little mouth she discovered a spider lurking on the wall. She had a little two year old freak out and asked me to "put the 'pider outside NOW". Most days I have a thing about killing spiders, I just don't do it. I'll catch them and put them outside. But on this particular day, I was in a rush, and when a two year old has to pee, you'd better get to it right now. So I grabbed the spider and without thinking, put it IN THE TOILET. Renee freaked. And screamed. And freaked a little more. And refused to park her ass anywhere near a pink princess or a castle that was within 10 feet of a toilet.

I think she'll be in diapers until she is 10. Shit.

Is gray the new black?

I met a woman the other day while watching Nicholas at his swimming lesson. I can honestly say that she is one of the most interesting people I have met in quite awhile. She was born and grew up in the Dominican Republic, spent her 20's living in New York where she met her husband. They moved to the state of Georgia, and now live here in the lower mainland. We chatted about anything and everything, and I find myself really looking forward to seeing her each week.



On Tuesday we had a really interesting conversation. I showed up to swim lessons in a ball cap. It is one of the coping mechanisms I use to hide my gray roots. D asked me where I got my hat, and mentioned that she needs to buy some. I wondered why the heck she'd want to cover her gorgeous locks (and they are beautiful) and she proceeds to take her hair clip out and show me her gray roots. She asked me to take my hat off so she could see my gray. It soon became a comparison of our re-growth - which was pretty much the same. The main difference between the two of us is that she is 10 years older than me. She then told me that she is going to stop colouring her hair and grow it out. She also told me about this website.


Now I must admit, the thought has crossed my mind. I am so anal about what I expose my kids to, and yet I put all this chemical crap in my hair to hide the plethora of gray. My gray hair stared to sprout when I was a teenager, but back then I could just pluck it out. In my 20's it got increasingly more plentiful, and that is when I started to colour my hair on a regular basis. After I get my hair coloured (or do it myself) I love it. For about a week. And then I can see the regrowth. By six weeks it is blatantly obvious that my true hair colour now is more gray than brown.


I started to look online for women with gray hair. Many were stunning. Look at this woman's before shot:




And now the after:

This lady is one of youngest I found online - she is only 45. And I am sure that she had alot of help to look this great, but still....she is gorgeous. The only problem with what I found online was that none of the woman who decided to go gray were in their 30's. Most were in their early 50's.

I have three main issues with going gray - the growing out process (UGH), looking like my kids grandma, and the reaction from Ken. I casually mentioned it last night, and he is not keen in the least. For now it is on the back burner. But who knows how long that will last.

One of the first things mom said to me when I saw her today was "when are you going to start posting again?". I am assuming that she has been getting a bit of flack from the relatives in New Zealand. Oops.

Since the last post, the boys each had a birthday. The cakes that the amazing Mel did will be given their due attention in posts yet to come - suffice it to say that she is so talented that she could be a regular on Ace of Cakes.



Alot has happened around here - but none of it earth shattering. I have been making a bit more of an effort in the garden - beans, cukes, tomatoes, cabbage, leeks, lettuce and onions. I do have some strawberries, but with the plethora of hungry bears in these parts, the fruit is just a pipe dream. I have SO much to learn in the garden department, and I really regret not paying more attention when I lived with my grandma when I was in my 20's. She had everything imaginable in her yard, in fact the only stuff she bought at the store during growing season was meat. Everything else was out of the garden.



I have been working again at night - teaching a couple of courses online. It basically gives us a bit of extra cash so that I can stay home with the kidlets until they are older. I was so lucky that I was able to take a leave of absence from my "real job" until Renee is in school. It really was a no brainer making that decision once I started trying to find affordable, good daycare for three kids. It is hard though - most nights I am working until midnight, and all I want to do is just flake out and let my brains ooze out my ears. Hence the lack of updates.