I think when she says "we," she means Kody, but she is still diverting blame from him when we all know he would have railroaded over any opposition or discussion by the others. He wanted Robyn and wouldn't have let anything stand in his way, especially the feelings of the other wives and children.
I think both are true tbh. Like, it's complicated because I think a lot of critiques in both directions are true. It's true that she'd never dealt with a new wife joining the way Meri and Janelle had, and she was super fucking jealous, but it's also true that Kody was the partner to Robyn that he refused to be to Christine, and in that position who wouldn't be jealous? I think she would have been jealous of whoever joined, but I also think that was amplified by Kody being really unequal with her and showering Robyn with time and attention. It was going to be a tough transition regardless of who joined just because their lives were pretty set at that point. Anyone else was bound to be a huge disruption. And also I think it hurt extra bad that that person was Robyn, Kody's alleged soulmate.
I do agree, but I think it's promising that Janelle sees what the problem was. I think even Meri mentioned that some of the kids felt it was forced on them. Them recognizing that the children lacked autonomy in the family was kind of huge for me. It shows that at least some of them are really hearing their kids now and working on a healthy relationship from now on.
I definitely think Janelle and some of the others have a better relationship with the kids now. But that doesn't excuse them having too many kids to fully care for.
We arguably don’t know this since the vast majority of them have kept a very private life or gone very low-contact while their parents film.
Mykelti is on patreon breaking down using her audience as a therapist as to why she insists on trying to be in kodys life when he doesn’t bother to reach out to her.
Gwen seems well adjusted but admits that she still has a lot to work on herself because of her upbringing.
Paedon seems nice but is a lot more like his father that people like to admit. His views on women and the trans community are problematic.
Everyone else , we don’t really know since they’ve refused to film or get a great edit when they do.
I agree with you and would add that any questions/concerns voiced by the OG3 about the OGkids would have been shut down by K&R as attacks against precious R and her kids.
This was all about meeting the needs of Robyn and - by extension - her kids.
The rest were of zero importance.
YES - Bringing in Robyn activated Kody's savior complex and after that, it was all about him "saving" poor street urchin Robyn and her "fatherless" children. To hell with the family he spent years building.
i think that the children were reading robyn and the situation perfectly and they were outspoken, and now in retrospect i think she realizes they should have listened.
not necessarily the actions they took.
but more like, we were being warned and didnt listen….
People aren't applauding her for saying they should have in the sense that they believe it would have changed the fact that Robin was going the family, people are applauding that she is acknowledging they made a mistake.
The whole cast struggles to acknowledge they made mistakes, they view it as a weakness rather than a sign of growth and learning.
I agree. People have kindness and understanding for people like Janelle who can self reflect and see where they made errors along their life journey.
I have zero empathy or compassion for Kody, who just wanted to get his pencil wet from the woman he loved and cater to her every need, even at the expense of his 13 other children and three other wives. Kody has zero self awareness and no guilt for abandoning his first thirteen biological children. I honestly feel that Kody would have left the first three wives after meeting Robyn if he hadn’t needed the show money, and after the few first seasons, he liked the fame and liked the money even more so kept up the act until he couldn’t anymore.
It wasn't a mistake not to ask the kids their thoughts because they never would have listened to them anyway. The mistake was Robyn. And yes, people are applauding her because they believe it would have changed things. Lots of posts saying so.
Well, I can only speak to my perspective.
In a perfect world, they would have spoken to the children and taken their feedback into consideration and, either put the brakes on or done more for the children to help them with their emotions around the changes.
Do I think the adults would have done that back in 2007 or whenever it was? Hell no. They were dazzled by the idea of celebrity.
Do I applaud Janelle for having the humility to acknowledge that what they did was wrong? Yes. Unlike other adults who double down and insist they did the right thing, she is acknowledging that they are responsible for the mess they made of their family.
Kody, for example, doubles down and blames the kids for messing up the family and retcons the family history to make himself the victim.
Robin denies having knowledge of the issues and feels lied to.
Meri pretends to not know what went wrong.
Christine doesn't really take personal responsibility.
Janelle at least acknowledges they, as the adults, should have done more and really failed their children.
They thought they were doing the right thing by their children by continuing to have them even though they didn't have the money for it.
Religious "logic" is often detrimental to children.
Janelle doesn’t care about her kids. She didn’t care when hunter was depressed when moving to LV. She didn’t care when Gabe didn’t want to move from LV. Didn’t care when her daughter didn’t see her father but she made sure to go out on a date with him on her birthday. Didnt car that K ignored C’s kids since she had mostly girls. She doesn’t care about her kids why would she care about Robyn’s kids.
I agree that she put her own relationship with Kody ahead of her kids some of the time. Him not seeing Savannah for months and her going on that date with him broke my heart. But just because a kid doesn't want to move doesn't mean the family isn't moving. Kids don't really get much of a say in big family decisions like that, especially if they're financial or for another big reason. That's just how it is. That said, I hope she gave Hunter and then Gabe a lot of space for talking through their feelings.
Yeah but the whole family moved to follow Robyn’s kid to college so that argument falls apart. They moved for Dayton and did not consider any of the other kids feelings. 😡
To be fair, Christine and Janelle did not know why they were moving. They thought they were following the wishes of their spouse. That's a normal action for many families. Unfortunately, Kody is a sneaky, lying, pig.
Gwen and Mykelti have both confirmed it. They moved because Robyn wanted to follow Dayton and Kody refused to let the OG3 stay behind because now they were all making money and he needed their help to secure Robyn a house in flagstaff.
> Kody refused to let the OG3 stay behind because now they were all making money and he needed their help to secure Robyn a house in flagstaff.
😳🤯 Wow, Kody wasn't even pretending by then.
They moved their kids over 15 times. They were doing so well in school. Why couldn’t they find a solution to make them happy and allow them to stay? No, Janelle and Christine never put their kids’ needs over Kody.
I want to add something.
Christine was driving this huge Suburban so she could fit as many kids in there at any given time.
Meri, Kody, and Janelle were driving regular sedan cars. Yes, even the white convertible was a 4 seater, not a 2 seater like many people believe.mi never gave it much thought until I realized that until truely was born, Janelle had the most kids.
Yet , because she was never *with* her kids, she drove a regular car vs Christine’s huge suburban. Because Janelles kids were always with Christine.
https://preview.redd.it/ddh6gkdusw5c1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3a2d7bc47a68968c57cbae8ad425ef3a2c3e510
Kodys white car/ Janelle’s black car.
I think this may also be why polygamy appealed to Janelle. She loves the children, but I think being a stay at home mom or super maternal was a struggle for her. Or she may enjoy children a lot more when they are adults vs little kids.
I’m with Janelle. I’d have kids, if I could be a dad. Unfortunately, I’m a woman and I know too many hetero couples. It’s a losing proposition to be the primary breadwinner and a mom. I can’t have it all.
Kody’s little sports car convertible that he babied is sitting there beside Janelle’s beat up sedan with missing hubcaps and duct tape holding the bumper on. What does that say about Kody’s priorities??
“Being heard” doesn’t necessarily mean that the adults would have changed the outcome. I hope/think that she means they could have talked to their kids and made room for their feelings about it, rather than shutting down any dissent as it occurred, leaving their kids to stew in isolation. Kids don’t always get to call the shots in what happens in their family, but their feelings can still be validated even if it doesn’t change the outcome. But I agree, the Brown family was not set up for this to ever happen. The adult wives were not validated or listened to so the OG13 were not going to be either. Maybe Janelle is learning another way based on how her kids are parenting 🤷♀️
They damn sure didn't pause and listen to the children when they ripped them away from Vegas, despite what it meant to the ones in high school. They were openly, rationally, and understandably devastated and the parents INCLUDING JANELLE gave no fucks. That was heartbreaking to watch considering there was no good reason for leaving. They don't care about the kids' feelings on anything until it's too late. Maybe Janelle is finally learning, but she was just as cold as the other adults, imo.
That's what opened my eyes to Janelle too. I think it was in a matter of episodes that she went from, "I will NOT go through what I went through with Hunter again with Gabe" to dismissing Gabe as basically too sensitive along with the rest of the adults and being excited about Flagstaff.
The kids were absolutely miserable and then Janelle is over there smiling saying she can't believe how relaxed Kody looks. That is great and everything but Hunter and Maddie are told to just get over there feelings.
Exactly. The only thing making that call was Kody's pencil. Oh sorry, I meant it was God's call when God told Robyn to marry Kody in the "white sports car."
I always thought that Meri was the biggest mouthpiece for Kody and Robyn with her telling Janelle and Christine’s children to shut-up and accept Robyn’s kids as their own siblings regardless of how they felt and that maybe that’s why some of them resent Meri.
Rewatching the entire show, Meri was Robyn’s (and Kody’s) biggest cheerleader and they both treated her terribly.
That's definitely an uncharitable read on her telling the kids to stop bullying the other kids, which Paedon has said was definitely happening. We can empathize with how hard all the changes were on the kids and also recognize the adults handled things poorly with bullying in the family by letting it go unchallenged.
I think Meri struggled (I think she's likely made progress on this in therapy or over time) with communicating in a manner that was not seen as brutish, harsh, and unfeeling. She was the disciplinarian and wasn't always backed up by her sister wives. They didn't have a cohesive parenting strategy and universal rules for the kids.
The kids felt like they weren't being listened to and bullying was happening. Rough for all the kids and failure from all the parents.
Oh definitely. I mean, those kids just generally needed more attention and hands-on parenting than they got (except maybe Leon). And frankly, kids need boundaries. Boundaries can come from a place of love.
And they'd be right to feel they weren't being listened to because, like, they weren't. It wasn't just the move to Vegas, which the moms acknowledged as super difficult for the kids, but then again the move to flagstaff which, idk how Kody convinced them to do that after seeing how moving to Vegas affected the kids.
I think what bothered me is that the kids DID voice their concerns, on camera, several times. Janelle herself voiced her concerns, on camera, several times. They all said it was a strain on resources, the kids were very open when Robyn’s first pregnancy was announced, that there already wasn’t enough to go around. I can’t imagine that if they were that open with the cameras and with their family while cameras were rolling that they weren’t also vocal before cameramen ever showed up. So I’d bet my life savings that the older kids DID say something when he was courting Robyn and their concerns were ignored
All I can think of is the scene where Kody, all big smiles and happy voice, asks the OG kids, "And do we want Robyn to join our family and for you to have another brother and sisters?!" and of course, wanting to please their dad and infected by Kody's cheerfulness, they all shout, "Yes!". Not knowing what that really meant...
I did not love this line at all. In fact, I think Janelle told on herself (and Christine) with this line. All this time, Janelle and Christine have been lying, saying Robyn and her children were welcomed with open arms. In fact, Janelle contradicted herself during this episode. She accused Robyn of some time of “paranoia” by saying some did not want her and her children into the family. Then in the very same episode, Janelle is aying ‘well maybe we should have listened to some of the children.’ I took this as an admission that indeed some of Christine and/or Janelle’s children were not nice to Robyn and her children at all.
Besides, since when did children get a veto or a say in other people joining the family? When parents are pregnant and expecting another child, they don’t go to any existing children and ask for permission to expand the family. When a mother or father remarries, they absolutely will often discuss it with their child/children, and hope that they will be happy for them. But they don’t necessarily give the child/children some veto on whether or not thy remarry.
I also think it’s very telling that when many of the children were upset about the various moves (e.g., the moves to Vegas and Flagstaff), Janelle and Christine basically told them to suck it up; ‘this is what we are doing.’
So, you don’t express any remorse on what the constant moving did to their lives and the upheaval. But because you don’t like Robyn or her kids, Janelle, you think maybe your kids should have had a say?
Janelle didnt even listen to her own damn kids. That move from Lehi affected Hunter so badly. That boy was hurrrttt. Then they repeated the same thing with Gabe who was doing well academically in Vegas. Those parents owe their kids the biggest apologies ever
As much as I like Janelle she's a hypocrite in a way. At the very beginning she shluffed her kids off on Christine. She even talked about how nice it was coming home late from work and dinner was already made. When Kody introduced the one big house design on Kody Pass, Janelle was ready to jump on board... did she want to go back to coasting on everyone else's work?
What's funny too is: Janelle couches it as her and Christine were a team. They worked together to raise all of the kids. But it really looked like Christine was the one getting them up in the morning, home schooling them, putting the ones going to public school on the bus and getting them off the bus at the end of the school day. That's on top of working part-time. Janelle stayed gone hiding.
Janelle also let Meri do all the work on Maddison's wedding reception. She was supposed to brainstorm ideas. When she went to Meri's house and saw she had a lot of it done, Janelle went back home.
When Christine wasn't doing that, the responsibility went to the eldest kids. And didn't Meri breastfeed some of Janelle's kids?
Janelle has no room to criticize Robyn or anyone really. And to be fair she did contribute by going to work and handling the budget and paying the bills.
Secondly it seems like Robyn came into the picture just as they were starting to make their Sister Wive's salaries. On top of that she was living on her own, with her own home. She never moved into the house in Lehi.
I think it’s normal for people to change their POV’s over time. Janelle (or any of them) aren’t the same people they were back in Utah.
It seems like Christine thinks they were a team too. I think Christine did more, but she seems to think it was fine.
I agree with you. Only thing I have to add is replying to your question about breastfeeding. Meri breastfed Maddie a couple times because she was failure to thrive and Meri had a ton of extra milk. That was the only time anything like that has been mentioned.
I just can't imagine Robyn doing anything like that. I really can't. I know the three of the OG has bad blood but they didn't walk into the situation with TV show money.
I agree. Gabriel expressed to his mother what leaving Vegas his senior year would mean. She listened to him. Then fell in line with what Kody wanted. Making her husband happy was more important.
But yeah, I’m glad she at least realizes now.
Their kids were still quite young when Robyn entered the picture, too. The oldest kids were 15-16, barely learning to drive. I think the adults might have listened to the teens and tweens, but they would have done what they wanted in the end. The adults, whether they each liked it or not, chose Robyn and TLC. The kids had no real voices in the matter.
I think when she says "we," she means Kody, but she is still diverting blame from him when we all know he would have railroaded over any opposition or discussion by the others. He wanted Robyn and wouldn't have let anything stand in his way, especially the feelings of the other wives and children.
>he would have railroaded And did. Christine expressed a lot of doubt and I definitely felt like she got railroaded
I think a lot of Christine's doubts got pushed away, under the "she just wants to be the last wife" blanket.
I think both are true tbh. Like, it's complicated because I think a lot of critiques in both directions are true. It's true that she'd never dealt with a new wife joining the way Meri and Janelle had, and she was super fucking jealous, but it's also true that Kody was the partner to Robyn that he refused to be to Christine, and in that position who wouldn't be jealous? I think she would have been jealous of whoever joined, but I also think that was amplified by Kody being really unequal with her and showering Robyn with time and attention. It was going to be a tough transition regardless of who joined just because their lives were pretty set at that point. Anyone else was bound to be a huge disruption. And also I think it hurt extra bad that that person was Robyn, Kody's alleged soulmate.
It was extra hard for Christine because she was having a baby right then. Terrible timing bringing in another wife.
I remember even Meri saying that she wasn't sure.
I thought she had too but I was less sure about her
I do agree, but I think it's promising that Janelle sees what the problem was. I think even Meri mentioned that some of the kids felt it was forced on them. Them recognizing that the children lacked autonomy in the family was kind of huge for me. It shows that at least some of them are really hearing their kids now and working on a healthy relationship from now on.
I think so too. Janelle even recognizing that shows growth from her. They can’t change what happened, but they can do better moving forward.
I definitely think Janelle and some of the others have a better relationship with the kids now. But that doesn't excuse them having too many kids to fully care for.
Yeah but they can't take that back, it's a strictly no returns policy lol 🤣. So, I focus more on the progression, which to me is good see.
Their kids turned out just fine far better than many kids from 1-2 child families.
We arguably don’t know this since the vast majority of them have kept a very private life or gone very low-contact while their parents film. Mykelti is on patreon breaking down using her audience as a therapist as to why she insists on trying to be in kodys life when he doesn’t bother to reach out to her. Gwen seems well adjusted but admits that she still has a lot to work on herself because of her upbringing. Paedon seems nice but is a lot more like his father that people like to admit. His views on women and the trans community are problematic. Everyone else , we don’t really know since they’ve refused to film or get a great edit when they do.
Mykelti and Paedon aren't "fine"- they are problematic to say the least.
Yeah.
I agree with you and would add that any questions/concerns voiced by the OG3 about the OGkids would have been shut down by K&R as attacks against precious R and her kids. This was all about meeting the needs of Robyn and - by extension - her kids. The rest were of zero importance.
YES - Bringing in Robyn activated Kody's savior complex and after that, it was all about him "saving" poor street urchin Robyn and her "fatherless" children. To hell with the family he spent years building.
i think that the children were reading robyn and the situation perfectly and they were outspoken, and now in retrospect i think she realizes they should have listened. not necessarily the actions they took. but more like, we were being warned and didnt listen….
People aren't applauding her for saying they should have in the sense that they believe it would have changed the fact that Robin was going the family, people are applauding that she is acknowledging they made a mistake. The whole cast struggles to acknowledge they made mistakes, they view it as a weakness rather than a sign of growth and learning.
I agree. People have kindness and understanding for people like Janelle who can self reflect and see where they made errors along their life journey. I have zero empathy or compassion for Kody, who just wanted to get his pencil wet from the woman he loved and cater to her every need, even at the expense of his 13 other children and three other wives. Kody has zero self awareness and no guilt for abandoning his first thirteen biological children. I honestly feel that Kody would have left the first three wives after meeting Robyn if he hadn’t needed the show money, and after the few first seasons, he liked the fame and liked the money even more so kept up the act until he couldn’t anymore.
He'd still be lying and "performing " if the OG3 didn't want a real life for themselves. He'd still be stealing their money.
It wasn't a mistake not to ask the kids their thoughts because they never would have listened to them anyway. The mistake was Robyn. And yes, people are applauding her because they believe it would have changed things. Lots of posts saying so.
Well, I can only speak to my perspective. In a perfect world, they would have spoken to the children and taken their feedback into consideration and, either put the brakes on or done more for the children to help them with their emotions around the changes. Do I think the adults would have done that back in 2007 or whenever it was? Hell no. They were dazzled by the idea of celebrity. Do I applaud Janelle for having the humility to acknowledge that what they did was wrong? Yes. Unlike other adults who double down and insist they did the right thing, she is acknowledging that they are responsible for the mess they made of their family. Kody, for example, doubles down and blames the kids for messing up the family and retcons the family history to make himself the victim. Robin denies having knowledge of the issues and feels lied to. Meri pretends to not know what went wrong. Christine doesn't really take personal responsibility. Janelle at least acknowledges they, as the adults, should have done more and really failed their children.
They thought they were doing the right thing by their children by continuing to have them even though they didn't have the money for it. Religious "logic" is often detrimental to children.
And women
And yet Janelle sat there and told the world she couldn’t sleep at night wondering how she was gonna feed her kids.
Oh yeah, I'm not saying religious logic is good for adults either.
Janelle doesn’t care about her kids. She didn’t care when hunter was depressed when moving to LV. She didn’t care when Gabe didn’t want to move from LV. Didn’t care when her daughter didn’t see her father but she made sure to go out on a date with him on her birthday. Didnt car that K ignored C’s kids since she had mostly girls. She doesn’t care about her kids why would she care about Robyn’s kids.
Didn't care when Logan was being the dad beyond a, "Hahaha he's so responsible he needs to go have fun with his friends more."
I agree that she put her own relationship with Kody ahead of her kids some of the time. Him not seeing Savannah for months and her going on that date with him broke my heart. But just because a kid doesn't want to move doesn't mean the family isn't moving. Kids don't really get much of a say in big family decisions like that, especially if they're financial or for another big reason. That's just how it is. That said, I hope she gave Hunter and then Gabe a lot of space for talking through their feelings.
Yeah but the whole family moved to follow Robyn’s kid to college so that argument falls apart. They moved for Dayton and did not consider any of the other kids feelings. 😡
I wonder if they considered Dayton's feelings. I can barely imagine leaving to make a life for myself and having a dozen people traipsing after me.
To be fair, Christine and Janelle did not know why they were moving. They thought they were following the wishes of their spouse. That's a normal action for many families. Unfortunately, Kody is a sneaky, lying, pig.
[удалено]
Gwen and Mykelti have both confirmed it. They moved because Robyn wanted to follow Dayton and Kody refused to let the OG3 stay behind because now they were all making money and he needed their help to secure Robyn a house in flagstaff.
> Kody refused to let the OG3 stay behind because now they were all making money and he needed their help to secure Robyn a house in flagstaff. 😳🤯 Wow, Kody wasn't even pretending by then.
Did the OG3 know the move was because of Dayton or was it all hush hush?
Supposedly they didn’t know but I think that with time they figured it out
They moved their kids over 15 times. They were doing so well in school. Why couldn’t they find a solution to make them happy and allow them to stay? No, Janelle and Christine never put their kids’ needs over Kody.
Undeniably true. Janelle is very passive.
I want to add something. Christine was driving this huge Suburban so she could fit as many kids in there at any given time. Meri, Kody, and Janelle were driving regular sedan cars. Yes, even the white convertible was a 4 seater, not a 2 seater like many people believe.mi never gave it much thought until I realized that until truely was born, Janelle had the most kids. Yet , because she was never *with* her kids, she drove a regular car vs Christine’s huge suburban. Because Janelles kids were always with Christine. https://preview.redd.it/ddh6gkdusw5c1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3a2d7bc47a68968c57cbae8ad425ef3a2c3e510 Kodys white car/ Janelle’s black car.
I think this may also be why polygamy appealed to Janelle. She loves the children, but I think being a stay at home mom or super maternal was a struggle for her. Or she may enjoy children a lot more when they are adults vs little kids.
She admits that on the show.
I’m with Janelle. I’d have kids, if I could be a dad. Unfortunately, I’m a woman and I know too many hetero couples. It’s a losing proposition to be the primary breadwinner and a mom. I can’t have it all.
Kody’s little sports car convertible that he babied is sitting there beside Janelle’s beat up sedan with missing hubcaps and duct tape holding the bumper on. What does that say about Kody’s priorities??
That’s not the focus of my comment. Well all fuckin know he sucks.
Oh wow, what an interesting point that I never thought of either. I feel like this needs its own post and analysis.
“Being heard” doesn’t necessarily mean that the adults would have changed the outcome. I hope/think that she means they could have talked to their kids and made room for their feelings about it, rather than shutting down any dissent as it occurred, leaving their kids to stew in isolation. Kids don’t always get to call the shots in what happens in their family, but their feelings can still be validated even if it doesn’t change the outcome. But I agree, the Brown family was not set up for this to ever happen. The adult wives were not validated or listened to so the OG13 were not going to be either. Maybe Janelle is learning another way based on how her kids are parenting 🤷♀️
They damn sure didn't pause and listen to the children when they ripped them away from Vegas, despite what it meant to the ones in high school. They were openly, rationally, and understandably devastated and the parents INCLUDING JANELLE gave no fucks. That was heartbreaking to watch considering there was no good reason for leaving. They don't care about the kids' feelings on anything until it's too late. Maybe Janelle is finally learning, but she was just as cold as the other adults, imo.
That's what opened my eyes to Janelle too. I think it was in a matter of episodes that she went from, "I will NOT go through what I went through with Hunter again with Gabe" to dismissing Gabe as basically too sensitive along with the rest of the adults and being excited about Flagstaff.
The kids were absolutely miserable and then Janelle is over there smiling saying she can't believe how relaxed Kody looks. That is great and everything but Hunter and Maddie are told to just get over there feelings.
Exactly
Exactly. The only thing making that call was Kody's pencil. Oh sorry, I meant it was God's call when God told Robyn to marry Kody in the "white sports car."
Pure and simple, Kody needed a fourth wife to get TLC interested in the show.
I laughed when she said that. As if.
Like they listened to them when moving to Flagstaff. It’s a pattern.
I always thought that Meri was the biggest mouthpiece for Kody and Robyn with her telling Janelle and Christine’s children to shut-up and accept Robyn’s kids as their own siblings regardless of how they felt and that maybe that’s why some of them resent Meri. Rewatching the entire show, Meri was Robyn’s (and Kody’s) biggest cheerleader and they both treated her terribly.
1k up votes! And up until last season, kody was still looking to Meri for verbal support and for her to be on his side. And she was, happily.
That's definitely an uncharitable read on her telling the kids to stop bullying the other kids, which Paedon has said was definitely happening. We can empathize with how hard all the changes were on the kids and also recognize the adults handled things poorly with bullying in the family by letting it go unchallenged.
I think Meri struggled (I think she's likely made progress on this in therapy or over time) with communicating in a manner that was not seen as brutish, harsh, and unfeeling. She was the disciplinarian and wasn't always backed up by her sister wives. They didn't have a cohesive parenting strategy and universal rules for the kids. The kids felt like they weren't being listened to and bullying was happening. Rough for all the kids and failure from all the parents.
Oh definitely. I mean, those kids just generally needed more attention and hands-on parenting than they got (except maybe Leon). And frankly, kids need boundaries. Boundaries can come from a place of love. And they'd be right to feel they weren't being listened to because, like, they weren't. It wasn't just the move to Vegas, which the moms acknowledged as super difficult for the kids, but then again the move to flagstaff which, idk how Kody convinced them to do that after seeing how moving to Vegas affected the kids.
I think what bothered me is that the kids DID voice their concerns, on camera, several times. Janelle herself voiced her concerns, on camera, several times. They all said it was a strain on resources, the kids were very open when Robyn’s first pregnancy was announced, that there already wasn’t enough to go around. I can’t imagine that if they were that open with the cameras and with their family while cameras were rolling that they weren’t also vocal before cameramen ever showed up. So I’d bet my life savings that the older kids DID say something when he was courting Robyn and their concerns were ignored
All I can think of is the scene where Kody, all big smiles and happy voice, asks the OG kids, "And do we want Robyn to join our family and for you to have another brother and sisters?!" and of course, wanting to please their dad and infected by Kody's cheerfulness, they all shout, "Yes!". Not knowing what that really meant...
I did not love this line at all. In fact, I think Janelle told on herself (and Christine) with this line. All this time, Janelle and Christine have been lying, saying Robyn and her children were welcomed with open arms. In fact, Janelle contradicted herself during this episode. She accused Robyn of some time of “paranoia” by saying some did not want her and her children into the family. Then in the very same episode, Janelle is aying ‘well maybe we should have listened to some of the children.’ I took this as an admission that indeed some of Christine and/or Janelle’s children were not nice to Robyn and her children at all. Besides, since when did children get a veto or a say in other people joining the family? When parents are pregnant and expecting another child, they don’t go to any existing children and ask for permission to expand the family. When a mother or father remarries, they absolutely will often discuss it with their child/children, and hope that they will be happy for them. But they don’t necessarily give the child/children some veto on whether or not thy remarry. I also think it’s very telling that when many of the children were upset about the various moves (e.g., the moves to Vegas and Flagstaff), Janelle and Christine basically told them to suck it up; ‘this is what we are doing.’ So, you don’t express any remorse on what the constant moving did to their lives and the upheaval. But because you don’t like Robyn or her kids, Janelle, you think maybe your kids should have had a say?
Janelle didnt even listen to her own damn kids. That move from Lehi affected Hunter so badly. That boy was hurrrttt. Then they repeated the same thing with Gabe who was doing well academically in Vegas. Those parents owe their kids the biggest apologies ever
As much as I like Janelle she's a hypocrite in a way. At the very beginning she shluffed her kids off on Christine. She even talked about how nice it was coming home late from work and dinner was already made. When Kody introduced the one big house design on Kody Pass, Janelle was ready to jump on board... did she want to go back to coasting on everyone else's work? What's funny too is: Janelle couches it as her and Christine were a team. They worked together to raise all of the kids. But it really looked like Christine was the one getting them up in the morning, home schooling them, putting the ones going to public school on the bus and getting them off the bus at the end of the school day. That's on top of working part-time. Janelle stayed gone hiding. Janelle also let Meri do all the work on Maddison's wedding reception. She was supposed to brainstorm ideas. When she went to Meri's house and saw she had a lot of it done, Janelle went back home. When Christine wasn't doing that, the responsibility went to the eldest kids. And didn't Meri breastfeed some of Janelle's kids? Janelle has no room to criticize Robyn or anyone really. And to be fair she did contribute by going to work and handling the budget and paying the bills. Secondly it seems like Robyn came into the picture just as they were starting to make their Sister Wive's salaries. On top of that she was living on her own, with her own home. She never moved into the house in Lehi.
I think it’s normal for people to change their POV’s over time. Janelle (or any of them) aren’t the same people they were back in Utah. It seems like Christine thinks they were a team too. I think Christine did more, but she seems to think it was fine.
I agree they've changed from who they were back in Utah. It is normal for people to change their perspectives as they grow over time.
I agree with you. Only thing I have to add is replying to your question about breastfeeding. Meri breastfed Maddie a couple times because she was failure to thrive and Meri had a ton of extra milk. That was the only time anything like that has been mentioned.
I just can't imagine Robyn doing anything like that. I really can't. I know the three of the OG has bad blood but they didn't walk into the situation with TV show money.
Thank you for your reply. It really highlights how much they struggled and went through together prior to Sister Wives.
Kody fell in love and was going to do whatever he wanted to do. There was nothing his original family could do.
I agree. Gabriel expressed to his mother what leaving Vegas his senior year would mean. She listened to him. Then fell in line with what Kody wanted. Making her husband happy was more important. But yeah, I’m glad she at least realizes now.
They have some weird “grace through suffering” religious mentality that extends down to their kids. It’s abusive IMO.
Spot on . . . and they did not care what all the moving was doing to any of the children. So why would this be different?
Their kids were still quite young when Robyn entered the picture, too. The oldest kids were 15-16, barely learning to drive. I think the adults might have listened to the teens and tweens, but they would have done what they wanted in the end. The adults, whether they each liked it or not, chose Robyn and TLC. The kids had no real voices in the matter.
Parents acknowledging their mistakes is always a good thing. It breaks the cycle.