Teen Mom Recap: What’s Education Got to Do with It?

48 Comments

1. 1
   considerthis
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 12:22 pm

   The Spin Doctirs at MTV were working overtime this episode. To take the 3 flawed girls and make them appear to be rational, responsible, reflective human beings is a monumental task. Then to take the one rational, responsible and reflective girl and make her flawed was a change-up to say the least.

   Kait has as much desire to go to college as the Paterno family has to admitting JoePa might have known something. Somebody made a great posting here last week stating that it took her 4 years just to get a GED. I do think she has a strong work ethic and fitting career ambitions but just doesn’t like that path she needs to take to get there. I’m not so sure her and Ty will go the distance Loved Kim’s make-over and props to the hairstylist as to morph that permed twice month head into soft flowing waves is nothing short of miraculous. I think April is on meth.

   The Mayans might be on to something as when I heard Farrah utter the words and I quote “Everything is great – I have nothing to complain about” I know the world is ending soon. She was so un-Farrah like in this ep that I have nothing to say – sppechless on this.

   Did Amber’s mom have a stroke as she is so garbled and needs subtitles that it makes me wonder. Loved the gifts she brought home to Leah. Nothing says I missed you more than socks, a baseball hat, sippy cup and necklace that will turn your neck green in 20 minutes. But it is the thought that counts and Amber did make an effort.

   That whitenead on Macy’s forehead was such a damn distraction to me that I barely could watch anything else. Who drops there kid off at daycare or preschool or toddler university at 3:00 PM? Ryan is a douche and do not let his mom fool you for a second – she HATES Maci and LIVES to make her life suck.

2. 2
   BedHeadJen
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 3:37 pm

   Sugarbush, I will miss your recaps when this dysfunctional carnie show ends. I hope you will find another group of stupid hat wearing dipshits to write about!
   I loved it when Maci picked up Bentley from preschool and told him she was taking him to daddy’s house. Behind his binky you could see a big old shitty grin on his face when he said “that’s not daddy’s house, that’s mimi’s house”.

3. 3
   Andyourlittledogtoo
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 3:38 pm

   There is an entire spectrum of very religious conservatism that equates preschool with evil feminist working outside the home and neglecting the raising of your own children, etc… I have no idea if that is the mindset of Ryan’s family but they live in the right part of the country for that to have slipped into their water either directly or simply by osmosis. But the point about Maci and you make it very well Sugarbush, is that though she is acting as a stay at home mom she is not ACTING like a stay at home mom and socializing her little boy or teaching him anything that we can see. And he is a very sociable little boy who seems to really want to interact with his world so why not let him go a couple days a week and have some fun and play with other kids and learn some things? It’s not like she’s leaving him there forty hours a week while she tans and shops. I love that Ryan answered the question! I think most people have done that accidentally at one time or another but it was such an example of who Ryan is that it was just perfect.

   I think the financial aid talk was part of the MTV facade about them all being teen moms and struggling with their lives and not being paid a bunch of money for their stories. And part of the facade is that Cate and Ty come from a marginally working class family who can’t just fund Cate’s education so she would, under normal circumstances, be hitting the financial aid office. I think it’s all for show – I don’t think they would give her financial aid or that she would take it. I do feel that if she doesn’t want to go to college though then they are wasting their time pushing it. She may be the person who needs to find a good trade/skill and work towards that and school just isn’t in her future. But it is also possible that she is simply a person who needs a kick in the pants to get going and once moving will do fine. Her history does not suggest that she is a ‘school person’ however, so I vote for the first one. My real concern is that Ty is disappointed in her and since she is already acting like a forty year old housewife and he is clearly a young man who wants to live his life and live it to his potential there is no way those two things are going to mesh. Cate and Ty need to wake up and realize that they need, at this juncture of their young lives, to come together and set goals together or separate and find partners who match them better. Because these two won’t make it with such divergent expectations and life goals. That’s my opinion anyway.

   Yeah, after two months in rehab Amber should be more together than this. I think this little stay did little to change her and she just treated it like a vacation in Malibu with free and legal medication and people to whine to about her life. And obviously she learned nothing because she chose prison over continuing rehab and that is not something most people would do if they were thinking clearly and rationally. She is impulsive and that bit of impulsive is now costing her dearly. And costing her new cellmate dearly I imagine.

4. 4
   LuvzPugz2
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 3:47 pm

   Love the recaps! HA larious! I really think the whole “financial aid” facade is MTV’s way of making it seem like these “Teen Mom’s” are typical and not making the big bucks! As a side note, being eligible for financial aid and any actually being available, two different stories anyway! Don’t even get me started on Ryan and his family! He seriously is practically illiterate, but Bentley, he don’t need no schoolin’, UGH!!!!

5. 5
   Adelefig
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 5:35 pm

   Watching Amber last night she seemed completely drugged to me. I don’t even think she could keep her eyes open most of the time. I will never understand why she chose 5 years of imprisonment over getting clean and being with that precious little girl.

   Does anyone know what Debra did to her two daughters to make them into evil, vitriol spewing devil spawn?
   Who wants to wear a blue wig when you’re over 21 and it’s no where near Halloween? They knew she’d hate it and were waiting with baited breath for her to speak up and let her have it. I had my fingers crossed the whole time Farrah was on the horse…I was afraid she would kick it or hit it……I also worry about little Stitch. poor thing……….sigh…….

6. 6
   April
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 5:57 pm

   I think Tyler is being kinda harsh with Catelynn. College is not for everyone. That is okay. I mean if he can’t deal with it, that is fine. But still harsh. This is like the first negative thing I have ever said about Ty too because I adore him. Catelynn can work and still pull in money to contribute. As someone who got a college degree and then could not find a decent paying job, I know college doesn’t always mean money or prestige or any of that.

   I think Bentley’s preschool sounds still just like daycare to me. Preschool has a regular curriculum that is the same every day or MWF, TT at the same time. It is like structured class time. Not just drop him off whenever. I also don’t get the I need to be in my kid’s face 24/7. I love my kids and I do a lot of activities and trips with my kids. More than most moms I know and I still am not in their face as much as Maci is all up in Bentley’s. I am glad he at least gets to see other kids if nothing else.

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   April
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 6:00 pm

   Farrah’s date seemed like a nice guy. I hope she is nice back to him.

8. 8
   April
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 6:16 pm

   Gary is such a turd. He was already basically admitting that he is not planning on being supportive to her. LOL! Well Gary at least you are more self aware than you used to be. God I hate him and I blame most of Amber’s problems on him. Sure she should have left him, but he antagonizes her on purpose instead of trying to actually improve his behavior or change a behavior for everyone’s good. It is not all her.

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   Andyourlittledogtoo
   Posted July 25, 2012 at 6:38 pm

   People attract each other for deep reasons they usually don’t understand. Gary is not the reason that Amber is deeply disturbed and drugging. He is not by any means good for her (or she for him) but there’s a reason they got together and there’s a reason she doesn’t just walk away for good. And that reason I honestly believe is not Leah. Leah is a good excuse, but it’s not Leah. Abusive people need someone to abuse, either emotionally or physically. Gary is a perfect target for Amber, he provides so many excuses for her out of control rage to focus on. The rage would still be there but he is a great outlet for it. Gary gets a girlfriend that he can feel superior to and he is just passive enough that he will take what she dishes out to a degree that most men would be explaining the newly tilled earth in the backyard to the police by now.

   Those two meet some deep dark needs and it’s really uncomfortable to watch them play out in the life of that beautiful baby. They should never have been selected for 16+P in the first place. Amber was already a high school dropout and over eighteen when she got pregnant. She wasn’t young enough and her situation wasn’t really a ‘teen pregnancy’ situation at the time. She was a young woman living with her boyfriend. But MTV got what it wanted: big drama.

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    Annie
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    @Andyourlittledogtoo

    as I recall, Gary was Amber’s brother’s friend. He is 3 years older than her, and I wanna say she was 16 and he was 19 when they started going out. One day he called their house looking for Amber’s bro, and ended up talking to Amber all night and that’s how they hooked up.

    I think you nailed it….I see it as classic “I want to save her / I want to be saved by him” syndrome….hell it could even be more deeper than that: Gary is insecure and can’t get any chicks, so he goes after Amber knowing she is also insecure and not stable, therefore an easy target?

    Either way, they are not good for each other AT ALL

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 8:03 pm

    I do want to make it very clear though that NO one deserves to be abused and that I am not saying that people who wind up abused by their partners are somehow enabling it or seeking it out. Sometimes the two people’s psyches do match up for the worse though and you do see a pattern with some people who leave abusive partners and then go on to the next abusive partner and then the next one. They have no idea they are doing it or why it keeps happening to them because something deep underneath is setting them up for it. But that’s some people not all people. And I think we are watching two people in Amber and Gary that are just a relationship perfect mix of their deeper needs that they hate and yet can’t seem to overcome.

    I think she was sixteen or so when they first got together and he is older than her by a few years. But she didn’t get pregnant with Leah then, they were together for a good while, she had dropped out of high school, and they were living together when that happened. That whole ‘I had to drop out of high school and now go back or get my GED’ storyline was bull. She had been out for a while and I don’t think she would even have tried for her GED if she wasn’t in the MTV spotlight and being criticized for not bettering her life in any way. She never did put any real effort into getting it and just blamed having Leah for not having the time, as though she did anything other than lay around.

    No, I don’t condone Amber’s violence against Gary at all no matter how stupid and passive aggressive he might be. But whereas I used to see his behavior as more of a learned helplessness of an abused partner I now see him more as more a person who has other needs Amber meets. That is certainly not the case of many abusive situations but I think that is the case with these two.

    I feel sorry for her cellmate. Being stuck in a small space with that rageaholic has got to really suck.

12. 12
    Lopezgirl
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    As annoying as Farrah is I give it to her school wise anyway. She has done what she needed to do. Which is why I get do annoyed seeing Maci and Kyle on the couch looking miserable all of the time. And If preschool is just 2 days a week why doesn’t she just send him the days he is not with Ryan? Ryan’s mom is so out of control though. She is not Bentleys parent. Let him make his own decisions. And Amber…. There is nothing a 2 year old likes better than cheap airport gifts. It was almost too sad to watch.

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    Tmurda
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 8:28 pm

    I’m pretty much anti-preschool unless it’s a neccessary daycare sitch (both parents work/go to school and don’t have family or anyone adequate to watch the kid). Call it preschool, kiddy college, monasary school, or whatever, but ITS FUCKING DAYCARE! I taught my boyfriend’s 2-year-old her numbers, alphabet, shapes, colors, and animals in like a week-and-a-half! We sing twinkle twinkle little star, play outside, have animal crackers and juice, and take a nap. My apartment is preschool that doesn’t cost $500+ per month. She can socialize just as well when she gets into kindergarden a couple years from now just as well as she would in preschool. She interacts with her brother during her weekly supervised visitation with her mom, and we teach her to share, be nice to others, wait her turn, etc. People take the shit for way more than they should. If you need a place to take ur kid so you can go to work, and can spare a signifigant chunk of cash every month, go for it….just don’t go there with the “educational purposes” nonsense or i’ll punch you in the throat.
    Having continuously suffered along with my bf through a custody battle for his daughter (still ongoing), I would love the chance to inform maci and ryan of what such a process actually entails, and I guarantee they’d mature before my eyes and work their shit out. My bf and I couldn’t avoid it cause the child is very unsafe in her mother’s care and she will most likely be going to prison soon, but i’d encourage any young parents who are throwing around the “well, i’ll just see your ass in court!!!” crap every time they disagree, to talk to one person who has actually gone through the court system to determine custody and all the little details that go along with ordering specific rules/visitation days and times/stipulations/etc in addition to the actual custody decision, and see if they want to reconsider compromising with the other parent in a civil and fair manner. Grow up assholes.
    Anyone wanna start a betting pool on how long it will take maci to drop most, if not all, of her classes?

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    Adelefig
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 8:47 pm

    #andyourlittledogtoo, Are you a psychiatrist or therapist? You sound very educated on this subject and I enjoy reading your comments!

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    sugarbush
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    @tmurda- I think you may not have a full spectrum idea of preschools. My son goes to preschool twice a week during the school year. He goes for five hours a day and I pay each month what Maci pays per week. I don’t send him there for a formal education. I send him there to meet and interact with other kids his age as I don’t have access to other young kids with whom he can interact. He also gets to have time away from me. I work from home everyday and have since he was born. However, there is nothing in it for ME to have him go there. He is used to me working at home, so he is perfectly quiet when I am in meetings. I miss him when he’s gone and love when 2:00 rolls around so I can go get him. I have taught him everything he knows. He’s very advanced for his age. He just turned four and is doing 150 piece puzzles completely by himself, I have been teaching him Spanish, how to spell, to read, and to write. I don’t leave his education up to anyone else. He has fantastic manners and is sweet to everyone he meets. I absolutely do NOT pawn him off onto others to get time to myself. I just hope that you wrote that comment without thinking first or to solely direct it at Maci and not all moms who send their children to preschool. I may be a foyl-mouthed bitch, but Iam most certainly not a bad or lazy mother.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    @Adelefig – My life has been a long strange trip but I am also a mom and an LCSW and have degrees in social work and early childhood education. The early childhood education thing was an associates degree I got pushed into out of high school because everyone was afraid I’d wind up on the street with no skills. Seriously, adults were trying to save my immature partying ass. Unfortunately large groups of small children scare the crap out of me so I changed majors and just plowed on through social work for youth and adults. Anyway, I can’t help but take what I know and what I have experienced and look at these people and speculated on them. I do not claim to have the answers to them or their problems or to be able to definitively diagnose them at a distance from their four seasons in this reality franchise. But they are a fascinating group to watch and wonder about and I can’t help but come at it from my own training and experience. If I knew them personally I wouldn’t analyze them so much I’d just be their friend and try to give good advice and support if needed. But since they’re on my TV I feel no problem speculating on what they put out there and wondering about them. We all do that from our own experience of people and life. It’s what makes these people watchable at all – trying to figure ‘em out.

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    melli
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 9:46 pm

    @Andyourlittledogtoo- Amber was 17 when she got pregnant but if I remember correctly she said she and Gary had been dating for over three years before then. So Amber was 13 or 14 and Gary was 19 or 20 when they first hooked up. Gary has also said that Amber was his first and only girlfriend until this show started up. I’m sorry but since when is it okay for a 20 year old to date a 14 year old. Many people would consider this to be predatory and would see Gary as a creep at most. I’m on Amber’s side. Her abusive tendencies are behaviors that she learned from her family that she’s repeating. She had an unhappy childhood and was then emotionally manipulated by a man much older than she was, who she then was impregnated by thereby essentially trapping her in a hopeless situation. She’s never really had a chance to try and escape and find herself. Amber’s been unhappy for quite a while and that can really take it’s toll on you. It’s a deep depression and constant hopelessness that makes you not even care about what happens anymore because you feel it’ll never get better so what’s the point . I’m not surprised she chose jail over freedom. I’d say she’s very near her rock bottom.

    Amber get’s a lot of crap for not being a good mother but it’s very hard to be a good mother when you’re depressed and unhappy, especially depressed. You really can’t take care of anybody until you take care of yourself first.

    For the record I do think that the only reason Amber keeps going back to Gary is because of Leah, but most importantly because of this show. If this show hadn’t come into her life and made her and Gary and their little family seem so important, she would’ve left Gary a long time ago.

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    melli
    Posted July 25, 2012 at 11:04 pm

    Amber’s problem is that she’s never had the courage to escape and try to save herself, to better herself. It seems she’s just accepted her fate even if by default. Hopefully being in the slammer for such an extended period of time will enable her to clear her head ,reflect, decide what she wants from life and be able to muster up the courage and inner strength that she needs to make positive changes in her life.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 12:30 am

    There’s a difference though between explaining someone’s behavior and excusing someone’s behavior. I agree she is depressed and her childhood sucked and she got hooked into a relationship with an older guy who had no business being with her that young (although I don’t think it was quite that young, she was still way too young for him regardless) and she is reacting to the dreck that is her general life. And that sucks all the way around. But it is her responsibility to do something about it and not treat people like crap and fly into rages and take proper care of her little girl and not just proclaim ‘I’m a good mom’ like words were all that was necessary. Do you have any idea how common her story is? It’s like a theme in Narcotics Anonymous, the woman who had a horrible life and is depressed and loves her kids but can’t control her rages and her using enough to properly take care of them etc etc. I get the motivation and the causes but she doesn’t get a pass on her behavior and none of this is going to mean a lick to Leah as she’s growing up with an out of control mother who can’t get her shit together. I do feel sorry for her. But now it’s time for her to grow up and ‘make it work’ to quote a phrase. She doesn’t have the luxury of bottoming out at a leisurely pace, there’s a baby who needs her mother to be good mother. Love = Action.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 12:54 am

    I will say though that I think MTV does really skew the progression of all of these girls’ relationships and decision making. Not all of it, but definitely it has to go into the thinking of what to do. Would Gary put up with Amber’s complete lack of interest and her rages and physical attacks if he didn’t also have the opportunity to get an MTV paycheck at the same time? Maybe, maybe not. Would Amber get better psychosocial intervention and services if MTV wasn’t intervening and sending her to what I think is a questionable therapeutic outfit? (I just don’t like them, I haven’t seen anything so far that makes me think they are famewhoring and playing to the cameras themselves). Who knows? But it has to have had an impact on what they chose to do and still do.

    I’ve been thinking about Catelynn and Tyler and realized that I don’t have the info I’d need to really know if Cate is a good candidate for college or not and that April and Ty may just be right to push her. I was thinking about myself and realized that from the surface, if you didn’t know me, that I was the last person you’d think to send to college. I had just enough credits to graduate high school, spent four years pretty much ditching all the time (100+ days in sophomore year alone – no reason, just not interested), and wound up with a middle D GPA. But I was a reader, I absorbed things easily and liked to learn new things, was a good little test taker, and college was promised to me to be a) much more interesting and b) require only a few hours of ‘be here now’ time per week. Also, I was promised full room and board by my family if I went and a fifty hour week working at minimum wage if I didn’t. That was not a hard decision to make, but it took some work to get me to agree to it. So if April and Ty look at Cate and see someone who is not doing what she really can do and just hasn’t realized it yet then good for them for not just backing off. I’m glad someone motivated me, changed the direction of my life.

    Of course she may not be the college type, we just don’t know. But I bet they know and that’s why they’re pushing her. And if Ty feels like he really needs to be with someone who has some goals and is educated that is a valid thing and something it’s good to know about yourself. I think many educated men would prefer to be with an educated woman, have more in common with them, etc. Again, this isn’t everyone but it’s not that uncommon a feeling to want to have someone of like motivation and education as a mate.

21. 21
    melli
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 4:05 am

    For the record I was explaining Amber’s behavior not excusing it. I’m all about personal responsibility. That’s why I hope she has the courage to leave and better herself because I don’t think she can significantly change while she remains in her current environment.

    Of course being scrutinized and judged on a reality tv show affects your behavior, especially your behavior on camera. Everyone behaves differently when the camera light turns on. Just ask anybody who’s ever filmed anything for reality tv.

    Remember season 1 of teen mom when Farrah kept leaving Sophia with Debra to go on dates with random guys and hang out with her friends. Well I remember that Farrah said in an interview that once the show began to air people were calling her a bad mom and generally giving her flack for going out and partying (notably this was when Ryan was doing the same and people were comparing her likeness to Ryan and calling Maci a good mom). She said this made her change her behavior for the next season of teen mom. Farrah hasn’t been shown partying or going on dates for seasons 2 and 3. This was a conscious decision on her part that came from being judged on a reality tv show. If Farrah had never been on the show maybe she would still be out partying while Sophia was with Debra.

    Bottom line, being on a reality show affects almost every decision you make for the time being. Your put up on this pedestal, your every move is being judged, people are giving you advice and calling you out. It makes you feel self important. You do what you think people want you to do or what you think is right from however you interpret the feedback you receive.

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    cheergirl
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 5:57 am

    I think preschool is good for kids, even if they have a stay at home parent. I’m not a mother yet but from observing my oldest nephew (he’s 6 now) it was the best thing we could have done for him. My mom watched him while his parents worked and he was learning colors and numbers and such but he was so shy around kids his age. When we sent him to school he got to interact with other kids and he made friends and he became a more sociable child. Not to mention he learned so much more than my mother could have taught him. That’s always important for a kid. Bentley needs more time with other kids his age and away from his crazy family.
    Poor Leah.. that’s all I can say about that situation.
    And why is Cate working so much that she can’t go to school when she’s making so much from MTV? why are we still pretending these kids are poor and struggling? Do they not have access to their money until the last season is finished? I’m really confused when it comes to that.

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    JudgyWudgy
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 7:00 am

    Good freakin’ lord. How much time do some of you commenters spend analyzing this show? The recap was up YESTERDAY and already filled with multiple mini Masters theses. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; might I suggest investing in a personal blog? It’s not even fun to read and respond anymore; I lose interest after a couple of sentences.

    Also, preschool is not daycare and anyone who claims it is without fairly extensive research is just as close-minded and lazy as they claim those parents who enroll their children are. Give me a break, I didn’t realize we still thought this backwards these days.

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    JudgyWudgy
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 7:01 am

    Let me clarify the “losing interest after a couple of sentences” refers to the comments. Love the recap.

25. 25
    JudgyWudgy
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 7:20 am

    @Tmurda, since you decided to put this out there – I really hope you’re letting the custody battle stay between who it should. Through YOUR own admission you are a girlfriend and have no legal connection to this guy, and through YOUR own admission it is not your child, so therefore it is really not your business. Girlfriends and boyfriends are not husbands and wives. You claim Maci and Ryan need to grow up (assholes, I believe was the word that was used) but what I think is one of the poorest choices on either end is that they have their current boyfriends and girlfriends way more involved than they really should be. I hate the way the word ignorant is thrown around, but your whole post just….was.

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    hot cawfee
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 7:52 am

    I jumped to the bottom to post–so am not sure if anyone said this yet– Does anyone else think that Cate has confidence problem? I will not get started on the financial aid (you are so not entitled young lady) and working and going to school (I did it and you need the health insurance kiddo). But maybe her issue is that she feels not as smart as/as pretty as the other students. I love her and Tyler-those kids beat the odds and I love them for such clear-headed-ness despite their trainwreck parents–well April and Butch.
    ok-back to reading

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    hot cawfee
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 8:00 am

    Ryan you need Bently to get all the schoolin’ he possibly can. You cant live with your folks forever amiright? I am sure Bently will craft a cozy nook for you in his home or at least his tree-fort when he gets bigger.

    Farrah–sigh…Sophia is so beautiful. Just stop screaming ok?? Very unbecoming on young ladies–who are mothers and over the age of 3.
    Amber–I mean this sincerely–please work your sobriety and get some life skills. This is the last of the TeenMom for you and that means an end to the paychecks. I hope you had the foresight to put money aside for the baby (who is a beauty).

    And MTV–yeah–a little something to chew on from Auntie Cawfee—If you have not dont it already I am of the opinion that you bear and obligation (legal and moral) to set up an educational fund for these children. It should be seperate than what their parents “earn”. Of course it can be held in trust until they are 18 (for educational purposes only) or 21. Call me MTV—I have more ideas for you.

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    classy drunk
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 8:06 am

    I’ve always thought day care/pre school was a good thing for children. It gives them the social interaction they need instead of being around adults all the time.

    I have been around plenty of young children in the past few years and I can always tell a difference in the children once they start preschool. (Many of my friends kept their children home until they were 3) They start to imitate other children rather than adults. It also gives them a chance to develop their socials skills on their own level.

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    hot cawfee
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 8:17 am

    @ 2 BedheadJen– ohnohedidnt!!!!!!!!!! Oh Bently–Aunt Cawfee had quite a chuckle–You are very smart buddy–not too smart for school tho– You have to go—Let your Daddy be a cautionary tale.

    @3 And your–good point on the FA–likely is a plot device to show kids that you have to explore options for funding your education b/c not everyone gets the MTV $$$.

    Another thought on Cate—she may be getting alot of mean tweets and postings–calling her dumb, fat, lazy etc– she may be scared as hell to go to college. But for the career she has set for herself, she needs an education. And yes-for the life Aunt Cawfee wants for her she needs one.

    Was Amber ever tested for bi-polar disorder???

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    Sugarbush
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 8:17 am

    lol @Judgy – You took the words right out of my brain.

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    considerthis
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 8:43 am

    You go Judgy! I can ramble with the best of them but at least try to keep the snark factor high. These disections of the inner workings of the minds of people who are exposed to us once a week for an hour are tedious at best. Like you after sentence 2 I am toast.

    However I do disagree with you stating a difference between Pre-School and Day Care. Where I live you can call it what you like (Toddler Univerisity, Day Care, Pre-School, Kiddie College etc etc etc) but you must recieve NAEYC accrediation – meaning if your “place” is accreditted then the meet the academic and social standards needed. So call them what you want – it’s all about the cirriculum.

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    begoniaskies
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 9:06 am

    @JudgyWudgy

    I love you. Thank you for saying what I’ve been thinking.

33. 33
    Sugarbush
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 9:12 am

    @considerthis – There may not be a difference in curriculum and accreditation, but there is a difference in the purpose. Sending your kid to preschool for a total of 10 hours per week only during the school year hardly counts as the same purpose as daycare. And all preschools are different, of course. Where I take my kid, they split up the age classes if there gets to be more than a certain number of students and each class has two teachers. Bentley’s really kinda does look like a daycare. To send him from 7am to 3pm, that’s an entire day. And there were a LOT of kids in that one class.

    I just think there are a lot of different ways certain places define preschool and daycare. My kid’s preschool is like the preschool I went to when I was a kid back before Jesus walked the earth. Sending your kid off to “preschool” that is actually daycare when you have no job and don’t go to school is lazy. Send them to preschool – it’s tons cheaper and gives you a shitton more time with your kid.

    Now DAMMIT PEOPLE STOP BEING SERIOUS! You’re seriousness is rubbing off on me and I don’t like it! I want to be a snarky asshole, not a pensive adult.

34. 34
    Lurker
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    Judgy thank you! I have been thinking the same thing for the past few recaps now but did not have the balls to say anything. The “assessments” are getting old. Glad there is someone here that has some wit and common sense!

35. 35
    lopez06
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    @judgy….Yes…totally agree about the long paragraphs posts….wtf….who is going to read all that??? And agree 100% about giving boyfriends/girlfriends too much say so…let me be the parent…they are my kids! when we have some together then you can have an opinion!

36. 36
    kthxbai
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    The reason Jen takes off of work on Ryan’s custody days is so there’ll be somebody there to tend to the baby.

    Ryan was the OG typical 16 & Pregnant baby daddy. And also my OG reason for being mad at MTV for having baby daddies on the show.

    Their whole story was that same typical formula. Except for Maci looking like the best mom at 1st. And Jen being the 1 that wanted a grandbaby from the get go.

    3 yrs later, Ryan’s still the same. Still enjoying his teenage life. Except it’s even better. Since he’s got MTV $. And doesn’t have to go to school.

    But the only thing about Maci that hasn’t changed is her resenting Ryan because he gets to do what he wants. While she’s stuck with the responsibility of raising a baby. Which just gets more complicated every yr. And expensive.

    She just doesn’t get that her deciding to keep Bentley’s not Ryan’s fault. And there’s nothing she can do that’s going to turn him into a different person. Or make it where Bentley messes his life up. Since it’s his mom driving that whole bus. Ryan’s just driving his Beemer.

37. 37
    BedHeadJen
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    Right on Judgy! I love the gasm because it is the one place where an assessment including words like carnies, and stupid, hat wearing dipshits is perfectly acceptable.

38. 38
    April
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    I actually do think Ryan is a good Dad at this point. Bentley always looks very happy to see Ryan and did not even want to go to Maci at the beach. From what I heard Maci is the one not around a lot anymore. Maybe Jen just really loves her GS and wants to spend time with him? That is not a crime. I would probably love being around my grandchildren too. My mom sure does.

    Was Ryan a good Dad at first? Nope. But I do feel he has turned it around quite a bit. As far as him not being in school or have a job-neither does Maci. She pretends to go to school and sucks up at it and neither of them work.

39. 39
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    But however will you recover from the horrible trauma of having to skip over posts you don’t want to read? It’s so haaaard!

    Nah, I shall now limit my comments more to ‘What a douche!’ and ‘She sucks!’ and ‘They’re so stupid!’ because ya gotta give the people what they want.

    See? I can snark.

40. 40
    kthxbai
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 7:04 pm

    @April I don’t mean there’s anything wrong with kids getting raised by their grandparents. And aunties and great grandparents etc too. LOL I’d be the last person to look down on that.

    Just that the way Ryan’s cut out he’ll do better as more of a big brother type figure.

    You’re right Maci’s not around as much. But my guess is at the beach it looked to him like Maci was there to take him away from the fun he was having. With this big crowd of people he didn’t know. (Everything about how they did that scene deserves its own tangent)

    I bet he always has more fun at his grandmama’s though. Even when they’re not at the beach. For 1 thing they’ve got that big yard for him to run around and play in. And ride his ATV thing he’s got.

    Whenever he’s with Maci and Kyle they’re always crammed into that little apt. Without any place for him to play.

    I’m just saying it looks like it might be a while before we’d see Ryan giving up his life he’s got now. If ever. To work all day at the fast food. And then come home and tend to a baby. Instead of going out.

    Not that I think Maci’s real anxious to to that either. Which is 1 of the reasons she’s how she is now. Because reality’s starting to kick in. She knows after this season her MTV $ runs out. Along with the fame she let turn her head. And she’s smart enough to know she doesn’t have a damn thing to keep it going. Those MLM air fresheners aren’t exactly going to set her and Bentley up for life.

    I’m also suspicious that Maci’s parents and Ryan’s have got some different ways and points of view. Besides Maci and Ryan being real different. Just in the way they’re cut out as people.

    Not that Maci’s parents would let her or Bentley go without. But I bet when she moves back with them she’ll have to either get a job. Or get in school full time. With “full time” meaning going to class every day. And getting passing grades. Whether it’s college or a course to learn a trade. Since they know she’s got the ability.

    Anyway Jen wanting a grandbaby so bad is actually super lucky for Bentley.

    It’ll be good for him to grow up knowing there’s somebody that likes taking care of him. And wants to. More than they want to do something else. Not just because they feel like they’ve got to.

41. 41
    begonia skies
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 7:56 pm

    when does tyler go down to tennessee and give maci and kyle a makeover? and lecture them about going to school? fuck dr. drew, tyler should be doing the reunions. he’s the voice of reason on this show. the big gay voice of reason.

42. 42
    Annie
    Posted July 26, 2012 at 8:44 pm

    @begonia skies ….lmao! Youre so right!!! “Tyler’s House of Makeovers and Therapy” is in the horizon for him!

    And, I will say this about “snark vs. master’s thesis”. Boards like this (not TVGasm specifically…internetz in general) can be tricky, sometimes people want to read / write things with substance, sometimes people want to read / write snarky snarkity snark.
    To each their own…I personally like both. Maybe it’s the sociologist in me, but I do like to observe other people’s personalities, lives, living arrangments, and family dynamics….then write about them and read what others observe as well. I also like to find humor in it all.
    Also, I watch these shows alone (can’t seem to get my boyfriend on the wagon-HA) so this is my only outlet.

    Rambling Master’s thesis posts are not hurting anyone. They are not disrespecful to anybody reading the boards….so I say whatever you want to write, write. Whatever you want to read, read. No big deal.

43. 43
    melli
    Posted July 27, 2012 at 12:36 am

    Omg check out Farrah’s new hot sauce! More importantly check out the label!

    http://www.omaha.com/article/20120727/NEWS/707279925/1016

44. 44
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 27, 2012 at 12:56 am

    Debra Danielsen is president of the family-owned company. She said Carmella Danielsen is the company’s chief ingredient officer, Farrah is the social messenger, and Sophia is the pepper princess.

    Where to go with this? Mom & Me as a brand is….interesting… given the total bitchfest of dysfunction between all of these women we see every week. Isn’t Farrah on the outs with her grandmother also?

    Debra’s family owns the company (family money on her side I’m still betting, and Michael hasn’t any, but nevermind) and she’s the president. Don Debra. LOL I love that Sophia is the Pepper Princess. And that leaves…Farrah as the ‘social messenger’. I’m sorry, but that’s like using the Hitler name to help sell Volkswagens. We know where they came from, but they don’t remind everyone of that fact.

    Still, I want to try that sauce. I hate it, but I want some.

45. 45
    kthxbai
    Posted July 27, 2012 at 5:03 am

    They might want to change the part that says “It’s the only sauce on the market that’s made with banana peppers”

    Just since some of them are made by real big companies. That probably sell it right there in their same town. So if they’ve got that printed on labels or anything they could end up being out some $. From having to go get new 1s made and swapped out.

    I sure hope they just meant it as advertising bullshit. Or even on purpose to get attention.

    Because the idea of anybody actually believing that would just too sad of a thought.

46. 46
    hot cawfee
    Posted July 27, 2012 at 7:09 am

    Mother of Pearl—Melli thanks!!! This is just awesome.
    We need a sauce-off—-Tiny Caro Manzo and the Brownstone Sauce vs Debra–she needs no other intro

47. 47
    Annie
    Posted July 27, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    I swear, with all the crap these people are schlepping around (Skinny Girl, Manzo Sauce, BLK water, Tru Renewal, Gretchen Christine makeup, Alexis Couture, She by Sheree) we could eat, dress, and look SHITTY for days!!!

48. 48
    Tmurda
    Posted July 31, 2012 at 11:06 pm

    @sugarbush-I know this is a really delayed response, but I TOTALLY didn’t mean to sound like I think sending your child to preschool makes one a bad/lazy parent. Not at all. And it sounds like you are doing it for all the right reasons. Mothers like Maci are the ones I have an issue with, and when they defend themselves or their decision by playing the “educational” card, I have even more of an issue with it. I think day care can be a very positive thing, if utilized for the proper and realistic reasons. Mothers like my bf’s babymomma send their child to daycare full time, on someone else’s dime, sit at home getting high all day, and excuse it by calling it “school”. Granted, a child is MUCH better off spending the day at a day care than around drug use, or a parent who simply doesn’t want him/her around, but that is clearly not the jist of your situation. You sound like a very involved/hands-on mom who takes day care for what it really is. Maci is a moron who likes to appear as the perfect mother, but pretty much makes everything about herself in the end. She thinks/acts like Bently is gonna be baby genius as a result of daycare, and is thrilled by that mostly because that would get her a massive pat on the back. And although there is no problem with taking a child there for just a couple hours or an afternoon, Maci DAMN SURE can’t throw the “he’s learning there! it’s SCHOOOOOL!” crap at Ryan if she’s gonna be spiratic like that with it. She’s retarded, but you sound awesome! At least Maci won’t have any excuse to use when she fails/drops her classes…AGAIN.