By now you’ve heard of the mess that Jon and Kate of “Jon and Kate Plus 8” are in over Jon’s bar-hopping episode with a younger woman, headlined on “People” magazine as ‘Caught With Other Woman.” Jon and Kate are all over the press these days with questions looming about their marriage and possible infidelities. I really hope their marriage isn’t in jeopardy: That the strain of having kids hasn’t gotten to them.
I think the popularity of their show isn’t about how many kids they have, but about the relationship between the two of them.
Don’t we all see a little of ourselves in Jon and Kate?
They bicker, they glare at each other, they bicker some more. If your marriage doesn’t have any bickering, then kudos to you, but I bet most people reading this would have to admit that it exists in their home to some extent.
What’s appealing about the show is that they are (seemingly) shown as a real couple, with real problems. Kids run everywhere, toys are everywhere, their time is torn to shreds trying to keep and run a house full of little people. When and how do they find time for themselves? Although their experience with eight kids is exaggerated for most families, we all have the same strains on our relationships.
The reason we can’t have Jon and Kate divorce is that it might shed light on other marriages, maybe our own, that there is something wrong.
Because Jon and Kate can argue on national television and still be married, gives us all a little breathing room that we’re not alone. Marriage is hard and having kids adds to the stress. There are times you can’t even complete sentences with your spouse without being interrupted by one of your adorable offspring. Jon and Kate have this time eight.
I’ve read that the couple is trying to work through this mess privately. Nothing is revealed yet, but I’m hopeful they will stay together and give all marriages hope.
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I love this post.
Jon and Kate pretty much give us hope that some bickering is normal in our marriages and validates what we all tell ourselves: we can still have good, working marriages even though there may be stress and even though we may fight. If they go, then maybe our relationships aren’t all they are cracked up to be.
On the other hand, maybe I’m putting way too much interpretation/faith in the marriage of a reality show couple.
I am not going to lie. I secretly hope that Jon and Kate were paid big bucks to make this whole thing up to bring publicity to the show. There I said it.