Teen Mom

[Angel!]

So I started watching the show on Netflix. It bothers me because it seems to really prove that many people don't learn from their mistakes.

2 of the 4 girls have already had pregnancy scares & their kids are only about 15 months old. Both of them always go on about how they can't possibly have a baby again & need to avoid that by all means necessary, but then go & have unprotected sex & think they are pregnant. There is no way that they haven't had hundreds of lectures on how to prevent pregnancy, so I am not even going to accept the naive about where babies come from excuse.

Then, what also bothers me - they both went to a doctor to get tested. You can get a pregnancy test for $5, yet they went to the doctor & I assume either are on some sort of welfare or went to a free clinic. Either way - a waste of taxpayer money for something that costs $5.

I'm glad the show gives a pretty good potrayal of how hard it is to have kids that young. But, I am finding it pretty depressing too. Plus, the many, many unhealthy relationships in that show are bugging me.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I don't watch it regularly because I want to throw things at the TV when I do.

If you don't want to have a baby that bad then you don't have sex, period. I don't swallow the "don't know where babies come from" excuse either. You've had a baby already, it isn't hard to do the math.

[midjd]

I'm glad the show gives a pretty good potrayal of how hard it is to have kids that young. But, I am finding it pretty depressing too. Plus, the many, many unhealthy relationships in that show are bugging me.

Yeah, same here. I watched the first couple of seasons but haven't seen it for a while. One of the more notorious Teen Moms was from our area, I think she's still in jail

There was one... or maybe it was 16 and Pregnant... where I seriously had to turn the TV off and go outside. The teen mom was in labor, the baby daddy was making fun of her (really? making fun of the person about to give birth to your kid?) and then - when her mom told him to STFU - started a huge fight with both of them. Yeah, that's helpful. I wanted to kick him in the balls.

[KaraBoo]

My step-daughters both watch these shows. There mom has said she doesn't want them watching the show, but neither DH and I have a problem with it (they live with us full time - see her EOW).

The 16 year old looks at it as entertainment (the show - not the baby part - she's always talking about how she DOESN'T want any kids). It's actually helped the youngest (11 years old) - I think. Before she started watching the show, she's very boy crazy and is always talking about how she can't wait to have a baby. Even though we've talked about how hard it is - watching it on TV and seeing the girls complain about the boyfriends/fathers has reinforced what we've been saying. She's still boy-crazy, but has repeatedly said that she no longer wants a kid until after she graduates from college.

We use the show as a stepping-stone into conversations about how to prevent pregnancies and the other talks.

[happyhoix]

I've watched a little bit of those - can't remember which one - but I have to turn the channel pretty quickly, because one of two things always seems to happen:

1) Teen mom is astounded that her mother won't do more to take care of the baby. Ends up crying or tantruming because either a) she wants to take a nap and can't because the baby is fussing and mom won't deal with it or b) can't go out partying with her friends because mom won't babysit.

2) Teen mom is astounded that her BF and baby daddy, who LOOOOVED her, suddenly evaporates when the baby arrives.

Since I can't reach through the TV and bitch slap them and don't want to give myself a heart attack, I always turn the channel at this point.

[movingforward]

"I don't watch it regularly because I want to throw things at the TV when I do."

The only time I have actually seen it was when I was visiting my brother and my niece was watching it. I couldn't take anymore... I went to go take a walk...

[movingforward]

Does anyone remember that movie "For Keeps" with Molly Ringwald. I saw that when I was a teenager and I swear it made me feel like never having sex and when I did finally have sex (at age 18 - actually after HS graduation) I made damn sure I used BC. I thought that movie was a true example of what teen motherhood is like. They lived in a run down apartment, she is terribly depressed, her husband doesn't take his acceptance to college. I do think everything kind of works out in the end but it showed that being a teen mom is not fun and games. Kids today would probably find it boring though...

[Angel!]

May 25, 2012 10:40:21 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

1) Teen mom is astounded that her mother won't do more to take care of the baby. Ends up crying or tantruming because either a) she wants to take a nap and can't because the baby is fussing and mom won't deal with it or b) can't go out partying with her friends because mom won't babysit.

The one I have been watching has a girl that is horrible about this. She always talks about how she is a teenager & deserves to be able to live like a teenager. I do want to slap her. With her though the parents always give in after a fight & still watch the baby. Annoying.

[hoops902]

May 25, 2012 12:08:00 GMT -5 Angel! said:

May 25, 2012 10:40:21 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

1) Teen mom is astounded that her mother won't do more to take care of the baby. Ends up crying or tantruming because either a) she wants to take a nap and can't because the baby is fussing and mom won't deal with it or b) can't go out partying with her friends because mom won't babysit.

The one I have been watching has a girl that is horrible about this. She always talks about how she is a teenager & deserves to be able to live like a teenager. I do want to slap her. With her though the parents always give in after a fight & still watch the baby. Annoying.

I assume this is Farrah, and if so it gets way better in the next season. So proud she's from Iowa like me:)

[Angel!]

Hoops watches Teen Mom



Yep, I was referring to Farrah. I have never seen someone so entitled in my life.

[hoops902]

May 25, 2012 12:17:16 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Hoops watches Teen Mom



Yep, I was referring to Farrah. I have never seen someone so entitled in my life.

My wife is a reality tv junkie, we watch basically everything on Bravo, Food Network, and Teen Mom. I also sit very near 5 women at work who ALL watch these shows.

Teen Mom & Teen Mom 2 are actually a couple of my favorites.

[justme]

I just hope MTV is putting money in a trust or something for the kids. There's no way most, if not all, are saving any of the 6 figures they make a year. Especially since the one in jail reported a $200k+ income in one year and at the same time she was living in low income housing.

[movingforward]

I hate it when the scripted shows have teen moms on them and everything turns out just hunky dory. I can think of at least 3-4 shows off the top of my head (a couple being on ABC Family) where a teenager has a baby and everything turns out just fine. I am sitting there like

They make it look like it is no big deal to have a baby.

[Angel!]

May 25, 2012 12:20:07 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

May 25, 2012 12:17:16 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Hoops watches Teen Mom



Yep, I was referring to Farrah. I have never seen someone so entitled in my life.

My wife is a reality tv junkie, we watch basically everything on Bravo, Food Network, and Teen Mom. I also sit very near 5 women at work who ALL watch these shows.

Teen Mom & Teen Mom 2 are actually a couple of my favorites.

Ok, since you have seen them, I have questions that you might know the answers too:
- Why does she call her dad michael, is he her step dad?
- Where the hell is the baby's father? He has not been mentioned once yet in all the shows I have watched.

And when you say it gets better in the second season - do you mean she grows up & becomes accountable or there is way more drama because she is a spoiled brat?

As much as the girls irritate me the show now has me hooked & I have to finish it. Plus I am a little OCD on watching series from beginning to end, so I have to finish now. H comes over & will scroll through & pick a episode randomly from some series I have been watching & it is so annoying - you are supposed to watch them in order!!! LOL

[thyme4change]

Plus I am a little OCD on watching series from beginning to end, so I have to finish now. H comes over & will scroll through & pick a episode randomly from some series I have been watching & it is so annoying - you are supposed to watch them in order!!! LOL

I'm pissed off that I can't stream season 2 of Downton Abbey. Ack!

[giramomma]

May 25, 2012 10:40:21 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

1) Teen mom is astounded that her mother won't do more to take care of the baby. Ends up crying or tantruming because either a) she wants to take a nap and can't because the baby is fussing and mom won't deal with it or b) can't go out partying with her friends because mom won't babysit.

2) Teen mom is astounded that her BF and baby daddy, who LOOOOVED her, suddenly evaporates when the baby arrives.

You'd be surprised at how much of this behavior isn't limited simply to teen moms. I read a discussion group for moms with kids born in the same month as my baby. The more common threads are started about how to get a 2 week old to sleep through the night, or how the baby daddy just isn't into the newborn/mom.

We don't have cable, but I was going to start watching one of the teen mom shows as I need some trash tv to get me through the early morning feedings.

[hoops902]

::Ok, since you have seen them, I have questions that you might know the answers too:
- Why does she call her dad michael, is he her step dad?
- Where the hell is the baby's father? He has not been mentioned once yet in all the shows I have watched.::

They don't ever really address why she calls him Michael, but I think it's her biological father. And the women around me confirm they believe this also, some of the reports they tell me are that she calls him "Michael" as basically a way of being a bitch to him because he takes her mom's side in arguments. They never address it in the show though, so all of this is basically based on internet speculation the girls around me read.

Baby's father died before the child was born. I think a car accident, they address it a lot in the next season.

::And when you say it gets better in the second season - do you mean she grows up & becomes accountable or there is way more drama because she is a spoiled brat?::

No, I mean there's WAY more drama. Knife fight (kind of), an assault, multiple moves, breast implants, a dog she can't take care of, etc.

[Angel!]

May 25, 2012 12:34:39 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

They don't ever really address why she calls him Michael, but I think it's her biological father.

That was my feeling too, but it is bizarre he nevers comments on the disrespect. It kind of seems like he gets walked all over by both women though.

Baby's father died before the child was born. I think a car accident, they address it a lot in the next season.

How sad

[Angel!]

May 25, 2012 12:32:58 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Plus I am a little OCD on watching series from beginning to end, so I have to finish now. H comes over & will scroll through & pick a episode randomly from some series I have been watching & it is so annoying - you are supposed to watch them in order!!! LOL

I'm pissed off that I can't stream season 2 of Downton Abbey. Ack!

I have heard that is good, it is on my list of shows to watch.

[movingforward]

I just googled Downton Abbey and it looks interesting so thanks for mentioning it. I am always looking for new interesting stuff to watch since most of the stuff on TV is complete crap to me these days. I do love Breaking Bad though - can't wait for that to start in July.

[thyme4change]

After you watch the first episode of Downton Abbey, watch this SNL parody, and then go back to watching episodes. It both ruins them, and makes it easier to remember who everyone is. We refer to the characters by their SNL names. (You can watch the SNL thing now - but watch it again after you have seen an episode or two.)

www.google.com/search?q=snl+downton+abbey+video&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&rlz=1I7ADRA_enUS474

[justme]

Yes, the baby's dad died in a car accident. What I don't get is that in her 16 & Pregnant episode she talked about how awful he was and told everyone to not tell him she was pregnant because she wouldn't let him have anything to do with her kid. And then in the later seasons of Teen Mom she blames that behavior all on her mother and hates her for it.

[thyme4change]

What I don't get is that in her 16 & Pregnant episode she talked about how awful he was and told everyone to not tell him she was pregnant because she wouldn't let him have anything to do with her kid. And then in the later seasons of Teen Mom she blames that behavior all on her mother and hates her for it.

Are you saying that an immature teenager would never do something stupid and petty without any thought about the consequences for the future, and then later decide that wasn't the thing to do, and blame those actions on someone else? Seems quite normal to me.

[movingforward]

May 25, 2012 13:15:10 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

After you watch the first episode of Downton Abbey, watch this SNL parody, and then go back to watching episodes. It both ruins them, and makes it easier to remember who everyone is. We refer to the characters by their SNL names. (You can watch the SNL thing now - but watch it again after you have seen an episode or two.)

www.google.com/search?q=snl+downton+abbey+video&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&rlz=1I7ADRA_enUS474

I definitely want to watch it now. Appears that my library has season 1

[hoops902]

May 25, 2012 13:24:09 GMT -5 justme said:

Yes, the baby's dad died in a car accident. What I don't get is that in her 16 & Pregnant episode she talked about how awful he was and told everyone to not tell him she was pregnant because she wouldn't let him have anything to do with her kid. And then in the later seasons of Teen Mom she blames that behavior all on her mother and hates her for it.

Yeah, as the episodes continue she romanticizes their relationship and what things "would have been like" more and more. It goes from his relatives talking about how he would have wanted a paternity test because of how easy she was, to how "he would have taken care of the child even if it wasn't his because of how much he loved Farrah" (even though it sounds like they weren't even together when he died because of their volatile relationship).

It's definitely one of those "I hate him, he's an ass", and then when he dies, it's "oh we are such a tragic story, 2 young people who loved each other so much torn apart so early".

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Does Farrah live in COuncil Bluffs? I remember on one of those shows the girl had her baby here at the Nebraska Medical Center and then my brother knows a kid who died in a car crash who had a baby but I don't think he ever mentioned the mama's name.

[thyme4change]

I definitely want to watch it now. Appears that my library has season 1

Season 1 is on Hulu - you can stream it for free.

[thyme4change]

I find that most people say nicer things about a guy when he is dead then they ever did when he was alive. I don't find her complete change of heart about her now-dead ex-boyfriend weird at all.

[Angel!]

May 25, 2012 13:50:22 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

It's definitely one of those "I hate him, he's an ass", and then when he dies, it's "oh we are such a tragic story, 2 young people who loved each other so much torn apart so early".

I am guessing it is really common to romanticize what could have been when someone dies early in a relationship. You can never get proven wrong that they absolutely wouldn't have been the best husband/wife.

[kindthatjingles]

May 25, 2012 13:52:40 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Does Farrah live in COuncil Bluffs? I remember on one of those shows the girl had her baby here at the Nebraska Medical Center and then my brother knows a kid who died in a car crash who had a baby but I don't think he ever mentioned the mama's name.

Yes, it showed her Mom's house and her highschool. Also on second season they showed her eating at Blue downtown and at Ryans bistro in West O