Jenelle Growing Up. Week 3

If you have been following along this season you would have to be oblivious not realize that Jenelle has some major issues in her life. This week she seemed to turn around her life a little bit.  As we saw in last week episode Jenelle’s mother let her back in the house but wanted to continue with the custody battle. If you listen to the words Jenelle speaks you would think that she was totally fine with signing over her child so that her mother would be able to have temporary custody. When I look deeper though I see the expressions on her face it is easy to tell that she is doing all she can to try to be the best mother, but yet she does not want to sign over her baby. I am not a mother, but I believe that would be a very difficult thing to do. It is saying “Hey, I  was unsuccessful at raising my child so I guess I have to let someone else do it for me.” Not only did she do a bad job at raising her child so far in his life but now she has to deal with her previous actions and there is no way she can erase them. I think she is starting to realize that she does need to be a better mother.  There was one point in the show when Jenelle stated that she felt like there is more pressure on her now because she knows that she needs to do good and she knows that she needs to set goals in her life.  As Jenelle put it she needs “ to get my head on straight and start following the rules”. Her realizing this is going to make a huge difference in her life. I believe that no one can set a goal for someone else, a goal needs to be set from within one self if it is going to be accomplished. For Jenelle to make goals and want to do good in her life is an accomplishment in itself.  

Starting to work on her goals, Jenelle went searching for a job.  Her job search started at the beginning of the episode, she went to several different places and filled out many application forms and finally landed a job at a local bar.  In my opinion Jenelle wants to prove to her mom that she can keep care of her baby and that she can support him without her mother. I also think that Jenelle wants to prove to herself more than anything that she can do it. Another reason that it is good she got a job because she is also going to college. I hope she follow through and gets a college degree, but the statics are scary and show how rare it is to get a college degree if you are a teen mom. According to www.familyfirstaid.org they claim that one-third of teen mothers receive a high school diploma and only 1.5% of them have a college degree by the age of thirty. That is a scary considering that

820,000 girls a year under 20 get pregnant. I believe that Jenelle can do this if she signs over the papers to her mother, which in this episode she did.

Jenelle legally signed over her child to her mother. I feel like as soon as Jenelle signed those papers she grew up a little. Jenelle finally looked at her child first and did what is best for him. From that moment, until the end of the episode Jenelle started to act more like a mother than she ever has before. In a way I am proud of her. She is finally slowly turning around her life. I just hope that she stays on track, because I believe if she does she has the opportunity to be a great mother.

Round 2.

The second week of teen mom was just as exciting and drama filled as the last week’s episode.

As we saw in last week episode Jenelle is fighting for her baby in a custody battle against her mom.  As much as Jenelle tries to convince the cameras that she is a good mom, it is easy for me to see that she is not. I don’t classify a “good mom” as one who parties every single weekend, smokes marijuana (as she stated to the lawyer), does not have a home, does not keep care of her kid and does not make money to support her kid. Truthfully, the only thing that Jenelle does for the baby is give it love and frankly that is not enough.  If you give the baby love, that isn’t going to pay for the bills and caring for him is not going to make the fact that she does illegal drugs okay. What a poor example of a mother, this child is going to learn from his mother and not grow up with a stable background. This is why I think that it is so appropriate that Jenelle’s mother is fighting for this baby. According to dosomething.org when a teenage mother gets pregnant it truly has bad effects on the babies. They stated that girls born to teen mothers are more likely to be teen mothers themselves and boys born to teen moms are more likely to end up in prison. That is scary to think about and I understand how that can happen, look at Jenelle. She thinks it is okay for her to party but these bad habits lead to more bad habits and the habits that she has will someday turn into her son’s habits. This is why Jenelle’s baby needs a better example than the one Jenelle is showing him. She needs to stop being self-involved and think about how to show the baby a good example, while still having fun in life. I do think that Jenelle’s mother is not helping the situation by not letting her learn how to keep care of the baby but she is still a better mother and example than Jenelle is.  By the end of the episode we see that Jenelle’s mom lets her back into the house but clearly states that if she messes up one more time that she is out for good.  If it was me I would have thought twice about letting Jenelle back into the house because she demonstrates domestic violence all the time. This is another worry of mine, if she is physically and mentally hurting her mother, how is she going to know not to do any better with her own child?

Kaitlyn was dumped by her baby’s father last week and moved on quickly as we all saw in this week’s episode. For those of you who didn’t get to catch the show Kaitlyn is now dating a co-worker of hers behind Jo’s (the ex) back. I have mixed feelings about this whole situation. I dislike the fact that Kailtyn is first of all dating, and secondly not telling anyone that she is. She shouldn’t be dating this quickly especially since she did not even wait a few months. I do believe that if Jo doesn’t want to be with her anymore and she has the same feelings towards him that they should be able to date other people but I don’t think that she had enough time to let her heart properly heal before rushing into another relationship. I also don’t think it is right how Jo provides a house for her, a ride for her and all of the necessities in life and she won’t even tell him that she is dating someone. I truthfully think she needs to move out of his house and start her own life. She can’t depend on his family if she isn’t dating him anymore. I also think that she needs to think more about the baby than herself. She can’t worry so much right now about dating, she needs to start saving money so that she can properly pay for daycare and pay for a house so that someday she can get her own house and not depend upon someone else.

Chelsea is so distracted by her baby’s daddy Adam. Here is some history about Adam if you just started watching the show. In 16 and Pregnant Chelsea was not supported at all by Adam, actually he sent her a text message saying, “Tell me when and where to sign over for that mistake”.  He is not exactly “good dad” material. I was very surprised when Chelsea told her friend that she still likes Adam and still wants to be with him. Some girls are stupid when it comes to guys. Why would you ever want someone in your life who will degrade you and say hasty things to you? He said, “I have changed”, give me a break! That lines has been used so much to get back old girlfriends, the truth of that matter is that he has not changed, he has just realized that no other girl will let them get by with treating them that way. I guess, maybe he has change (even though its doubtful) but she needs to make sure that he has changed before she makes any rash decision. Adam did seem like he missed the baby and I hope that he isn’t just putting on a show for the cameras.

Last but definitely not least is Leah. Leah had a tough week this week. My heart felt for her as I saw how much pain she was in. This week, Leah explained her worries about one of her twins. She noticed that she does not really have any feeling in that leg and she never supports herself on it. Like any good mother would, Leah took her daughter to the doctor and had it examine, when the doctor told her that she would have to have an MRI and Leah broke down. I can honestly say that Leah is the most unselfish teen mom on the show. She stated during the whole doctor visit that “it isn’t fair that her baby has to go through it” and that “I’m not scared for myself, I’m scared for her”. I am truly amazed on how she is so focused and so caring about her baby. Than Leah and Corey made one of the most grown up decisions, they decided that they are going to stop arguing. They said that if the baby has to go through that they she does not need parents that are going to be arguing all the time.  Unselfish. Unselfish is the only work I can use to describe Leah. She is putting her babies lives in front of her with no regrets. She is fully aware of what she is doing all the time and keeps in mind that everything she does, she now does for the babies. It is easy for most of the teen moms to say, or to think, that they are being unselfish but she is truly and fully unselfish!

Teen Mom Starts Off

The Teen Mom 2 series started off with a bang with lots of drama in each girl’s life!

While watching the show I kept thinking to myself about the coincident that each of the four ladies were single. The more I thought about the less I thought of it as a coincident and the more I thought of it as a common theme amongst all pregnancies in the United states.  Think about someone who you know that got pregnant in high school, did the baby’s daddy stay with her? More than likely, that answer is probably no. So why is this? Maybe it has to do with the fact that most teenage boys can’t even keep care of themselves, let alone a baby. Maybe some of them feel as if it’s not theirs or that just because they are not the ones carrying the baby that it is not their responsibility. Whatever the answer might be, it is irresponsible and immature of those all guys who leave the mother to fend for herself.  Not to be cliché but it “takes two to tango”. That baby is just as much there as it is the woman of the relationship. I guess that is just a lesson to each girl out there, that if you want to be sexually active with a guy make sure that he is responsible for his actions and will be there if anything would ever happen.  I guess some guys like Corey do take responsibility for the babies and I have to commend them for that!

Another common theme I found among the moms this week as that each one of them graduated or are trying to graduate. I always knew that I would graduate when I was suppose to so I guess I found it a little hard to relate to. It is crazy when something like a baby comes along and all of a sudden your highest aspiration is to graduate from high school. All of a sudden you are no longer just responsible for yourself and you have to think the future for your child, I can’t even imagine what that would be like at the age of 16.

Now I want to get into each Mom and what I thought of their episode this week!

First of all, my favorite mom, Leah.  On 16 and Pregnant Leah had twin girls. I feel out of all the girls she is the most real, the most caring, and possibly the best mother. It’s hard to watch her relationship with Corey though. If you don’t know the history about here is the short story: Corey and Leah got pregnant one month after they were dating. At that time Corey was head over heals with Leah, while Leah was head over heals for another guy. They broke up, and as soon as Leah realized what she had lost she wanted Corey back. Now Corey is still trying to heal from the first time his heart was broke, so that’s the short story of their relationship. Now, during the episode on Tuesday 11, Leah graduated high school. I admire her, because she is one out of 2 moms that have actually graduated. Leah isn’t one of those teen moms who call themselves the mother and than hand them off to the grandmother, she lives in her own house, and keeps care of the twins by herself. Now that is admirable!

Next is Kaitlyn. During the being of the show Kaitlyn and her former boyfriend Jo, got into a huge argument and it all blew up in her face. First of all, Kaitlyn came from a bad family background so she is living with Jo. She relies on him for a house and a car. One thing I have to mention is that I believe Jo’s mom is incredible. She truly has the right vision in mind, which is no matter what happens to the relationship between the couple, the baby comes first!

The next mom, who I deem is the most irresponsible, Janelle. A lot of drama went on between Janelle and her mother this episode. First of all I think that anyone who has any attitude resembling hers should never consider being a parent until they are older. Janelle is the poster child for immaturity. Janelle THINKS that she does a lot for her child, she said something like “ I do so much for him, I give him a bath and put him to bed”.  Once she has put him in bed, she proceeds to spend the rest of the night party and being with her friends. Her mother, who works full time, gets the baby up, feed him, washes him, and takes him to daycare before Janelle is out of bed. It frustrates me when I see these shows and the parents think that it is okay if they run out every night and party as if they never had the child in the first place. I have found out from years of watching 16 and pregnant and teen mom that usually it is the most irresponsible, and immature teenagers, and I guess that’s why they are in there current situation today. Okay, back to Janelle, so after her mother finally gets fed up with it she is now taken Janelle to court to try to get custody of the baby.  That is when all the true drama starts. Once Janelle finds out she starts physically and verbally attacking her mother.

Now for the last teen mom, Chelsea. I feel, that Chelsea is not ready to be a mom.  She gets grosses out by things like throw-up. On the positive side, she has an amazing dad who helps her out, but at the same time is always honest. Chelsea really focused this episode on her trying to find someone to love. At one point in the show she was crying to her father saying that she just wants to love someone and to grow old with someone. This is understandable, but I believe that she can’t find it when she is still in her teens has a baby and hasn’t even graduated from high school.  If you think about it realistically, what 18-19 year old guy is going to want to date someone who has a baby?  As I already mention most guys that age are still immature and are not thinking about wanting to get married and have a baby and all those things that would tie down a guy. I am confident that one day she will find someone that will both love her and her baby. Now, that probably won’t be next week, and it might not even been 2 years from now, but someday I am sure she will find it.  

Well, that is all for my comments on last week show! See you next week with all the details on the second episode of Teen Mom 2!

New Season, New Drama.

Most everyone knows about the television show 16 and Pregnant. More than likely, if you follow 16 and Pregnant you watch the follow up on all the new teen mothers by watching “Teen Mom”.  Starting January 11 a new season of teen mom starts, “Teen Mom 2”. For some reason, last year the MTV captured my attention with the stories of the teen mothers and how their lives changed after having their children. Get ready, this season I am taking on the challenge of devoting my Tuesday nights to digesting the episodes’. I will be sharing my feelings about the shows and go into my thoughts about the reality of the show.