[8 of 13] Julie's Deleted Posts - Gumgate 1

Gumgate 1
Jul 10, 2008

During one of our conversations around the middle of April, Jodi asked me if I had happened to watch the episode that aired that week. The last show I had watched was Sextuplets turn 3, which was about 6 months prior to this. She said if I still had it taped, I should watch it. I asked why, but she wouldn’t give me any information. She just said she wanted my opinion on something. So I went back and found “Mady’s Day” and was curious about what I was going to see. From the very first minute of the show, I was irritated. I’ll get to the show in my next post, but I just have to give a little more information so everyone knows where I’m coming from.

After I watched, we immediately got on web cam and my first question was, “did Kate tell you about this before it aired?” I know that they receive the episode a week or so before it airs, so I thought surely Kate would have warned Jodi or had said something. Not a word. The next thing I asked was, “has she said anything to you since it aired?” Our conversation took place on Wednesday or Thursday that week, so a few days had gone by. Not a word!

I then asked her if she had any clue what had happened. She said that when Jon picked up the kids that day, that they noticed the gum on Joel’s sock, and inspected all of the kids. There was only a speck of gum on Joel’s sock and Collin’s bear, just as was shown on TV. Kate called Jodi, and said no more gum, and I don’t think their conversation gave Jodi any indication as to what had happened after the kids left her house. About a week later, someone from the crew made a comment to Jodi about "the gum", but I can't elaborate on what else was said.

As I watched this episode, I knew that February and March were extremely busy for Jodi. They were filming the one on one days, and on several of the days, the older kids were out of school due to President’s Day, a snow day and spring break. She had 11 kids on those days. Then they filmed the hair plugs episode the end of March and Jodi had all of the kids for 3 FULL days. So knowing all of this, and then watching the episode that aired a few weeks later---I was disgusted with both Jon and Kate!

I told Jodi how sorry I was, and we discussed my observations of what aired. I think the editing does sometimes make Jodi appear to be passive or a little ditsy (at least what I've seen), but I think part of that is contrasting the two personalities for the show. Most people would look meek and mild if they were being compared to Kate. What bothered me more than the editing were the actual comments by Jon and Kate during the interview. They were giving the impression that Jodi lets the kids walk all over her, which I know is not true. Just because she can handle the kids without screaming and yelling, doesn't mean there are no rules and she lets the kids go wild. Jodi's kids are the most well behaved kids I've been around, and I've seen her discipline her children. She is not a doormat! She always treats her children with respect and they respect her.

She said that many were criticizing her because the editing and J&K's comments made her look like she was irresponsible. I couldn't believe this! I didn't know what she was talking about! Well, curiosity got the best of Jodi, and she went on the TWoP discussion board to see what was being said. That board was being heavily monitored by J&K, and every once in a while, Jodi would also do a little reading. She sent me the link, and that's when my eyes were opened. As I stated before, I had stopped watching the show, so other than what Jodi would tell me about her own experiences, I didn't really know what was going on in the episodes.

After I read some of the posts, I saw that although there were some critical comments about Jodi, the majority were criticizing J&K. That's where I heard the term "GumGate"--I actually laughed out loud! As I was reading, I kept wondering who these people were. I was confident that some of them had to know J&K personally, or at least have some sort of "inside" knowledge. I couldn't believe how they could possibly piece everything together, just by watching a 30 minute episode. How did they know so much? How could they see through the charade, and know what was really going on? It was all so fascinating! I posted on there a few times, but didn't say who I was. I was quickly banned because I forgot to put "IMO", and stated something as fact. I decided to just be a lurker and found the whole thing rather entertaining. IMO, it was a lot more entertaining than the show.