Real Housewives of New Jersey Episode 3
Check out this weeks edition of "NJ Thoughts" with Tara Cushing from TBBReality along with special guest Stephen Kling!
Real Housewives of New Jersey
Episode 3
I had a very visceral, emotional reaction to some of the scenes this week! I really feel for the Giudice girls. It was hard to watch the way Joe and Teresa dealt with Gia in terms of teaching her about puberty and sexuality. It is as if they read all the parenting books on how to handle this stage - and then did exactly the polar opposite. (But of course we know this isn't true, they don't READ! ;)
Here are a few of their "gems"
Tre: " I am taking Gia to the doctor and if she isn't a virgin, I am disowning her".
Joe: "You should be spending more time with family, less time with friends"
Joe: "You need to spend more time with family and less time with friends"
Joe: "Kissing is disgusting"
Joe: "Don't give boys anything they want"
Yeah, all those precious moments sound exactly the way to handle teenage development! Perfect! Nailed it! I am sure she won't have any messed up feelings or issues from those pearls of wisdom at all.
On the other hand, we see the stark contrast of Tre and Joe with Jacquiline and Chris. Jac and Chris are bending over backwards to do the research, to find the right treatments, to insure they give their child the very best opportunity to reach his full potential. It is admirable.
I thought it very poignant to see how touched Joe Gorga was after setting up the hyperbaric chamber. I think we all have that feeling when we see a child who has challenges, we quietly thank God that our children are healthy. Everything suddenly falls away and loses importance when we consider how lucky we are to have healthy children.
Next up Caroline and this trumped up storyline about her meddling in Joe Gorga and Teresa's relationship. The situation has definitely taken a turn for the worse. It is not enough that Caroline is awkwardly meddling in Joe Gorga and Teresa Guidices severed relationship, now she is admittedly lying and manipulating the situation too. The ONLY good that comes from these lies and manipulations are Bravo ratings. Mark my words.
And speaking of sh*tstirrers....enter Linda and Kim D! Those two are the Faye Resnicks of New Jersey. Tre, Kim D and Linda are the 7th grade mean girls. There is nothing ok about grown women making fat jokes about other women. Kathy and Jacqueline are BEAUTIFUL. I've met them both personally and they are both STUNNING! Does Kim D think her ugliness is going to make her dresses look pretty??? I think not. There is some bad karma heading their way, both Kim D and Linda...that's all I know. Their meaness and pettiness will not go unpunished.
Back to the Guidice girls again. God bless Gia. Really. She puts up with so much. Why does Tre insist on tormenting her? Tre keeps trying to get Gia to talk about the situation between herself and her brother Joe Gorga and Gia isn't having any of it. Why would Tre even want to visit this issue with Gia? ON CAMERA?? It's between Tre and Joe - leave it there Tre. Let the girls wear their hair the way they want, stop hounding them and for God's sake, STOP SAYING BFFL! Holy shiz! Obviously, Tre just learned a new "word" and she is determined to show everyone how cool she is because she knows what "BFFL" means. Again, poor Gia.
HospitalGate. We have to talk about the visiting the father in the hospital thing. First of all, pretty sure there were two hospitalizations that Bravo has rolled into one. That said, let's just try to play along. I believe Joe Gorga had that nasty norovirus. It tore through my daughter's college and sent kids in droves to the hospital. It is a nasty virus. So Melissa is caring for Joe (we know men tend to need a lot of attention when they are sick) and taking care of her 3 little ones. Plus she probably had work related things to do too - I am sure it was a busy time. And she didn't feel great. She had a sore throat. Could have been nothing, might have been something. Who knows. She didn't know. WHY WOULD ANY OF THEM GO ANY WHERE NEAR AN ICU???? Kids are little germ spreaders and schools are little germ incubators. Kids don't belong in ICU visits. Joe couldn't go. No way. So was Melissa supposed to risk getting a fragile man even sicker with a visit to the ICU just so Tre, Kim D and Linda wouldn't have anything to say about it?
Melissa says she did go, but got confused whether it was two days later or 4 days later. WHO CARES!? It is no one's business except Melissa, Joe and her Father-In-Law's. This has nothing to do with Teresa. It is not up to her to judge, comment or even care. She just loves a reason to try to make Melissa look bad. And when does Teresa chose to do this? At Gia's birthday party. Teresa, Kim and Linda again being ugly mean girls. Melissa handled herself with dignity and politely excused herself. Good for her!!!
I loved that Teresa - after starting the drama - announces "No drama at Gia's party!!" I guess she wanted to be sure Gia was under the mistaken impression that Melissa was the one starting the drama and Teresa was the one trying to stop it (when clearly the opposit was true). Shameful.
Last week I described Tre as a "blank slate" where she incorporates the ideas of the strongest influence around her. She doesn't really have any ideas of her own, just whatever the other person tells her to think. In my opinion, other than Joe Giudice, Kim D is the worst thing to ever happen to Tre. THE. WORST. THING.
I have to bring up one more thing about Gia's party. It really bothered me that Melissa was drinking alcohol. It bothers me that anyone was drinking alcohol at a kids party, especially a teenage kids party. Hello, role model anyone? Do you think the teenagers aren't going to be following your lead very soon? It absolutely bothered me that anyone who was driving kids would have a drink at a kids party. All of it just didn't sit well with me. It always bothered me when I experienced this when my kids went to parties. Can't these adults wait to drink? Do they NEED to drink that badly they can't wait until the party is over and all the children are safe at home?
Before I sign off, I have to comment on an interview I saw this week. I was flipping channels and stumbled upon a morning news show where the topic of discussion was feminism and sexism. A pundit explained he had something of an epiphany when he became the father of a girl. He realized all the subtle and not so subtle inequities that still exist in this country. Shocking, the camera pans over and who is sitting at this morning news round table but Caroline Manzo! And what does she add to this discussion? She shares with us that she was guilty of this. She was guilty of sexism. She raised Lauren to make the beds and the boys didn't have to. She raised Lauren to know how to keep a house but the boys didn't have to. I think she somewhat almost wanted to say she regretted that, but I never heard it. I was actually shocked by this admission. Look, I grew up in the 60s and 70s. I went to a Catholic School and church with my family (and whole neighborhood) every Sunday. We had all sorts of strict rules. My parents were conservative by most standards. But even my parents never doled out sexist roles and jobs. We were all regarded equally with the same chores and same opportunities. I went fishing and camping with the boys and my brothers knew how to clean a bathroom, make a bed, cook and do laundry. Is anyone else shocked by this? No wonder Lauren has some issues regarding her mom and her brothers that we have seen played out in several seasons!
Watch the clip! It's a great segment.
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Caroline's sister Frannie reached out to me in response to me tweet about this topic. (I really like Frannie too! She was on again this week) Frannie defended her sister saying Lauren is a great girl. I want to be very clear, I am not condeming Lauren AT ALL. I think she is a great girl and I am so happy to know she is enjoying success. I just feel badly she was raised with such unfair, antiquated and stereotypical ideals. I am also very surprised that Caroline raised her children this way....and admitted it on tv! lol. I think it is a very interesting component when considering the dynamic among Lauren, her mother and her brothers.
What do you think? Comment below!!!
***June 19 addendum - I forgot to write about ROSIE! I apologize! My crazy weekend and being under the weather must have clouded my thinking! How could I forget to write about Rosie!
Rosie definitely gets the Aunt of the Year award. She loves her nieces and nephews so much and has been so wonderful with them. Every child should know that sort of love. Being an Aunt is a great job. Some days I like being an Aunt more than being a mom. You get to spoil without regret. You get to be a little naughty. You get to let their parents worry about discipline! I love that Rosie takes full advantage of this.
I suspect Rosie likes spoiling teenagers more than trying to corral toddlers! How could we ever forget when she was left in charge of all the little ones down the shore!
Taking Joseph out in the Ferrari was not only the coolest thing an Aunt could do, it was probably also one of the bravest. Look, I taught my kids to drive. I still hate being a passenger when they drive. It's so nerve-wracking! So for Rosie to ride with Joseph, in bad weather, at rush hour, in Richie’s Ferrari and not lose her cool - well she has nerves of steel. She really is the coolest.
I, however, was right there with Kathy. I would have felt just like Kathy did and I too would have been pissed that it was up to me to be the bad guy - alone. Sure, she could have laughed it off and they all could have had a lot of fun, but there was a lesson that had to be taught here. Kathy felt obligated to teach Joseph that lesson and clearly no one was going to do it. It is not easy being the parent. As a single Mom, it is the part of my sacred job I hate most. I felt for Kathy but she did the right thing. Joseph did the wrong thing and he needed to suffer the consequences.
All photos from Bravotv.com