Starting Over Talk - Peer Coaching Support Site

I'm with ya there Debby......it can be so enlightening to see/hear yourself on tape. I do hope they can make some positive changes. I am certainly never going on t.v.!!!!!

Grizz, since we discussed the issue of Matt buying the car when Amy was out of town, I saw the show again. Matt did actually tell Amy that he was planning to purchase that VW before she went on her trip. He also told her he was going to buy another vehicle, (something for the farm, I think) He never bought that vehicle though.

Did any of you see the season finale and the preview for the show coming on in March? It shows the accident on the pumpkin farm in which Jacob and a family friend are injured. It's very high drama.
I love that family, but, the safety violations on that show are too numerous. I don't know what they are thinking about. Any person in their right mind should have known that the pumpkin sling was an accident waiting to happen.

I'm glad everyone turned out okay. My nieces and I are thinking about taking a trip out to the Roloff farm next fall to visit the pumpkin farm. We will steer clear of any safety hazards. LOL. My younger neice has a crush on Jeremy. She's 14 years old. He is pretty cute, but, needs to work on his manners.

I will also add that the last few episodes really ticked me off. Those kids, especially the twins, are so disrepectful to their father. What makes it worse is that often times when they speak disrepectfully, their mother defends or even joins in with her own sarcasm. They say things to him such as "Dad, just shut up!" or "You can't tell me that, You don't know how to discipline me!" Could this talk be staged for tv? How could Matt and Amy tolerate it in real life?

I know these children attend a private christian school. I also attended this type of school when I was a teen. I am surprised that they allow them to continue to be students and act so disrespectfully to their parents on tv, even while wearing the school's t-shirt on the show.

The more Jacob acts out by not following family rules and by destroying property, the more they praise him. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but, I think they need Nanny 911. LOL.

I hear ya, Debby!! I was so unhappy at the twins' pure nastiness toward their father...............that is not appropriate.........they have nothing even close to abusive or evil parents!!! YUK....I'd also be so embarassed as a parent to see that.

I was livid about the many safety violations..........it comes with the territory of the field I'm in, but still..........it's so frustrating for me to see so many "preventable" situations! I'm not saying to wrap the kids up in cotton and not let them breathe..........but there is a balance that can be had!!

This doesn't mean I don't love the show.........of course I'll watch it. I do enjoy learning about different parenting and how issues can be faced. And the drama..........oh yes, the drama........that's why MY family would never be filmed..............too boring!!!

We have talked about visiting there on our trip back to Montana. Perhaps if we go out to the coast from there.

If you saw the finale episode, then you saw the dilemma they had when the farm was packed to capacity... They had to turn people away. Matt didn't want people just parking the cars and walking into the farm... and resorted to calling the police when some guy ignored him. They finally decided to shut down admission and put a sign up to come back another day. I'd think with the popularity of the show... alot of people have the same thoughts...of visiting! It does look like a neat farm.

About the twins... Most 16 year olds pop off at their parents at times.. I've seen them pop off at their mom too.. But she lets them have it and cuts it off quick.. Mom and Dad should back each other up... and if Amy has some issues on Matt's parenting style.. (I think he can be a little demanding too!) She should address that to Matt himself and outside of the ears of the kids.. They should present a united front.. especially with kid issues and discipline issues..

Much of the falls episodes were filmed over the summer.. I noticed the finale episode was mixed... It had some pre Jeremy haircut at the soccer tryouts...and then we skip to October during the fall activities.. So obviously they edit the most dramatic things..

They appeared to want to learn from their filming experiences.. They generally seem to be a typical family (warts and all!) With kids who seem to be generally good kids..who act out of frustration at times.. The older boys seem to be required to do alot of stuff around the farm at times.. I know with the preparations for the farm opening... they seem like they pitch in when they have to... and seem quite handy. I was thinking about the confidence they had... operating the machinery and quite a few other things that growing up there instilled in them. Their grandfather helps alot and he seems to be quite handy.. They've got alot of job skills already... Me I'm a bit too fanatical with being overprotective... and now that my kids are young adults.. I could have probably done a better job, giving them a fuller scope of experiences. They are totally 'green' in so many areas...

I agree about the safety things.. I think Matt tries.. but he's had to resort to the boys doing his heavy work. Having the camera's around probably at least gives them extra eyes.. and you'd think they'd speak up if they saw them doing something overly dangerous..

The other week when the twins were moving wood or something,... Jeremy blamed Zach for the problem.. but I thought Jeremy was going way too fast for the conditions.. Zach lost the trailer..

Amy did pay Matt a huge compliment on one of the last episodes... I thought she admitted her skepticism..and saw the wonderful turnout...and said he done good... Of course I'm not quoting verbatim... but that was the gist I got.. Of course this compliment was in a face to camera shot... Hopefully it was an encouragement to Matt.

I do think they are trying to live and learn from this whole reality experience.. I just hope that they can discern when too much exposure begins to be a problem for the kids/family. And not be so drawn to the money aspect that it takes precedent over the good of the families well being..

I know I sure couldn't do it... (have cameras chronicling my day to day life... scrutinizing everything!) (but then again it's hard to refute the evidence..when you see your lives as others see you!
So that is a good thing... I guess.)

I agree that it takes big time nerve to have cameras follow you around inside your home and have it aired on national television.
But for some reason, I don't think the Roloffs are that intimidated by it. First of all the kids bascially say anything they want to even if it is inappropiate to their parents. I think that it is the parent's fault as you don't see the boys talking back to any other adult...and they obviously could care less how messy their house is. NOt that it is a crime to have a messy house. Goodness knows mine has been a real mess lately, but, if I knew I was going to be on televsion, I would ensure that it was tidy. Of course, if the house was always tidy, what would I have to drive me crazy? Besides, it makes me feel better about mine.

Over Christmas I was watching the show with a number of my family members. Some of them had never seen the show before. The first thing they said was "OMG they need to clean up their house." I thought it was funny that they would say that even before commenting on them being dwarfs. LOL.

I still love the show and hope it continues. I think they are real quality people. They show more courage in their dailey life than I think I could muster.

I hope my neices and I are able to go to the farm next year. I hope he will keep the farm going even if the show goes off the air, although it may be difficult to get help after the boys go to college.<br><br>Post edited by: Debby, at: 2006/12/29 13:17