[Fidatelo]

I've only seen the show a handful of times, and my impression has always been that Kate would be extremely annoying to live with. My wife brings up a good point in defending her though: with that many kids all so young, you'd need a tight ship just to survive, and since Jon is clearly not going to run things, someone has to. I can't imagine having 6 kids all the same age, it would be a gong-show.

I have to think that any marriage would be at risk in that situation, just because it is so abnormal. You go in assuming life will be one way, and then it just gets flipped like that, and suddenly you no longer have any semblance of what was once your life.

I also struggle to determine if the show is a good thing or a bad thing for the marriage as well as the kids. Obviously the bad stuff is pretty apparent (cameras watching every move, magnifying every argument, etc). But can you imagine how hard it would have been for them to raise those kids without the extra money and attention that the show brought in? It's hard to say what the right answer is there.

All that said, I am a little shocked at how this season is unfolding. I agree that, if it were me, I'd really press to take a hiatus while the family sorted things out in private. I watched parts of last nights episode, and it just felt wrong to have such an intimate view into the downfall of a family. Intriguing, but wrong.