Reality TV

**This was written on June 24, 2009 and never posted**

I keep thinking about how many blogs must be written about reality TV- the phenomenon, how annoying it is for some, how totally not real it is for others, etc. I can't explain it, and this blog surely isn't going to be about all those things, because I love it.

I really do. I totally believe that there are absolutely *no* ugly people in Laguna Beach, California, and it makes complete sense to me how they would all stay friends and move and live in these ginormous houses and barely work and wear makeup at all kinds of crazy hours without it ever smearing or looking posed. You're probably thinking that was a sarcastic sentence, but really, it wasn't. The only thing that gets me sometimes is how Spencer gets his money. Really, I haven't a clue. But I want to believe all the rest.

My latest guilty pleasure is the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Gahd, I adore those girls!! I wasn't a huge fan of the other Real Housewives...I mean, I watched and all, but not with the same addiction I do New Jersey. For me, a lot of it has to do with seeing complete normalcy in the close relationship the Mansos have and wishing that my children are as happy to be around me when they're becoming adults as Caroline's kids are to be around her and her husband...as my husband is to be around his parents. It's also the normalcy I see in the way Teresa is with her daughters and her husband. So yeah, she goes a little crazy in the shopping department...if I had that kind of money, I would, too. To be quite honest, just last week, I got a little talking to from the hubby letting me know I needed to slow down on the gift giving. He was right, I cut back, but my point is, I understand having the money to spend, and wanting to spend it on nothing other than your children.

It could also be this idea of grandeur. These ladies live large! And not just because of their financial status, but because of their personalities. Teresa is a total ditz, but she just loves the shit out of her husband and girls, with no boundaries. I love that. I get that. I am that.

And the Dina and Lexi scenes? I read in her blog that some people felt she was overbearing. Yeah, I get a little tachycardia whenever Jonathan goes somewhere without me.

For a long time, I thought maybe there was something wrong with being so connected to your children. There's all this talk about remaining your own person when you get married or have kids, and I never really know what that means. From personal experience, I can tell you that you really can't. If you're fighting to "remain your own person", then you can't be fighting to mesh the way a marriage needs to mesh at the same time. You aren't fighting to melt into your children the way a parent needs to to be a good parent. You're doing the exact opposite.

How about the Bachelorette? Hubby really doesn't get that one...