Two examples of possible extortion and/or abuse the Kreiders are citing are the infamous staged Christmas episode and the potty training episode. For those of you not in the know, evidently Jon and Kate are heartless enough to tell their children that it was Christmas morning – even when it is not. They wanted to get a genuine reaction from the kids, on camera of course.

The Kreiders are saying that filming the children’s journey through potty training has, not surprisingly, violated their right to privacy. Of course, ahem, one of those was filming at the Kreider home. Whoops!

These are their poster child examples of why the Gosselin children have been tragically and mentally damaged.

Anyone who has read one other post on this blog knows that I side 100% with the kids. You all know that I have spoken against publicizing every embarrassing moment of their childhood. This is why, technically, I agree with the Kreiders.

But I don’t side with them.

I’d be Team Kreider if I thought that one iota of all this legal bluster was sincere. But it isn’t. Anyone with a memory and a pair of eyes saw that the Kreiders had no problem with their relatives parading around their children – that is, until they stopped getting a piece of the money pie. “Coincidence” had it that soon after Jon and Kate cut them off, they hit the tabloids.

At this point, it’s just another way to get their name and face back on TV.

And don’t even get me started on Jon’s escapades or his recent lawsuit against Kate for the custody of the children. Who’s he kidding? I wouldn’t trust him with my dog, much less kids. I’ve just gotta chalk this one up to yet another publicity stunt. He has been on the back burner lately – I guess he thought it was time to make waves again.

But I digress.

Of course, I’m really here to talk about Kate’s new show, “Twist of Kate”. As I understand it, Kate has managed to land, not one, but two shows on TLC. First, Kate Plus Eight will relaunch (sans Jon of course). This gives the eight yet another chance to have all of America watch as they work their way through all the embarrassing moments of childhood (and beyond in to puberty, perhaps?).

Second, we will all be treated to more Kate Gosselin in Twist of Kate (which sounds like she’s going to be served “on the rocks”). The new show will have Kate hosting as she highlights strong woman figures and their journeys through adversity. My understanding of the show makes it sound like one big Kate worship fest.

Yahoo! News:

“Twist of Kate” will follow the reality star and supermom as she visits the homes and workplaces of her subjects, where she will exchange insights for living.

Her subjects?? I know we’ve all called her a “queen” bee, but seriously, she’s no royalty.

I don’t even want to bother with her “insights”. Go with the $5,000 hairdo, or splurge on the $7,000? Hmmmm….

Of course, freedom is relative. They both with have to continue (or start) to play nice when interacting around the children. So far, it sounds like most of the wrinkles have been ironed out when it comes to the details, but with them finishing up in such a rushed fashion, it won’t come as a surprise if we hear about more legal proceedings in the coming new year.

‘All I’ve ever wanted is twins or triplets. It’s my biggest wish, and I’m going to keep trying until I do it.’It would be fantastic. In fact, I won’t stop trying until I’ve done it. I love having babies – it’s the most wonderful thing in the world.’

I found this article on DailyMail.co.uk mentioning some crazy lady who might just be our next Nadya Suleman. Sarah Foss wants a set of twins so bad she’s willing to continue popping buns out of her oven until she gets them. Right now she’s up to 14 children with no end in sight.

It began when Sarah became pregnant with her firstborn Patrick. Then she was uncomfortable with the birthing process and swore she would never have another child. 10 years later, she got over that fear and has given birth to an average of one child per year.

Currently she accepts £50,000 in benefits and gets £4,200 in tax credits and family allowance monthly. Sarah and her live-in man, Stephen, share a three bedroom apartment with their bevy of children – the eldest Patrick excluded. She says that most of the children sleep on airbeds and cots because there isn’t enough space for more conventional sleeping arrangements.She takes care of business on the home front while Stephen works as a canal boat builder. Their list of expenses runs on for miles with a price tag to match.

All this just for a set of twins.

Reading the article, this woman’s life sound more like a nightmare than a dream come true. Her tone from the interview sounds happy, as she cheerily describes the mountains of work involved with running such a crowded household and the astronomical amounts of money it takes to keep the family going.

On top of it all, as if her poor kids weren’t going to be teased enough when they got to high school, check out the names they have given the children (along with the parents explanation of why/where the name came from):

Patrick – named after Sara’s grandmother’s surname of Patrick

Stephen – after his doting dad, Stephen

Malachai – after a character in the horror film, Children of the Corn

Peppermint – after Sara started craving mints during her fourth pregnancy

Echo – after a group of eco-campaigners who Stephen met during a job at work

Eli – another character in the 1984 film Children of the Corn

Rogue – a character in the film X-Men

Frodo – hobbit in Lord of the Rings

Morpheus – a character in film, The Matrix, staring Keanu Reeves

Artemis – book character, Artemis Fowl, an obnoxious teenage criminal

Blackbird – named after a gathering of blackbirds which flew onto Sara’s lawn

Baudelaire – named after the Baudelaire orphans which featured in Lemony Snicket’s film A Series of Unfortunate Events

Voorhees – named after serial killer, Jason Voorhees in the horror movie, Friday The 13th

Interesting.

Her body guard Steve Neild spoke to the ever curious press, telling them that Kate was doing some “test” filming for a future project.

One can only guess this has something to do with the new show that Kate will be hosting this spring. My question is, what does food service have to do with it? The impression that everyone has had about the new show is that is will be following the talk show formula. Can’t say that I’ve seen many talk show hosts slumming it as a local waitress.

Kate logged about 3 hours as a server at Finch’s. However, pictures are limited – as soon as the photographers were noticed by Kate’s entourage, they had the restaurant close their blinds to end the picture taking.

We wait with bated breath to discover what this little experiment was all about. Meanwhile, on the Gosselin home front, the kiddies are beginning to stress over the conspicuous absence of the camera crew. Kate revealed that during one drive home from school, they kept tearfully asking ‘Where’s the camera crew?” and saying “We miss them”.

Actually, this is perfectly understandable. All Kate’s obvious attention-grabbing attempts aside, I can’t say that I’m surprised to hear that the children miss their crew. These children have had these people by their side and giving them attention virtually their entire lives. I’m sure that they view the crew as a form of extended family. I can imagine that it would be hard on the kids to suddenly have “family members” disappear.

However, I’m not going to call the crew back. Even though we all have our doubts as to how sincerely concerned Jon was about his children (versus just being spiteful), I can’t disagree with his decision to kick the cameras to the curb. Right now all the kids see are kind cameramen, and the episodes are akin to home movies. It’s only later in life that they will realize the atrocious breach of privacy they experienced during a crucial part of their lives. Their parents allowed a window into their childhood privacy through which the entire world could watch, and those very same men each held a pane.

As the eight grow older, those “home movies” will lose their shine. The kids will be able to watch and read between the lines a bit better. And in doing so, they will have perfect record of their parents’ marriage falling apart and the tension goaded on by TLC. I’m sure those happy memories will be sullied by this knowledge.

So what does TLC have in store for its viewers?

According to US Magazine, this last episode will treat us to two separate outings with the kids – one with Jon and one with Kate. Jon will be taking them to a  fire station, and Kate will cart the kids over to local dairy farm.

As if these kids haven’t had enough family outings. But hey, I guess they’re more interesting to watch than Kate emasculating Jon at the grocery store.

After this, we shouldn’t see any more of the Gosselin family for a while. The word is that TLC will be focusing on the production of Kate’s new show until it launches in early spring.

What will the end of the show mean for the Gosselin family? Will we continue to see them in the news, or will they finally be allowed to fade back into obscurity? Obviously we will be seeing more of Kate, since she does have another show slated with TLC. Hopefully she will be satisfied with that amount of media exposure, and from here on out, won’t see it necessary to involve her children with anymore show business.

But what about Jon? He whined that regular employment was no longer an option for him, due to the flock of paparazzi that shadow his every step. Will that still be a problem when the show ends? We all know exactly how skilled Jon is at attracting media attention. There was also the rumor that he and BFF Michael Lohan were putting together a new reality show tentatively called “Divorced Dads”. With the end of his TLC contractual obligation, will Jon once again pursue that  avenue of income?

So many questions, and no real answers. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what Jon and Kate decide to do. The ball is in their court.

Do you have any thoughts on how this saga will end? Go ahead and jot them down here in the comments.

No matter that ATV’s are a serious danger to young children. And something seems to be missing in this photo. What could it be? A helmet maybe?

So maybe in the grand scheme of things, one little ATV ride isn’t going to matter. But it does show an irresponsible streak in Jon that does bring a little concern to the future with him caring for the children.

In fact, it seems like Jon and Kate are trying to hit every divorcing parent’s “do nots” in the guide to raising well-adjusted children. They’ve been petty to each other, had nasty fights, and most certainly dig at each other’s feelings every public chance they get. And with all the publicity this divorce has been getting, the kids will be able to relive this turbulent time just by Googling it.

ABC has an article talking about how divorced parents can minimize the trauma that having parents at odds with each other can induce on the kids. It’s a class focused on helping estranged parents focus on their children, instead of the divorced spouse. Perhaps Jon and Kate can take a stab at trying these simple rules. Their children would thank them.

The TLC network filed a lawsuit this morning in Maryland against the octodad for breaching his contract, according to the Associated Press.

The network claims the “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ star hasn’t kept up his end of its exclusive deal, by allegedly getting paid to appear on other shows and making unauthorized disclosures about the show. (NY DAILY NEWS)

Could part of his breach of contract have anything to do with all that filming he’s been doing on the side? Despite all his protests against TLC having its cameras in his family home (calling it “detrimental” to his kids), he doesn’t seem to have any problem with ET’s cameras. I’m sure Kate has been less than happy about that. Remember, she’s still not allowed to do any filming whatsoever.

Double standards just aren’t flattering.

While he doesn’t want TLC shooting his kids for his wife’s new show, the soon-to-be divorced dad seems to have no problem parading them around in front of other cameras.

Gosselin allowed “Entertainment Tonight” crews to capture him picking up a birthday cake for twins Mady and Cara at Cupcake Café in New York Oct. 8, according to MSNBC. com.

And “ET” cameras were reportedly waiting at the Gosselin’s Pennsylvania house after he picked the twins up from school, and live-streamed the event.

Gosselin recently banned TLC from his home, where they were filming Kate Gosselin’s new show “Kate Plus 8,” a spin-off of the cancelled show both parents were part of.

He recently told Larry King, “It’s not healthy for my kids to be on the show…It’s detrimental to them.”

But the Octodad seems to have a double standard.

Gosselin apparently has a deal with “ET” that gives them access to the kids even during the messy divorce.

“He has a deal with ‘ET’ for interviews and they get special access to events, like the twins’ birthday,” the source shared with MSNBC. “The terms don’t stipulate that the kids can’t be involved.”

TLC confirmed to the Daily News that their cameras are still staying away from shooting the eight Gosselin children.

“We’re still not filming the kids,” says TLC spokewoman, Laurie Goldberg. “We’re still working on the show with Kate.” (NY DAILY NEWS)

Hmmmm….now what about that could possibly have TLC upset?