Topic : 05/18 Alex Turns 18

I just watched the Dr. Phil Family update. I must say that I am a little dissappointed in the rewards given to these girls.  I watched this family when this first aired and really felt bad for their situation.  But look around.  They have a 2 parent family, an obviously nice place to live with horses, barns, etc.  We farm and work very hard for what little we have. We have 6 kids from 18 years to 7 years old. They all work very hard and we can do so little for them.  None of them are single parents, or involved with drugs and alcohol.  We watched some of this show and were shocked that this 18 year old girl gets a new truck and the other gets a custom made saddle.  FOR WHAT!!  Being a good mom?  How do I justify this to my hard working kids.  Now this 18 year old single mom, whom I assume still lives at home drives a brand new truck and my husband & I can barely keep our old klunkers going.  And gee, all we have done is try to raise 6 kids, stay married and be good role models for our kids, don't drink and sleep around either.  Not to mention trying to stay afloat with $2.80 diesel for our old tractors.  Sorry, I just don't get it. 

Its good to see you too!  :D  Hope you have been well! 

I think alot of people feel that children should be given equal gifts.  While I agree with that in theory, I have yet to see this ever work out the way intended.  There seems to always come a time when one child is in need of something more expensive then the other.  As long as it evens out in the end, and as long as your love is forever true and fair(which I cant imagine it not being when it comes to my children) then I feel it is fine to sometimes give one a more expensive thing then the other.   

But... just in case some people are still a tad miffed... I remember when the doc fixed up Kats room for her and didnt give Alex anything special.  I believe he gifted Nathan a little something that time(cant quite remember) but im pretty sure Kat received a whole new bedroom but Alex didnt receive anything.  Maybe that makes everyone feel a bit better?   

So good to see you again!  HUGS 

You have to be joking Dr. Phil! Let me get this straight: Alex gets pregnant at 15 manages to "raise" her son to the age of 2 1/2 while  living with her parents and them flipin the bill and she gets a brand new truck. Well guess what......I was 17 years old when I had my son. I was also 17 when I got married and moved out. My husband and I will celebrate our 11 year wedding anniversary this October. We have NEVER moved back in with our parents and have relied very little on them for help. We bought our first home 2 years ago (ages 26 & 28). WE are both in college, have full time jobs and still have time to spend with each other and our 10 almost 11 year old son. My husband is driving a 1995 Lincoln because the 1991 Ford Escort he was driving puked on us after his 1991 beretta that he had puked. Lets see if princess Alex can go the long hall without her parents!!!! 

Where my brand new car Dr. Phil ?!?!?!?!?!!? 

You all have NO IDEA the amount of care and consideration, research, and WORK goes into making these shows. For each guest the show generates 50-100 pages of background information, and seeing as these people have appeared several times, I'm sure for them its even more than that.   

Dr. Phil is an extremely smart, generous, respected man. He's completely aware of what he's doing. It is no big deal that Alex got a truck and Katherine a saddle. It's what they are both into. Also, I know it wasn't the best decision but a difficult one none the less... did Katherine have to give up her childhood, go through a pregnancy, give birth at 16, and proceed to keep and raise that child for the last 3 years? I don' t think so. She's been able to be out doing regular teenage things, experiencing high school, being young. And THAT is priceless. Alex can never have that back- instead, she has chosen to live with the responsibilities she's created by the choices shes made, and move on with her life in the best possible way she can. She deserves all the help she can get and the truck was an amazing gift. Katherine got to learn from Alex's mistakes firsthand and knows the value of her childhood- and since she's into horses and riding and that is her goal for the future, Dr. Phil found it appropriate to aid in that career choice.   

Don't judge Dr. Phil for being kind.   

I agree.  The message to the youngest is the same message our society has recently  been giving to all young girls: 

Get pregnant while you're young and single and we will reward you!  We will help you with all your medical expenses.  We  will send you to a special high school with other single mothers so that you don't have to feel embarrassed and while you're in class your baby will be cared for for free by lots of nice older ladies. If you want to go college we will pay for that too and we'll pay for all the daycare the baby needs while you go. 

The girls who don't get pregnant, won't have a standing ovation when they graduate.  No one will make a fuss or act like they accomplished anything out of the ordinary.  The young women who marry before starting a family won't get their medical expenses paid for and they will have to pay for all their baby's daycare from their minimum wage earnings.  No college for them, too expensive. 

Every Mother's Day they'll hear  people talk about how wonderful single mothers are and the implication will be that married mothers don't work  as hard or make as many sacrifices for their children. 

No wonder the illegitimacy rate has risen to almost 50% in America.  There's a really big payoff for the un-wed mothers both in public admiration and cold hard-cash.