Topic : 11/22 "Yours, Mine & Ours"

Women who take time away from their kids to chase a man down to satisfy their own need for companionship should not try to justify it as giving there kids a male role model.   

If your working full time (50hours +) outside your home and go to school full time (20 hours+) a week and running your house (20 hours +) week and sleeping and take care of yourself (8 hours) a night  that leave you only about 3 hours a day to spend with your kids and husband.  You must of been seriously neglected if your parents spent even less with you.    

if your kid's father is at work and not home much I guess your kids are lacking a male role model also.

Work 40 hours, school 12 hours a week , running my house 7 hrs a week, sleep 6 hrs a night 

equals 101 hours 67 hours to spend with my kids = 9.57 hrs a day. 

Hubby only works while they are in school and asleep so they never miss him. 

I am a sister-in-law to the first couple, Mark and Juli.  I am married to Mark's brother.  There is so much more to this story than they had on the show.  As a family, we watched Mark and his first wife lose two children from a genetic disorder.  They lost a little boy in 1997 and a little girl in 1999.  Mark and I are close and we talk alot about him and Juli.  He knows I am quick to tell him when I don't agree.  He would also say that I defend Juli way more than him.  But in Mark's defense, I think that Mark has such a tight relationship with his children because of the death of his other children.  He is just  trying to appreciate everyday that  he has with them.  We were with Mark as he watched two of his children take their last breath.  It has been tough but he has always kept a smile on his face.  The great news is that his two living children, Samantha and Josh, do not have the genetic disorder.  So go a little easier on Mark.  He lost two children and his wife left (the deaths left her 'not  right'), all within 4 years.  I just wanted to give everyone a little more insight into this family.  Mark really is a great guy and Juli is so great too.  They will make it and be happy doing it.   

        Mark, I know you will read this.  Can you believe I said something nice about you? ha ha.  

Stephanie 

My mom had 7 siblings. They grew up in an old farmhouse with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. They all turned out great and they are always there for each other. I think big families are so wonderful. I was raised as an only child an absolutely hated it. My husband and I have a blended family. I have 2, he has 2, and we have 1 together. We have full custody of them all. They are all close to each other. I know one day when Im not here they will still have each other. 

I hope this message will set the record strait.  It is true that i am very close to my daughter and my son.  My children are every thing to me......but so is the marriage i have with my wife.  I would do anything for them.  What you do not know is that i was close to my children before my divorce from my first wife.  What you also do not know is that i lost two children from my first marriage, one child at 4 months and then another at 1 month of age.  Could this be a reason for my close relationship with my children or why i try to protect them,.......it might have some thing to do with it.   So for all the messages posted that carried a perverted slant to them.....i suggest you get the facts before assumptions are made. My interaction with my children has not changed from the first marriage to the next.  It seems that my wife sees my relationship with my kids as me favoring them over her own......and that is not true.  It is true that her children have not bonded with me as of yet so it may look to my wife that i am favoring my own.  But i must be honest, i some times feel the same way towards my wife and the way she babies her son........she would probably say that it does not happen, but it does.  I believe that it is only human nature to try and protect your children, and try to make each day a happy one for them. I have a great wife and some great kids, but I do agree that my family needs some work........but don't we all.  Good luck to those who stick with it. 

Mark