Wednesday, October 13, 2010

9 Things About I Just Want You to Know

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I know it's been a while since I wrote about the other two Gosselin books. And, in fact, it's been like four months since I read this book. But, since I've been doing that "drinking game" series, I haven't interrupted that to throw this in on a Wednesday. Today I don't have time to come up with a new game (yes, I'll admit that I think I've now posted all of the ones I already know, except Seinfeld, but I was saving that one for the finale of writing that series), so I'm finally posting this book review.

I had some difficulty in tracking down I Just Want You to Know, mainly because my library didn't get it immediately. I actually believe that I was the first person in my county to have it checked out (third tops, really, judging by the date of acquisition). I found it more interesting than the second book, but not as intriguing as the first. I chose nine points since the book focuses on the eight children and Kate, but not Jon. They're listed primarily chronologically, as I thought of them while reading the book, but there are a couple that interested me later, and others that are more overview-ish.

1. Kate was terrified of a nighttime fire in the house. She and Jon worked out plans multiple times about how they'd get the kids out in such an emergency. When the sextuplets were really little, the plan was to just throw them in the middle of a comforter and Jon would carry them out like they were in a sack!

2. At one point they lived in a neighborhood that had trash regulations. Since the littlest kids were still in diapers, they would regularly go way over this allotment and either keep the least smelly trash in the garage another week, wheel a can several streets over to a friend's house who never hit the allowance, or put it all out with some snacks, in hopes that the trashmen would accept the gift and take all of the refuse.

3. Kate claims they would go through 4 boxes of cereal or two dozen eggs PER BREAKFAST. Even if this claim was when the little kids were four years old, that would mean each ate two eggs per morning, which is a lot for a kid that young. And I'm pretty sure you can get 8 servings of cereal out of a box with ease... so that's 32 servings for 10 people... doesn't add up.

4. Mady knew how to use "thanks" in context when she was eleven months old. AND, she has a second middle name: Rene. Similarly, the baby that didn't make it was to be Emma Rose or Ella Rose... even though there is no definitive answer that it was a girl.

5. you know how Jon was always brushing the kids' teeth on the show? Apparently he didn't always do that, because when Mady was four, she had a tooth that was black and rotting before Kate noticed that there was a problem.

6. There are quite a few apologetic remarks throughout the book about how Kate was sorry for the things she said to Jon and the way she blew up at Jon frequently. She also does a pretty good job of convincing the reader to take her side, using ploys to talk about how stressed she was and tugging on single mothers' heartstrings. However, there is also some finger-pointing, and parts of the book are clear that she's not happy with Jon's "instability," among other things.

7. There are a few stories that are being retold from Kate's first two books. I'm not sure what her angle was in doing that, but perhaps it was simply because those particular anecdotes are indeed very important to her.

8. In addition to needing more space, the family needed to move again because they needed more privacy, and their old house wouldn't allow it because of neighborhood building codes.

9. The letters to the boys mention that Kate is sorry she can't act as a "father" to them... does she not think that girls need fathering, too?

oh, and as an added bonus? Book 4 is on its way: Love is in the Mix, a cookbook. Not sure how I'll review that one. But, there's not even a release date for it yet, so who knows when this will actually be a concern.
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