Teen Mom 2: Christmas with Kids

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I've always said that you shouldn't spend a fortune on Christmas presents for children. At least until they're old enough to remember these things. Now, it appears that Jenelle got Jace 2-3 presents, all of a reasonable price. And, he appeared to love them. Leah, on the other hand, went overboard and spent over $500 on gifts. Yes, she has two children, but she also has their birthday so close to the holiday. It isn't revealed what she spent for birthday gifts (and cake, food, etc for the party), but all in all it's a good thing she started this new job, otherwise they wouldn't have the money! We don't really know what Chelsea spent, but there are quite a few people in her family so I imagine Aubree was opening plenty anyway. And that leaves Kailyn. Sure, Isaac had two Christmases, but we don't know much about what went on at Jo's house. At Kailyn's, on the other hand, Isaac seemed to get a fair number of presents, though we don't really know what they were so it's difficult to judge. I don't know that anyone else really cares about these sorts of things, but to me, it was definitely interesting to look at how the different mothers spent time/money with/on their children. 

Teen Mom 2 "Home for Christmas" (S02E05):
Jenelle: She has failed "a bunch of her classes," and is on academic warning for having less than a 2.0. [we all saw this coming, right? nobody was surprised.] Kieffer has been in jail for almost a week, and she misses him. [we all saw this coming, right? nobody was surprised.] She tells Barbara's boyfriend that she might want to bail out Kieffer. He responds by telling her that she used to have a lot more fun and a lot more friends, so maybe she should try to get that back instead. [I don't know if that was exactly the way to go, but I liked it. And, Jenelle didn't yell at him!] Her mom is going out of town for Christmas, so they're celebrating early. Jenelle gets Jace a bowling set and a new stuffed bear, which makes him happy. Barbara gets Jenelle a charm bracelet, and Jenelle gets Barbara some Ugg-like boots. Things don't stay peaceful for long, as the two get into a fight regarding Jace's care. Upset, Jenelle then decides to get Kieffer out of jail (she thought he'd be out on his own after a couple of days, but that didn't happen), but since she's not 21, she can't. [once again, we all saw this coming, right? That Jenelle would end up wanting Kieffer back?] She makes a bunch of calls to some friends, but gets mostly voicemails. The two people she does talk to won't sign for Kieffer, with his own friend feeling he'd be a flight risk. [if that doesn't tell you anything...]

Leah: The girls turning 1 just before Christmas. Leah wants to really make a big deal (read: $500 of stuff that she had to put on layaway) out of Christmas because the twins were in the hospital last year. They're having the birthday at a catering place, and Leah gets each of the girls a "squish cake" and buys a fancy castle cake as well. [first birthday parties are another thing that I think people go overboard on. I can honestly say I remember my third birthday, but I really don't see the need to get big and fancy until at least five years old...] Leah gets Corey a Santa costume to wear, but the girls are scared of it. While they're wrapping (and Corey wraps with duct tape, mind you), we learn that Leah didn't talk to Corey about the costs of the gifts at all. [between that and the way he was looking at her during the twins' birthday party, the camerawork is really foreshadowing the impending divorce, don't you think?]

Photo by MTV

Kailyn: A counselor comes over to check on Kailyn. She's taking chemistry and psychology in the spring. She goes to a friend's place to bake cookies with their sons. For their first Christmas with Isaac, he'll be at Jo's for Christmas Eve and the morning, then with Kailyn for the rest of Christmas Day. Jordan keeps Kailyn company on Christmas Eve (she has no plans to see her mother at all), and they talk about their relationship a year in the future. [I'm just sitting here shaking my head, guys.] After Kailyn gets Isaac back, we see that Jordan got Isaac gifts, too. [cute.]

Chelsea: She's not wearing her brace because her knee is feeling better. [anyone else see a fall coming?] She's reading a magazine article about oral sex when Adam calls. He got a new job working with generators, and he'll have benefits plus have child support directly taken out of his check. [this has got to be the best news for this teen mom in a while!] Her mom says that Adam can take part in the family Christmas, but her dad says no. Adam and Chelsea go to buy a Christmas tree at a tree farm, and pull Aubree in a sled. Adam even saws down the tree! [this whole scene was pretty cute.] Then, they take Aubree toy shopping. It's her second Christmas, but her first time being big enough to open gifts. [why did they take her toy shopping? so she could pick out what she wants? this made no sense to me.]

Next Week: a double-header!