Celebrity Round Up: Thank God I'm not a Teen Mom

Welcome to Friday, friends! And not a moment too soon, either. Who's ready for some already stale celebrity news and my commentary?

We'll start out with Teen Mom. Chelsea, who has daughter Aubree (that's two Es, make note) with ex-boyfriend Adam, has decided that he can't see his daughter until he pays $2000 back child support. And presumably, gets a job and a place to live. And more presumptions here: stops working on his car 24/7.

I want to talk about Teen Mom for a minute. Pull up a chair and let's chat.

I started getting into 16 and Pregnant right around the same time as I was, myself, pregnant. Actually, I was almost twice as old as these girls and pregnant, but they don't have shows like that (wait, yes they do, A Baby Story -- how soon I forget the approximately 40 hours of that show I watched during maternity leave). I was fascinated with three things:

1. How uneducated these girls were about basic reproductive biology
2. The actual giving birth part of it, because in my mind, if a 16 year old girl could push out a baby, I could consider it NBD for me to push one out, too.
3. The blatant disrespect a lot of these young fathers had for the mothers of their children, because I don't care how old or young you are, carrying a child is no joke.

The very first one I watched featured Chelsea, a slightly spoiled teenager who lived with her doting father and thought she and her "prince charming" (in the loosest sense of the word) would raise their child and live happily ever after. Those dreams were shattered when he TEXED her a break up. And he called her a "stretch mark bitch" while he was at it.

Saying I was appalled only scratched the surface.

I watched all these girls: Leah (a West Virginia girl pregnant with twins after dating her boyfriend for only a month); Kailyn (who lived with her babydaddy in his family's McMansion); and Janelle (whose boyfriend was a "model" and whose mother is a crazy). They were tied together by the common bond of naivety -- not irresponsibility, because most of the girls on this show aren't BAD kids.

Save for Janelle. She is a piece of work. Gave up custody of her son so she could get her life back together, and by get her life back together she means stealing her Mom's credit cards to go on an impromptu road trip to NJ with her boyfriend and smoking pot literally less than 100 feet from where her son lives.

Clearly, most of these girls (except for Janelle) are doing the best they can with the situation they are in. Chelsea doesn't work or go to school and can't manage to finish a handful of classes to get a high school degree, but has a supportive, loving family and adores her daughter. Leah and her babydaddy showed more maturity handling their relationship than most college students (with the added burden of a mysterious medical problem with one of their beautiful twin girls)(and they seem to really love each other despite all these challenges). Kailyn realizes being with her son's father and fighting constantly would be worse for her child than if they stayed together, and works two jobs (while going to school).

I like watching this season because they aren't girls who pawn their children off on parents and party every night. MTV cast a relatively level headed bunch (again, except for Janelle). I have to say, they *appear* to be holding it together better than I do most days, and these girls are half my age. Anyway, I'm a fan and that's my little guilty pleasure.

But that doesn't mean I can't make fun of Leah and her redneck boyfriend -- after all, the are my West Virginia kinfolk.

In other big and marginally sad celebrity news, Liz Taylor died this week and was laid to rest yesterday at Forest Lawn Memorial Garden. I don't know about y'all, but my Facebook feed lit. UP. Liz Taylor fans came out of the woodwork. Apparently, we were all big fans and didn't know it. I hope she's found peace because she did a lot of good on this earth. Although someone who shall remain nameless (but is also my son's grandmother) will never forgive her for breaking up Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.

Happy Friday, Everybody! Enjoy the weekend!