Sext Scene
Kathy thinks sexting is no joke (despite what Rich thinks).
Hello everyone, I hope you had a great week. Did you hear? Bravo earned the highest ratings in history with our season premiere. Congratulations, Bravo, Sirens Media, and Purveyors of Pop! Your teams all work endless hours to tell our stories, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. The viewers have spoken. Many thanks to all of you who tuned in to watch. Congratulations to my fellow cast members and their families. I know sharing our lives can be difficult at times. Sometimes watching them play back has proven to be even more difficult. However, I know that I share the same feelings when I say it is rewarding to hear that you have helped someone get through a difficult situation in their lives just by sharing ours.
Which brings me to this week. You find us knee-deep in our relationships with family and friends. We have gotten to know Jacqueline, Chris, and their kids, and we really love them. Although Chris joked around with Ashlee a bit, who knew he had such a dry sense of humor? It was a difficult decision to have Ashlee leave the house. I was especially moved watching Jacqueline packing up Ashlee’s things. My heart was torn apart hearing her sobbing. As a mom I could feel her pain and disappointment so profoundly. It’s so obvious how much she loves her daughter and only wants her to find herself and succeed. We are all pulling for them. Jacqueline has kept me up to date with how Ashlee is handling life on her own, and it’s wonderful to know that she’s taking on her responsibilities and doing well. I guess their tough love was just what she needed. We got a chance to see her when she visited this past winter, and I’m happy to say that she looked fantastic and she’s a brunette again.
I hoped you loved Joseph and Rich’s father and son outing as much as I did. I was so proud of both of them and so gratified to have our viewers see their wonderful relationship. Rich draws on the work ethic instilled in him by his father. He is showing and teaching our son that there is more to opening a business than hanging out a sign. You have to have a plan and actually work there and work hard to succeed. As children of immigrant parents, both Rich and I are very conscious of bringing the values that are important to us to our children. It’s great to see that Rich is able to keep his sense of humor as well. Clearly our Joseph has inherited that quick wit.
Jacqueline and Chris are good friends and great hosts. They invited us all over in a continuing effort to mend fences in our relationships. Their “poker night” was a great idea. We were able to share stories, meatball recipes, and have some good wine and food. It’s unfortunate that when Teresa and Joe arrived she inferred that we had been talking “about” her. Don’t mistake talking about her for our discussion, which was about how to handle seeing her after her recent comments. There’s a very big difference. As you all saw, we were talking through some concerns that we all had, and we all just wanted the evening to go smoothly. There was a very uncomfortable silence in the room that “speaks volumes” as they say. It was a minute for the viewers, but seemed like an eternity for us. There were no replies after Teresa’s explanation of comments in her cookbook and her apology. She said she didn’t offend anyone in her cookbook. Maybe what she was trying to say was, it wasn’t her intention, but she obviously did offend. For the record, I wasn’t offended by what she said about me or Rich or whomever she was referring when she wrote about her “cousin’s lame jokes.” It wasn’t that big of a deal. As Tre would say, “whatever,” but I can certainly see how the others would find her comments offensive. Which brings us back to her apology -- from the heart or guilty conscience? I’ll let you be the judge.
It never ceases to amaze me how some people’s true nature comes out in unguarded moments. I am referring to Joe Giudice’s comments about making a living playing poker, thinking it’s an easy way to make a buck. Let’s just hope that’s not his next business venture. It’s just so contrary to how Rich and I grew up and the things our parents showed us about how to succeed.Thank goodness Rich never loses his off-beat, quirky sense of humor, even after Joe Giudice starts to provoke him at the poker game. Rich tried very hard to diffuse the tense situation with his humor, but Joe would have none of it. Their tussle really started off in good fun, but unfortunately left Joe with some bruises. In the next few days Rich repeatedly tried to contact Joe to apologize about how their clowning got a little out of hand, but with no response. It is so sad to watch as you did how callously Joe dismissed Rich’s well-intentioned calls and texts. Joe said he deleted them. Why am I not surprised? I’m glad I saved them. I’ve always liked Joe Giudice, and Teresa can be the first one to tell you so. I have to say it’s very upsetting to see him this way.
Our kids are growing up so fast! How about those Giudice girls? We can always count on them to provide beauty and comic relief all in one scene. It’s so sweet to see Gia taking care of her little sisters. Where does the time go?Watching this episode filmed a year ago, I see how much our Joseph has grown up before my eyes. He looks so different now. It reminds me that we need to deal with issues as they come up and exercise some pro-active parenting to give our children the tools they need to deal with life.
And speaking of teenage life, you can only imagine my horror to find out about the sexts that were sent to my son. I immediately went into full momma bear mode to express my concern at this incident. Rich and I have always tried to keep the social networking to a minimum. We found that it is too much of a distraction from what is really important. It takes too much time away from schoolwork and family time. When the kids wanted to start a Twitter, I allowed it and it actually prompted me to start an account as well. But the contact e-mail is limited to a family e-mail that only I have access to. In this way I can filter anyone that wants to try to privately contact my children. I’m so glad that I did that. The girl involved does not go to school with Joseph nor has he ever met her or contacted her. In fact we have found that she is not a minor and is from out of state. It’s a mom’s intuition in overdrive. Fortunately Rich’s great sense of humor allows him to lighten the situation and take it with a grain of salt. I’m still working on that for myself. Sexting is no joke and I can’t find any humor in it. But a mom is a mom is a mom.
Moving forward, I have to use an analogy, so here goes. Family and relationships are like an onion. When you peel back the layers, sometimes you find it’s really sweet and sometimes you shed a few tears. Why do I use food to explain so many things in life?
I have to admit the best part of this episode is seeing our kids and getting to know them. As with most parents, our children are the center of our lives. I hope that you enjoy watching them as well. Whether it’s just a quick peek at Gino Gorga’s big, beautiful eyes, seeing the little ones play together, or our older children deal with life’s obstacles as they continue their journey to adulthood.
So it looks like you all loved seeing my little sister, Rosie, last week. The outpouring of love sent her way made me so happy. Thanks for making her feel welcomed. Keep watching as the weeks progress and you will see more of what’s up with Rosie.One person that I miss seeing on my TV, and I think you will all agree, is Greg. I assure you he will be making his appearance soon. Can’t wait, love you, Greg.
Rich and I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people this past week when we went to Chicago. Thank you all for being so warm and welcoming. We had a wonderful trip. What a great city! Before I end this blog, I want to share something that’s so important and near to our hearts. Last season when we shared Victoria’s story and her experience with dealing with a brain tumor, we received such a huge response. Also as a result of that episode we were contacted by The National Brain Tumor Society to be honorary chairs for the 2nd Annual Walk on Governor’s Island NYC, June 16th. We are humbled and honored to be asked. Our family has formed a team called “Victorious Angels.” We are proud to be involved with bringing awareness to the need for finding a cure. Victoria was so very lucky to have been diagnosed and have surgery for her benign tumor and recovered incredibly. Unfortunately, often times that is not the case. To find out more about this event go to www.braintumor.org and search the calendar for June 16 NYC, we would love for you to be a part of our team.
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Lots of Love,
xoxo Kathy
