The Tests of Teenaged Motherhood

It's Halloween on Teen Mom and some of the story lines sure are scary. Amber is dealing with the backlash of her abusive behaviour last season. She is still being investigated by social services as well as her local police department. She is living apart from her on again/off again boyfriend Gary and her daughter, Leah. You can see that Amber is suffering, and although the majority of her problems are self-inflicted, feeling sympathy for her situation is not such an impossible feat. Maci also struggles with young motherhood and a difficult relationship with her ex-boyfriend. She wants to keep Bentley to go trick-or-treating, he says no because it's his visiting day. She wants to have a joint birthday party, he wants to do 2 separate ones. Maci wins on both occasions, but she doesn't necessarily deserve any awards. She made Ryan's family feel outcast and unwanted at Bentley's party, and when she was confronted with their discomfort, she shrugged it off and almost laughed at them. She must have known it would have been awkward for Ryan and his family to see Maci, her new boyfriend Kyle and Bentley sliding down the slide, hugging, kissing and acting like a family while they sat with their backs literally (and figuratively) against the wall. Not nice, Maci. Catelynn and her man both are happy to be on their own, and even happier that they have gotten jobs on their very first try. The MTV cameras must have been a boost to their non-existent resumes. (I'm just saying.) As for Farrah, it looks like she may finally graduate from culinary arts school. So now she's won a no-visitation order against her daughter's grandmother in court, she has new boobs, and hopefully a new and positive outlook on what's to come in her all too complicated life. Sometimes I have to remind myself that even when these moms display lack of judgment and make poor choices that I personally do not agree with, the focus needs to shift from them and on to these babies who didn't ask to be born and have no control over their lives as they play out on TV for all of us to see.