Crazy Middles and 22 Kids

[Alohomora]

Very strange how they suddenly move out when 18 they seem a loving family on camera I would love to know what really goes on

 

[LLR]

This is beside the point of 'how can two people emotionally care for 20 odd traumatised and abused children' (the simple answer is you can't),

I think both families have problems but the kids, especially when compared to other YouTube families seem to be doing well. They are seem to be doing well in school, are engaged with clubs and activities and have friends that they go off with that is not shown on camera. Nobody's parenting is going to be perfect and I think they are both just doing what they think is best.

I think there is probably a lot of parenting going on behind the scenes in both families and they are both showing us how they want to be perceived. Crystal wants to be seen as the fun mum and I think part of that is that she is younger and had Halie when she was young. I checked and both families only have 11 under-18's in their care currently and only 5/6 pre-teens each (CP have Logan, Brody, Aurora, Rylan and Liam and CM have Mason, Braxton, Anaeveah, Brinley, Kason, Trey) and all the kids are now school aged with Aurora starting at preschool. They both have good support systems in place which is why I think that the number of kids they have works for them while it would not work for other families.

I think saying they do it for the money is wrong. It is a huge time and money commitment taking in all those kids and they don't cheap out on their kids either especially the CP. The CP buy the kids lots of name brand clothing and shoes, the kids have iPhones, laptops and gaming equipment and if you've watched their Christmas videos then you can see how many expensive things they buy their kids.

 

[paigelemonade]

I didn't know Lizzy was living with the Crazy Pieces.

I wondered about dating, especially from CP when they have kids who didn't become siblings until they were already hormonal teens. Like Bella and Luke going off together on Disney. Thought the groups they split into was intresting. Why was Max hanging with his parents and not the other teens?

My mistake, I meant to say CM. She’s moved out to live with an Auntie, though I did find it weird as we’ve never heard of this aunt. I wonder if it’s to hide the fact she has moved in with her boyfriend… good for Lizzy for carrying on with her nursing studies though.

I find it strange how much both CP and CM force dating on their kids. It’s definitely not like that here in the UK, in the CM life update video- nearly every kid is crushing on/has a relationship which is just odd. Teen romance is nice, but shouldn’t be the forefront of their lives like Shelley and Jared push it to be. I still can’t believe Alex from CP proposed so young. I know fans too often speculate about dating within CM, and loads of people were asking Spencer if he was dating Cynthia on Instagram recently.

I wonder if Max would have felt out of place with the rest of the teens, as Hallie had gone off separately with her friend

 

[Meisify2]

Am I the only one confused by the carbon monoxide thing at the crazy pieces house? How come two of them had abnormally high levels their senses were picking it up put the fire brigade said it's all ok? I wonder what the levels has the kids at school was?

Yeah it makes no sense unless they are smokers

 

[LLR]

Good point but the face drop as she walks away shows how much they feel the need to act up for the camera. It's sad really.

I pretended to be happy and interested whilst watching other people open their presents as a kid when I was feeling kinda jealous but tried to pretend when people looked in my direction. I'm not saying the kids don't play up for the camera but I didn't take it that way in this instance.

 

[KTC]

Ytmd won't let anyone post anything on any page after the whole situation that went down. As for Lacey i wouldn't necessarily say train wreck she basically was just doing what most teenagers would after being free from parents control

What was the situation? I must have completely missed that lol, it just stopped working for me.
It's an odd one as I'm happy for Lacey but she had all these plans to travel the world with her friend etc. and now she won't be doing any of it. She's going to be a teen mum which isn't something to shame but not necessarily sure it should be something to advertise either, especially as she hasn't been with her partner for long and most teenagers don't have the YouTube money Lacey & her family does to fall back on.

 

[GeorgiaP]

Brinley is finally having her hair taken care of.

I’m not sure why CP needed a house that huge and luxurious. Wow. They are big spenders compared to CM

 

[emi_]

I think it also shows a lot when they’ve turned 18 and immediately moved in with or closer to their bio family

 

[cosmo2247]

Ytmd won't let anyone post anything on any page after the whole situation that went down. As for Lacey i wouldn't necessarily say train wreck she basically was just doing what most teenagers would after being free from parents control

What situation?
And you're right, train wreck might be harsh. I just am in shock.

 

[gossboss14]

Wow! Angry much? Bella and Lucas haven’t grown up together, so it’s very different than siblings, like Alex and Hannah, who’ve grown up together. You can’t say for sure what therapy she had, unless you are actually part of the CP family. Just to add, I have zero issues with anyone being gay, and that’s certainly not what I was meaning. I just think their religion doesn’t necessarily think the same, therefore if any of their children were gay, I wonder if they would not feel comfortable

I know what therapy she had because the programme she went to only offer one kind of therapy. Growing up together or not doesn’t change that they are SIBLINGS. What kind of creep talks about teenage siblings potentially dating?!?

 

[Meisify2]

Anyone else sick of crazy middles “sad face” thumbnails?
Also why do they let the kids get dogs like there is no tomorrow?? Who is paying for food, vet bills, insurance etc??? Drives me mad. What about when they all go off to college/grow up? We already see them moving out leaving their dogs behind.

What happened to Arianas puppy? They haven’t shown it or mentioned it in a while

 

[Dmg00]

I watch both and love these families!

 

[lokencrepis]

Honestly I agree that putting children on social media is exploitative but how inactive this thread is shows that they aren't really doing very much that is above the general level of putting kids on YouTube for everyone to see. They always say that they get consent from people to put the videos online for videos such as reuniting with family. I don't think they have bad intentions, both families are obviously passionate about foster care and adoption and you can tell when they speak. I think they are just a little misguided at times.

We're definitely on the same side here. I think the main difference, I stopped watching them bar the very occasional video. I don't have anything to say day to day because I'm simply not really watching anymore. Absolutely, if those family members are adults I have zero problem, it's the children. They're sharing incredibly personal things, they cant possibly know at age 14 whether or not they'll think the same about sharing at 18. They should have that time to privately deal with whatever they went through, you can see this in Savannah and Luke's video. Luke is remembering different things to Savannah, and vice versa. They really needed to go to therapy and talk things through just them and their parents before having that all online. How do we know they won't ever want people knowing? Thats my main gripe with the consent.

I've always assumed that they did this is make the new children feel more included and part of the family. I think they would probably feel left out if they excluded them from filming.

Completely understand this, Im sure thats how the kids do feel. But its the parents job to keep them safe, and if they have a parent or adult who is trying to find them.... lets not leave breadcrumbs for them to find.

Everything today is monetized, you can't get anything for free, everyone charges for things and honestly a monetized YouTube video is probably one of the most easily accessible places to put information. CM have stated they started posting videos on YouTube to be more easily shared with the children's bio families, which is in itself a problem.

My childhood isn't monetised. My filmed memories aren't either. Advice in facebook groups for adoptees and adopters, is not monetised. Having a youtube monetised does not hurt its chances in the algorithm. Youtube is a great place for learning, but you don't have to accept sponsorships or sell merch... which is another thing, if theyre innocent of exploiting specifically for money, why do they sell merch? There are youtube channels that focus on adoption in their families, without sharing the kids personal info for monetary gain.
Thats weird.. from the beginning CM have known it would ultimately get to the bio families, and didn't think it was a problem? I don't know how many of their adoptions are closed, but its a serious danger for some adoptees to have their location known by their bio families, as you know from your comment.

CM have said the kids only share their stories if they want to and I've always felt a lot of the adoption stories feel quite bare-bones and PG with the exceptions of Melinda and Jamie's which both include sexual abuse and even then they do not go into much detail. Mostly the reason they post they seems to be along the lines of "we want other kids in foster care to know it gets better".

I can only imagine the positive impact that some of the audience will have, knowing that they are not alone. It will be immense, but those kids are just too young though, they can avidly tell their stories, with all the good intentions in the world, but they don't know the impact of everyone knowing the particulars of their own stories. It could be fine! But it might not be, and they can't make that decision yet. But.... we know there was sexual abuse. We shouldn't. Jamie may not have the capacity to consent, I don't know, but it shouldn't be shared the way it has. We know way too much about these kids.

Honestly my main problems with CM/CP and why I'm on this thread in the first place are:

1. The ridiculous house CP bought which has walk in closets bigger than a lot of UK single bedrooms. Like more than twice as big as a few of my friends bedrooms growing up. Although I guess they wanted most of the kids to have their own rooms.

2. Lacey going from wanting to travel and do stuff to giving up on everything to have a baby.

3. The ridiculous rule book that the CM have and their nonsensical chore system.

4. The blatant favouritism that CM show to some of their kids to the point you could probably write an ordered list of how much they like their kids.

5. CM having cameras in their children's bedrooms in St. Johns (I know they want cameras on every exit and entrance but it's still weird)

6. Both CM/CP sharing their town and their kids school when living in St. Johns putting their kids safety at risk

7. CM/CP both showing their full front of their house making them easy to find again putting their kids at risk.

8. The awkward relationship the CM have with Nicole and everyone apparently telling them that she was trying to take advantage of them

+ Probably more I'm forgetting.

Could not agree more, those bedrooms are slightly obscene. I am not sure if all American bedrooms are like that... but if not they are going to have the biggest culture shock when they go out on their own.
I am so upset for Lacey. She had so many plans, she'd branched out and then just had a baby. Not to say she can't do anything now... but we know she won't. She'll family vlog and that'll be it.
That rule book blew my mind. The lack of trust they have in their kids just makes me feel ill, if theyre willing to show that online.. what are they not showing??
Its intense, and so blatant. I can't imagine being a little kid in that house and having to battle for attention against Lacey originally and now Aubrey.
The cameras just make me think of the Saccone-Jolys, and I hate the cameras, and the people who think they have to spy on their entire family.
They have zero idea about safety, the fact they share everything about their whereabouts, it just scares me for what could happen.
Yep. Moving, and then doing it again?! And showing the houses they 'might' buy. Just to show a triangluation of where they spend most of their time.
The whole situation with Nicole is suss from both sides. From the beginning too, I almost don't believe they couldnt take her in as well as Jacob. I think she was deemed 'too difficult' just like Johnathan.

It's a heck of a long message, but I wanted to address everything. None of this is meant with bad feelings, and I think we agree on most. I think the main thing is how they actually are behind closed doors, it could be anything given we only see what they want us to see after all.

 

[Prettyinpink25]

I wondered about the friend with the horses who’s son went on a date with Hannah does she have a partner?

 

[paigelemonade]

It’s beyond bizarre how sometimes they be careless af about covid but then at certain times will say they’re staying home to reduce the risk of spreading covid? It makes no sense because they pick and choose when they do it and you can tell they’re only saying it to look good. It’s just so weird

 

[paigelemonade]

Is blayden a new child they’ve adopted? I don’t watch all their videos and I don’t remember him

He is Shelley’s sister’s son

 

[Meisify2]

Y

Oh my god yes! That's a good point. Maybe they do. But how owoild the sensors puck it up. Do the detect cigarette smoke?

im not sure, i did google the level of cabin dioxide in the blood to see how dangerous their levels were and it say 5-10 is normal for a smoker, Jamie was 7 and Hannah a little lower

 

[screamingandthrowingup]

They said in the vlog that they had already given Brinley a FitBit for her birthday and that was her main present.

ah, okay I missed that. At least she got something to herself then. I do just think it’s weird to give a child a present on another child’s birthday but that might just be a thing where I’m from.

 

[embarrasing19]

Can’t believe Lacey is pregnant! Wishing her all the best

 

[Queen of the Thames]

Bets on where the pieces are going for their adoption trip? From seeing the shirts I would say Disney not sure if California or Florida though, Crystal said there’s at least 22 of them going but I can’t get that many when I count the family the new kids Alex’s girlfriend, Melinda and Scarlett and Jo that’s only 20 I think. Unless we think Shelley and Jarrod will go and not the kids?

Maybe Crystals mum and brother?