Kim Plath learned a lot from this week’s Welcome to Plathville program on TLC.
In the fourth season of the popular reality show following the huge Plath family, some of the kids have confronted their mother, 49, about her choice to divorce their father, Barry Plath, after 24 years of marriage.
Micah Plath, her son of 21 years, was surprised to learn that his mother had been molested when he asked her why she and her husband, Barry, had raised him and his siblings in such a traditional, devout, homeschooled, isolated from technology, and rural environment.
Once thought impossible, Micah and Kim met up for drinks and talked about Kim’s intention to divorce her husband. Micah then directly questioned Kim, “What made you raise us the way that you did?”
Kim said, “It’s uncomfortable.” “There are a number of things, but one that particularly influenced me was when I was 4 and 5 years old. My mother, who was a single parent and doing the best she could, hired a babysitter to watch me. He was also a teenager. And let me just add that the last thing a parent wants is for their little daughter to be in the wrong location at the wrong time and experience a negative event.”
“When I was a child, that happened frequently to me. Just 4 and 5 years old, “She went on. “If you study statistics, those who are closest to the family and whom you don’t suspect are more likely to do something like that.”
She said that, and Micah and she looked at each other gravely and nodded in agreement before Kim continued.
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Because of this, she claimed, “I always knew where they were, what they were doing, who they were with, and everything.” The risk of not being overprotective enough is so big, in my opinion, that I’d rather err on the side of overprotecting than lack and have anything like that happen. That played a very large part in me being protective, possibly overprotective.
Micah was taken aback and said, “I think I only understood my dad’s justification now. I assumed it was entirely religious in nature. All that was discussed was that.”
Kim explained, “Because I wasn’t going to tell you the other when you were tiny. When he was seventeen or eighteen, Micah said, “I kind of recognized there had to have been something I had never heard about that made you raise us the way you did, but I’d never heard what it was.
After their chat, Kim said in an interview, “I decided to open up to Micah tonight about some trauma I endured as a young girl. He’ll hopefully have a better idea of who I am and how I came to parent the way I did. Although I feel like I’ve already dealt with this, it’s really simply helping Micah understand.”
In his interview, Micah remarked, “It hurts hearing this, but I’m grateful she’s telling me. “It helps me better understand her personality, how she raised us, the guidelines she followed, and the barriers she erected. It’s like when a penny drops. All the puzzle pieces fell into place as soon as she told me.”
Micah continued later: “Growing up, my parents rarely told me tales about their early years. Because I believed that my parents were flawless, I constantly felt rejected because I wasn’t. As a result, there was never a situation when someone said, “Well, just talk to me.” I won’t pass judgment on you. My mother told me this, and I realized that we’re all simply people. Everybody struggles. It really basically widens the link.”