We Finally Understand Why Welcome To Plathville's Kim Plath Is So Controlling

Kim and Barry Plath have been coming under fire from fans of their show, Welcome to Plathville, ever since it originally debuted. The ultra-conservative parents keep their gaggle of children in a bubble where strict rules apply and absolutely zero deviation is tolerated. Hence why, when season 2 dropped, eldest child Ethan wasn't speaking to them and teenagers Micah and Moriah had fled the family home after finding themselves unable to live under the thumb anymore.

Fans are beginning to wonder whether the Plath parents are borderline abusive, with Lydia's prayer closet causing raised eyebrows, while the revelation that none of the kids finish the homeschooling process with GEDs created further consternation. Kim has some issues in her past that she's been open about on the show but, as relationship expert Jaime Bronstein, LMFT, told The List, there's another major reason why the dedicated mother is the way that she is.

During a recent episode of Welcome to Plathville, Kim admitted she's concerned her parenting style might negatively affect her children in the long run. This is likely based on Micah and Moriah's recent revelations that their parents didn't adequately prepare them for the real world. As Bronstein acknowledges, Kim "needs to know that she is not a perfect parent and that her kids are good people and will turn out the way they are meant to turn out." The relationship expert notes that kids aren't all exactly the same, so they shouldn't be treated as such.

"Kim wishes that if she were the 'perfect' parent, they would turn out perfectly," Bronstein advises. However, although, "It is very apparent that Kim desperately wants to do the 'right' thing, when it comes to parenting, there is never really the 'right' thing, so you just need to do your best and trust that things will work out and your children will be happy, because in the end that's all that really matters."

As Kim revealed on the show, she grew up with alcoholic parents and had her own wild times in college, too, so she desperately wants to protect her children from going down a similar path. Bronstein advises, "Her fear fosters an extremist parenting position that is not healthy for her children in the long-run." Although, "Kim's intention is valid as she wants her kids to have happy lives, they will never be able to function in society and be mature, evolved adults if they don't get the freedom to make choices for themselves and they don't get the space to see the reality of the world and how it operates."

Overall, the relationship expert acknowledges that Kim's approach, although it might seem outlandish, makes sense in the context of her own difficult upbringing. "She has a negative image of her own childhood, and she wants to provide her children with the 'happy' childhood she did not have," Bronstein notes. Crucially, she should just trust them. Underneath it all, "Kim is a good person who just wants the best for her children as it all comes from a place of love."