kate gosselinI know what you're expecting to read after last night's episode of Kate Plus 8. You're expecting me to go on a Kate Gosselin lost it again rant, complete with references to every temper tantrum, snide remark, and seemingly diva-esque display from the family's disastrous cross-country RV trip. And I'll admit Kate was not exactly bursting with benevolence on this particular vacation ... okay fine, she was in a pretty bad mood.

But I think I know why Kate was being particularly prickly. In fact, I know I know why. It's no big mystery ... Kate tells us herself, more than once.

The woman was tired! She was freakin' exhausted. That's why she kept mentioning, almost as an apology-in-advance, that she was only getting three to four hours of shut-eye per night and really, really wanted to just go to sleep.

I'm not saying that tired moms get carte blanche to indulge in whatever bad behavior they want (wouldn't that be awesome?!?!), but there's no denying the kind of havoc chronic sleep-deprivation can wreak on a mother's mental state.

Add to that drawback the inherent difficulty of traveling with kids -- multiplied by eight -- plus Kate's unwavering tendency towards perfectionism, and of course, you're gonna get some unhappy campers.

Then there was the tension between Mady and the son of Kate's best friend, Jamie. There's nothing like a my kid vs. your kid throw-down to cause a rift between two moms, and that's under the best of circumstances. I actually think Kate did the right thing by "running away," i.e., taking off to buy groceries. At least she removed herself from the situation before things got even worse.

Was Kate at her best on the RV trip? No. But god forbid somebody stuck an overtired me in an RV with eight kids and turned on the cameras. Would it be any different for you?

Do you understand why Kate lost it last night?

 

Image via TLC