"The Mayans may be right: I'm defending Kate Gosselin."

Tweet Well, the Mayans may be right.

Because here's another sign of the end of the world.

I'm defending Kate Gosselin.

Normally, I have little but disdain for either Gosselin. Chagrin at best, disgust at least.

However, I disagree with the criticism she's getting about being a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”

Surely, there are other people who have been on this show who have kids. Male and female. And surely, during the eight or nine weeks they're taping the show or whatever, those people have an array of nannies and babysitters - or, GASP!, relatives - there to help them out.

So why didn't they get nailed by the press and pundits for “abandoning their families” to do the show?

Kate is getting singled out for punishment on this because she's made her fame as a Mom. If she wasn't a mother of eight kids she wouldn't have gotten a reality show and if she hadn't gotten that show she wouldn't be famous, ergo, the only reason she's famous is because she's the mom of eight kids.

But as the mom of eight kids, doesn't she have a responsibility to do what's best for those kids? And, as the primary breadwinner in the family, that responsibility is to make money to support them. Those kids need food, shelter, medical and dental care, money for schooling, etc. etc. etc. EIGHT KIDS. That's a lot of bills that need a lot of money. And Kate is the one who's probably going to have to provide most of it.

Jon has never seemed to be particularly ambitious and he doesn't make anywhere near as much as Kate. She is the primary breadwinner. She's no different than any man who has to go to work to make most of the money to keep a household afloat.

And as we all know, there are many times that non-famous and famous men have to go out of town or travel or be away from their families to make the money to support them.

That is in essence what Kate is doing. She's signing on for a short-term gig to make a lot more money than she'd probably make in any other way for as short a time. She's also striking while she can, while she's still famous, in order to do so.

I'm sure she'll miss her kids while she's gone. And I'm sure she'll call them and be in touch. I'm also sure that the kids will be well cared for in her absence.

They should be, because they should be cared for by their father, who isn't doing anything with his life but spending money on Ed Hardy t-shirts and dating bimbos. But they probably won't be. They'll probably be under the care of a nanny or a relative. Which is fine too, as long as they're well-cared-for.

And in the meantime, Kate will be earning money to help out her family and help out her kids. And she'd better do it now while she can, because her fame clock is ticking, and once it's expired, she's nothing more than a trivia question who's going to have to go out and get a real job.

There aren't too many real jobs that are going to comfortably accommodate the needs of a family of nine.

So, Kate, go for it. Sign on for as many shows as you can get. Do as many book tours as you can, while you can do them.

But just make sure you save that money. Because you're going to need it.

If you do, you'll prove yourself to be a good parent. A responsible adult. And someone who is worthy of this defense, rather than the condemnation of others.

BYLINE:

Sean Leary's recent and current projects include the alt-rock "Spinal Tap" comedy film "Your Favorite Band" (www.yourfavoritebandthefilm.com), the award-winning short story collection "Every Number Is Lucky To Someone" (available in bookstores nationwide and on Amazon.com) and his website: www.getyourgoodnews.com.

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