Newman children should be seen and not heard and maybe not even seen

Was there a reason only one young child attended Victor's grand decorating gala? Cane and Lily grew closer as they waited to see if Cane's son would survive his first holiday season. Jack wished to make the last Christmas that Dina might remember festive. Let's jingle those bells and deck the halls in Two Scoops.

What a joyous occasion it was, watching the Newmans decorate the Christmas tree at Victor's private home gala (by invitation only) with his extended Newman Enterprises family. It was all so heartwarming and touching, it almost brought tears to my eyes -- except something seemed to be missing. Or should I say someone -- actually several someones. I thought Christmas was supposed to be for the children. Okay, so where were they?

Was Faith serving as the representative of the younger Newman grandkids? That sounds just like one of Victor's meetings. You have to wonder if Faith arrived at the affair with all of his grandchildren's absentee votes, just in case an important issue came up. Leave it to Victor to run his parties just as he would conduct his business meetings. At least Connor showed up late at the meeting...uh, party, after Victor summoned his presence in a call he made to Chelsea.

We have this glamorous and festive affair, where everyone could rejoice in peace and love and be filled with the holiday spirit in a room full of all the Newmans' loved ones. Well, all except for Nikki, of course. And Nick, who was still disowned by his father. And Christian, I guess, because he was Nick's son, only Christian was really biologically Adam's son, which Victor darned well knew, even if Nick didn't. And Johnny and Katie, who were also absent.

So, basically, all of the older grandkids received the honored invitation to attend, while the younger ones, with the exception of Connor, did not. Did their invitations get lost in the mail? Or because they couldn't read yet, maybe Victor didn't want to waste the expense of a beautifully decorated invitation and postage on the youngsters. But, no, it couldn't be that, since Johnny must be old enough to read by now. Still, there must be a reason for their exclusion.

Not that Connor appeared to be all that thrilled about being at his grandpa's party. Actually, he looked either bored or confused as he stared into space, sitting on Victor's lap as he waited to put the star on the tree. He looked so unnatural, sitting there without ever saying a word. It's Christmas, Connor. You should be laughing and carrying on in excitement with the other children.

Oh wait...there were no other children. And even if there had been, they would also have been silently sitting somewhere, showing no happiness in anticipation over Santa's arrival. Silence seems to be an affliction with the younger kids on soaps. Why, they almost act like they are with a group of strangers instead of with their loving relatives. Kids!

Anyway, I am a little baffled. Since Victor could no longer claim that his every breath, word, move, and action were all for his family, which would include his wife and children, he had to change his battle cry to that everything he did was for his grandchildren. Yet, they seemed to get about as much respect from their grandfather as Nick did, which was none. To Victor, his oldest son was like a pesky gnat that just kept flying in his face and reminding him of Nick's supposed disloyalty, which would include any move he made that would contradict an item on Victor's agenda. And Christian, Johnny, and Katie must not be worthy of the honored golden invite that would show they are truly valued as Newmans. Is the fact that Victoria was not his biological mother coming back to haunt Johnny in Victor's eyes now? I am just trying to come up with any explanation for the snub.

And even if Victor didn't really want the young ones there, shouldn't Victoria? Of course, the way she's been acting lately, who would ever know, since Victoria sure hasn't been very motherly lately. When was the last time we saw her spending any time with her kids? Everything for Victoria has been all about business and the approval of her father, even before she went running back to Newman with her tail between her legs as soon as she tanked Brash & Sassy. Johnny and Katie who? I sure hope they have an excellent and loving babysitter or nanny, since Billy has been all about Brash and Sassy also. Since Billy and Victoria were at the office working all hours (as Phyllis can testify to) during their time with Brash & Sassy, just who was spending all of that time, loving and providing for their precious children?

Okay, so let's say that their children had been with Billy on this very special Newman family night, wouldn't that be a little bizarre, since Victor's party was supposed to be all about negating the recent bad press regarding Newman Enterprises? Wouldn't those adorable tots be just the ticket needed to erase from the minds of the public the horrible circumstances of Zach and the sex ring? The innocence of the kids alone should whitewash the depravity of the sex trafficking, oh, excuse me, the human trafficking (according to Tessa) operation and sugarcoat Newman Enterprises right back into the goodwill of mankind. Plus, it's Christmastime, for heaven's sake. Victor wanted to have a festive, fun celebration for the holiday season, and his grandkids weren't included? What is wrong with this picture? And Victoria didn't seem to care, since all she could do during the occasion was to snipe at Abby.

Gosh, who wouldn't want to attend this glorious event? Victor went from trying to kick Nikki out of the affair to telling both Noah and then Tessa, under no certain terms, that he was well aware that Tessa was a gold digger who was only after his grandson's money. It's about time! It was starting to get a little old, constantly seeing Tessa be the shining star for everyone to behold and admire. Let's see...Noah, Devon, Mariah, Nikki, Nick, Sharon, Faith, Scott, and even Victor were all Tessa's admirers at one time or another. Shoot, Tessa shone almost brighter than the star Victor had Connor place at the top of the Newman Christmas tree.

So, it's time for Tessa to have her turn as being the bull's-eye of Victor's target for getting rid of any Newman interlopers. Her day had to come. Of course, she's not good enough for Victor's grandson. No lady ever will be. That's just the Newman way. But never fear, Tessa. Just because Victor has decided to reject you, it may not always be that way. Just look at Sharon, who was welcomed to the Newman festivities with open arms. Victor's open arms, mind you. Sharon was asked to stay, and Nick wasn't even invited. Who'd have ever thunk it?

While the Newmans were practically ripping each other to pieces at the party, another already broken family was attempting to pull together, as one member teetered on the brink of survival. It was a breath of fresh air, watching Lily comfort Cane as he feared for the life of his son. Lily even went above and beyond the call of duty when she donated blood to help aid Sam for his surgery. It's too bad that Mattie was so obviously reluctant to do the same thing, but she seemed to view Sam's lingering fate as a way to get to see Reed on the sly. That was pretty tacky, Mattie. Thankfully, Charlie had the proper attitude in doing what he could to save his little brother. Mattie appeared to be completely heartless. Hopefully, her indifference was due to being young and very immature.

After seeing how happy Lily was for Cane that Sam's health had improved, I still had hope they could work it all out. Lily would make a wonderful mother for the boy, and it was obvious she still loved Cane. It just has to be so difficult for her to see Cane's baby by another woman. If she can get past the fact that Juliet was Sam's mother, Lily could give him all the love that any child would need. But Lily and Cane still need to work on their trust issues in order for their marriage to survive. Another baby couldn't be a Band-Aid to heal the wounds caused by adultery, especially since the baby was the result of it.

Billy's travel plans took priority over his children as he planned his latest wild adventure to New York with Phyllis, and he wanted to take the Jabot company jet, to boot. And Ashley let him. Why does everyone encourage that guy? It's no wonder that he has never bothered to even try to grow up. Why should he when Jack and Ashley have always coddled him and catered to him?

So, Billy wished to remain footloose and fancy-free, even to the point of having no strings attached, in his new relationship with Phyllis. And honestly, Phyllis would stoop to anything, no matter how low she had to sink, just to keep tabs on Billy. That alone should give Billy pause. Billy may not want the strings, but Phyllis sure does. She even faked being sick to get out of work, just so she could go to New York. Oh, yeah, Billy is rubbing off on Phyllis -- and not in a good way. (Okay, you know what I mean.)

Ravi was another one who wanted more from his sex partner, and Phyllis told him to show Ashley just what "a brilliant, desirable, gorgeous man" he really was. Phyllis practically convinced Ravi to push his lady into the next step, even though Ravi should have known better. Ravi should be very aware that Ashley was trying to prove that she was capable of running Jabot while Jack was on temporary leave, and he should have been patient and supportive. Instead, when she didn't go dashing to him after his offer of dinner, he rashly accepted Victoria's offer to be the head of the Newman Enterprises' software development department. There's loyalty for you.

I don't know. Maybe Ravi hopes that Ashley will wake up and smell the coffee, but this could very well backfire. When he was with Jabot, he was Ashley's right hand man, and at least he had a very close working relationship with her as well as the sexual thing. Ashley knew that Ravi was someone she could depend on, and he will be stripping that away by leaving. Plus, will he even be happy at Newman Enterprises with Victoria in charge? She's become so cold and inflexible.

Ravi sure won't have the same kind of relationship with his new boss that he did with Ashley, unless Victoria wants to take a walk on the wild side. Hey, wouldn't that be interesting? Victoria really needs something or someone to loosen her up. Ravi may just be what she needs --and Victoria is closer to his age. Or maybe J.T.'s upcoming return will be the cure for what ails her -- Victor-itis.

Nikki, Nick, and Chelsea seem to have found a new cause with their fight to stop Chancellor Park from being turned into a bunch of condos. And somehow, this put Nikki right into Kevin's path, which meant that we got at least one more time to see him before he moves on again to Oregon. Nikki realized that Kevin must have been the one who had emptied Nick's accounts and also hacked into Nikki's email and cell phone accounts. I am glad the writers are giving Kevin's ties to Victor in these schemes some closure. Oh, yes, Nikki, Victor definitely had "some juicy leverage" on Kevin; however it's unlikely that Kevin and Chloe will return to Genoa City anytime in the near future, now that Greg Rikaart has moved on to Days of our Lives. But Nikki needed to know that Victor had his new sidekick Kevin "do his dirty work" in both cases.

Why on earth did Scott move in with Sharon, knowing full well that he was still very much attracted to Abby? And Sharon thought her biggest threat for keeping her man at her side was the New York City interview. Just think...if Scott had decided to interview for the job, he could have hitched a ride with Billy and Phyllis on the Jabot jet. Talk about going to a job interview in style. But actually, Scott wanted to stay in Genoa City to be near his lady's side. How sweet. But which lady? Sharon didn't even have a clue about the danger lurking nearby, since Abby and Scott could barely resist each other whenever they were in the same room.

Scott almost seemed to be trying to deny his feelings for Abby, even as he admitted that there was chemistry between them. It's true that opposites attract, but it's not good if he can't face and deal with the attraction honestly and openly, especially since he was hiding it all from Sharon. And Scott sure has no right to be jealous of the relationship between Sharon and Nick. Sharon would be the first one to admit that Nick was no "paragon of virtue," which was why the two exes were just friends. However, Scott was being pretentious and self-righteous when he poo-pooed Nick's mission of tackling the company whose goal was to plow over Katherine's legacy. The worldly Scott really did come off as thinking the cause was too boring and small for his journalist skills and talent. Or because Scott had trouble being alone with Abby, maybe he was afraid that Sharon still swooned whenever Nick was around. Being rude to Nick sure won't help Scott score any points with Sharon though.

But once Scott realized he was being a jerk, he secretly passed along to Sharon that Victor owned the company behind replacing Chancellor Park with the condos. And that information had Nick hot on his dad's trail and preparing again for another Newman feud -- until Christian's injury distracted Nick. At the hospital, he pointed out to Chelsea that she would be the only mother that Christian would ever remember. Nick then insisted that he would never dream of replacing Adam as Connor's dad and noted that the cousins were growing up as brothers -- well, except, of course, they really were brothers. Poor Nick had no idea that he had already replaced Adam as Christian's dad. But both Chelsea and Victor know the truth, so Chelsea should realize that Victor could use that as ammunition to conquer Nick in his attempt to prevent the condos from becoming a reality. Nick may be ready for a fight, but it's Victor who has all the weapons.

Peter Bergman and Marla Adams have been knocking it out of the park with their portrayals of a son trying to help his mother as she battles her way through Alzheimer's disease. Jack knows that this could be the last Christmas Dina will ever remember, so he wants to make it as special as possible. However, because of Dina's "sudden mood changes, the verbal abuse" and "the random disorientation," that task is proving to be difficult for her son. Jack was very informative to Nikki and to the viewers when he explained that Dina suffered from sundown syndrome, a symptom of Alzheimer's when things get worse for the person after dark. I mean, Dina couldn't even remember that she had stabbed Nikki with a knife.

But good for Dina for not accepting Nikki's apology, which was only given to her out of pity. I don't blame Dina. Nikki and Dina had been adversaries for years. I can't think of a bigger defeat than being pitied by your archenemy. For Dina, that must have been a bigger shame for her than having to suffer with the effects of the disease.

What happened to Hilary's vow to clean up The Hilary Hour so that she could promote the power of women throughout the community? The show was on for, what, five minutes before she started first to trash the former relationship between Devon and Mariah and then to announce in dramatic fashion that Tessa had been arrested like a common criminal. Well, Hilary got the scoop she wanted, all for ratings gold. I don't get why Devon was so surprised, though. Of course, Hilary was right back to slinging mud.

Devon really needs to keep his heart protected when it comes to Hilary. He constantly tries to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she disappoints him every time. She just doesn't have the capability to dig herself out and be squeaky clean. Hilary's priority will always be about the ratings of her show, even at the expense of everyone else, including Devon.

Even though Devon decided to give Hilary the chance to redeem herself, and he let Hilary have Tessa on her show, hopefully he won't be taken in again by the vixen's lovely charms. Hilary just can't help herself. She can talk, talk, talk about protecting the rights of the female persuasion and shout out "Women Power" to anyone within the range of her voice off-camera, but once she is on the air, all bets are off. Hilary will still do anything to get her bees a-buzzing, and that includes throwing anyone under the bus, no matter how near and dear the person supposedly is to her heart. And that's because Hilary will always come first for Hilary. Even if she thought baby Sam was "the cutest little thing ever," Hilary really didn't need to have children. But seriously, could she be any worse than Billy and Victoria, who seem to have forgotten theirs even exist?

If Jack has his way, Hilary will have no choice other than to clean up The Hilary Hour. I could almost picture Devon smiling ear to ear when Jack declared that as one of his conditions for Jabot to sponsor Hilary's show. And Devon would probably give Jack a big thumbs-up, too. But first Jack had to get past Ashley, who wasn't letting Jabot's sponsorship be a done deal. Ooh, that spat between Jack and Ashley got nasty.

Jack has always thought of Ashley as his sister, so it was tough to hear him point out to her that John was not her father. Jack was indeed "a sad shadow" of his father at that moment. But the stress of Dina's disease was wearing on them all. Come on! Dina believed she could protect John's legacy by holding onto the test tubes in the lab. That had to be hard for them to see.

When the stress proved to be too much for Jack, he left for an out-of-town meeting and left Ashley to care for their mother. Plus, as Abby mentioned, it gave Ashley and Dina time to reconnect, and at first, they had a fun time together. Dina spoke of her fond memories of Ashley growing up, and they really took the time to enjoy each other's company. It was so sweet and appeared almost too good to be true -- which it was, because once they got home, Ashley got a sample of what Jack had been dealing with when Dina forgot everything about the time she and Ashley had just spent together. Sadly again, sundown syndrome triumphed.

Alzheimer's disease is just so unforgiving and sad for everyone dealing with it. And it is not selective about the person it afflicts, nor does it go by the individual's qualities. The symptoms spread far and wide to include all the loved ones of the person, since each one has no idea what to expect next. Ashley quickly learned the horrible reality of the disease in only one day with Dina. She and Jack need to unite together and do what's best for their mother in what will be a tough journey for them, for Dina, and for the rest of the family.

What? Does everyone in Genoa City besides Nick pay someone to decorate their house and tree during Christmas? All of the decorations looked professionally done, and one residence almost looked like all the others. It was rather alarming. I tend to disagree with Noah. To me, Nick's skimpy ornaments and trinkets on his Christmas tree gave off a much more warm and fuzzy feeling than the impersonal decorations at the other locations. For years, I was able to share with my family the joy and the love of placing our decorations, some even handmade, on our own Christmas tree. And shouldn't those special experiences be what Christmas is all about?

After seeing Hilary all dressed in a green teddy covered with a yellow jacket, the latest fad must be wearing lacy lingerie covered with an outer garment. I have to admit that it worked on her though.

When Sharon asked her daughter about her day, Mariah stated, "Just another live show with a narcissist who thinks everyone in the world is a puppet, and if she can get ratings out of it, she pulls the strings just so." That describes Hilary to a T.

It was clear that Dina was not suffering the effects of Alzheimer's and was very coherent when she called Hilary "a loudmouth, social climbing bitch." Oh, no, Dina was just telling it like it was.

It was only fitting that Billy bought one end of a racehorse, because we all know that it would have to be the rear end. After all, he's been quite the ass for the last couple of years.

Until next time, please stay tuned.Teddi

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