Olivia Plath has revealed very little about her family on Welcome to Plathville. However, she has shared that she and her husband, Ethan Plath, come from very similar backgrounds. Watching the Plath family's life unfold onscreen has left many viewers wondering how Olivia's childhood compared to Ethan's restrictive and sheltered upbringing. Now the question has finally been answered by no one other than Olivia's younger sister, Lydia Meggs.
In an interview with realiteasquad on YouTube, Lydia went into great detail regarding her history with the Plath family. The Plath family and the Meggs family is large, and it gave the children an opportunity to get to know one another quite well. In the interview, Lydia was asked how her childhood compared to the Plaths controversial lifestyle on Welcome to Plathville. She responded by saying that it was very similar regarding what they were exposed to, but their families are very different in a multitude of ways.
Strict Rules
When Welcome to Plathville first aired, it focused on the Plath family's conservative lifestyle. Kim and Barry Plath were proud to raise their children in such a way that they wouldn't be negatively influenced by technology, entertainment, and most surprisingly, sugar. While the Meggs didn't have any limitations on their sugar intake, Lydia did say that almost everything else was restricted in her home, just as it was for the Plath kids on Welcome to Plathville. She explained in the interview how their families compared when it came to sheltering them from reality, "No Disney, no tv, no social media, no cell phones, stuff like that. No pants, but the Plaths were allowed to wear pants, they just preferred dressing with dresses.”
Homeschool Education
Kim and Barry have been repeatedly criticized and accused of under-educating their children on Welcome to Plathville. Instead of following a guided homeschool curriculum, Kim felt it was more important to let the kids pursue their dreams and passions. Lydia says her mother, Karen Meggs, oppositely approached their homeschooling, describing their education as very rigid. She shared how her homeschool education differed from the Plaths, stating, "It was very different. I will say in my community my family was very much of a sore thumb because most people were like the Plaths, they were farmers. That’s where you will find a lot of homeschoolers is farms, and they believe that they’re going to get their education by working on the farm, and they don’t believe that you need books for an education."
Religion
Now that Kim is changing her ways and no longer following her morally righteous rules on Welcome to Plathville, viewers have wondered if her Christian fundamentalist views were just a sham. In contrast, Lydia's parents always took everything back to the Bible, and all of their decisions were based on their faith and religion. According to Lydia, the Plaths were not religious, although they dressed like it. She further explained, "The Plaths were not really religious, and if they were, we never saw it. We would spend weeks with them." She feels that is the reason the Plath kids can work through issues with their parents because religion isn't driving them apart.
Lydia says that the Plath family has changed a lot since she last knew them prior to Welcome to Plathville. She said she doesn't want to seek a friendship with them, not because she doesn't like them as people but because they have gone in completely different directions in life. She further explained that it is hard to know if people want to be friends with someone when they don't really know who they are.
Source: realiteasquad/YouTube