It was more like an inside look at sheep herding than a sit down interview when Octomom, Nadya Suleman, brought her 2-year-old octuplets and nine-year-old daughter, Amara, to the 'Today' show as Ann Curry attempted to wrangle a few children and some answers from the tabloid sensation mother. Falling over set lights, drawing on desks or hiding behind stage walls, the talk show host and Suleman had their hands full to say the least. At one point, one little one even fell into a stage light as a shocked and concerned Curry began yelling, "No, no, no" before jumping up to help the two-year-old. Later two of the children sprinted from the set before both Curry (who was having difficulty carrying her question cards and a squirming toddler) and Suleman came back to finally get down to business regarding the Octomom's financial situation.
It takes nearly $15,000 per month to support Suleman's 14 children and until recently, the Octomom claims that she was not paid for her appearances or interviews. Hoping to change that, she recently hired a manager to help land paying "odd jobs," including celebrity boxing matches, to contribute to her monthly bills. But Suleman's 'celebrity' gigs come in addition to the income she earns for being a personal trainer -- a job she believes helps her deal with the guilt from involuntarily putting her young children's lives under a microscope. "That's been my way to self-medicate, through exercise," Suleman explained as a way to cope with the death threats she has received and the panic attacks they cause.
Before Suleman landed management representation and her fitness gig, she was forced to lower her standard when it came to making quick cash to support her 14 children as a single mom. Although the Octomom, who bears a striking and controversial resemblance to actress Angelina Jolie, says she cannot linger on regret, she does admit to having made poor choices in her past, including signing on for a fetish video in which she sports bondage gear and cracks a whip on a man wearing a diaper.
"I personally cannot waste my energy fixating on the past and my past choices, regardless if they were good or bad choices ... Learn to grow as a result of your choices, own and accept the responsibility of your choices and look forward because if you look back, what are you going to do, stab me? You're just going to stab me forever and grow old."
But her past gigs, although some may lack a moral code, have helped Suleman keep her head above tough financial waters or worse -- according to Suleman -- going on public aid.
"I've never in my life been on [public assistance], and I never would," she told Curry. "I would feel like a failure as a mother and as a human being."
We get that Suleman refuses to go on public assistance but what about some private aid? Although she told Curry that the reason why her little ones were so rambunctious during the live interview was that they only had two hours of sleep during their travels to the New York interview, we can't imagine how Suleman is able to take care of 14 children on a daily basis.
"I'm so happy I don't have nannies," she said. "It's harder, but I feel so much stronger. I forced myself to pull out strengths I never knew I possessed."
The Octomom, who finds time to climb 40 miles/week on a stair climbing machine, starts her day at 5:30 AM and is in the middle of potty training her eight two-and-a-half-year-olds. But Suleman believes it is precisely because of her single status that she gets such a bad rap as a mom.
"If I had a mate, that would have defused a lot of the animosity," she said. "I'm the ultimate societal scapegoat, I believe."
That "animosity" is exactly where Suleman believes a recent In Touch magazine article that claimed she said, "I hate babies. They disgust me. My older kids are animals. I can't discipline them," came from. Suleman divulged that she is considering suing the magazine for slander.
"I think they should retract it because it's all slander," she said. "I love my children. I would do anything for my kids."
With eight toddlers to potty train, we have a feeling that Suleman's lawsuit will be getting more than a little cool on the back burner.
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