Welcome to Plathville: Lydia Plath Gains Independence

The Welcome to Plathville family lived on a farm in rural Georgia during the show’s first season. Kim and Barry Plath had nine children and raised them in a very sheltered lifestyle. They limited their children’s access to technology and the outside world.

Their oldest son and daughter both married and moved away. Fans watched as the next two, Moriah and Micah Plath rebelled against their parents. And their limited lifestyle. But Lydia seemed to love it. And Lydia Plath got caught in the middle because she could see “both sides” of the family conflict.

When the second season began, both Moriah Plath and Micah had moved away. So, Lydia is the oldest daughter still living at home in the Welcome to Plathville house.

But even before her older brothers and sister moved out, Lydia was responsible for most of the household chores. She did all the cooking for the family of eleven. And Lydia also did most of the cleaning. Even though there were plenty of other people who could help, the rest of the clan was happy to leave it all to Lydia.

Welcome to Plathville: Lydia Plath Gains Independence

Lydia seemed to have grown a lot between the first and second seasons of Welcome to Plathville. While still in the midst of the family separation, she did her best to maintain good relationships with her ousted siblings. And Lydia even convinced her parents to let her spend an evening at Moriah’s house.

Moriah and Lydia talked about boys and Lydia admitted that she was in love. But that she didn’t want her parents to know. Fans were happy to see that she had taken on a life of her own.

Then Lydia Plath asked her Welcome to Plathville parents if she could get a cell phone. Kim and her husband Barry Plath were skeptical about why she needed one. They didn’t want her to have free access to the Internet. And they felt that some of the older siblings were a bad influence. But she persisted and said she wanted to be able to call and text Micah and Moriah. And that maybe she could help fix the rift with the older kids. Kim Plath said a basic phone without Internet capabilities might be just the thing.