These days, Loren and Alexei Brovarnik are living the chaos of having three under three.
On the Season 2 premiere of Loren & Alexei: After The 90 Days, they’re considering the options for their future.
Will they move to the place where they met, Israel, uprooting their lives and immersing in a different culture?
Not if Loren’s parents have anything to say about it.
On Season 2, Loren Brovarnik and Alexei Brovarnik open up to her parents during a family visit.
They have actually been asking their daughter and their son-in-law to live closer to them, for easier visiting.
And they’re not shy about telling the camera that these two don’t need any more kids any time soon.
But Alexei, despite some reluctance to tell them, admits: “We’re thinking about going to Israel for a little bit.”
Loren’s mother, Marlene, thinks that he is simply referring to the upcoming family vacation.
“We’re going,” she reminds him, seemingly confused. But it’s not that he’s forgotten that she’s tagging along.
Instead, Alexei reveals that they are contemplating immersing their kids in his homeland’s culture.
“Overall, what do you think for the kids to grow in Israel for about five, six years?” Alexei asks.
Loren’s parents react with some very understandable disagreement.
“No, I think it’s awful,” Marlene bluntly tells her son-in-law.
And she doesn’t mince words about the ways that such a long-term move would hurt her.
“Because I’m not going to be part of it for all those years,” she then laments.
Alexei thinks that she doesn’t have the right priorities.
He encourages her to think about what’s best “not for you, for the kids.”
But … those aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive concerns, are they?
Meanwhile, Loren’s dad Bryan speaks up to the confessional camera. He certainly blames Alexei for this idea.
“What man would ask his wife and children to do this?” he demands about his son-in-law.
Marlene chimes in with: “It makes no sense. Do I want to see them go a half a world away? Absolutely not.”
There are many good reasons for Loren’s parents to take issue with what they are considering.
For one thing, many would argue that moving to Israel in 2022 is comparable to moving to South Africa in the ’80s. Choosing to live in and benefit from apartheid is not a great look.
But more importantly, they want to be near their daughter and their three grandchildren. Who, in their shoes, wouldn’t?
We know that more conflict is coming for that family during Season 2, and some of it will get ugly.
But Loren spoke to People about how she wrangles with family conflicts and her parents’ very strong opinions.
Managing it all is “something I’m working on,” she admitted.
“I kind of learned to not take every opinion so close,” Alexei commented.
Loren then interjected: “He’s still working on it.”
It can, of course, be a challenge to resist taking things personally. Especially when it feels so personal.
It sounds like Loren and Alexei haven’t actually taken the plunge to move away from Florida.
In the interview, they said that they “talk about it all the time.” Which sounds like they haven’t done it.
Our guess is that it’s a genuine topic of discussion, but that they haven’t. And probably won’t.