Britney Spears & Other Wonderful Mothers
Thursday, October 04, 2007
In a perfect world only people who would make good parents would have children. After getting married perspective parents would turn in a resume and later they would be called in for an interview. A panel of parenting experts would review the information provided and decide whether or not the couple could have a child. After every third child the panel would need be called in for another review, this time they would determine how the couple was dealing with their marriage and with their children.
But it isn't a perfect world and unfortunately there are far too many children being born to unprepared or unqualified parents - or parent. This week Britney Spears was ordered to turn over physical custody of her two little boys to her X, and in spite of having just lost her kids, she chose not to show up today to court for the custody hearing. K-Fed may not be the pinnacle of parenthood either but at least he is keeping his nose clean and trying to act like a father.
Another mother this week strangled and drowned her two toddlers in the bathtub. The autopsies showed that the children suffered as they died. She is claiming that her estranged, abusive husband is to blame because as her aunt put it, "he drove her to it."
And in my own neighborhood, a little 13 year old foster child is pregnant and plans to keep the baby. She wants someone to love her, to make her feel like she has a purpose in life. No baby should come into the world with a job, and certainly not the job of being responsible for its mothers' feelings.
OK, I'm ranting. I admit that when I first became a mother I had an awful lot to learn and I made mistakes along the way. But always present in my mind was the desire to be the best mother I was capable of. Somehow I was aware that every choice I made needed to be for the best interest of my child. I read hundreds of books, went to parenting classes and perhaps most important, I spent my time with my children rather than perusing my own desires.
It will never be a perfect world. But perhaps those of us who are doing our best to put our children first can raise a generation of happy, well balanced kids that will do enough good in the world to balance out those who will be stuck in therapy the for rest of their life.
But it isn't a perfect world and unfortunately there are far too many children being born to unprepared or unqualified parents - or parent. This week Britney Spears was ordered to turn over physical custody of her two little boys to her X, and in spite of having just lost her kids, she chose not to show up today to court for the custody hearing. K-Fed may not be the pinnacle of parenthood either but at least he is keeping his nose clean and trying to act like a father.
Another mother this week strangled and drowned her two toddlers in the bathtub. The autopsies showed that the children suffered as they died. She is claiming that her estranged, abusive husband is to blame because as her aunt put it, "he drove her to it."
And in my own neighborhood, a little 13 year old foster child is pregnant and plans to keep the baby. She wants someone to love her, to make her feel like she has a purpose in life. No baby should come into the world with a job, and certainly not the job of being responsible for its mothers' feelings.
OK, I'm ranting. I admit that when I first became a mother I had an awful lot to learn and I made mistakes along the way. But always present in my mind was the desire to be the best mother I was capable of. Somehow I was aware that every choice I made needed to be for the best interest of my child. I read hundreds of books, went to parenting classes and perhaps most important, I spent my time with my children rather than perusing my own desires.
It will never be a perfect world. But perhaps those of us who are doing our best to put our children first can raise a generation of happy, well balanced kids that will do enough good in the world to balance out those who will be stuck in therapy the for rest of their life.
Labels: Britney Spears, K-Fed, motherhood, parenting