Pop culture and kids

I was reading some parenting advice the other day from, of all people, Miley Cyrus.

And, as much as I can't believe I'm writing this, it wasn't bad.

She's quoted in the February issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine as saying she's really not a role model. Well, technically, that tends to come with the fame and some responsibility should be taken there.

I mean anyone with their picture on everything from book bags to my kid's arm - thanks Mom, for the "fun" tattoo kit, by the way - has to at least consider the message she's sending. 

She makes enough money. Perhaps she could pay someone to consider it for her? But still, I have to agree with Miley's following quote:

"My job isn't to tell your kids how to act or how not to act because I'm still figuring that out for myself," she said.

She went on to say that she shouldn't be criticized for some of her behavior - dancing around a pole at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards or posing nearly nude in a photo shoot. She's 17, after all.

"To take that away from me is a bit selfish," she said. "Your kids are going to make mistakes whether I do or not. That's just life."

True. 

I mean, I'd like to blame someone else. But I can't blame Miley for the impromptu haircuts one of my kids gave herself and her baby sister. That'd be like blaming the scissors. Bad scissors!

And despite the similarities to her behavior, I can't blame Miley for the fact that most of my children would rather walk around the house nearly nude.

They never saw Miley's photos or the Teen Choice act. It's merely a good way to show off their tattoos. (Which, by the way Mom, are being sported by the dog, the wall, the floor and a cereal box, for some reason. I drew the line at the fish.)

My kids do like Miley's alter-ego, Hannah Montana, but I think that has more to do with the fact that their cousins are fans than anything else.