Britney Doesn't Know How to Care for Her Kids

Us magazine takes the Britney craze up a notch - and again, I find my power of imagination defeated by reality in the neverending Popwreck saga. This time, it's no more secret lovers, midnight romps in the pool with college students or drugs and alcohol, but an account on how the Britney madness is affecting her boys, under the heading "Britney's Darkest Hour". And while for about two years now Britney's darkest hour has been going on and on, this time, the focus is exclusively centered on the pop singer's kids.

Us claims that Britney's streak of troubles involving a nosediving career, a raging custody battle and a streak of disasters involving her image are having a negative impact on her children, Jayden, 1, and Sean Preston, 2. They quote a friend of Kevin Federline's who claims that "dealing with the kids after they come back from Britney's is really hard on Kevin. It takes him three days to get them back on any type of schedule".

This for once sounds true. However, no one can accuse Britney of not loving her kids and not giving a damn about them - but as one of her friends explains, being a parent involves more than just inborn instincts and impulses, it's also about education and knowing how to handle parenting. And while Britney has obviously been fighting hard to keep shared custody of her two sons, it sounds like she may need a little help figuring what to do once she managed to keep it.

"She loves her children so much" a family source is quoted as saying about Brit Brit, "but it's like she's never been taught how to properly take care of them." Even when she holds her kids on her lap, says this friend, that maternal bond seems to be missing. "She looks lifeless. It's like she doesn't understand the impact of being a mother".

And while this may actually make some sense in what concerns the pop tart's past and present exploits, the melodramatic way in which it's pictured - plus the sweet but disoriented-looking toddler on the cover that holds a recap of Brit's disastrous past week - will definitely not help boost the morale of the former pop diva. We only hope it will serve as a very loud, long overdue alarm bell - and maybe make her snap back to life and take matters seriously into consideration. But I wouldn't hold my breath on it. After all, this is Britney we're talking about.