While one should never base their parenting style on a celebrity mom or dad, sometimes a famous parent does something so clever you wonder why you didn't think of it first. That "a-ha" parenting moment goes to Brad Pitt and Angelia Jolie today, when I read how they protect their kids from the craziness of the Internet.

After all, if I were a celebrity mom, I would be terrified that my kids would read all kinds of horrible (true or not) stories about me. Since you no longer have to go to the library and look at the microfiche, it's easier and easier for kids to get the dirt on you, or anyone else for that matter. Let's just assume if you have six curious kids, it's going to be all the more difficult to hide things from those tots. Which is why I think Brangelina are admirable for even trying to keep Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne from ever reading this blog post.

Some people feel better when passing judgment about someone else’s parenting by prefacing their comments with little disclaimers like “it’s not the decision I’d make for my kids” and other euphemisms to assure whoever they’re talking to that they’re not looking down the long nose of snootiness. Not me.

We have different ways of bringing our youngins up, and surely I don’t have even a quarter of the answers. Heck, I needed a cheat sheet for the ones I have come up with. That doesn’t mean I don’t formulate my opinions on good parenting versus bad parenting by some of the things I see other moms and dads do.

We all make mistakes — even, alas, with our precious offspring. But there are just some circumstances that are so cut and dry that it’s impossible for me to give parents a break or craft a mental excuse on their behalf. Not that they’re asking for one. But in these cases, they probably should:

If your family is like mine, most weekday mornings are a frenzy of activities as lunches are packed, homework is searched for, and socks are hunted down. While we always manage to get breakfast on the table, it's usually about how quickly we can get it there. Let's just say my toaster oven and microwave see most of the action during the week.

The weekends, however, are another story. Things slow down; we lounge in pajamas, and I have the luxury of serving up something a little more substantial that everyone loves. In my house that means pancakes. I love having one day designated to a fun breakfast that everyone looks forward to. But as wonderful as it is, it's also great to change things up. That doesn't mean parting with the pancakes, it just means pepping up the tradition a bit. Here are five ways to do just that on those slower Saturday mornings.

I don't know about you, but I wasn't the most motivated 16-year-old in the world. Don't get me wrong; I wanted to get into a good college and pass my driving test and all of that, but would it have crossed my mind to spend nearly two years sailing around the world? All by myself?

Nah, not so much.

Basically, I wasn't a visionary like Laura Dekker of the Netherlands. Now 16, she set sail from the Caribbean island of St. Maarten in 2010 with the goal of being the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe. Impressive, no? And she's almost done!

Of course, quite a few people found Dekker's goal foolish, not impressive. Her father was not one of those people, however, and he stood up for his daughter's dream even when Dutch authorities threatened to charge him with truancy for letting Laura miss so much school.

I hope I'm half as brave as Laura's dad when my kids are her age ...

Girl Scout Cookies: Seems like people either love 'em or hate 'em. As a mom, my issue with Thin Mints and Tagalongs and Trefoils (you know, the boring shortbread ones nobody ever wants) has nothing to do with the way they taste or the hydrogenated fat content.

It has everything to do with what a pain in the Samoa it is to sell the $%#^&*@ things.

See, my daughter used to be a Girl Scout. Actually, now that I think about it, she used to be a Brownie, but the distinction is irrelevant right now because Brownies, in case you didn't know, are required to sell Girl Scout Cookies too.

Actually, to be more precise, Brownie moms are required to sell Girl Scout Cookies too.

I'm giving it to you straight, ladies. Just in case this is your daughter's first year dealing Do-si-dos. Because nobody's gonna come right out and tell you unloading those biscuits is your job ... 

But it is. It is your job! And I'd hate to see you make the same cookie-peddling mistakes I made.

Starting at age 8, my parents began to give me an allowance. I can't tell you how much they gave me every week and I don't know what I did with it -- I only remember that I got my allowance faithfully every Friday.

Each week, I gleefully waited for Friday (in part because it meant no more school for two! whole! days!) and pounced upon my father the minute he got home to give me my allowance.

It was, perhaps, the smartest thing my parents ever did. Which is why I will happily be giving each of my children (yes, even the 3-year-old) an allowance in the New Year.

When you have a child, people tell you that becoming a parent will change you. I'd always thought they meant I'd become more tired and cranky. (Mission accomplished!) But what took me by surprise is how many things I used to hate -- or at least dislike -- that I came to love. Like kids' music and robots and pirates.

Forget about shaping your child. Your child shapes you. Goodbye, grown-up vacations in foreign cities, touring museums and lingering in cafes. Now we're chasing manta rays and sharks in Florida -- a place I had absolutely ZERO interest in before I became a parent. I'm adding that to the list of things I used to dislike but learned to love in 2011.

We all know television isn't good for kids. That's a given. But most of us -- including me -- do allow our children to watch television from time to time. We need the break, they need the distraction, and the television makes a handy compromise.

Reports claim that up to two-thirds of children age eight and older have televisions in their bedroom.

I may be the laziest parent on the planet, but I will never, ever allow my child to have a television in their bedroom.