The controversy over parenting while stoned rages on. Does smoking pot make you a more engaged parent -- and does it make the tedious tasks of parenting way more fun? Or is parenting while high just too dangerous? I know Mary Jane works differently on different people. But just speaking for myself, I've got to side with a writer who recently said, "Hey Pot Smokers, Your Kids Know You're Stoned." That stuff doesn't make me feel more mellow and engaged. It makes me kind of crazy. And I'm not even paranoid. (OR AM I.)

Here's how you can tell when someone's parenting while stoned, and not just tired.

Talk about mom brain. A mother in Atlanta was ticketed by police after she stepped into the street and was "bumped" by an oncoming car -- all while she was carrying her 2-year-old child. The two were rushed to the hospital but were released uninjured. The mother was then ticketed for being in the road with her toddler. She says she was chasing after a bus and had only stepped into the street. Should she have been ticketed for clearly having a mom moment?

Last week on a road trip to Disney, I was digging through the contents of the arm rest compartment for some tissues when I realized the old maxi pad that had somehow gotten stuck to my hand would have to do the trick. Plus it had wings, which made for an easy clean-up.

I looked at my mother and said, "We need to invent some kind of portable tool that has all the necessary mommy accoutrements to tackle any parenting task."

Because this was a long road trip and we were two slap-happy adults listening to a Bratz movie for the fourth time, we made a list of all the things said contraption would need.

So here are the fruits of our brainstorm. I give you ... the Swiss Mommy Knife.

You're all ready for date night. Your nails are painted, your outfit picked out, reservations made, and you can't wait to get out with your spouse and relax without filling one single sippy cup for a few hours. Then you hear the dreaded words, "Mommy, I'm going to be sick" ... and just like that, you're stuck at home cleaning up puke with those freshly manicured hands.

Sigh. It happens; it's part of parenthood that we all just have to accept from time to time. But what about your babysitter? Do you pay her (or him) anyway? The question was recently raised in a New York Times column, and I was surprised by how many people who said they don't or won't.

A preschool in California is in hot water after a teacher allegedly tied up a 2-year-old girl for refusing to take a nap. The little girl's mom found out thanks to a photo the teacher took that was being passed around a gathering of current and former teachers, and you can just imagine the look on her face when she saw her toddler's wrists and ankles bound with masking tape!

Cops are investigating, so it looks like this teacher's disturbing nap strategies will be dealt with. But while we're on the subject, why is a daycare worker trying to FORCE a child to nap anyway?

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a whole army to raise a special needs child. As any parent of a special needs child will tell you, there's just no way you can do it all on your own. You need a complex web of support. In fact, that web can be so complex, one mom of a special needs child actually sat down and diagrammed it all out for her family.

Cristin Lind posted "Gabe's Care Map" on her blog, Durga's Toolbox. And it's mind-boggling. Her son, Gabe, has a rare genetic disorder called Coffin-Lowry syndrome. And as you can see just from a glance at his care map, making sure Gabe gets the care he needs is one monumentally chaotic task.

Have you ever found yourself exhausted because your little one kept waking up during the night or took forever to fall asleep? Or have you seen firsthand what lack of sleep looks like on a 4-year-old who can’t fall asleep before she passes out from sheer exhaustion at 11 p.m. only to wake up three more times before her official wake time at 7 a.m.? Have you ever been the parent driving around all over town at all hours of the night to get your toddler to sleep?

I have to admit I hit the jackpot in the babysitter lottery when I found mine. This June we'll mark three years since she first started out as a mother's helper, and she's now more member of the family then "kid I pay to keep my kid out of my hair." There's only one problem.

I think my kid loves the babysitter too much. Now, I know what you're thinking. I'm one of those mothers who just can't bear to share her kid with someone else. Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not it at all.