I feel sorry for Britney Spears.

Wow. I never in a million years thought I would ever say that. Now, don't get me wrong--she's worth a million bajillion dollars and if she wanted to, would never have to work another day in her life, so I don't feel too sorry for her. I just pity her a little.

Why? Well, because I get the feeling that at 24 years old, she's still really lost inside. She's lived most of her adolescence in the public eye. It's hard enough to live through adolescence with parents, peers and teachers watching you. How hard must it be if you're being watched by the whole world? So yeah...seemingly she's got everything I could ever want: She's rich, she's pretty, people adore her, etc. But I wouldn't trade places with her for all the money and looks in the world.

In my inexpert opinion, and keep in mind I've never met the girl, it was a mistake on Britney's part to marry Kevin Federline. I can almost imagine how she felt at the time. She wanted to prove once and for all that she was an adult. What do adults do? Adults marry. They probably had a wonderful sex life, which most couples do at the beginning, but they didn't take the time to get to know each other enough to really be husband and wife. Marriage is much more than sex; spectacular sex doesn't last forever. Eventually couples lose the wild, passionate sexual spark that may originally bring them together. That's not to say that couples who have been together for years or decades don't have wonderful sex lives. If the relationship has any real foundation, the spark is replaced by something else--something deeper and more fulfilling. I really don't think Britney and Kevin truly and responsibly thought past the passion stage or talked about the things that would someday be more important than sex, such as goals and dreams and life. They just didn't give each other enough time.

Now she's married. Right away, she has a baby. Right after that, they're having marital troubles. Everyone saw it coming. Everyone is filled with laughter and scorn. I'm kind of filled with sadness. I used to be a tremendous Britney-hater but now, although she's still not my favorite person, I've grown up enough to realize that she's just a person, like me, trying to live life the best way she knows how.

I can identify with Britney because for a while, I was struggling to prove my adulthood. I moved in with my boyfriend. I got pregnant, unintentionally. I wanted everything...RIGHT NOW. But somewhere in the midst of all the confusion and difficulty of cohabitating and the heartache of miscarrying, I grew up. I realized that I don't have to rush into getting married (and I shouldn't!!!) and having children to be an adult--because behaving irresponsibly and being foolhardy isn't what adults do. I've become an adult because I've matured. I'm happy. I have dreams and goals...and so does Josh. We have dreams and goals together. I'm not in a rush anymore because I want to do it right, not quickly. And it feels good.

Anyway, I originally started this post with the intention of sharing my opinion of the coverage of Britney as a mom. I've seen publications ridicule her son, who didn't ask to be brought into the world. I've seen publications basically call the woman a bad person and a bad mother (and this was before she made the idiotic mistake of driving with the child in her lap). And now the baby bumped his head, and they're basically calling her a bad mother for that, too. First of all, babies bump there heads. They just do. One head bump isn't enough to call the woman a child abuser. Secondly, he was with his nanny. The woman's sole job is to care for children, and whatever you may think about Britney having a nanny--many wealthy women do, she's no different. I just wish that the media would leave her alone. At this point, she's not promoting, she's not seeking their attention...just let her be. Maybe she can find some time to do a little growing of her own.