Like many of you out there, I anticipated and watched the Whitney interview with Oprah last week. Britney Spears story of failure and triumph was pretty intense, but Whitney Houston’s seems to be even more so. She has held the title for best voice of our time and for her to fall from grace the way that she did and to do so publicly makes for a very interesting story.

So during the first half of the interview where she talks about her tumultuous relationship with Bobby Brown and their drug use, she brings up the fact that she took her daughter Bobbi Christina with her to rehab. Hello?? What?? Oprah took a little bit of a step back, but she didn’t seem to raise any other questions around it.

I would like to say that I believe that this is a prime example of what money can buy you. Had this been the daughter of any ordinary citizen, child protective services would have been knocking on the front door, not grandma and the sheriff. Most parents who have known drug problems have family or social services who care for the children during the duration of the parents usage. I believe in Tatum O’neil’s case, the childrens father got custody but being that Bobby Brown was also on drugs there was no case there. Not only did the child experience the drug related issues, but also witnessed physical abuse in the home.

So when there are stories of physical abuse between mother and daughter, suicide attempts or pictures of Bobbi Christina smoking marijuana is there any real surprise? I’d be interested in knowing more about the facility in Atlanta and what their philosophy is on the children staying in rehab with the mother. Or if it’s just an organization built specifically to profit off of the wealthy.

While I’m all for a child to have regular visitation with a parent who is struggling or unable to provide stability in the home, I have to wonder if a child going to rehab with their parent is the brightest idea. In fact, there may be times to relinquish some parenting responsibilities.