US Weekly magazine has a column called “Stars! They’re Just Like Us” – wherein they show celebs pumping their own gas, shopping for groceries and doing the types of daily activities average, everyday folks do. With Jamie Lynn Spears’ – Britney’s li’l sis — recent announcement that she is pregnant at the tender age of 16 following a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noting a surprising rise in U.S. teen birthrates, that axiom is proven once again to be true. Ain’t that something; stars really are just like us!
So when TMZ.com reported this morning that Mama Spears’ book about “raising high-profile children while coming from a low-profile Louisiana community,” has been delayed indefinitely by publishing house Thomas Nelson, it didn’t come as much of a surprise. With Britney’s recent antics and this announcement, people are wondering if her children are high, rather than high-profile.

Sure Brit-Brit is legally an adult and Lynne Spears has very little say in her life; but Jamie Lynn always seemed so level-headed compared to her older sister, successfully starring in her own Nickelodeon show – Zoey 101 – and managing to stay out of the tabloids. With two out of three of her children fumbling toward oblivion, would people want to read a parenting guide from the matriarch of the Spears clan? A tell-all expose, sure.
Secondly, Thomas Nelson is a publisher of inspirational and Christian books and media. Frankly, I was surprised to hear that they were in discussions with Britney’s mother in the first place to pen a tome with Britney’s transformation from virginal teen star to train-wreck. But as noted, Britney is legally an adult and things seemed to have gone well while she was still at home. But a pregnant, unwed sixteen year-old while under mom’s care? Well, I don’t think the fact that Jamie Lynn was impregnated by the boyfriend she met at church will appease the family values-minded publisher.
I hope that they are sincere when they say the book has simply been delayed and it’s not just a euphemism for “killed.” Instead of an inspirational story of unknowns from Kentwood, LA, taking on L.A., I want it to be a cautionary tale, a “how-not-to guide.” Is it unfair of us to judge Lynne Spears’ parenting skills as we witness her children making disastrous decisions? Probably. But it’s hard to believe she passed on many critical thinking skills to her daughters who have both seemingly sabotaged wildly successful careers.
Meanwhile, Papa Jamie Spears is reportedly “furious” with Lynne for selling the story to the magazine and feels “devastated” by his youngest daughter’s pregnancy which, he believes, will ruin her life. What was I saying about Lynne Spears passing on critical thinking skills? Selling the story to a cleb rag? Oy! At least Jamie seems to be learning from prior familial mistakes.
Maybe it was the pressure of early stardom, maybe it was their parent’s divorce. Whatever it was/is, wouldn’t it be great for Lynne to explore those causes in detail and keep others from making the same mistakes; keeping them, and their children, from having to say, “Oops, I did it again?”