Tragedy, Triumph and Scandal: Top Parenting Stories of 2012

20 children and 6 teachers, shot dead in their elementary school. 20 parents grieving the loss of 6 and 7-year-olds. It is unfathomable. The tragedy has ignited an outpouring of grief from around the globe.
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The story horrified parents everywhere. Yoselyn Ortega, 50, stabbed to death the two little children left in her care. After killing Lucia and Leo Krim, Ortega waited for their mother to arrive home and then began stabbing herself. She survived and now faces charges of murder.
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On January 7 Beyoncé and Jay-Z welcomed their first child, daughter Blue Ivy Carter, to the world. Within hours of the announcement the baby girl was already a top trending topic on the web.
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If you aren't skinny as hell and still breastfeeding your toddler, you aren't mom enough. At least that's what the provocative cover story of Time, called Are You Mom Enough? implies. The cover, which seemed purposely divisive, was in connection with an article on attachment parenting guru, William Sears.
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In a move that other companies would do well to imitate, Target used, Ryan, a boy with Down syndrome, in an ad. Not only that, but they didn't make a big deal about it. No press release, nothing. The boy is just another kid in the ad. Awesome.
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Oh my. Who doesn't remember the first time they saw a photo of Patricia Krentcil AKA Tan Mom. Prosecutors charged her with child endangerment for allegedly allowing her daughter, 6, to get a sunburn at a tanning salon in April. And yet I don't even know that trying to tan her daughter is the most eyebrow-raising thing about this case... I mean, did you see the photo of her?
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In a pretty crappy example of parenting, if you ask me, Dara-Lynn Weiss forced her 7-year-old daughter to lose weight and then wrote a horrible article in Vogue which basically amounts to fat-shaming her daughter in the world-famous magazine. Weiss detailed how she once threw her daughter's hot chocolate in the trash because a Starbucks barista didn't report the correct calorie count and how she freaked out when a parent offered her daughter a salad. The article is a self-absorbed, narcissistic rant from a "socialite" who seemingly shouldn't be raising a daughter.
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Honey Boo Boo, 7-year-old Alana Thompson formerly of Toddlers & Tiaras, exploded onto the scene in 2012 and quickly became a household name. She's popular, yes, but as the world got to know Alana Thompson's entire family, questions arose. There are hundreds of articles online debating the parenting skills, or lack thereof, of Mama June Shannon. Some people were alarmed she has children and others tout her as a loving mother. What do you think?
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It might be one of the most viral parenting-related photos of the year. A woman was snapped potty-training her twins AT THE TABLE of a Utah restaurant.
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After nearly 30 years of being Elmo, puppeteer Kevin Clash resigned from “Sesame Street” amid allegations he sexually abused underage boys.
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2012 was a big year for Sesame Street. Forget President Obama and Mitt Romney, Big Bird was the star of the first presidential debate in Denver after Romney said he would cut public funding for PBS.
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It's almost like she's the first person to expect a child. At least that's what you'd think after watching all the coverage of the news that Prince William and Kate Middleton are expecting their first child. I can't imagine what coverage of the birth in 2013 will be like. Yeesh.
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Hey, American Moms: YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. At least that's what author Pamela Druckerman implies in her popular book, Bringing Up Bébé. The book hit shelves this year. Druckerman, an American living in Paris, compared the differences between American and French parents and says Americans are raising spoiled brats who are picky eaters and bad sleepers. She touts the French way which is basically to not cater to children and treat them like little adults.
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In February Tommy Jordan's teenaged daughter wrote a snotty post about her parents on Facebook. His response? An angry video during which he reprimands her and shoots up her computer. Some hailed him a hero and others called him unhinged. Me? I'm still crushing on him.
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Another dad made headlines for his touching tribute to his son. Nils Pickert's 5 year old son likes wearing dresses. So Nil sports one too and wrote about the experience for a German feminist magazine called Emma. A week later the story was translated to English and went viral
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Hey, Moms! You can't have it all. Feminism is a load of crap. At least that's what Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote in her controversial Atlantic article called Why Women Still Can't Have it All. Slaughter, who once worked for Hilary Clinton as the director of policy planning for the State Department, argued that it's impossible to balance a career and motherhood and blamed feminism for telling women they could. What do you think? Is she right?
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News of ex-Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky's arrest shocked the country and forced parents everywhere to take a hard look at who their children spend time with. Sandusky was ultimately convicted of 45 counts related to the sexual abuse of young boys.
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2012 was the year of the creative pregnancy videos. To date nearly 10 million people have watched the video called "Introducing" featuring a couple's pregnancy and their take on the birth of their daughter.
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Kerri Walsh Jennings took home a gold at the London Olympics for volleyball. Oh and hey. She was pregnant. 5 weeks along with her third kid. Are you seeing those abs? Daaayumn.
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