as mother to a six-year old girl obsessed with miley cyrus, the most important thing is communication. you can't control MOST of what your children are exposed to these days. i certainly didn't welcome miley cyrus into my home - we're an elvis costello, long winters blasting from kitchen radio kind of family. things come at kids from school, play dates with friends, ads at the beginning of their harmless educational DVDs, strangers sitting on the bus (guy in the red knit hat, i have you to thank for a very LONG discussion of why "suck me" is not something we say ever, to anyone).

to be a good parent is to recognize all of the things against which you're unable to shelter your child (miley cyrus being an especially painful example for me - might be bikini kill for someone else) and to be prepared to discuss, discuss, discuss - when they're five, or ten, or in their teens. talk about the words, the ideas, the context, the rockin' parts and the not so rockin' aspects.

so, yeah. yay bikini kill, boo to mom for not figuring out a more mature way of grappling with a timeless parental dilemma.