by Katie Lee

Created on: August 07, 2007

While I like to give people the benefit of a doubt, I also like to have something substantial to back up my leap, or rather, step of faith. In Nicole Richie's case, there's very little substance to back up her assertions that she has indeed changed and is now, at 25, taking life seriously.

Seems to me that I've heard that claim before. Who was it from? Oh, yes. Nicole's on-again, off-again BFF, Paris Hilton had said almost the exact same thing when she was nabbed for DUI and tossed in jail. Funny how I'm still waiting for her to build that transitional home for incarcerated women. Or is she too busy with her Bible study classes?

What has Nicole done in her life up to now that would convince anyone that she's equipped to deal with the unique challenges presented by motherhood? She's lived an entitled existence as a musician's daughter, she's been on a reality TV show that celebrated irresponsibility, she's abused drugs and alcohol, she's driven under the influence and despite what many of us can see with our own eyes, she's still denying that she has an eating disorder. Worst of all, Nicole is, like many of the 'wild' young celebrities of her generation, narcissistic and her first thought is not of others, but of herself.

And narcissism does not go well with motherhood. Children are demanding. They require a lot of attention and care, especially when they are very young. They are hard work. There are no shortcuts, there are no 'easy-outs.' And Nicole and her ilk seem to live for those shortcuts and easy-outs, because when it comes down to it, it's all about them, and nobody else.

Perhaps I can take a tiny amount of comfort in knowing that she possesses the wealth and resources to employ people that will look out for that child, but then that tiny ray of hope dies when I remember that she did not possess the forethought to hire a driver when she was drugged up.

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