Teresa Strasser by Teresa Strasser

The thing about the now infamous over-tanned mom accused of taking her toddler to a tanning salon is that she really hogs the bad-mom spotlight. I would call it "limelight," but in her case, it's more of an orange.

She got lots of ink this week, and even Snooki weighed in on the parenting skills of Patricia Krentcil, the 44-year-old from Nutley, N.J., who appeared in court with a shockingly leathery countenance and denied any wrongdoing in response to charges of second-degree child endangerment. They say she made her redheaded daughter bronze herself in a tanning booth.

"That bitch is crazy," said Snooki, when asked to comment on the story.

When Snooki tells you to lay off the tanning, it's like Lindsay Lohan telling you maybe you've had one too many. And when she insults your parenting skills, it gets the media's attention.

But if you are in the mood to judge some obscenely crappy and bizarre parenting, don't let her distract you from Facebook Mom.

Let me warn you, this is about to get creepy. You may long for the sweet, misguided toddler-tanning fiasco that makes for amusing late-night jokes and a kooky New York Post cover. Not that there is anything funny about melanoma or child abuse, but one Mistie Atkinson from Nice, Calif., took poor parenting to a new level.

The 32-year-old woman reached out to her 16-year-old son through Facebook after being estranged since the boy was 1. Sounds sweet so far, right? Reunited through the magic of social media. What mother wouldn't long to see her child after so many years apart? What could possibly go wrong?

Things took a turn when she allegedly instigated a sexual relationship with her long-lost son, some of which was captured on the boy's phone.

Time to change your relationship status on Facebook to "It's complicated." They don't offer "It's illegal," but it is.

Atkinson also is accused of sending nude digital photos to the boy and of exchanging sexually explicit messages with him.

In those messages, police state, the two fantasized about running away together. Speaking of running, I would like to run this by 10,000 therapists so I could understand it better.

The tanning thing, sure, it's crazy and dangerous, but one look at the mom tells you she is working out some issues with her own appearance, tanorexia or whatever might be a more clinical diagnosis. Facebook Mom poses something of a more complex and, let's face it, Greek set of confusing psychological issues. Well, maybe some prison psychiatrist will help her break it down.

Atkinson was charged on March 2 with four felonies, and she pleaded not guilty to all charges. The most affectionate mother of the year is being held in jail on $200,000 bail until trial.

Like I said, tanning your kid, that's bad. But maybe we have to expand our notion of confounding and criminal parental behavior to make room for all kinds.

Teresa Strasser is an Emmy-winning television writer, a two-time Los Angeles Press Club Columnist of the Year and a multimedia personality. She is the author of a new book, "Exploiting My Baby," the rights to which have been optioned by Sony Pictures. To find out more about Teresa Strasser and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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