TERRIBLE PARENTS IN DISNEY CARTOONS (AND ELSEWHERE)

Yes, I am THAT soap viewer. The one that can forgive a character pretty much any indiscretion... except bad parenting.

I don't care how upstanding Susan eventually became on ATWT. To me, she was the drunk who let her little Emmy wander out of the house and into some random car. GH's Felicia may be the Lady of Frisco (and Mac's) heart, but she abandoned her kids for years at a time - period, no excuses.

Then there are the soap parents who use their kids to get back at an ex, like Y&R's Nikki telling (then blonde) little Victoria stories about the evil witch who wanted to destroy their family (i.e. Ashley). I'm also less than crazy about parents who give their children up for adoption (legally or not), then insist on getting them back, figuring hey, good thing toddlers don't mind a new name, or a whole new set of parents. (Yes, ATWT's Barbara, I'm looking at you. And GL's Jackie and Justin. And OLTL's Katrina.)

Plus, add a special slot for parents like B&B's Brooke, who pull the ever-popular, "Surprise! So and so isn't your real dad! Here is your real dad! Love him immediately and forget you ever knew the other guy!" She must have picked up the trick from AW's Rachel. (Not to be confused with GH's Carly, who went with, "I don't care who your real dad is, this is the dad I want you to love, so you will love only him!" DOOL's Will and Sonny's fans, however, would prefer the alternative. "Mother? What mother? That baby has no mother. Why do you people continue acting like she does, and might actually have the right to be a part of her child's life?" But that's another rant, for another post, about super-couples and their inconvenient obstacles.)

I will also confess to soap characters I adore, GH's Robert and GL's Holly, for instance, who I still have to admit were pretty crappy parents. (Robert can do all the post-mortem Robin breast-beating and suicide-threatening he wants, let's face it, while she was alive, he just wasn't all that into her. And now, when it comes to Emma, Robin has proven herself to be a chip off the ol' Scorpio block.)

Conversely, while I couldn't stand Gina on SB, I did find her wholehearted devotion to Brandon her sole redeeming feature.

But, just to prove that I'm an equal opportunity judge(r), it's not just soap parents I take exception at. Check out this round up of Terrible Parents From Disney Cartoons (That You Didn't Realize Were Terrible), here.

And then add your own candidate for Crappy Soap Parent in the Comments below!