As the parent of a 7-year-old, I am extremely aware of Miley Cyrus and her incredible rise to fame. As someone over the age of forty, I am also well acquainted with her Achy-Breaky dad, Billy Ray. I'm a fan of both and wish nothing but the best for them. However, I've been quietly, and not so quietly, wondering just what the heck is wrong with Billy Ray. It seems that he has forgotten that he is the father of a 15-year-old and not just the co-star and friend of Miley Cyrus.

I've taken a little heat for that opinion, but clearly I am not the only one who thinks Billy Ray Cyrus is falling down on the parenting job. In response to that Vanity Fair photo of Miley wearing nothing but a sheet and a come-hither look, former child-star Marie Osmond lays the blame on dad.

By way of explanation, Billy Ray has said he was present in the beginning of that photo shoot - before the offending photo was taken - but that he had another appointment and had to leave. That, says Osmond, is where he went wrong. "My parents never, never left us alone," she says. "We always had some form of a guardian or something with us, a guardian that would represent what they would have done."

Osmond says she was fortunate to have the best kind of stage mother in Olive Osmond. "She was there for every stage of my life. I think, if your kids are going to be in that kind of business, then you need to make it your business to be there for them and help them figure out, but not necessarily to control them."

Everybody makes mistakes and Billy Ray clearly made one in leaving that photo shoot early. But if a 47-year-old experienced entertainer could make such a mistake, imagine the mistakes a fifteen-year-old will make without someone there to guide her.