Anne Frank's memoir holds up today because, even though she was in a surreal situation, she is a relateable teen girl. Anne's amazing diary has transported teens to that Secret Annex where she was cloistered with Peter's family, and of course, to her tragic end at the hands of the Nazis.

Her writing is so fresh and clear that she becomes your friend, your sister, your cousin. She learns to adapt to her harrowing experiences by being a teen girl -- embarrassments, outbursts, crushes and all.

But a mom in Michigan feels that Anne may have been a little too real, and says that a passage in the newest edition, The Diary of A Young Girl: The Definitive Guide is too "pornographic" for her daughter.

I like to think that my family is a democracy. But my friend Kathy Buckworth says that that is not the best way to run a family: she says that a family should be run like a business. Kathy is a well-known author and writer whose new book I Am So The Boss of You: An 8-step guide to giving your family the "business" is out and has some great tips to gain control of your kids, without losing the love. The book is filled with "a-ha" moments that could help any CEO, or parent. But don't read it while your partner is sleeping because your laughter may wake them. I, obviously, have a lot to learn from Kathy, so I asked her to guest post:

Guest Post: If You Were Really the CEO of Your Family, Would You Get Fired?

Many moms believe themselves to be CEOs of their families. I support this belief 100%, as there are many benefits to running your family like a corporation. The problem is, many Mom CEOs are not really in charge of their families in the same way as a corporate CEO would be in charge of their organization. In fact, it seems to me that a lot of “junior employees” (i.e. children) are in fact setting the direction and overall tone for the family.  And that tone is often a whiny one, resulting in a lack of strategic direction.

I carried the folded, fraying article from the New York Times in my purse for months. Occasionally, I would find it, unfold it and read Emily Rapp's words about parenting her son Ronan.

This is a love story, and like all great love stories, it is a story of loss. Parenting, I’ve come to understand, is about loving my child today. Now. In fact, for any parent, anywhere, that’s all there is.

I have written about Emily Rapp before. But my words do not come close to touching hers. Her elegant contemplation of what it means to have a dying child, to love so completely has stayed with me long after the article disintegrated.

I love Honest Toddler so much that sometimes I go to her Twitter page just to read over her tweets for the day. Her passive-aggressive outbursts make me laugh, and squirm with recognition that toddlers have feelings too. 

If Honest Toddler was in a movie, it would be Baby Geniuses where the two-year-olds know the meaning of life until they "cross over". They pity us grown-ups with our minutiae and focus on unimportant parts of our day, you know like limiting juice and wearing pants.

The voice behind the hilarious and popular Honest Toddler Twitter feed and blog has been a mystery...until now.

[Spoiler Alert!]

Anne of Green Gables is the book for me. I love Anne with an E; her red pigtails getting pulled by future husband Gilbert, her tart tongue and propensity to talk herself into and out of trouble. She is the heroine of my childhood and untouchable.

So, when Today's Parent blogged on a new smutty book cover for my favourite heroine, I was dismayed. How could they turn Anne from a carrot-top into a strawberry blond? Why would they?

In a totally biased, non-scientific way, I have decided on the biggest parenting stories of the year. These aren't the stories that got the most clicks (Jessica Simpson may own that title) but these are the stories that had us talking in the schoolyard and online and are the ones that we may remember in years to come (unlike what's her name.)

Just like last year, we were told that parents from another country were doing it better than us; we ruminated on the impossibility of work-life balance and the shape of motherhood and we mourned the loss of innocence. And if we got it on.

The 2012 Biggest Stories in Chaos: (in no particular order):

I can't imagine my childhood without Free To Be You And Me. I can still recite most of the songs from the album and the purple cover is ingrained in my memory as clearly as my brown gingham bedspread.

It's hard to believe that Free To Be You and Me came out 40 years ago (which makes me the perfect demographic for it's feminist messages). I thought everyone must have soaked in the progressive Free To Be You and Me messages. Imagine my horror when I met people at university who did not know what I was talking about when I mentioned Atalantis or William wants a doll! Let alone the talking babies who needed a diaper change.

I can only hope that all the Fifty Shades of Grey parodies are done. I mean there is a Fifty Shades of Chicken cookbook out there on bookshelves. So I'm going to call it: Fifty Shades of anything has "jumped the shark".

And now could someone please go and tell that to the makers and buyers of these Fifty Shades-inspired onesies and Ts for babies?

I was on the phone trying to get my son in to see the doctor after he hurt his knee. I was trying to concentrate on the issue at hand - swollen knee - but I kept getting distracted by the new receptionist. Her reply to every statement out of my mouth was: "Yes, mum." and "I understand, mum." and "Ok, mum, can you tell me more?"

Was she saying ma'am? No, it was definitely mum. And even though I was calling my son's pediatrician for my son, I found it condescending. I'm not a fill-in-the-blank Mum, I would almost prefer Ma'am. I am a mother, but I am more. Aren't I?

I don't know anyone who truly takes parenting for granted. We all try our best but have occasional lapses in judgment, organization and even rationality. But the one thing that I try hard to hold on to is my sense of how ridiculous and fleeting this whole parenting stint is.

Granted, some mothers on the schoolyard are more invested in being perfect than the rest of us. Some parents get their kids to play piano and practice, do their homework, make their beds and speak politely to their younger siblings. Some parents never let their guard down.

And there is the rest of us.