I haven’t been watching Teen Mom this season, but I saw the second season and Farrah Abraham, 20, is one of the more troubled moms. Farrah has a difficult relationship with her mother, Debra, who has been abusive to her and was arrested for assault. Farrah is also a neglectful mom to her two year-old daughter, Sophia. On the show we saw little Sophia fall off a bed when Farrah left her alone, and turn on the hot water and burn herself when Farrah left her unattended in the sink.

Some of you have commented that Farrah is disrespectful to her mom and that they have a mutually dysfunctional relationship, which is true. However, Farrah is just 20 and was only a teenager when the show was filmed while Debra is a nasty mean adult. We can safely assume Farrah’s mom has been treating her terribly for years, probably since she was a little girl. Debra does seem to love her granddaughter Sophia, though, and is sweet and loving to her while openly snubbing Farrah.

This is all background to this story that Farrah is going to school in Florida and left her daughter Sophia in Debra’s care. I don’t give a whit about Farrah or her mom, but this is sad for Sophia. It’s good that Farrah is getting an education, but she makes over $250k a year on Teen Mom. She can afford childcare, no matter what fiction they’re trying to spin on that show. It’s clear from what she tells Life & Style that she just wants her freedom.

Farrah… made the decision to turn Sophia over to the care of her mother… In fact, while Farrah’s been attending school in Fort Lauderdale for the past few months, the vulnerable toddler has been 1,600 miles away, living with Debra in Council Bluffs, Iowa. For now, Debra has become Sophia’s primary caregiver.

Farrah frames her choice (revealed on the Sept. 20 finale) as the right one for her and Sophia. What the child needs, she insists, is a stable home life, not a single mom buried in homework. “My mom is the best grandma,” Farrah tells Life & Style. “I want her to be there for Sophia when I need to take care of my responsibilities, my education, and earning and income for both of us.”

[From Life & Style, print edition, September 26, 2011]

Meanwhile Farrah isn’t just hunkering down studying in Florida, of course. As Life & Style reports she’s been “dating, showing off her bikini body [ed note: and new boobs] and making new friends.” She also went to NY fashion week and bought herself a new puppy in May. This really pissed me off! She left her daughter with her mother and got herself a freaking dog! She also tells Life & Style “I’ve been trying to grow personally and emotionally. I’m very much taking time to get back to myself and enjoy my freedom… I don’t want to limit myself or Sophia.”

Farrah wants to party and not have a little kid to take care of. She can walk a dog a couple times a day, but she doesn’t have the emotional maturity to care for a child. That was abundantly clear on Teen Mom. I doubt Debra has it either, although she probably pays more attention to Sophia.

These photos are from April. Credit: Fame