Britney Spears was advised to attend a custody hearing today or risk not even having meager visitation rights with her children until April, and of course she didn’t go since someone told her to. This means that she probably won’t see her boys at least for three months, at which point the court case to determine the permanent custody agreement between Britney and K-Fed will proceed. She probably won’t show up for that, either.

We saw my in-laws this weekend after just two weeks away and they were commenting on how much my three year old son has changed in that brief period of time. Britney’s boys will grow a lot in three months and they may not even recognize her after that time; they’re just 28 and 16 months old.

Star Magazine reported this week that Britney wanted Jayden with her and refused to give him up because he had bruises and she feared that he had been abused by K-Fed. Other outlets were saying she was using her deposition earlier in the day, to which she was late and only spent 15 minutes there, as an excuse for keeping her children longer and that’s why she stubbornly refused to let them go over to their dad’s.

“She thought that Jayden was being abused and she reacted by not wanting to return him to Kevin,” says the confidant. Britney first feared for her son’s welfare when she noticed bruises on Jayden’s legs, says another friend, who adds that her worries are groundless. “She said his legs were covered in bruises,” explains the pal. “The thing is, he is learning to walk, so it’s not that surprising. But Britney thought he was being abused.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, January 21, 2008]

It sounds like Britney’s “friends” are spinning tales for her. Britney is also said to be popping pills, taking prescription drugs like candy, and to have stayed up for days before she flipped out.

In contrast to Star’s story, The National Enquirer says cops feared she’d drowned Jayden when he stopped crying and that she said “I’ll kill the kids! I want them with me. I want to protect my babies.”

The Enquirer claims that contrary to reports that Britney’s drug test was clean she had methamphetamine in her system along with Adderal and Prozac.

Given Britney’s behavior around her sons it’s best for their heath and emotional well being that they don’t see their mom until – or if – she’s able to get her act together. It’s still sad though, and although you can’t imagine her being capable of hurting them you have to recognize her actions as dangerous. If she can’t show up to defend herself and if she’s a threat to her children like that she’s not fit to see them.

Update: Britney showed up, and it seems like she’s at least several hours late since it’s already the afternoon in LA and K-Fed came first thing that morning. She was not required to attend, so since she had no set time at least she showed up. TMZ reports that the hearing should go until tomorrow so we probably won’t hear a verdict until then, but with this case anything is possible.

Update: TMZ reports: “Britney Spears was a wreck after trying to get out of her SUV at the L.A. County Courthouse. She bailed and is headed home. As she got out of the car, she screamed at photogs, “Move back. I’m scared. Stop it. Stop it. I want to get back in the car. Just stop it. Let me get in the car, please.” But the plot thickens. A law enforcement source tells TMZ she may be coming back to the courthouse at 3:30 PM PT. We have not confirmed this, but if it’s true, we will go live with streaming video. Promise!”

At 2:00 p.m. PST Britney was eating lunch at the Gaucho Grill on Ventura Boulevard.

Britney is shown out driving with her boys and the court-appointed monitor on 11/15/07, thanks to WENN.