On Monday night, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James got in his mother’s grill after she got caught up in a skirmish that resulted from James’ involvement in a breakaway dunk attempt by Boston’s Paul Pierce. In some not so nice words, he told his mom to sit down. The video, which is up on You Tube, clearly shows the fallout from James’ mother’s intimate involvement in his career. Clearly they are close, but when LeBron is on the court, he’s got no time for his mom to coach from the sidelines.

The concept of stage moms isn’t anything new. Even back in 1933 the term was prevalent - it was the title of a popular film - Stage Mother. But currently, our nation’s most famous stage mom has to be Dina Lohan. Lohan has been all over the press in the last year for her support of some of her daughter Lindsay’s most ill-thought out choices. The elder Lohan has been supremely influential in her daughter’s success as has LeBron James’ mother. But how beneficial can these symbotic mom-child relationships be? What happens when your job is to promote your kids’ job?

Ms. Lohan is known for her crazy stage mom antics. From her allowing Lindsay to patronize clubs where she is underage her starring role in her own reality TV show, which is supposed to debut this summer. The show, “Living Lohan,” will follow Dina around as she “works double duty as a mom and manager for [her younger daughter] Ali’s blossoming singing and acting career.” As if she doesn’t have enough work managing the foibles of her oldest daughter already.

Worse, though, may be the current crop of reality shows that highlight the agressiveness of moms (and dads) when it comes to getting their kids ahead in show business. On Bravo, I saw about ten minutes of one episode of “Showbiz Moms and Dads” (which profiles the extremes some parents go to to make their kids stars) before I had to turn it off. Then just today, I read about a casting call for a new reality show on MTV called “Teen Dream” billed as “an exciting reality competition series to find America’s next female superstar.” Better yet, the casting call seeks to find “the most talented female singers with the biggest personalities AS WELL as their equally charismatic mothers!”

What? This sounds like the musical Gypsy on some serious steroids.

I have no problem when parents get involved in their kids’ lives. I know that as my son gets older I will aid him and help him to succeed the best I can. But I have a hard time condoning parents who let the lines blur between their jobs as parents and their jobs as managers. It’s hard for anyone to separate work and family, but for stage moms, I think the sidelines need to be drawn more definitively.

What do you think?