Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise continue to get papped incessantly in New York. They went to a pet store the other day. Suri wanted a puppy. Katie said no. Suri pouted. She ended up wailing on her way out. Good decision on Katie's part. Pet stores support puppy mills.

Anyway, through their divorce drama, it's been reported that it was Tom Cruise who was the indulgent parent and Katie the one who set limits. These pictures would support Katie's position - that in addition to being Courage Mom, the new superhero, she's also all about boundaries for her child, so she doesn't grow up entitled and bratty. In theory. We build them up only to tear them down. I don’t want to tear down Katie Holmes. Not the way she’s playing me. Like the Brange, right now I’m hoarding Katie Holmes stock. But we build them up to tear them down. This is the cycle of pop culture. Katie will ride this high for a while. And then, the inevitable fall will come. What will that look like? And no, this is not a wish. Of course not. But as media students and observers, these are the trends we forecast and prepare for.

As for Tom Cruise, he and son Connor were photographed getting on a private plane leaving the set of Oblivion the other day. They were saying that he’d be seeing Suri as soon as his shoot schedule was open. I’m told however that he and Katie spent some time - through their intermediaries - last week deciding on a “neutral meeting location”. My sources say that Tom is reluctant to do it in New York because he doesn’t want to get caught in Katie’s “hurricane”. That’s apparently what his people are calling it. Katie however doesn’t want to disrupt Suri’s structure. She wants to stay in New York for a stretch to give Suri some stability around her now-permanent home in the city. Tom, as we know, is capable of moving around undercover, super stealth. But there are those who believe that it’s time for Tom to counter Mom of the Year image management with some doting dad action of his own. This battle is not over. These two are competing over *us*.