Toddlers and Tiaras

Lord have mercy. those were the exact words I uttered when I first heard of this show. What was TLC thinking? Most of all, what were the MOTHERS thinking when they turned their fun-loving, 4-year old daughters into drama queens of the runway? WHY? WHY? WHYYY?! I can't even begin to wrap my head around this. The women parade their daughters around the country like pop stars and check them into hundreds and hundreds of beauty pageants. Not only does this take away the toddler's need to live a normal life; that of a kindergartener, but it puts unbelievable amounts of stress on the child and her mother. I think these people (the mothers, of course) shouldn't be allowed to procreate... and I'm not even exaggerating. It's terrible. Maybe I could forgive some of my hatred if the daughters loved the pageant world, but even on the documentary, the kids didn't like it at all. they cried when they had to attend beauty pageants (to which their mothers chastised them and forced them into the ballrooms) and tried to suck up as many opportunities to live normally as possible. When the mothers (3 of them) stopped at a local car & body shop to repair their minivan, the girls fled the vehicle, took off their heels and piercings, and ran around the shop, joking and gossiping. Can't the mothers take a hint? sheesh. I'm just surprised this hasn't gotten more attention.

top left: this is actually a scene from an episode, one of the countless times when one of the daughters doesn't want to be a beauty performer anymore.