A Guilty Pleasure

There are many things about myself about which I am not proud.  I am going to confess to one of those things right now.  I enjoy "reality" television.  I don't miss an episode of 'Real Housewives,' 'Little People, Big World,' and a few others.  I don't know why.  I am fully aware that the lives these people lead are not true reality.  It may be their reality, but it's a skewed version of real life.  I am ashamed that I enjoy watching these things.  So, why do I keep tuning in?

One such show I watch is 'Little Miss Perfect.'  It's a show all about children's beauty pageants.  [You may notice I'm entering this post a little ahead of my normal schedule.  I felt compelled while watching.]  OK.  I have watched MANY shows that follow "normal" people as well as celebrities.  One thing I have definitely learned from this is that I wouldn't wish fame on my worst enemy.  I know a lot of people have aspirations of becoming famous.  I just wonder if they fully realize what negatives fame brings with it.  So many of these once-normal people fall victim to the price of fame.  When will they learn their lesson? 

I am sitting here listening to a mom talk about her 5-year-old daughter.  She's talking about how beautiful and talented her daughter is and that she is sure her daughter will one day be famous, and she has her daughter convinced of the same.  I heard a father say the other night that he hopes his son (age 2) becomes famous so that he can take care of him and his wife one day.  WHAT?!? 

Are kids really becoming a commodity for their parents?  I know a lot of children are born into situations that turn them into commodities by way of government aid.  I don't agree with that any more than I do this.  However, we are talking about people grooming their children to become famous.  Grooming them to grow up without any privacy.  Grooming them to be scrutinized in the public eye.  What are these people thinking?  This is not to mention that these kids are learning to be vain and materialistic.  I don't doubt that pageants can instill positive virtues as well, but at what cost?  At the end of each show, they interview the winners and losers.  Someone is always heart broken and left wondering why they weren't good enough to win the title.  I'm sorry, but there isn't enough money to convince me to place that kind of pressure on any child of mine.  Society places enough outrageous expectations on kids without their own parents adding to the stress. 

PEOPLE!  Stop placing your kids in situations of such high stress.  Being a kid today is so much more stressful, anyway.  My kids don't have half the free time I did as a kid.  School has become a job requiring more hours per day than most adults work.  By the time you figure in homework, most kids are working way more hours per week than their parents.  There is something wrong with this picture.  We, as parents, may not be able to slow the machine that is our education system, but we can control what pressures we place on our kids at home.  Let's vow to let our kids be kids. 

I will leave my venting on "real" housewives for another day.