Quote From: elomboyI have a 2 year old... at one he enjoyed being held and when I chased him. You say, "she is a little diva", it's purely semantics, but that's not really a positive term to me. I'm sure she loves dressing up, all kids do, it's dressing up, parading in front of a bunch of strangers and then having your self worth tied up in whether or not you conformed to thier idea of "beauty" Competitive cheerleading, football and sports in general are abosolutely NOT the same thing. You don't spend $500 in a whole season playing football and it's over in 3 months and you can try something else. There aren't 7 year olds in competitve cheerleading contests. That being said, there is a common thread between pagents and little league-- over zealous parents. I see this as teaching your daughter to be the center of attention. All kids should experience that, but it shouldn't be their goal in life. What will she turn to in the future to be center of attention?
By the way, I'd be willing to bet that the winners in most child beauty pagents directly correlates to the amount the winners' parents spend at the pagent. I challenge beauty pagent parents to try it. Do your own hair and make up, buy a dress off the rack, tell them you'll skip the glamour shots this time and see how much attention you get then.
I just want to let you know that pageants aren't teaching girls to be the "center of attention". These girls learn how to present themselves in a interview and how to show all their best qualities. You can always tell a childs personality and confidence in just their presentation.
**By the way, not all the pageants require the big expensive dresses, big hair and makeup or the glitz pictures.
