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Replies to '08/22 The Dr. Phil House: "Make My Kid a Star"'
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May 13, 2007, 2:23 pm PDT
 Quote From: goonis So Dr. Phil, do you think that you are encouraging these parents poor behavior by pitting them against each other and actually rewarding the behavior with the hope of these prizes? I'm not sure I'm too happy about your methods here but I will watch the show so that I can make an "educated" decision.
My 13 yr. old son actually seems to have talent in the acting arena. It really seems to be his niche. I don't however take him to tons of auditions and push him like these crazy mothers. He is involved with a wonderful theater group for children and takes part in their summer program every year. They do a really fabulous, very proffesional job and he loves it. He has also performed with another theater group in their Christmas production and takes part in school productions. He was in the band but has decided he doesn't particularly enjoy band and has decided to take choir instead hoping to improve his vocal skills since he does not have "natural" talent in that area. Whenever he goes to an audition I always stress that although I know he hopes for a big part, that whatever part he gets make the most of it and put his whole heart into it and they will remember him and he'll probably get a bigger part the next year. That was what happened when he first started with the summer group last year. He got the role of a townsperson in Beauty and the Beast. Even though it was by no means a lead he had a ball! The people that run the program noticed his enthusiasm and rewarded it with adding to his role a bit. This year his has a little bit bigger role in Seussical and again he is thrilled to just be a part of such a great group.
"Stage Moms" need to take note and realize that being a child star in Hollywood isn't important, it's letting your kids follow their dreams, have fun doing it and letting them still be kids. See there is a healthy way to encourage your children to do well in something that THEY like, this mother just proves there are boundaries and she takes her childs interest in consideration before her own! Go Mom! |
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May 13, 2007, 7:56 pm PDT
Quote From: goonis So Dr. Phil, do you think that you are encouraging these parents poor behavior by pitting them against each other and actually rewarding the behavior with the hope of these prizes? I'm not sure I'm too happy about your methods here but I will watch the show so that I can make an "educated" decision.
My 13 yr. old son actually seems to have talent in the acting arena. It really seems to be his niche. I don't however take him to tons of auditions and push him like these crazy mothers. He is involved with a wonderful theater group for children and takes part in their summer program every year. They do a really fabulous, very proffesional job and he loves it. He has also performed with another theater group in their Christmas production and takes part in school productions. He was in the band but has decided he doesn't particularly enjoy band and has decided to take choir instead hoping to improve his vocal skills since he does not have "natural" talent in that area. Whenever he goes to an audition I always stress that although I know he hopes for a big part, that whatever part he gets make the most of it and put his whole heart into it and they will remember him and he'll probably get a bigger part the next year. That was what happened when he first started with the summer group last year. He got the role of a townsperson in Beauty and the Beast. Even though it was by no means a lead he had a ball! The people that run the program noticed his enthusiasm and rewarded it with adding to his role a bit. This year his has a little bit bigger role in Seussical and again he is thrilled to just be a part of such a great group.
"Stage Moms" need to take note and realize that being a child star in Hollywood isn't important, it's letting your kids follow their dreams, have fun doing it and letting them still be kids. I tell Gracie nearly each time we have a talk about her desire to have a movie/tv career to remember that most all of life is more about the journey than it is about any particular destination and that if you can be happy and joyful during the journey then whatever your final destination you will have peace of mind and a lasting internal joy of living!
All the best to your 13 year old son with his endeavors! Gracie's brother, my son Warren, is also 13 and very much enjoying school drama, school chorus and community theatre far away from teh bright lights of Hollywood. In fact, Warren's probably a more natural gifted actor than our Gracie. We call him the "Zen Master" because he has an innate ability to just go with the flow, dude :-) Grace, in contrast, continue to live up to her namesake, Ayn Rand, in that she's singularly driven and has focused tenacity when it comes to just about any goal she chooses.
It's fun having two kids with lots of intelligence, talent and strong-wills who've chosen to manifest their attributes in very different ways. As for me, I'd just as soon Gracie be right back here in Kentucky being the funny and fun 11 year old country girl that she is when she's with us out here in the sticks. But, anyone who knows Ayna Grace Maddox also knows that simply wouldn't be Gracie. No, she embodies a very rare drive to achieve her goals.
My sin, if I've committed a sin, has been to consistently tell both my kids that they can be anything they want to be and that they can achieve anything they want to achieve if they can believe it in their heart and then commit it to their minds that they can. We've combined that with suggesting to them that in the final analysis, it is the journey that is more important than any destination and that if they remember to enjoy the journey then the final destination doesn't really matter all that much :-)
Be Good!
Gracie's Dad |
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May 14, 2007, 12:47 pm PDT
Quote From: goonis So Dr. Phil, do you think that you are encouraging these parents poor behavior by pitting them against each other and actually rewarding the behavior with the hope of these prizes? I'm not sure I'm too happy about your methods here but I will watch the show so that I can make an "educated" decision.
My 13 yr. old son actually seems to have talent in the acting arena. It really seems to be his niche. I don't however take him to tons of auditions and push him like these crazy mothers. He is involved with a wonderful theater group for children and takes part in their summer program every year. They do a really fabulous, very proffesional job and he loves it. He has also performed with another theater group in their Christmas production and takes part in school productions. He was in the band but has decided he doesn't particularly enjoy band and has decided to take choir instead hoping to improve his vocal skills since he does not have "natural" talent in that area. Whenever he goes to an audition I always stress that although I know he hopes for a big part, that whatever part he gets make the most of it and put his whole heart into it and they will remember him and he'll probably get a bigger part the next year. That was what happened when he first started with the summer group last year. He got the role of a townsperson in Beauty and the Beast. Even though it was by no means a lead he had a ball! The people that run the program noticed his enthusiasm and rewarded it with adding to his role a bit. This year his has a little bit bigger role in Seussical and again he is thrilled to just be a part of such a great group.
"Stage Moms" need to take note and realize that being a child star in Hollywood isn't important, it's letting your kids follow their dreams, have fun doing it and letting them still be kids. That's a better way for children to go. They can do acting, and actually enjou it in a much more smaller, and supportive environmet. (I do community theatre, too. I was in my first play last year. I did "Beauty and the Beast", and got the roll of a townsperson. I was only in a three scenes, but I made the most of my part.) Tell your son that I said to break a leg!
You wonder why so many child stars have had problems with drugs and alcohol-look at their parents. Whenever I see parents like the Moms here, I worry about the child's welfare. I think that the mothers want to be famous, and they're living vicarioulsy through their children. |
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