Topic : 08/23 The Dr. Phil House: "Make My Kid a Star," Part 2

Veronica !!  What is she thinking.  If you want your child to succeed you first have to respect your child.  I dont think this is her daughters dream.  I think mom didnt make it so she is pushing her daughter over the edge.  The pics.  OMG ... horrible representation.  Her daughter is pretty.  The pics are something that a pedifile would love to get there hands on.   Her daughter isnt going to grow to respect herself.  She is learning to use her body to get what she wants.  Veronica,  are you trying to raise a star or get her into child porn?  You really need to rethink your tactics.  You totally disgusted me.

 I was appauled by the mothers on this show!! I am also a mother of a 13 yr old girl who is a performer, by her choice not mine! It was obvious that  most of the mothers where pushing their children  to do what  THEY wanted them to do. If your child is forced it will come out in their performance, and it did with most of them. Mothers need to support their dream, but  realize it is a tough buisness and leave it to the professionals to coach your children. You are their to support them and hug them when they fall  !!!!  My daughter has had many sucesses and they were all because she chose to. There were many auditions she didn't feel comfortable with , so we didn;t go!! STOP trying to be the star MOMS!! listen to your children.

Dear audience,

It's great too see that so many of you are concerned moms and dads. You should be. I saw the show for the first time yesterday and although I expected to see certain behavior - the truth was hard too see for anyone. You have to keep in mind that you are watching a show after all and people are both good and bad, rarely all one or the other. We brought our kids to the show in hopes of giving them some advantage in their pursuit of acting. That involved taking some risks and possibly making ourselves look stupid, ridiculous or worse. I think it was actually the worse that happened. I would have been happy if I just looked ridiculous if it helped my kids.

So there is your catch 22 - in order to fullfill your child's dreams, you sometimes sacrifice yourself. Does it help your child in the end for you to look like a fool? There are a few things I'd like to address that I see that really bothered the audience. I know that you will always remain in the dark as to who the mothers are really like as people. I hope that you begin instead to recognize that all 7 kids are really outstanding in their talent and not some marginal talent as someone wrote. I'd like to clarify some other issues.

The now infamous "B" song - the boys did not of course write it - it was my husband who wrote both the music and the lyrics, which are hysterically funny, if you can hear them. He had my full endorsement on the title, since I like to make fun of myself and see nothing wrong with it. It was a kind of therapeutic and comical relief for our kids to say the words and sing it with such gusto. If you don't share our kind of humor, I understand, but it was harmless.

Next the photo shoot - I almost got swallowed by the earth when I heard I had to dress and photograph my boys in 30 min. Most of the clothes were for girls, but since my kids and I are good sports we went along with the charade. Kyrian did end up wearing a girl's t-shirt, and Dmitri's pants were so big they nearly fell completely off in front of the cameras. He had the great spirit to dance and wiggle, as I frantically searched for a pin or a scarf to hold the pants up. I can't tell you how many calories I lost doing it, which is actually very good for me judging from how I looked on camera.

Next was the famous dance competition. We actually did not go to the show to compete for prizes - that was a total surprise. Too bad our kids had to make fools of themselves in front of the national audience, which was sitting down in front of their tv sets to enjoy the spectacle. Our kids are not dancers, and have not said so on their resumes except for having some training in tap and jazz as support for the roles. Kyrian is getting training in ballet, and he is truly gifted, but remember he is only 8 and cannot execute real ballet routines. He would have won the prize if the competition was at the bar, or on the gymnastic/acrobatic floor. I told my sons that they could leave and not do the dance if they did not want to, and if they chose to they were better off doing their own moves. They did it anyway to be good sports. You actually have to admire all the kid's for their guts to dance alone in front of 20 cameras and several million people. I'm glad they forgot about that fact for a moment.

In real life, as some of you know, since you have kids that do act, or dance, or sing, auditions almost never happen alone in front of any audience, except the casting people. And you are given much more time to prepare - sometimes a couple of days between the callbacks. And you would never put your child knowingly into an audition where they might embarass themselves. The skills determine the auditions you go to. If you can't sing do not audition for a musical. If you can't dance, do not auditon for that portion, etc. It's scary enough to go in front of people and test yourself again and again, when you see sometimes they don't care for your type of talent. You have to choose auditions wisely, but you learn quickly, or it's not for you.

So be that as it may, we the moms got all worked up and in our effort to protect our kids from worldwide humiliation, we got stressed out and it got ugly. We are bad. But you should pay attention to the kids. That's why we brought them to Dr. Phil's Show.

I have watched the show both days this weeka nd I am so annoyed at all the mothers except Gracie's. Although she did have her moments she seemed to be the mom that was the most encourgaing and patient. This could be why Gracie clear has potential and seems confident and comfortable in the limelight. Gracie had a glow and happiness about her that was so plain to see.  I hope, hoever, that her mom does talke to her about her feelings about being a failure. She needs to understand that if she doesn't make it she is not a failure. Maybe God is going to put her int he industry in another capacity at some other time. Now this Veronica...my goodness she needs to get her act together!  She is not a coach and  is clearly hoping to liver her dream. her mouth is foul and her attitude is horrid. Dr. Phil said it very plainly that she is going to ruin her child's chances. It seems as though she is still stuggling with the fact that she never "made it".

I don't know anything about Gracie or about any of the other kids other than what I saw on the show. But as far as I'm concerned, Gracie and Kiki are the only ones that have their attitudes in the right place. It is clear that Kiki supports Gracie in every audition or photo shoot. It seems that all the other moms want their child to be a star more than the kids do. For those that noticed in the prepreations  of the auditions, most of the moms were bossing and yelling at their kids to "do it right."  Kiki, like the other moms, was pressed for time, but kept a cool head. She got on Gracie because of a hand movement that wasn't quite right. Gracies response was, "Let's focus on the important stuff." For me, I understand that completely. I participated in musical performances in high school. And know that a little difference or mess up in a small, but fast hand movement isn't really going to be all that noticeable from the audiences perspective. I think that Kiki pushes Gracie, but in a positive way. All the other moms don't even take time to listen to their kids. "THEY" are the ones that are right. It doesn't matter what the kids want. They think that yellking anbd bossing their kids are going to make them do better. Well, let me tell you from personal experience...It just brings their self-esteem down. It makes them feel that they aren't good enough and when they are doing their best, it's just not good enough.
       So, instead of "taking over" just let them do it. It's their life. They are going to make mistakes and learn from them. If these moms keep pushing their kids with a negative attiftude that "if you don't do it right, then you're going to fail," then some of these kids are going to lose their desire for performing and give up on their dreams. As for Gracie and Kiki, I hope that both of you don't get "big headed" from all of the support that a lot of people are giving you. I hope that you take all of the positive and negative criticizms and use them to improve yourselves. I still think Gracie has some work to do before she gets to the top, but with a positive attitude, teamwork, patience and continious positive parental guidence, I believe that Gracie will succeed in anything that she sets her mind to do.

Good Luck, Gracie!  You have my vote!!!!!

t think the moms are way to mean and pushy let the kids do what they want to do in life i think the one mom  veronica should be kick off the show she is disrespectful to dr phil thinks her kid is so pefect when she not she has talent but veronica is going to blow it

i hate to have a mom like her i feel sorry for the kids i was so shock to see how the moms act so moms grow up and lets the kids have a life thank you michael jennings

These poor children. they are all so talented and so sweet and yet they have a constant stress of dealing with their parents snuffed out dreams. If Dr. phil doesn't call them out on their behavior and make a difference for these children it wont matter if they are ever famous or not, they have no childhood, and what psychological damage could this possibly do to a child star? we have such strong examples of what hollywood does to children already ( the beaver, michael jackson, dustin (scretch))

That veronica needs to have that child taken away from her for a while and have her sent to mother boot camp, no mother should make her child feel that way. Gracie is doing the best and her mother is helping her more than she is pushing and it's showing results..

I have a beautiful daughter and it would be wonderful if she were a star someday but I'm not putting on her best pampers and teaching her how to sing.

Ok,  Here we go again!  Hey,  MOM ,  who are you worried about?  YOU or  your kids?  I think you are missing the point.  Have you ever listened to former child actors?  Have you seen how some of the lives have turned out?  They were pushed, and pushed some more.  You haven't gotten your child into acting or anything at this point.  YOU are trying to do that for you.  Do you think that these kids are going to get the rest they need if they hit it big?  Do you think that they wont be pushed even harder.  Do you think producers etc.  are going to put up with parents like you?  I dont think there is any audience member who doesnt respect the kids for what they are doing.  I think I respect them even more for the disrespect their parents show them!!!  ( with the exception of Gracies) .. Secondly, the song your sons were singing.  EXCUSE ME .. how much respect do you think deep down they really have for you, mom?  GET OFF their backs.  Good Luck boys'  .. they are doing the best they can do. 

I watch your show every day as I am disabled and home much of the time.  If I am away, I record it so I don't miss it.  Yesterday, I watched your show, then replayed it several times because I was sure I must have missed something.  Unfortunately, I didn't!  I have raised five children and today they are all law-abiding, loving parents who have all worked their ways through college and have fantastic jobs supporting themselves and their families.  Of those five children, four were boys who played football, basketball, ran track and any other physical activity they could get into.  In fact, two of them went through college with basketball scholarships.  My daughter was a diver whose love of the sport carried her through college and today she has three daughters who all dive also (and I might say are extremely good at what they do).  I am so very proud of my entire family.  I never missed a single game or diving meet that they were in.  I was behind them in any venture they wanted.  BUT, I MUST SAY, AT NO TIME DID I EVER INTERFERE OR ACT THE WAY I WATCHED IN AMAZEMENT AT THE WOMEN YESTERDAY!!!   If I thought that all of the actors and actresses that we watch on TV or in the movies were pushed, degraded or maneuvered the way these children were, I don't think I could every watch these things again. 

 

The fact that Veronica felt that her daughter was the most beautiful, or because Gracie won the two contests, things had to be fixed explains to me what is wrong in our society today.  My mother had a saying, "consider the source".  In this instance I feel that is the only thing I can do to get past this most disgusting display put on by this women yesterday!!!

Gracie puts me in the mind of another Lizzie Mcquire. She is adorable and has a personality to match. Also, what impressed me with her is her Mom. She is working with Gracie in the right way. I did not see her insulting and degrading her daughter like the rest of the moms were doing. The one mother was disgusting talking and cursing her daughter like she was. I was totally in awe of the photographs she took of her daughter. It is almost like she doesn't really care what agent gets ahold of her, I think she would probably be excited if a porno agent would approach her for work. How Sick is that?

Gracie had the most talent of all of the kids. She should win the Sears Photo shoot. Go Gracie!!!!