I'm surprised that there are actually parents that behave like this.
My parents always encouraged me to pursue my interests, particularily music, which I am very talented at and could have pursued professionally. They got me started at a very young age, but there was no pressure on me or my sister who was also talented at music, but was a much better artist. I taught music lessons and performed and played with a variety of groups around the city where I was from.
I was always a monster before a show and extremely critical of my own talents and performances, but my parents always supported me and encouraged me to have fun and work on my skill. When I see parents like Bridget it troubles me becuase I feel like those kids are working for their parents, and not for the love of performing and sharing your talent. It is obvious that she's a great singer and I think that she would be a real showstopper is she was allowed to go out on stage and just have fun.
Parents need to understand that their children aren't adults and don't think like adults. They can seem to understand things like criticism and such, but they are vulnerable to damaging their identity and self esteem. It seems almost abusive that a parent would scold her child for holding a mike the wrong way, and the silent treatment is soooooo uncalled for. Way to shut your children out Bridget - I would spend more time positively reinforcing your daughter and building a positive relationship with your child so they still talk to you when they're adults.
I don't mean to judge. I don't feel like it's really my place, but when you go on national tv with stuff like that, you've got to be prepared for some sort of public opinion. Isn't that one of the reasons why people go on shows like this, to be tried in the court of public opinion? Bridget obviously thinks she's not doing anything wrong, and even when people (including the heaviest opinion - Dr. Phil) say that she's scarring her child, then shouldn't you just suck it up and consider laying off a little bit?
The pagents are perverted for children of that age. That woman is delusional about those kids in the pagents. That child is basically walking around with a huge "sexual predator target" that her own mother put on. I'm extremely troubled to hear that she didn't have any change of heart after the show. Especially when you get someone on the show that is involved with pagents (something I'm not too crazy about, but that could be because I'm Canadian and we don't really do the pagent thing - but that's okay, I think they can be allright if they are in the right doses and situations) that says that it's twisted to set children, still considered to be in their formative years in those hideous outfits and dress them up like sexually mature individuals. Kinda twisted.
(Original Air Date: 11/16/05) Every parent believes his or her child is exceptional, but how do you know when you are pushing your children beyond their limits? Bridget is so determined to make her 9-year-old daughter the next LeAnn Rimes, she has had her singing every weekend for the last seven months, and she is constantly criticizing her performances and punishing her when she makes mistakes. The father of the biggest sister act in pop music weighs in. And, Julie is so obsessed with placing her daughters in hundreds of glitz beauty pageants, she has practically bankrupted her family. Her sister, Jamie, says she is forcing her 5-year-old to grow up too soon, and the pageants have torn their family apart. Talk about the show here.
