Toddlers and Tiaras, the New Season

The new season of Toddlers and Tiaras has begun on The Learning Channel. TLC brings a new season covering the families and children that are just as pampered and spoiled as they were last year. They have some new blood in this series as well as some old favorites.The show draws an audience which consists of people that are amused as well as disgusted by what they see.

The parents of these children must not realize how unattractive, rude and demanding these children really appear to others. The parents smile as their child throws temper tantrum after temper tantrum. One little diva spends her time leading up the actual pageant demanding her pacifier and accusing her mother of throwing it away or leaving it at home. She is dressed in an over the top costume and make up as she begins to scream at her mother and flails around on the bed. Once she gets her pacifier, then she calms down and becomes quieter but still comes across as a bit of an unpleasant child.She is quick to throw yet another tantrum as they leave the hotel room for the stage.

The mother says she loves the pageant circuit, yet ever time she is told to practice she balks or flat out refuses. When she is taken to the stage she prances onstage. Watching her mother dancing out in the audience she dances along on stage and finishes her routine. The mother cheers the performance and then whisks her upstairs for a costume change and often times another temper tantrum.

There are less aggressive mothers I am sure, you see them in the audience sitting with their children. Perhaps only the most aggressive mothers are signed to the television reality show, I know it makes more dramatic television, but something tells me that these girls and their parents are not performing badly for the cameras. This seems to be the way they have always behaved.

There are other boys and girls that compete in the pageants that are featured on this show.

There is one father that creates all his daughters outfits and routines. This child has a little better temperament than the little girl mentioned before, but she is still pampered and demanding and spoiled. The family sees this child as a star. She is constantly being trained, tanned and made up for the program. This father has her marching around in personally designed uniforms that sparkle and glitter as she turns and dances on stage while he does the routine with her out in the audience.

Some of the children are less prone to temper tantrums than others, but there is still the diva mentality that is very prevalent through the show.

Wearing clothes that are not age appropriate they come across as mini prostitutes. Decked out in wigs and make up that many adults would never consider being seen in public wearing. Watching an entire show is draining. So many emotions are brought to light during the course of an hour. Are these parents the norm, or are they simply the most outlandish meant to pull in viewers? I am not sure of the answer and so I write this hoping that others will comment about how they feel about the show.

Watching this show is like watching a train wreck. You can't look away. I find myself getting nervous, simply because the children are so horrid to watch. I find myself wondering what will happen when the child finds out there is more to life than these pageants. Will they completely break?

I worry about the first time they step into a first grade class and the teacher doesn't have time to fawn over them. Will this cause this little diva to snap? Are we looking at a loose cannon that has been programed to be as self absorbed and shallow as possible. What will happen the first time this child is expected to interact with other children without it being a competition?Will they even be able to mkae friends with their classmates? Will they continue to be self absorbed as adults and unable to give back to the community in a meaningful way.

Watching the parents lead the children into the competition, it becomes obvious that not once does a parent use the opportunity to teach humbleness, manners or self control to the child they are supposed to be training for the future.

Somehow when watching this show, I find myself thankful for the little grandchildren I have. None of them have been spray tanned, none have been in a pageant and none of them have had their eyebrows waxed.

The parents that are featured on the show might be the extreme cases of stage parents. I am not sure how everyone acts when they get their babies into pageants. I would like to think this is not the typical way that the pageant contestants and their mothers behave. I would like to think this, because it is such an ugly over the top vision of indulgence and in many cases almost abusive behavior. Waxing a three or four year old's eyebrows is beginning to look like abuse. One child who looked to be about six or seven was screaming at the prospect and her mother assures the camera it is only because she had some skin ripped at one waxing, so she is reacting to that memory. She admits that she usually holds her down while waxing. This is getting criticism on the web because it does look like abuse.

I understand being proud of having a beautiful child, but I believe we are witnessing that pride being taken to extremes. As I said before, surely this isn't the normal pageant family. I certainly hope that is the case.

Toddlers and Tiaras has been renewed for another season, It is interesting to watch just how spoiled the children are and how bizarre the parents appear. It is another one of those reality shows that just draw you in with you watching the show while shaking your head in disbelief and clicking your tongue in disapproval.