Having a bad case of insomnia leaves you with very little television choices in the late night hours. There is Paid Programming, Paid Programming and more Paid Programming. And then, there’s reruns (or re-broadcasts) of “Toddlers and Tiaras” on TLC. During one of these recent episodes of insomnia my channel surfing landed me on TLC at 2:00 a.m. with these little “beauties” and their pushy mothers.

I probably should have changed the channel, because the longer I watched the more repulsed I became. I was fascinated with what was going on in the whole process of these little toddler pageants…and if you haven’t watched it yet then let me tell you it’s not “All Child’s Play“.

These  little girls are devoting their childhoods to  traveling from pageant to pageant, spending hours and hours having their hair done, their teeth fixed, their bodies spray tanned, etc. etc. only to be disappointed when they don’t win the “Best All Round” crown or the big money prizes.  Many of these little toddlers come on stage extremely scantilly clad and do provocative dances for the judges (some only 2 and 3 years old!!).

Then there’s the moms (and in some cases dads).  In my opinion these moms are all trying to find their own way to fame through their daughters, all the while telling themselves that this is the life their daughters have chosen.  BALONEY!!!  90% of these mothers could use total makeovers themselves!  Rather than investing their time and money into turning their daughters into little divas, they should put that investment and energy into themselves.  Maybe if these mothers felt better about themselves they wouldn’t need to try and live their dreams through their children.

Half of the families of these little toddler contestants showed up in broken down vans, yet they are spending thousands and thousands of dollars each month on costumes, spray tans, acting lessons, wigs, entry fees and travel.  They are making huge financial sacrifices just to pump up their own self-esteem and climb their way up the ladder of fame through their daughters.

And what does this show and these competitions say to the kids?  Does it tell them they’re not good enough unless they win?  Or you’re not pretty or cute enough just as you are?  The episode I watched had this little “Eden” (spelling?) smart mouthing and spouting off to her mother and everyone else around her.  She was literally the type of child you’d never want your kids to hang out with or play with.  She was sassy and cocky as could be, repeating over and over again how she was the best!

Obviously, putting pressure on your child to win the “most handsome” award is probably not the greatest thing in the world for the child. Is the show entertaining? Yes….but having a toddler compete for a tiara is not child’s play and these parents need to rethink what they are doing to their kids.  Entertaining or not, it’s not a show I want to support because I just can’t get behind what these parents are doing to these kids.

Early childhood years are the most formative years for our children, and it leaves me wondering what may happen to these little toddlers once the tiarras are no more.