Natural Pageant vs. "Natural" Pageant

<---What "natural" means, apparently.

This past Saturday was my son's second ever toddler pageant.  Having done one, I thought I was better prepared for what to expect.  I'm an idiot.

My son's first pageant was a low-key affair; some kids and their parents in a hotel conference room, one outfit, one time onstage, and about 25% of the contestants were boys.  My amazing little boy won (yay!), we got a plastic crown, a sash, and a couple of trophies, and were home in time for lunch.  It was also a natural pageant, and I made a vow to only put him in natural pageants, as I feel that the glitz pageants aren't appropriate for children.

This past weekend's pageant was also billed as a natural pageant, though it did have an outfit-of-choice category, meaning that a clothing change would be required.  The OOC was supposed to be Christmaswear, so I chose a pair of green corduroys, a red shirt with a few rhinestones (very macho, and I got it at Kid2Kid for $5), and an adorable black top hat that my husband sewed a snowflake onto.  The hat made the outfit, and it was incredibly adorable.  For the "beauty" portion, we just decided he would wear his suit, like last time.

The pageant was located in a town over 2 hours away, and registration opened at 10:00, so I was up before 6:00, double-checking that we had everything and packing extra toys, snacks, etc.  My dad and mom came this time to provide a cheering section, so we all drove up together.  In true toddler fashion, my son stayed awake most of the drive, and then fell asleep for the last 20 minutes.  We had to wake him up to get him out of his carseat, and I was worried about how cranky he might be.

When we got to registration, it became obvious that we, the adults with him, were going to be the cranky ones.  We were surrounded by toddler girls with their hair in curlers and moms carrying garment bags.  When we got to the dressing room, it was a fog of hairspray and, "natural" pageant though it was supposed to be, there was plenty of make-up being applied, and even hairpieces being pinned in.  I saw the surreal image of a little girl, not even school age, carrying a plastic box with her curly fake hair in it.  Plenty of the little girls were crying, and I bristled when I heard one mom say, "Beauty is pain."

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My Son's First Trophy

Well, my son's first pageant was this past Saturday and, all-told, I think he did very well.  I can't say the same for myself.

For starters, I got way too stressed out for no real reason.  Part of the curse of being a perfectionist, I suppose.  I got so obsessed with wanting everything to go perfectly for him that I probably made it worse on him, and for that, I'm sorry.

The first thing I did wrong was to get there too early.  I got there about 20 minutes before registration was supposed to start, which doesn't sound too early, until you factor in that I then had to keep a 2-year-old occupied for 20 minutes in a hotel lobby.  We rode the elevators a lot.

I also tried to make a little small talk with the other moms, not just to size up the competition (though I was doing that, too), but just to be friendly and kill some time.  There was only one other boy in my son's age division (18-35 months) but, though he was a couple of months older than my son, this was his fourth pageant.  The parents also had a daughter in the 3-5 year-old division, a stunning little girl in a dress that probably cost more than the one I got married in.  Intimidating.

When registration opened (a few minutes late, but who's counting?), we were one of the first in line, so my son was contestant #2.  Big mistake.  You go in order of your contestant number.  So instead of getting to see the other kids show us what to do (since we were clueless) we were the second ones to cross the stage.

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Pageants don't have to be stupid.

First off, let me apologize for the sporadic posting schedule lately.  I have a couple of big posts on the backburner that I'm saving for when I have the time and (emotional) energy to write about them.

That being said, I just wanted to do a little blurb today thanking and endorsing the All American Girl & Boy Pageant.  Their local team has been so friendly and supportive in helping me prepare my son for his first pageant this Saturday, and I really believe they are a good group of folks.

Even though they stress that they are a "natural" (not "glitz") pageant, I was really worried about what I would be up against this weekend.  A look at their website reassured me.  The pictures were of adorable children in age-appropriate clothes, little or no make-up, genuine gap-toothed smiles to the camera.

The mission statement was just as good:  "Our pageant believes that children should look like children. All clothing should be age appropriate. We do not believe in artificial tanning, fake hair and excessive makeup! We believe that pageants should be fun and inexpensive! We like our contestants to look natural and to be themselves."

A world of difference from nightmares like you see on "Toddlers & Tiaras".

I'm getting really excited for Saturday, and I'm hoping the experience lives up to my expectations.  But, sink or swim, celebration or disaster, rest assured that I'll be updating you about it next week.

Little Mr. Sunshine

There are a few things people should know about me, not the least of which is my tendency to seize and obsess upon an idea.  I'm intensely focused, to a flaw, but it's a trait that I can recognize in myself.  When I found out I was pregnant, I knew it would mean I would someday be a "----- mom", whether that be "hockey mom", "band mom", "Science Olympiad mom", etc.  Whatever my child was interested in, I would be invested, 100%.

Of course, even before I found out for sure I was having a boy, I never thought there would be even the remotest possibility anyone could call me a "pageant mom".

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