Our Thursday

We are busy, busy, BUSY today because we are getting ready for this...


Delaney is in her middle school beauty pageant tonight. Her dress is gorgeous and she is so excited!

After I give the initial disclaimer that I am "religiously and politically opposed to beauty pageants," I go on to tell Delaney to have fun! I never did pageants when I was school and have always thought they were a bit silly and shallow (now, if they'd let Delaney dive for a softball while on stage for her talent, that would be a pageant I could handle!), but then I saw that most of the girls do it at the schools here because they get to dress up like Cinderella for a night.

That said...I do have Momma's Rules for Being in a Beauty Pageant (similar to Momma's rules for watching college football games, that I shared several posts ago)...

Thou Shalt Not Be as Competitive in the Pageant as you are in any Athletic Competition. Delaney is very competitive. I have told her that the first sign of "I want to win at all costs!" means she will never put on a pretty, sequined dress again.

Thou Shalt Not Question the Judge's Intelligence. I tell Delaney that, on any given night, the judges could pick totally different girls to win. It's a judgment call; who knows what they are looking for! (But with that being said...this rule really applies mostly to Gary, who thinks the judges are idiots if they don't pick our girl!)

Thou Shalt Not Turn into a "Pageant Mom" at the Last, Unexpected Moment. This one's for me...I'll try not to criticize Delaney for how she's practicing her walk or tell her a million times to smile big to the judges.

Thou Shalt Not Get a Spray Tan. I kid you not. There are parents paying for their children to get a spray tan for these things.

Thou Shalt Not Get Any Sort of Parisienne Nail Tips. Not even sure what these things are called, but I guarantee that there are parents getting these for their children. (I did cave in and I'm taking her for a quick color polish. Because, let's be honest, getting a simple manicure is one of the simple joys of being a female.)

Thou Shalt Not Get Your Eyebrows Waxed. Okay, okay... do I sound like I'm nit-picking? But hey...my daughter is just 12-years-old.

Thou Shalt Listen to my Rantings about "True Beauty Being What's on the Inside." The girls probably get tired of that one. But it's so very true.

Now, even though I have these hard-and-fast rules, that does not mean that I won't turn into a blubbering pile of gaa-gaa when I see how gorgeous my sweet girl is tonight up on stage. I will be determined that she should win, and will probably question the judge's intelligence (and rearing) when she doesn't.

I will treasure the moment that I see her twirl around under the spotlight. I will smile a little smile and shed a little tear when I think back to her as a three-year-old, prancing around in her dress-up clothes.

I will tell myself that these pageants are just fine...because she will have told me just an hour before how pretty she feels. And that's always a good thing.