On The Wall . . . On The Wall . . . On The Wall . . .

Kelly A. Sullivan

Everyyear at least one preliminary baby contest is held in nearly every major city, with winning babies and disappointed parents leaving unhappily because their child was not picked as the winner of the baby beauty contests.

The contests draw huge crowds, beautiful children, and anxious parents.

Most parents entering for the first time think that they enter the contest, the contest is held, the prizes given, and they go home.

Not exactly so.

In Cincinnati, the baby contest is held first. if you have a very young baby, they are the first up on stage. Mom or Dad carry the baby onto the stage, a small description is announced, the parent walks the baby up to the front of the stage, then exits. This goes on from birth until age three. A small variation as the older babies walk on stage with their parents, the audience goes wild and judges make final decisions as quickly as this paragraph is read.

The competition takes about three hours until completion. The parents who carried small infants in the beginning of the pageant, are now after three hours, going to be told who has won in their division.

I entered both of my children in the contests. My son was entered in the baby division, once. My inside and out? Beauty contests can be fun, and a prelude to children wanting to be a model. But, they also can be heartbreaking for the parents and child.

Mirror mirror on the wall, all children are beautiful but my children are gorgeous, according to all the mom judges in the world. ◆ ◆ ◆ daughter entered the beauty contest at age four. My son won first runner up. He got a trophy and, well, the family knew he was a beautiful blond haired blue and brown eyed baby. My daughter was also beautiful with big brown eyes and curly brown hair. She looked like a princess in her pretty pink dress and socks. She won a trophy as well. Her beauty contest was a little bit different. She stood next to another little girl, blonde hair and blue eyed girl wearing makeup and wearing the exact same dress as my daughter.

The little girl next to my daughter, wearing the exact same stunning dress, won. My daughter who had her curled and nails painted looked so beautiful. I decided that the only judge of my children’s beauty from that day forward would be me, their mother. Who else could know their true beauty

About The Author

Kelly Sullivan has been supporting and contributing to ScreaminMamas for a decade. We are so grateful for her! The picture featured with this story is her beautiful daughter Sascha, who was four at the time of the photo. She is now 32! Talk about time flying! Wow! Kelly has been a life long writer & photographer and has had her work featured in numerous magazines & publications. She grew up in Ohio, has lived in three different states and one country as a military wife. Her dream is to see all fifty states. She is also the mother of a son, Cody, who she has also written about. Both children have been in front of her camera since they were little. Her website is kellyasullivanphotography.weebly.com Her motto is: Making people smile one photo at a time.