Pageants?  Really?

Okay, I admit it.  I, like many of you never planned in my wildest dreams to allow my daughter to participate in a pageant.  She is pretty....and talented too....but still!  Isn't pageant life the epitome of mean girls?  Aren't they shallow and stuck up?  Not in my experience.  But really it's not about them. It's all about my daughter.  Let me tell you what I mean.

About a year and a half ago, after my daughter had expressed some interest in pageants, I was talking to a friend who volunteered for our local city's pageant.  I mentioned my views on pageants and she told me how much growth she's witnessed through the program. Things like how to stand up straight and walk with dignity, how to find a platform to be passionate about, and how to talk to people...grown up people!  That's where she had me.  My daughter is beautiful and has been irish dancing competitively for years.  She's very talented and some would argue that competitive irish dance is very much like a pageant.  But dd is very shy.  She used to hide timidly behind our big armchair when people came to the door.  When others would talk to her they would get one word answers if they got any response at all.  I was hooked.  This was the perfect opportunity to teach her how to talk to others....adults!  And not sound like a goofy teenager!  

The next few months we spent getting her ready for the pageant.  It really wasn't very expensive.  Entrance fees were low that year, I found a dress on clearance for $50, and her other outfits I found (some with original store tags at thrift stores.).  There were some workshops she went to but I really didn't expect a lot.  She was the youngest competitor and it was her first pageant, so we warned her time and time again that she probably wouldn't win.  We told her to have fun and enjoy the night of the pageant.  Most of all we prepped her on how to lose graciously.  "Smile at the winners."  "Clap for them."  "Tell them you are genuinely excited for them."  And above all "Don't cry when you lose."

She looked beautiful on stage that night.  It didn't matter that we had few family members there supporting her because she wasn't going to win.  Lots of family there would just be humiliating when she lost, right? First they announced the spirit award.  Not her.  Then they announced the 2nd runner up.  Not her again.  It was over, we knew it.  Then they announced the 1st runner up.  Hey, wait, that was the girl we had thought would win. Then they announced the winner.  My jaw hit the floor.  My husband swore.  My daughter looked shocked more than anyone!  She spent the next year serving where she could in the community.  She got involved with a platform, which I really need to mention.  It was called "Slather out skin cancer."  One in 3 people will get some form of skin cancer in their lives and it's not always the kind that is easy to dig out. People are permanently disfigured and die from a disease that is easier than any other kind of cancer to prevent.  Use sunblock.  Use it on your kids.  Spend smaller amounts of time unprotected in the sun and DON'T USE TANNING BEDS.  

She has participated in two other pageants since then.  Once when she took her city title to compete at the state level and once at another pageant.  She is getting better at speaking to mature audiences, but the interview is still her biggest weakness.    I can honestly say at  both pageants, my daughter was the one who looked like she was enjoying herself the most. When she lost, she hugged the other contestants, smiled and clapped, gave words of encouragement to other losers and NEVER EVER CRIED!  That's when a frazzled mom feels fulfilled.  

In Ether 12:27 it says "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."