roseannepickering This has got to be the worst show I've ever been witness to. I think mothers who allow their children (even if their child begs them) to compete in pageants should have their kids taken away from them by social services. Not a single mother talks to their child about being a gracious winner or a good loser. The trash talk and bad mouthing these women do about each other as well as some other person's child is setting a horrible example for their kids. Not a single mother stresses the importance of being a good person, being kind and caring and treating everyone with dignity and respect.Not one person on this show emphasizes inner beauty. And I have to say, if my child EVER sassed me the way some of these kids sass their parents or if my child threwfits and smacked me or threw stuff at me--there isn't a reason good enough for a child to get away with that. I'd be taking my child out to the wood shed and tan their backside for them. I know that no child is perfectly behaved all the time, they get tired and cranky. However, they wouldn't be nearly as tired and cranky if you weren't hauling them all over the place and making them perform like little monkeys. I know beauty pageants are supposed to be to help fund a child to attend college--to teach them poise and grace but unfortunately when most of the money these kids earn doesn't seem to be going into savings for anything. Most of the money seems to go for travel, meals, entry fees and costumes so that they can be entered in more pageants.

Sandra Santos This mothers are, for sure, mentally ill and the children will be too. I watch an episode yesterday just to see how far they go and there was a mother yelling with her 4 years old daughter because she was to fast on stage and telling that she would get her a cat if she win the contest. The way she talk to the little girl, the mood changes, just like a schizophrenic! one child was sick and the parents forced her to participate instead going home to take care of her. I have no words to describe how awful this his. Can't authorities stop this contests??? This mothers don't have skills to educate a healthy child... as someone already said, it will take years of therapy to this children!

dwr890 What is there to be said about this show "Toddlers and Tiaras"? There has never been a reality show like this before; you could take all of the popular reality shows like Jersey Shore, The Real World, Teen Mom,16 and Pregnant, splice them together, and there would only be half as much controversy as this show has. Watching episodes of this show literally makes me cringe (i'm pretty sure everyone remembers the infamous "Pretty Woman" performance). Things I Can't Stand: 1) The mothers are shallow fame-hungry pigs, the fathers are either closeted gays or whipped weaklings, and a majority of the girls on this show are either exploited innocent children or spoiled little brats. There are two mega pageant queens in particular that I cannot stand and they are Mackenzie and Eden Wood. Mackenzie is a total mini b*tch diva, her mother always looks likes she's either high or drunk and never gives Mackenzie any type of discipline. Mackenzie is touchy, bossy, rude and is always screaming for her Ni-Ni. Eden Wood I can tolerate a little because it's not really her I despise; it's her mother. Eden's mother never misses an opportunity to milk money from her daughter's fame. She wants a clothing line and merchandise under the name "Eden Wood". She even had a f*cking prototype of the Eden Wood doll made for her daughter's performance!Also I forgot about the disgustingly cute Honey Boo Boo. That whole "holla for a dolla" routine is deplorable; both her and her fat mom are idiots. Although there is one girl I do like and she is Alaska. Her selfish mother tries so hard for her to be submissive to the extremes of the pageant world, but Alaska doesn't get brainwashed into this sh*t like the others. She actually voices her opinion strongly and doesn't take her mother's crap. There is a moment though when her strength weakens and she eventually gives in to her mother's wish to dye her eyelashes, and unfortunately for her; Alaska becomes like the rest. 2)It makes me sick to my stomach when I see these Southern middle class jokes of parents dish out $10,000-$250,000 on this pointless sh*t, instead saving this money for college, they throw buckets of cash into this pedo- franchise that will leave nothing for their children to fall back on except some plastic trophies and crowns. 3)I hate that the mothers never take the child's well being into consideration. "Beauty Takes Pain" is the motto of this show (straight from the mouths of babes). No matter how many times they say "Ow", "No", "Stop" "That hurts" the torture continues. There is one truly disturbing incident where 1 year old Brucie (Baby Elvis) is dragged by her arm across the floor by her mother in an attempt to put on her costume which was too small. Then there's 4 year old Carley, whose mother threatens her whenever she doesn't practice her routine.The mothers even shove Pixie Sticks and Mountain Dew down their throats for "pep". There is also a brief scene wear a pony is drawn on and gets his mane flat ironed. Child Abuse and Animal Abuse, great 2 for 1 deal! 4) As if this wasn't bad enough, the girls' mental stability is ruptured. They're put under so much stress and pressure that it literally corrupts them. There is a girl on the show named Darla who I think has developed the of multiple personality disorder because she always refers to herself in 3rd person. There are also a few mothers who try to compete with their daughters by bragging about their past wins. The mothers are teaching their daughters to hate themselves. Basically they think to be fake is to be pretty and to be real is to be ugly. They discourage any type of individuality and ambition for their children to become something of importance rather than to become famous. One woman even says that "Pretty people are always popular". When did America become so vain? I know that these women are blind to the fact they're setting their daughters up for a bleak future in which eating disorders, drugs, sex and alcohol will be their only means for comfort. Nevertheless, I applaud TLC for the way the made this show. Rather then view this as entertainment, I see it as more of a documentary to inform the public about the horrendous art of child pageants.

lambiepie-2 The temptation to rate this a zero only comes from after looking at this program, I'd want to rate it the most horrible reality program on the air. What are these parents, specifically mothers, doing parading their children around like this? But in taking a step back, I rated it an 8 because what TLC (The Learning Channel) has done was take the audience into the world of toddlers competing for crowns and money and those that are taking them to the pageants to do so. I am making the judgment, not TLC. And because of this, the show deserves an 8 for it is showing something I never knew existed, how these children are exposed, how they get prepared, how the parents (mothers and fathers) act and react in toddler pageantry.As you watch the program, you will constantly hear: "my child wants to do it, that's why we are here." This began to wear thin as the program progresses week after week as I heard and watched the parents relay their stories. For example, one of the programs I watched just happened to have a contestant's father voicing how he didn't appreciate the mother taking his daughter to the shows. I thought TLC did a good job by giving this point of view a bit of camera time because most people feel that way. I know I did. But here's where TLC makes you think which is what many reality shows lack. Here's a father who hated 'being' at the pageants; and called a lot of the mothers there 'overweight, fat, obese women making the child chase their own failed dreams'. Wow.On the other hand, you as the viewer would start to question this father's motives. What kind of man was he not to have control over his household if he felt that way? Take your daughter out, you might think. I would have. Well, my father's word was law in my household, so HE would have. But his daughter continued to be a contestant because the mother took her, trained her, pushed her. And the mother, albeit thin in body shape -- was doing the same thing he accused the 'overweight', 'obese' mothers of doing. TLC begs you to question, So what's the difference here? What makes his thin wife better than the overweight ones at these pageants? Were we to give her a pass because she was 'thin'? And if you do, why would you treat her any differently than the others just because of her...looks? This is where TLC shines in presenting this piece of reality programming. They made a point: it's not about how one looks, it can be about how they are in the head. Many of these women have it in their heads to put their sons and daughters on this circuit and no one will convince them otherwise. Obese in weight has nothing on being obese in the head. TLC is gives you the opportunity to look beyond the thinness, the fake hair, the fake lashes, pretty dresses and make up. What do you have here? And is this what makes a child, a mother, a father successful...smart...human?!? Another example TLC shows is the economics factor. In one program mother outlined how much it took to get their daughter into one show. It was well over $2,500, and $130 to enter the pageant and the prize if she had won, was only $500. The viewer would have to think, then what is the monetary payoff of these pageants? Is the money a factor? Sometimes the parent makes you want to believe so, but as you watch the program it becomes clear that it is not. There is no profit to be made here.Overall, the program takes you into the homes and minds of the parents who place these toddlers on these beauty pageant circuit. The mother is always very proud of the myriad of crowns and sashes their child has won, and maybe that's what all of this is about. Bragging rights to tell your family and friends that you have the cutest child ever - and here's the proof.And there hasn't been one program where you wont hear something to the effect of "It helps their self-esteem". The child's, or theirs? And at that age, do they know what 'self-esteem' is, and if not, are the parents shaping the term 'self-esteem' to mean this?!?! That is what TLC wants you to decide by showing you this. Is it a mother chasing after a dream, is the child truly having a good time, or is the pageant circuit a nice thing for a child once and a while and not a toddlers forced upon career choice? You the viewer make the choice as you view these weekly stories.What I suspect that TLC may do is begin another reality show of past toddlers who have done this and are now adults. If they made it into adulthood or not. How are they coping? Are they obese or have eating disorders? How do they feel about what they did as toddlers? Did any of them go on to become Miss America? Miss Universe? Mr. Olympia? CEO of a Fortune 100? Or sadly, worse. Are they pushing their own children now to get beyond where they got? Did this help, hurt or was a fun past time in their lives. That's what you wonder as you watch this program, and I do hope TLC takes it one more step beyond.