Botox on an Eight Year Old

Pretty much every parent out there wants their child to succeed. They dream of them being valedictorian, the star quarterback, first chair in band, the lead cheerleader-whatever their dream may be. Often these dreams come from goals or aspirations that the parents had as kids or teenagers that were never obtained. And when the parents can't see the line between their hopes and their goals and their child's is when issues will arise.

I think we have all heard of some of the crazy cheerleaders moms in Texas who have even physically hurt others to ensure their daughter made the squad. And we have probably all seen a few parents yell at each other during kids sporting events. And then there are the beauty pageants for little girls who have barely learned how to walk.

Now this post is not intended to slam beauty pageants. Both of Eric's sisters won their city's pageants and competed at state level. I even judged a county pageant once-and let me tell you it helped me gain a lot of respect for the hard work and time most of the girls put into it; their talents, practicing for the interviews, working out and toning to look their best during the swimsuit portion.

The problem arises from mom's like the one in northern California. This mom gives Botox injections to her 8-year-old daughter before her beauty pageants. Yes 8-years-old! She says she does it because it is a harsh environment in the pageant world and some of the other parents told her that they do it- "everyone's doing it"-isn't that something a child would say not a 34 year old mother!?!? Here is a clip with an interview with the mom and her daughter.



When I heard about this story, I was disgusted and outraged. Sometimes kids need extra pushes and incentives to do their best-but giving injections to an 8-year-old to get rid of smile lines-well that just goes too far.

What do you think?