Saturday Randomness and Tiaras

I'm sitting here on a Saturday that finally feels like summer. Now that summer is almost over for all practical purposes-the kids start school in a few days. The two monkeys are playing in their wading pool on the back deck. It's so nice to hear them giggling and squealing instead of fighting and yelling, for a change.
I'm watching Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC. I'm such a TLC junkie-I love 18 Kids and Counting, and yes, even Jon & Kate Plus 8. One set of parents make me feel like a lousy mom, but the other set make me feel better, ha! I wish I could be as sweet and gentle and patient as Michelle Duggar is. The woman has 18 kids and never needs to raise her voice. I have 2, and some days, I feel like I never stop yelling. (sigh)
Anyhow, Toddlers and Tiaras is such a trainwreck-I just can't help but watch. I won't even get into how I feel about the fact that the girls wear more makeup than me, or the hideous hairdos, or the "flippers"they wear to cover the adorable gaps in their teeth. I won't get into how wrong I feel it is to objectify little girls, or the terrible lessons these children are learning and all the psychological damage that is being done. I don't feel like getting all "heavy" with that stuff right now. What strikes me most, is that all the Moms say that their daughters love pageants, love the makeup and hairdos and all that, but most of the little girls seem so unhappy with it all. This show is really all about the moms-you can clearly see that they have self esteem issues, and/or issues with their own looks, and this is apparently how they are trying (in a very misguided way) to address that with their daughters. Why are they all southern? Why do the girls have to parade and dance around in such a fake way with those horrific, tacky clothes? Why do the Moms say they don't care about winning prizes, yet you can see that fiercely competitive gleam in their eyes, and the massive disappointment and disapproval on their faces when their daughters don't win. Why, why, why? Scary.