{"id":8971,"date":"2011-07-25T10:37:16","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T14:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/i-heart-ny\/2011\/07\/growing-up-as-a-real-toddlers-tiaras.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T11:45:26","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T16:45:26","slug":"growing-up-as-a-real-toddlers-tiaras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/i-heart-ny\/2011\/07\/growing-up-as-a-real-toddlers-tiaras\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Up as a Real “Toddlers & Tiaras”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nBack home in the South, beauty pageants are a pretty big deal and I can’t say I’ve really noticed many going on since we’ve lived in New York. But, if you’ve caught TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras<\/em> then you might know what I’m talking about. Us Southern girls love our big hair, sparkly dresses and flashy smiles! Growing up, I competed in beauty pageants pretty much every weekend until I left for college, and even then I still did a couple here and there. I competed in my first pageant at only four months old!<\/p>\n

For the record, the child beauty pageants I competed in were nothing like the ones showcased on T&T<\/em>. My mother wasn’t overweight, she wasn’t forcing me to live out her unfulfilled fantasy and she certainly wasn’t doing dance routines behind the judge’s table.<\/p>\n

I also worked in the television industry for nearly a decade and can attest to the tricks of clever editing. To put it simply, don’t believe everything you see on tv, folks. I know several people that have appeared on the Toddler & Tiaras<\/em> series who are normal, excellent parents and many of the pageants featured on the show were in towns close by, or where I’ve lived before. I also have pageant mom friends who have turned down the opportunity to be followed by TLC’s camera crews because of the negative publicity associated with the show.<\/p>\n

Pageants may get a bad rap, but they’re something I would never change about my childhood. They taught me confidence, poise and how to put on liquid eyeliner! I loved getting my hair and makeup done, putting on a pretty dress and sometimes, winning a crown and trophy! I started competing at four months old, but I never took home a crown until I was 11! I don’t have any pictures from my early days as a beauty queen up here in New York, but I did find a couple from my teenage years to share.<\/p>\n

\n\"6133_250698860649_882200649_8691721_2912838_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Crowned Miss Piggott 1997<\/strong><\/div>\n

I didn’t always win and that certainly made me a good sport. Learning how to lose gracefully is one of the best lessons in life. I never cried over not getting queen or placing as an alternate. Truthfully, my favorite part was spending the one-on-one time with my mother.<\/p>\n

\n\"6133_250698845649_882200649_8691719_4430314_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

\n\"6133_250710625649_882200649_8691917_8104147_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Pageants run in the family too…while we were in Missouri\/Arkansas for the 4th of July, I had the chance to help my cousin Kayla get ready for the Miss Pollard beauty pageant. I actually won the title back in 1994 and it’s also been a pageant several women in my family have competed in over the years.<\/p>\n

\n\"DSCN3313.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"DSCN3324.JPG\"<\/p>\n

There’s just something fun about getting all fixed up!<\/p>\n

\n\"DSCN3329.JPG\"<\/p>\n

Plus, it’s a fun excuse to drag out the old crowns…<\/p>\n

\n\"DSCN3338.JPG\"<\/p>\n

But the real beauty was Kayla! We were bummed she didn’t make it into the Top 10, but she was our top pick anyway!<\/p>\n

\n\"DSC09359.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"DSC09366.JPG\"<\/p>\n

\n\"DSC09368.JPG\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back home in the South, beauty pageants are a pretty big deal and I can’t say I’ve really noticed many going on since we’ve lived in New York. But, if you’ve caught TLC’s Toddlers & Tiaras then you might know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":11666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,17,26,27,28,29,32],"tags":[35,43,49,88,126],"class_list":["post-8971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-family","category-missouri","category-south","category-southern-living","category-summer","category-sun","category-vacation","tag-4th-of-july","tag-arkansas","tag-beauty-pageants","tag-family","tag-missouri"],"yoast_head":"\r\nGrowing Up as a Real "Toddlers & Tiaras" - I Heart NY Y'all By Heather Flanigan<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.albany.com\/i-heart-ny\/2011\/07\/growing-up-as-a-real-toddlers-tiaras\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Growing Up as a Real "Toddlers & Tiaras" - I Heart NY Y'all By Heather Flanigan\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Back home in the South, beauty pageants are a pretty big deal and I can't say I've really noticed many going on since we've lived in New York. 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