Post by ptsteelers on Jul 31, 2007 23:06:09 GMT
As some of you are aware, my daughter had her Miss Teen (Virginia) Pageant this week-end. The trip, overall, went well. That is to say we all arrived back home in one piece. Other than that, I learned (or I should say I was reaffirmed) that my daughter is going to be a fine young adult when she leaves the nest.
Now as far as the entire “pageant” thing … I hate ‘em. I really do. That must be said before I go further. Overall I think they are a travesty. Always have. (Although looking at beautiful woman is not a downfall for me). BUT … I also realize, after attending two of these shows now, that they can also help a young girl, if in no other way, to promote an ease of public speaking and self confidence. Okay … moving on…
Last year, in this same pageant, my daughter placed in the top 20 (out of 152). It was her first year so she was excited to go again this year and try to better that. Try to get into the “Queens Court” (Top 5) was her only goal. She practiced speeches. She practiced her form of movement. She practiced all she could for she was really set on working to get into the top 5.
The first night of events, everything was going great. You could see her confidence rising with each passing event. All was good.
Notice the “Was” in that last sentence?
Enter night two. A night, I have deemed the pageant horror of 2007.
Night two is essentially the nightgown segment. They start by having the girls escorted out by their fathers or brothers or uncles … I was excellent by the way. Hit all my marks right on cue. The males then leave the stage and the girls give a speech about their goals for the future, what they are currently active in, etc…
So all is going well, still, and I am back in my seat waiting for my daughter to approach center stage (The wife gives me that “Damn, you did a great job up there” look, verifying what I already knew), and then it is my daughters turn.
Two minutes into her speech, she was nailing it. NAILING IT. The words were flowing precise, as articulate as can be and with exact volume and tone. She spoke of what she is doing in the community, she spoke of friends and family, she spoke of goals for herself for the future. A better 2 minute speech could not exist. However, her speech was about 3 minutes long. Uh-Oh.
I don’t remember much, after my heart sank into my lap, but I do remember the last little bit. It went something like this (not exact obviously) …
“… and of course my goals are lofty, but they are within my reach.”
“I also enjoy ………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………
……………………………….
………………………
…………….”
BAM. Her brain let her down. Total fall out. “I also enjoy” was followed by nothing but silence. Oh god it was dreadful. After about 15 seconds (which must have seemed like 15 hours to my daughter), she says again …
“I enjoy ………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
……………………………………………
…………………………….”
Another long silence. OH MY GOD. Baby say anything. My heart, which was now in my shoe, was pounding hard. Nothing was coming out. The crowd started clapping, in an effort to give her a little piece of mind, which obviously was not going to work. Suddenly, ever so faintly, you hear “oh crap” come over the speakers. She said it as a whisper, but it did come through.
More clapping. Then, in a sudden blast of composure, she remembered what it was that she enjoyed and finished her speech.
Of all times to freeze, it had to be – “I enjoy ….”
I have not felt so bad for someone in … forever. Oh my heart hurt. I was sick to my stomach and could not imagine what she was feeling.
I could care less about the damn pageant, but I really felt bad for her. She had such aspirations.
Well, obviously devastated, she really wanted to go home. And I mean really. But I told her to sleep on it and we would leave in the morning if she wanted. Now, I said that as a parent that does not want my kids to quit. Normally, I would have told her no, you signed up, you finish, you fight through this, but this time, I had to give a little.
I was telling my wife, if that happened to me, at my age, I would want to leave … and would. I wouldn’t pack or anything. I would just walk out, get in my car and drive home. Buy new stuff later.
The next morning, after a night of heavy emotion, she came into our room and said she was going to stay. I was amazed and so damn proud. Sure enough, she went through her “interview” stage as well as her other stuff and finished the pageant. I don’t know how she did it, but damn it, that girl hung in there and made me so damn happy.
Obviously she didn’t make it to the top 5 or even the top 20 this year, but in my eyes, she achieved so much more.
Now as far as the entire “pageant” thing … I hate ‘em. I really do. That must be said before I go further. Overall I think they are a travesty. Always have. (Although looking at beautiful woman is not a downfall for me). BUT … I also realize, after attending two of these shows now, that they can also help a young girl, if in no other way, to promote an ease of public speaking and self confidence. Okay … moving on…
Last year, in this same pageant, my daughter placed in the top 20 (out of 152). It was her first year so she was excited to go again this year and try to better that. Try to get into the “Queens Court” (Top 5) was her only goal. She practiced speeches. She practiced her form of movement. She practiced all she could for she was really set on working to get into the top 5.
The first night of events, everything was going great. You could see her confidence rising with each passing event. All was good.
Notice the “Was” in that last sentence?
Enter night two. A night, I have deemed the pageant horror of 2007.
Night two is essentially the nightgown segment. They start by having the girls escorted out by their fathers or brothers or uncles … I was excellent by the way. Hit all my marks right on cue. The males then leave the stage and the girls give a speech about their goals for the future, what they are currently active in, etc…
So all is going well, still, and I am back in my seat waiting for my daughter to approach center stage (The wife gives me that “Damn, you did a great job up there” look, verifying what I already knew), and then it is my daughters turn.
Two minutes into her speech, she was nailing it. NAILING IT. The words were flowing precise, as articulate as can be and with exact volume and tone. She spoke of what she is doing in the community, she spoke of friends and family, she spoke of goals for herself for the future. A better 2 minute speech could not exist. However, her speech was about 3 minutes long. Uh-Oh.
I don’t remember much, after my heart sank into my lap, but I do remember the last little bit. It went something like this (not exact obviously) …
“… and of course my goals are lofty, but they are within my reach.”
“I also enjoy ………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………
……………………………….
………………………
…………….”
BAM. Her brain let her down. Total fall out. “I also enjoy” was followed by nothing but silence. Oh god it was dreadful. After about 15 seconds (which must have seemed like 15 hours to my daughter), she says again …
“I enjoy ………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
……………………………………………
…………………………….”
Another long silence. OH MY GOD. Baby say anything. My heart, which was now in my shoe, was pounding hard. Nothing was coming out. The crowd started clapping, in an effort to give her a little piece of mind, which obviously was not going to work. Suddenly, ever so faintly, you hear “oh crap” come over the speakers. She said it as a whisper, but it did come through.
More clapping. Then, in a sudden blast of composure, she remembered what it was that she enjoyed and finished her speech.
Of all times to freeze, it had to be – “I enjoy ….”
I have not felt so bad for someone in … forever. Oh my heart hurt. I was sick to my stomach and could not imagine what she was feeling.
I could care less about the damn pageant, but I really felt bad for her. She had such aspirations.
Well, obviously devastated, she really wanted to go home. And I mean really. But I told her to sleep on it and we would leave in the morning if she wanted. Now, I said that as a parent that does not want my kids to quit. Normally, I would have told her no, you signed up, you finish, you fight through this, but this time, I had to give a little.
I was telling my wife, if that happened to me, at my age, I would want to leave … and would. I wouldn’t pack or anything. I would just walk out, get in my car and drive home. Buy new stuff later.
The next morning, after a night of heavy emotion, she came into our room and said she was going to stay. I was amazed and so damn proud. Sure enough, she went through her “interview” stage as well as her other stuff and finished the pageant. I don’t know how she did it, but damn it, that girl hung in there and made me so damn happy.
Obviously she didn’t make it to the top 5 or even the top 20 this year, but in my eyes, she achieved so much more.