A Texas mom, Tammy Day, wants her daughter, Brandy Day, to have the best prom ever -- and win her bid as prom queen so much that she rented a billboard that says, “Vote Brandy Day for prom queen!”
And I say, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Every mom wants to help her child have a great senior year. And most parents do help their kids take advantage of every opportunity afforded them. If your child wants to win the science fair, you'll pull an all-nighter testing their theory. If she sets her mind on a particular sport, you help her train so she can perform to the best of her ability. When your kid runs for office, student government, captain of something or other and, yes, even prom king or queen, you support them in their efforts. As parents this is part of our job.
We do it willingly. We pay for college applications, university visits and spring break trips. We shell out money for ballet, cello, and soccer. We spend countless hours volunteering to coach, help backstage, chaperon and drive because we want our children to know that we support them and want them to succeed. How is this billboard any different than helping your child make hundreds of sparkly, glittertastic poster boards and helping her hang them all over the school and town?
I don’t think it is. It might sound completely over the top to buy your daughter billboard space to help her campaign for prom queen, but wouldn’t any of us do everything in our power to help our child have the most fulfilling experience, if we could? And it's perfectly ok for a mom to do whatever she can to help her kids enjoy life, as long as the parent isn't directing what the child wants -- and isn't leaving your family financially destitute.
What's the craziest thing you've ever done to help your child succeed at something?
Image via SeanMcGrath/ Flickr
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Comments 13
Um, I am pretty sure she single handedly ensured that her daughter will not be winning prom queen. If I were her daughter, I would be absolutely mortified. It's just too over the top for the high school prom queen competition. Just because you can afford to do something doesn't mean it's a good idea. A little common sense goes a long way.
I would die if my mother did something like that. Apparently she was harassed about it and gee, guess what, didn't win. Well no kidding.
However, she will be going to Baylor University - but don't tell anyone or it will hurt the other kids' feelings (see related story).
I don't do anything to help my kid succeed at something. It taints the ultimate feeling of doing accomplishing something and being judged by it. Be it a science project or running for prom royalty.
I'm one of those silly people who thinks that my kid should earn his own by himself. All i've ever have and ever will do is offer my support and be here if he needs my help (to a certain degree).
This is definitely over the top. And I can tell you that, when I was in high school, there would be NO WAY I would EVER vote for the girl with the giant billboard! I see this as very different from helping a child stay up to study or supporting them in a sport or other endeavour. If my daughter wanted to be prom queen this bad, I would probably be more concerned about making her understand that this is not a big deal and that there is a lot more to life than winning prom queen in high school than in counting my pennies to see how big a billboard I could rent!
What I do to help my child succeed is encourage him to do whatever he's interested in, and fuel that fire once he's got it going! I don't do anything FOR him as a way to help him succeed.