Do You Have A Toddler or Celebrity?

 

A toddler begins life as a celebrity. Adults give a new child the full star treatment, e.g, vanity, ego and self-admiration. Parents are generally proud and boisterous at the life they created. Almost everyone has said or heard, “I have the most beautiful baby in the world.” When a new child is born we call family and friends to share in our joy.

New technology has helped increase our vanity. Technology allows parents to make announcements on Facebook, Google + and twitter to record and spread the excitement  Our ego continues to expand through family and friends as they tell anyone that we missed in the first round of announcements.

 

Where does all of this self-pride begin and end?

 

We could blame our parents because they made egocentric comments about us when we were born.  Blaming our parents could make ego a learned behavior. We learn about being self-centered because our parents thought that we were a celebrity  Blaming our parents has one major benefit, therapy.  (isn’t the goal to blame everything on your parents?).

As a parent, I am no different, pride swelled my head at the birth of my son. I told others about my son with prideful announcements and “self-inflated” comments. My son was my instant celebrity. I have no issues with anyone that makes vanity statements about their child (even if I disagree with their ego). It is healthy to have a small sense of vanity.  I am not saying that I am vain but I won’t entirely deny it either (see Vanity - Good, Bad and Ugly).

 

Last year, OKC Metro Magazine  (Oklahoma City Metro Magazine) had a “cute kid” Halloween costume contest. Parents could send one photo of their child dressed up for Halloween and let other people decide the winner. We were  positive our son, Xander, would win. My wife found a cute picture and gave the magazine the rights to use the photo in their publication.

They magazine liked the picture, within a week the photo was online promoting the contest. We were sad when the contest ended and  he didn’t win (the winners picture was never used to promote the contest). We felt, even though he didn’t win, our son was a celebrity because they used his picture in publication! We showed our son pride and self-ego for the accomplishment!

Until last week, we really hadn’t thought about the photo. We  discovered that Xander was even more famous! The  OKC Metro Magazine decided to use his photo in a promotion for this years, 2012 Halloween Events! My ego and vanity have mixed emotions about the magazine using my son’s picture two years in a row. Xander’s photo wasn’t good enough to win the magazine contest but it is good enough to use in two promotional events.

 

 

I enjoy making  jokes about my son being a celebrity but the more I think about it the more similarities I see between a celebrity and a toddler.

 

1. Morning Rituals – Dealing with a celebrity in the morning is not easy. My son takes his time getting up in the morning. He doesn’t like others to bother him until he is fully awake. If I make the mistake of waking him too early he will throw tantrums and become very unpleasant for the rest of the day. A typical morning conversation is in monotone with occasional groans of dismay about the early time period.

2. Scheduling Mayhem - Celebrities have personal assistants to guide them through the day while a toddler has a minivan (or other equivalent). My son, like any celebrity, maintains a high social demand. He prefers the day “tightly” scheduled. He likes to go to different places, visit his “fans” and use his catchphrase, “I cute!“

3. Meal Essentials - A celebrity will hire a chef  to cater to their food needs and help them make healthy choices. Occasionally, a chef will get paid to yell at a star for making unhealthy decisions. Parents get to yell at toddlers free for making unhealthy decisions. My son wants me to make healthy choices for him. I try to engage him in meal planning but he rarely decides what he wants to eat. When I do decide on a food choice I will hear, “I don’t like that!” The one problem with the phrase, “I don’t like that” is he would have to try first try the food to know he didn’t like it.

4. Spa treatment - Being a public figure means you have to look your best . Stars go to spas and pay for mud baths to help make them look younger. Toddlers also feel that a mud treatment helps them to stay youthful but they refuse to pay for mud. My son constantly wants to play in  mud puddles. It doesn’t matter if it hasn’t rained for months because Xander will find the only mud puddle in the city.

5. Vanity Affair – People that are famous are generally vain and tend to like who they are. They believe the world revolves around them and enjoy other people admiring them. Toddlers believe they are the center of the universe. We have taught my son it’s okay to say, “I love you.” The lesson worked a little too well. When someone tells Xander that they love him, he replies, “I love me too.” and kisses his arm.

 

Now that Xander is more famous, I am not sure what the coming year will bring. I just hope that he will give us his autograph if he continues on the path of a celebrity comedian (he is definitely my child)!

Most children have some celebrity qualities that are humorous. What type of things does your child do that reminds you of a celebrity or a “diva?” Do you encourage any of the behavior or consider it a phase? Do you think that parents are to blame for being so egocentric? Tell me in the comments!

 

You can read my last post here: Do Stay-At-Home Dads Worry Mom? If you like this post you can follow me on my facebook fan page, Dadblunders.

 

 

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Tags: child star, family and friends