Beauty is In the Eye of the Beholder

I keep hearing about these baby beauty contests they seem to have every week at the mall. Usually, I hear about it after the fact and I think to myself, my babies would win hands down. So, one weekend not to long ago, I had nothing to do. I had driven by the mall on the way to an event and seen the marquis which said "Little Mr. Octoberfest this Saturday at 12 pm." So I thought to myself, why not enter Hunter? Well, I found the number to the beauty pageant people and made the call (going to significant trouble to find out about the event) and I learned that it was for girls and boys and cost $45.00 to $100.00 per child (depending on what you sign them up for as they have all these add ons). So, I decided I couldn't leave one or two of them out. All 3 had to be in it or none. Finances were bad, so I called my mom up and got my mom and grandma to contribute the minimum entry fee for the babies. I got them all dressed up, fed, changed, into their car seats, into the car and I was met at the mall by my husband and his niece who assisted me in showcasing the children. I was amazed at the pageantry dresses, headgear, and pageant moms who coaxed their children into cute poses, stances, hip rolling, etc as they paraded next to them while the children walked on stage. I looked at my little babies, dressed in nothing but simple clothing and thought... "They are the most beautiful babies here." We were at the mall by 11:30 and signed up for the pageant by 12:30. The pageant started after 1PM, close to their next feeding time. They are usually in their best moods 20 min or so after they are fed. So, we started feeding them right before the pageant, but by the time they had to take their "walk" across the stage at the mall, they were still quite hungry and ready for a nap. Alexandria and Gabby were not exactly smiling and laughing, but they managed to make it through it without a cry. Hunter went up with his dad and only had one other baby as competition. The results? Hunter won for most beautiful baby "prince" while his competition won every other category (all the extra contests we didn't pay for - most beautiful eyes, best costume, best smile, most photogenic, etc.). Gabrielle and Alexandria had 5 other babies for competition and went away with 3rd runner up. I felt HORRIBLE. I didn't see how they could be 3rd runners up!!! I wanted a recount!! The competitive side of me came out and it wasn't the best side of me as I recapped how beautiful my children were in comparison to the other babies. I questioned if I was crazy for thinking they were so beautiful. My mom tried to console me by telling me that Gabrielle and Alexandria were not hurt a bit - it was just my ego. Oh well, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't think I will do the pageant thing again soon. At least they all have a nice trophy and I have a memory to share with them when they get older.