Help! My DD 9yrs wants to be a model.....

[Pwsimerimew]

How? What? When? WHere?
I have promised myself that I will support any dreams that my DC have for their future.(within reason of course)
When I was younger and wanted to be a policewoman/ airhostess/ hair dresser/ nanny - my dad used to burst my bubble by saying things like " You can't be a policewoman cos you're too short / airhostess cos you need lots of languages/ you'll be doing old men's hair all day..." anything to put me off, until I said I want to be a teacher. ( Hit the jackpot with that one - although I changed my mind in the end)
Anyway, this is basically why I've said that if my child wants to be a trolly collecter for Tesco, I'll support them as long as they're the best trolly collecter they can possibly be. Catch my drift?
So beautifull DD wants to be a model.
Know nothing of the industry, live out at the furthest end of Anglesey, but I'm willing to try for her, but don't know where to start. Have looked on two websites, one charges , the other one doesn't.....
Any pointers please?

Check out the child modelling thread where one of the experienced mothers may be able to give you advice on the agencies near to you; they do a lot of that on the thread. I'm guessing that actually from Anglesey Manchester would be easier than Cardiff. I get the impression that a very large proportion of child modelling work goes through London, though.

Pwsimerimew - good on you for being a supportive parent. You sound like a lovely mum

I don't know much about child modeling but have looked into it a little - apparently some of the reputable agencies to apply to are

Kids London
Bruce & Brown
Urban Angels
Elisabeth Smith
Bonnie & Betty
Bizzy Kidz
Rascals
Norrie Carr

Some of the agencies require you to live within an hours drive of London but others do not. HTH.

Seems like it Port and Lemon. She knows that we can't afford to drop work to go for interviews etc, and we can't justify going to Manchester / Cardiff for the day on a whim. It's not impossible, cos you can fly from here to Cardiff in 45 minutes and get to London on a train in 3 1/2 hrs.
I don't relish the thought of hanging about in photo shoots either. I know all this, but she needs to know that I'll support her if we can.
If I tell her tonight that I've tried and it's too expensive/ far, she will accept it. I might just do that, and live with it.....

oh and the golden rule is avoid Models Direct! It's a scam.

Electra, thanks for being nice!
Having this list will show her that I have tried at least.

I tell me DD's they are too pretty to be models: models are a funny shape, they are all tall and gangly with no bottom and boobies like a proper lady

I really wouldn't go headlong into this, she'll probably have decided on soemthing different next week.

my 9yo dd told me she wanted to be a mum like me and stay at home!

Actualyl after a trip to Amsterdam she wanted to be one of the dancing ladies in the window 'selling underwear'.

Am I supposed to support her in these dreams?

You could give her that list and ask her to look at their websites and make a note of the rules about applications, costs where you have to live, where you'll need to travel to, etc., for each one and then you can sit down together and talk about it. That way you're encouraging her, but also encouraging her to put in the legwork herself (getting a sense of how committed she actually is). And she'll get a good idea for herself of what sort of restrictions there actually are in practice.

Also check out information on the Alba site -- lots of stuff on scams and who to avoid like the plague, as well as recommended agencies.

You kow what? I think she needs to know, not that you have tried, but that you love and care enough about her to say "No. On this occasion I am not going to support you. You are 9 years old, you need to be playing with your friends and working hard at school, not having your looks dissected by a model agency, experiencing the sort of rejection that would be hard for an adult to handle, and, if you do get a job, hanging around for hours with people who think trivial things are important before having your picture taken to try to encourage people to buy stuff they don't need."

Phew. Rant over.

I agree with Seeker, I'm afraid. I have three daughters and if one of them expressed interest in modelling I would be actively discouraging them. It is not something a nine-year-old should be allowed to pursue IMO.

Well, I wouldn't do that for my DD because I have huge reservations about the modelling industry. But the OP is an intelligent woman who has presumably given this some thought already and has decided that, on balance, she is OK with the general concept. So I am answering the question she asked (practically speaking, how to approach it) rather than lecturing her on how superior my values are.

If the DD isn't really keen and committed, or has a head-in-the-clouds attitude, she's going to lose interest before she's trawled through the sixth listing of restrictions and limitations and so forth. At least, that's what I'd expect of a 9yo. And if she is committed enough to do the research for herself she deserves something a bit less flip and patronising than "sit down and eat your tea", whatever the decision the family eventually reaches is.

I can't see that there is any way it's going to turn out to be practical to have a child modelling career if you live in Anglesey, wherever the parents lie on the spectrum from "yes, of course, we shall run off a set of 10x8 glossies, enhance them in Photoshop and post them out tomorrow" to "no, and in fact I am going to confine you to a healthy and wholesome adventure playground until you have learned to recite the entire text of The Beauty Myth".

On this occasion I am happy to the to po-faced occupier of the moral high ground.

Shove over.

Yes, I'm quite surprised not to find myself there on this occasion. Perhaps I'm sickening for something?

Not that DD is ever going to be model material; she looks too much like me . And DS is incapable of staying still long enough to be photographed. So this is one situation I'm never likely to have to deal with myself.

I don't know why people get so stressed over child modeling. For a child model, the parent is very much in control - they decide whether or not to take the child for a casting. A good agency will be ok with a parent who turns down a casting. The parent deals with everything, including rejection for jobs and I hear that at jobs and castings the children are usually treated very well indeed. It is not in any way comparable to the critical industry a young adult would have to deal with at all....

What is the harm in sending a few photos off and just seeing if she is accepted?

"I'm not lecturing anyone on my superior values!"

I am!!!

Wanting to be a model when she grows up does t mean you have to do owt now, IMO. You wouldn't write off to colleges about what subjects she'll need at gcse for teaching, would you? Nice that you want to support her and all that, but as long as you aren't pouring cold water on anything that's enough. Looking into this option and not the others she mentions sends the message that you think her looks are her best chance, which ain't great tbh, even though that's not what you mean.

If, as you say, OP, this is her dream of this week, and she will have thought of something else next week, why do you feel the need to support her in it?

Will you be whizzing of to NASA next week, when she has decided she wants to be an astronaut? And the week after- will you be trying to get her a singing contract?

What is it about this particular dream that makes you feel you must show yourself supportive? You can't do something active about all her dreams, you'd both go mad. DO you think this one is more important to her? Or a better dream to have?

Personally, I'd be wary, the friends I had who did try modelling while still at school ended up rather badly (anorexia, mental hospital etc- the pressure was so high).

Well, my DSD2 (now 11) has been modelling for years and loves it. My DS (1YO) is also modelling. He is with Rascals.

Send some photos off, see what happens. Just steer clear of Models Direct!!!

THere is no harm in it at all... But DO be realistic. It's a hard business and it can be tough.

DS had a big csting yesterday and didn't get it because he was too shy and clingy. Made me feel terrible... Water off a ducks back to him...

Of course, we all have to be realistic and manage our kids dreams but neither do we have to say it can't happen.

GOod luck!!!