my roommate was a model as a kid. he is butt-*** ugly now, but that is besides the point. Anyway, his parents used all the money he made from "modeling" as a baby and bought Intel stock back in the day. It paid for most of his college at Cornell. He's an engineer now, and like I said, has not shot at modeling today, so if done correctly, its a great way to make some money for your child (NOT FOR YOU) and make sure it doesn't consume his/her life so that he/she can have a regular life growing up.
We used to get the same reaction about our son all the time. Like you I looked into it, but not much and it didn't get as far as sending pictures to anyone. Mainly because I have a friend in Chicago that does it with her girl and boy and the schedule is crazy. She'll get a call and have to be downtown at the drop of a hat. They're in those One-Step ahead catalogs, I think the girl's been in commercials. i'm sure it is paying pretty good. It is just time consuming. He was very photogenic, having a daughter now who is not so much, I can really appreciate it. He would always smile for the camera, even at a very young age. Here's a pic @ 5 months
On summer vacation last year, we walked by a clothing company photo shoot, and they chased me down and asked if my 7 yo daughter would model one of their outfits. Her photo showed up on their website this week and should be in their spring catalog in the next few days. She thinks it's pretty cool, but not something she wants to pursue.
evolutionary biology says that our adult brains are hardwired to see babies as cute so that we will be more likely to nuture and support them as the most vunerable in the species. For adults though, the issue flips to the best mate for reproduction, so our standards are hardwired to increase as the object of our evaluation (baby vs. adult) increases in age.
These are some good looking kids. For the life of me, though, I don't understand why parents would steer their kids, their precious one life to live kids, into the fake, superficial, horribly ignorant world of modeling. There must be so much more to hope for, as a parent. Apologies for the attitude, I couldn't help my wannabe a snob self.
"It was the mother of all cutdowns! We couldn't believe she typed that... Tropheus then called her her the mother of all bad words!"
I think making a little cash for your kid's college fund when they're a toddler is pretty innocuous. It's not like you're starting them down the road of heroin and limosines. We got those comments all the time about our 2nd youngest. We didn't do anything about it, and I don't regret it, but I have a few shots of her now as a 5-year-old that are actually breathtaking. Still, model quality? I don't know. She looks "old" for her age, even though she's young for her class. She sure doesn't remind me of a Jon Benet Ramsey. More of a Julia Roberts type. Very natural, lots of charisma -- you know, with a horse mouth.
Just don't shoot us with your Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! Please.
Pac-Ser, my niece had that effect on me. As an infant, she'd look deep into my eyes, actually stare me down. Freaked me out. I think God told her, "Now when you get down there, tell this guy I'm watching..."
