My mother thought organized religion was one of the problems with the world; this extended to the Girl Scouts and the PTA (a somewhat convenient belief for a mother of four, since you can't ask someone to go against their beliefs). She also believed that children shouldn't be allowed to act.
I have never quite understood how I talked her into letting me enter the Beverly Hills Miss Easter Bunny pageant when I was 8 -- one of the prizes was a screen-test -- but I did.
I don't know what I was thinking. I think I thought it would be fun to ride down Beverly Drive in an old white Cadillac with the top down sitting next to the Mayor of Beverly Hills and wave at the throngs of people I imagined would be lining the streets. I think I thought I was going to win.
Little did I know, the fix was in.
My dress was perfect. Did I sing? No, I think I recited an Emily Dickinson poem. I don't remember. I remember feeling TALL. And somewhat awkward. Pretty. But somewhat awkward.
And Janie Roberts won. Janie Roberts (who may in fact have been a more appropriate Miss Easter Bunny since she was 3'1" to my probably 4'7", even at the age of 8). Janie Roberts' mother owned Taffy's Dress Shop. And Taffy's was the sponsor of the Beverly Hills Miss Easter Bunny Pageant.
And my mother was indignant.
"You don't honestly believe that the Miss Easter Bunny Pageant was rigged, do you?" my father asked her.
Yes, of course, that's exactly what she believed and she turned her nose up certain she was right about it and that organized religion was the problem with everything and organizations (and contests) were better not to be entered.
Follow Amy Ephron on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AmyEphron
Loading comments… 
My son entered a writing contest at his school when he was in 4th grade. He wrote a 15 page story about the life of a child in Roman times. I was blown away by how amazing it was and was surprised he hadn't won but I thought the teacher must have been wonderful to inspire writing even better than what he'd produced. On parent's night, I saw the winning entry. A simplistic one page story about a girl and a pony with not a word over 4 letters in it. I asked the teacher what it was that made her story a winning one while my son's story seemed to be better. She told me that the girl's mother was a room monitor and volunteer and she didn't believe my son had written his own story because it was so well done. My husband and I hadn't even known about the story until after he'd entered it. (I later found out that the girl's mother and the teacher were the only 2 members of the selection committee for the school contest...
Two years later, when his entry in a "best teacher" contest won 3 new computers for his school and a $1000 gift certificat
In elementary school we had this big contest where you had to write a report on your favorite book
You could do a little play or add pictures and props if you wanted to.
I did Molly from the american girls series(cuz she was my hero and had glasses like me)
Not only did I write a cute report on it,I dressed up in a plaid skirt and had my aunt put my hair in two braids so I would look just like her . This one kid, Richard,di
Stacy Patterson whose mother was head of the P.T.A at our school won. She was the only kid who didn't wear a costume. And she mumbled through her whole report. UGH.
-- Christian Gulliksen
My mother spent a week making me the coolest and most beautiful Pilgrim costume. It was a long grey dress, complete with a white apron and matching white hat. It was magnificie
I entered the Halloween costume pageant and all the parents expected me to win. I should have won!
Instead, a girl dressed up like a NUN won the award.