NYT: Why isn't your toddler paying the mortgage?

[CheeringCharm]

By KATHERINE ROSMANSEPT. 27, 2017



Mila and Emma are two breakthrough stars of a new class of social media celebrities: young children who appear in viral videos. In many of the most popular clips, these whippersnappers engage in adultlike conversations, amusingly given their babyish voices. The videos can be incredibly popular. And marketers have noticed.


Mila and Emma have done advertising work for Amazon, Nest, Dollar Rental Car, Macy’s and Walmart, among other companies. They’re flying to New York in October to shoot video spoofs of movies including “Clueless” and “Mean Girls” for Harper’s Bazaar.




“It is really lucrative,” said Katie Stauffer, their mother. “But I wish people knew that this is my job now.”




She wouldn’t detail exactly how much money the children are bringing in, but she said she was recently able to leave her position as an escrow officer after 12 years, much to the relief of herself and her husband, a doctor. With her working outside the home, “my kids weren’t getting what they needed,” she said.




Still, Ms. Stauffer often gets criticized in the comments of her Instagram feed, where people frequently remark on the food she lets her children eat and the brands she takes money from. After a sponsored post for a brand of chicken, “we got a lot of flak,” she said.




And the talent can be difficult. Emma doesn’t love making videos, and Mila wants to make them only when she wants. Ms. Stauffer has stopped cutting deals with companies that insist on giving her deadlines. “You can’t make 2-year-olds do anything,” she said.


www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/style/viral-toddler-videos.html

[CheeringCharm]

What do you think about the parents who make money this way?

This part made me cringe:

Ross Smith, a 25-year-old social media star (he has four million Facebook followers, 1.5 million on Instagram, and an average Snapchat post gets about one million views), has collaborated with several children.

“Kids are the new social influencer,” he said. He is not a parent himself, but he understands the instinct to seize on corporate offers when they arise. “Kids grow up and become less relevant. The sweet spot is between 2 and 4,” after which, Mr. Smith said, “they’re not that cute.”

[bowies]

No.

[hopecounts]

I don’t like kids being bread winners for their families but can understand sometimes circumstances are such that it’s a necessity.

In this case there isn’t a need for them to help pay the bills to keep the family functioning Mom just wants to SAH.

If they have fun doing the videos/ads then I have no issue with them doing them but the money should be put in trust for them to use as adults not to pay the family expenses.

[CheeringCharm]

I don't understand how these parents don't get unnerved out by all the weirdos out there, some of whom might be dangerous. I used to read this popular family blog and some creep posted a comment on the Mom's IG, something to the effect of "I want to breastfeed your daughter" or "I think about breastfeeding your daughter." I think she gets comments like that a lot. I'm sure they consider it part of the cost of doing business (this blog makes a lot of money) but, if that were me, I would have shut that thing down right then and there and done what I could to get all of the archives deleted.

eta: If you go on Pinterest, you can find photos of the children on that blog. John and Sherry from Young House Love said they used to get people coming up to them in the street because they recognized the kids first and that was part of why they shut a profitable business down. I don't know, there's something unsettling about that to me. Most people don't and won't have bad intentions towards you. But some do. I don't know why you would invite more of that into your life than you have to.

[smock]

I do it the old fashioned way: I send my kids to the mines. Bonus: don't have to pay for childcare.

[hocus2]

Aside from legal concerns and ethical concerns it seems like a highly unstable income stream. A toddler doing cute things isn't going to last. My kids said cute toddler things at 2 as well but they age out some of that.

[downtoearth]

My gut says it's NMS and exploiting her own kids. This reminds me of the parents who parade your cute kid around for money in pageants for toddlers of past, huh? Plus the added info about the kids not wanting to be in them is sad. I mean, if she left her job to do this and she has to make a living with it, then at some point she's crossing the line to bribing her kids (or punishing them) to coax them to be her money source. And the dig on working parents is making me wish that her leap to being her kids agents backfires spectacularly.

[muffin0]

My niece does modeling. She's done some pretty big jobs, including quite a few Disney and a couple for Bloomingdales. My sister in law finally started taking a small percentage to pay for gas and any travel expenses (if there are any - usually not the case since we live in Tampa and most jobs are either Orlando or Miami)

But the rest money she earns goes in an account for her and it's going to stay there until she's older.

I'm not sure how much of the Mom's time goes into these videos. I assume there is a decent amount of editing and what not to get them ready to post. I think she should get paid for this, but I hope she's putting a good chunk away in savings for the kids.

[05heel]

It’s dumb and I hate it.

I honestly question the sense of people who actually follow these children on social media.

[claudiajean]

This line really bugs me:

With her working outside the home, “my kids weren’t getting what they needed,” she said.

I'm glad your kids now make it possible for you to stay home.

[kadams767]

Sept 28, 2017 12:03:29 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

Aside from legal concerns and ethical concerns it seems like a highly unstable income stream. A toddler doing cute things isn't going to last. My kids said cute toddler things at 2 as well but they age out some of that.

I really don't know the answer to this, but I kind of assume they are taking in enough money during the "cute years" to offset traditional income for at least one parent, if not both, for quite some time.  I mean, how many parents are going to quit their jobs for a social media income of a few thousand dollars annually?  IMO, you are either completely raking it in or have another source of funds to cover your family, like the other parent making enough or an inheritance.   

[CheeringCharm]

Sept 28, 2017 12:13:31 GMT -5 muffin0 said:

My niece does modeling. She's done some pretty big jobs, including quite a few Disney and a couple for Bloomingdales. My sister in law finally started taking a small percentage to pay for gas and any travel expenses (if there are any - usually not the case since we live in Tampa and most jobs are either Orlando or Miami)

But the rest money she earns goes in an account for her and it's going to stay there until she's older.

I'm not sure how much of the Mom's time goes into these videos. I assume there is a decent amount of editing and what not to get them ready to post. I think she should get paid for this, but I hope she's putting a good chunk away in savings for the kids.

Fwiw, I think this is somewhat different. Putting my children in acting or modeling is not for me but I judge the people who do this way less because at least you can establish clear boundaries between work and home. It's a real job where it's very obvious that you're performing a certain service for someone for money and then you're done. Whereas the people who blog about their kids or make videos about them - there is a strong reality tv component to it; they're living and filming their daily lives for money - and I wonder what that blurring of the lines between work and home or work and down time does to the kids as they grow up. Do they feel like their privacy has been violated without their consent? Do they feel like they have to "perform" for the camera or an imaginary audience to get people to like them? It reminds me a little of that movie the Truman Show.

[WanderingWinoZ]

I'm not a fan of it for many of the reasons stated.
My biggest concern is privacy for my kids in the future. WHen they are 15 or 25 or 45...are they going to want all tht out there?
I know there have always been child models/actors, but we've never had access to so much information & historical ads/photos/video that we do now or will in the future.

I'm not going to the extreme of never posting anything about my kids anywhere online, but for the most part I feel like I owe it to them to be able to control their online destiny in the future. Once the cat's out of the bag, it's really hard to get your privacy back & nearly impossible so scrub your online presence.

[eponinepontmercy]

Those videos of Mila are SO annoying and obviously staged. I felt vindicated reading this:

Kaitlin often cues the children their more sophisticated lines. In one recent video, Mila addresses a date with her friend Sawyer that went boringly wrong when he paid more attention to his sports league than to her.

The ones I saw didn't seem cute.  The kids are cute, but cute kids saying obnoxious things are still annoying.  I can't believe what people make money doing.

[taratru]

"My kids weren't getting what they needed."

So I quit my job and put them to work to get what I needed.

[hocus2]

Sept 28, 2017 12:20:22 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Sept 28, 2017 12:03:29 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

Aside from legal concerns and ethical concerns it seems like a highly unstable income stream. A toddler doing cute things isn't going to last. My kids said cute toddler things at 2 as well but they age out some of that.

I really don't know the answer to this, but I kind of assume they are taking in enough money during the "cute years" to offset traditional income for at least one parent, if not both, for quite some time.  I mean, how many parents are going to quit their jobs for a social media income of a few thousand dollars annually?  IMO, you are either completely raking it in or have another source of funds to cover your family, like the other parent making enough or an inheritance.   

  I don't think folks are all that calculated in general. I've been walking a local mom who is currently a MLM rain maker and she clearly expects to earn like that for a long long time based on her buying a new home. It might happen but I expect that like other MLM there is a cycle of success that tends to fade once the area gets saturated. 

I also thing that after childcare some folks only clear a little bit after  daycare. I remember someone only made $500 after childcare and was thinking is that enough to make it worth while. I could totally see folks leaving their jobs in cases like that.

[meshaliuknits]

Much like the cat cosplay people, I mostly wonder how they get the kids to cooperate. My kids are pretty funny, but never on camera. On camera they get performative. Like, the little boy was pretending to be a Project Runway judge and it was flipping hilarious, his 4yo disdain for my work. But if I was filming he'd have just been making faces.

[Pom]

I'm so sad my parents didn't think to pimp me out for fat cash. I mean I was cute at one point. (sarcasm alert)

This is all quite unsavory.

[sushi]

Sept 28, 2017 12:21:52 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

I'm not a fan of it for many of the reasons stated.
My biggest concern is privacy for my kids in the future. WHen they are 15 or 25 or 45...are they going to want all tht out there?
I know there have always been child models/actors, but we've never had access to so much information & historical ads/photos/video that we do now or will in the future.

I'm not going to the extreme of never posting anything about my kids anywhere online, but for the most part I feel like I owe it to them to be able to control their online destiny in the future. Once the cat's out of the bag, it's really hard to get your privacy back & nearly impossible so scrub your online presence.

And those child actors have a reputation for turning out as well adjusted adults

[wawa]

I've tried to make Shorti go viral. She's freakin' ADORABLE people. And says ridiculous things. Unfortunately it's basically only my mom and I who are convinced of her star power....

(joking. Mostly)

[Deleted]

Sept 28, 2017 12:01:49 GMT -5 CheeringCharm said:

I don't understand how these parents don't get unnerved out by all the weirdos out there, some of whom might be dangerous. I used to read this popular family blog and some creep posted a comment on the Mom's IG, something to the effect of "I want to breastfeed your daughter" or "I think about breastfeeding your daughter." I think she gets comments like that a lot. I'm sure they consider it part of the cost of doing business (this blog makes a lot of money) but, if that were me, I would have shut that thing down right then and there and done what I could to get all of the archives deleted.

eta: If you go on Pinterest, you can find photos of the children on that blog. John and Sherry from Young House Love said they used to get people coming up to them in the street because they recognized the kids first and that was part of why they shut a profitable business down. I don't know, there's something unsettling about that to me. Most people don't and won't have bad intentions towards you. But some do. I don't know why you would invite more of that into your life than you have to.

I never understood why they let the kid exposure go on as long as it did, but I'm glad they've pulled way back. They have some super creepy and obsessive fans.

[georgeglass]

Sept 28, 2017 12:44:10 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

I watched some of the videos and I don't like these grown ass chirren.

I saw some and thought that I'd hate to hang out with the adult version of the kid, so I have no interest in watching the kid version. I don't get the attraction.

[OscarQ]

I don't like the kid videos and that goes from 2-4 on up. DS1 watches "challenge" videos and they're performative nonsense and then he starts talking like these teenage girls and just no. Not on my watch young man.

DS2 is 4 and loves some kid who does toy reviews - his name might be Evan. I really need to give them less screen time.

Also, like others have said, my kids are adorable until I start filming. And then they're annoying and not cute at all.

[Deleted]

Some of these people are worth millions. I can see the allure, especially if it's all going to your kids' education.

I share very few pics of my kids on FB and I delete most of them eventually so they will just have to take out loans and work through college like we had to. I couldn't deal with the loss of privacy that comes with being social media famous. Plus, I have really thin skin and the first time someone criticized my babies I'd probably cry.

[eclaires]

Like every child on GBCN (lol) my daughter has been approached to model multiple times. We have never pursued it for a variety of reasons. It's like blog kids - I have issues with the consent aspect of it and how their whole lives are out there. Modeling and acting at least offer some level of personal privacy. Social media and blogs are like windows into these kids' lives and it's weird.

[eclaires]

Also I have no idea who these children are but they sound annoying.

[05heel]

Sept 28, 2017 12:25:07 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

Those videos of Mila are SO annoying and obviously staged. I felt vindicated reading this:

Kaitlin often cues the children their more sophisticated lines. In one recent video, Mila addresses a date with her friend Sawyer that went boringly wrong when he paid more attention to his sports league than to her.

The ones I saw didn't seem cute.  The kids are cute, but cute kids saying obnoxious things are still annoying.  I can't believe what people make money doing.

I feel all kinds of wrong after looking at the Instagram page. Why so many shits of them sleeping? And why are there full grown adults liking and commenting? And yes, those staged conversations were whack.

Shots corrected to shits and I like it.

[claudiajean]

Sept 28, 2017 12:21:52 GMT -5 WanderingWinoZ said:

I'm not a fan of it for many of the reasons stated.
My biggest concern is privacy for my kids in the future. WHen they are 15 or 25 or 45...are they going to want all tht out there?
I know there have always been child models/actors, but we've never had access to so much information & historical ads/photos/video that we do now or will in the future.

I'm not going to the extreme of never posting anything about my kids anywhere online, but for the most part I feel like I owe it to them to be able to control their online destiny in the future. Once the cat's out of the bag, it's really hard to get your privacy back & nearly impossible so scrub your online presence.

I think of this with some reality tv stars.  Like Jon and Kate Plus 8 back in the day - those kids are going to be known for the rest of their life by their behavior as a toddler.  It's sad to me.

[atexan]

So, the strategy is to make enough money from ages 2-4 to float you until they are old enough to make sex tapes?

::takes notes::