Is the mainstream ruining the magic?

[Princess Pearl]

It could also be for safety reasons, especially with little kids. People breathing underwater, or "real" mermaids, might lead to a kid trying to imitate and drowning or getting into trouble. I remember when I really got into mermaids my mom sat me down and very decisively explained that mermaids were not real and not to swim beyond my limits. I was a very imaginative kid and very gullible, so if someone gave me a 'magic shell' or something I may in fact have taken the pretend game too far. Not saying this is what happened with the above kid, but it's the lines some parents might think along. If I had kids, I certainly would.

That actually happened in my first ever swim. I told a little girl that mermaids can breathe underwater (though I couldn't do it in the pool because of the chlorine) and her response was that SHE could do it, then dove under! PANIC!


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[Mermaid Alea]

What I came up with is to tell kids I am only half mermaid. It helps explain away certain things because I don't have all of the ability that a full mermaid has.

[MerMaisy]

Mermaiding hasn't really become a thing in my area. There definitely are mermaids, but not enough of us to be mainstream. Basically no one has heard of professional mermaiding. My little sister has pretty much taken up my backstory and loves convincing all her friends that I'm a real mermaid.

[selinaannrose]

When I am asked if I am real, I say no. I say that I enjoy pretending and meeting wonderful little girls and boys like yourself. None of the kids I have told were disappointed. They tend ask me more technical questions like how long can you hold your breath and can I see under water.

I always tell them that anything is possible with imagination.

I had one girl ask me why I dress up. I just said because playing dressing up is fun. Then I asked her what her favorite costume is.

I never lied to my own children and won't lie to other kids.

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[Mermaid Sabie]

I just try to keep it fun! If a kid asks me directly if I'm a real mermaid or if my tail is real I ask them if they're a real human and if I can touch their leg lol. If they play along then I go with being a "real" mermaid, if not then I just say I'm a mermaid in training Those are usually the ones that really want to know how you got your tail cause they want one too! Then just seeing how fast I can swim or wanting to take pictures is fun.
I haven't had a rude kid yet, lucky me!

[IllynReaver]

My niece who's turning 18 saw me swimming with my monofin and her eyes got really big and the biggest smile on her face and said I was a real life mermaid. still hope and belief even in the older kids.


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[OceanWhisper]

hahaha

[MermaidSaph]

My niece who's turning 18 saw me swimming with my monofin and her eyes got really big and the biggest smile on her face and said I was a real life mermaid. still hope and belief even in the older kids.


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I hope that if I ever have kids/nieces/nephews that they'll still have that "hope and belief" when they get to that age...

[PearlieMae]

Along the same lines, but not mer-related...my mom was a teaching assistant for middle schoolers and one kid kept going on and on about Santa was going to bring him this and Santa was going to bring him that...My mom asked 'You're 13, aren't you a little old to believe in Santa?'

He said "When you stop believing in Santa, that's when all your Christmas gifts turn into clothes."

Smart kid.

[malinghi]

Haha, that kid's got it all figured out.

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[MerShellly]

My mom always told me "when you stop believing, he stops coming."

[Ashe]

I hope that if I ever have kids/nieces/nephews that they'll still have that "hope and belief" when they get to that age...

I'm fifteen and if there is ever a second in my life where I'm not filled with hope and belief, someone needs to seriously fin-slap me in the face.

[Ashe]

He said "When you stop believing in Santa, that's when all your Christmas gifts turn into clothes."

Okay, that is hilarious

[Mermaid Ciela]

Speaking from the college-age demographic, I personally got WAY MORE EXCITED about mermaids when I found out that there were ~professional mermaids~ out there. While I know that mermaids aren't real, it's fun to entertain the possibility and imagine what their lives are like and how they might interact with humans... To see that people have made careers out of this got me really excited because I could actually experience swimming like a mermaid and so on and so forth. I got my first monofin for this past Christmas and I have most of the materials to make a tail with, I just need to actually make it! So if anything, the internet has - in a weird way - strengthened my belief in the concept of mermaids, as opposed to crushing my childhood hopes and dreams when I somehow found out they weren't real. What malinghi said about slowly becoming more aware and choosing to believe anyways - I would say that's what happened to me.


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[Princess Kae-Leah]

I personally am all for mermaiding becoming more mainstream. I mean, yes granted it becoming more well-known means making it less easy to fool children into thinking you're a real mer, but I think the benefits of it becoming more mainstream outweigh the drawbacks for the most part. While my mom has always been very supportive of my mermaid passion, my dad still thinks it's a bit weird. Like we were talking of taking a little family vacation to the ocean for a weekend and I said that it would be a terrible shame to visit the real ocean and not bring my tail along and do a little mer-shoot in front of the ocean, but my mom warned me that my dad isn't "into that". I loved by sheer chance meeting a stranger, a student nurse practicitioner(sp?), who happened to own a Mertailor tail and was FB friends with Iona/Winged Mermaid. In short, I think having it be more mainstream means it's easier to get family and friends on board with your hobby without thinking it's crazy or weird, which is a very good thing.

[PearlieMae]

Take your tail. You're wearing it, not your dad!

I can see your point in wanting it to be more mainstream, though, and at the rate things are moving, it will be trending for a while, so maybe he'll come around when he sees how popular it is.

Personally, I'll be glad when it eventually fades from the mainstream, but look forward to hearing all my non-mer friends who will be able to say "hey! I knew you before this was a thing!"

[MerShellly]

Take your tail. You're wearing it, not your dad!

The word "perfect" isn't enough to describe how true this statement is!!!
I would also enjoy it if it becomes more mainstream but at the same time I would imagine it'd be tough on people who do mermaiding as a business?

[Mermaid Strega]

I think the idea that you can actually "be" a mermaid is more magical than mermaids physically existing. Tails themselves are magical, beautiful, and strange (in the good way). I think that can create excitement among kids "too old" for belief in the literal existence.

While I admit I don't want mermaiding to become toooo popular, I do love how excited and inspired people become when they think about getting involved and finally get the confidence to do so.

[Mer-Crazy]

I think the idea that you can actually "be" a mermaid is more magical than mermaids physically existing. Tails themselves are magical, beautiful, and strange (in the good way). I think that can create excitement among kids "too old" for belief in the literal existence.

While I admit I don't want mermaiding to become toooo popular, I do love how excited and inspired people become when they think about getting involved and finally get the confidence to do so.

^THIS^ I agree with everything here! Plus it got my heart racing a little as I got excited about getting my new tail ^_^

I have to admit that, mainstream or not, I think meeting a mermaid, whether I believed they were real or not would be such a magical experience. I mean I found out about mermaiding through looking at monofins, but if I hadn't known about it beforehand and just saw someone swimming around in a tail somewhere, that probably would have been one of the best things ever, even for 20 year old me

[-Annwyn-]

Sounds to me like that kid is quite the critical thinker. It's a good thing. No 'man behind the curtain' for her.

Perhaps with kids like that, the mermaid 'trend' is a good thing. It would be fun to play off the "Oh.....come on, you know mermaids don't exist! You can buy mermaid tails on the internet! Yeah kid....glad you see it's just a costume...." And breathe a sigh of relief that they really didn't realise you're an actual, bonafide, legit mermaid!
Your secret is safe once again!