I NEED MONEY! HELP

[KTMaggs]

I am an aspiring professional mermaid and I’m saving up for a silicone tail, and to make a long story short, I need 2000 dollars fast. Everyone thinks I’m too irresponsible to babysit and i really just need good ideas for jobs. I’m only 12 so I can’t get a real job. I already have some money from pst jobs chaperoning kids skiing/swimming, but I still need 2000. Help?


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[MerEmma]

Do you have a monofin, or a fabric tail to practice with and hold you over? $2000 is a lot of money to drop on a silicone tail, and going after it fast is going to be very challenging. As an adult with a full time job with few expenses, it still took me a few months to get that much money (working above min wage) so it's not going to be "fast." And at 12, you're also still growing! It would suck to spend that much money on a tail that may not fit you in a short amount of time. Have you talked to your parents about it? Is there anything that you can do for them to help earn money? Otherwise your only options are really to look around in your community (neighbors and the like) for opportunities and ask family for monetary gifts for birthdays/Christmas and hold onto those.

Iona has a fantastic thread on the challenges of starting with silicone that I also totally recommend a read if you're deadset on skipping the steps and going straight to silicone: https://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?7106-Why-we-don-t-advise-full-silicone-tails-for-your-first-tail

[KTMaggs]

Do you have a monofin, or a fabric tail to practice with and hold you over? $2000 is a lot of money to drop on a silicone tail, and going after it fast is going to be very challenging. As an adult with a full time job with few expenses, it still took me a few months to get that much money (working above min wage) so it's not going to be "fast." And at 12, you're also still growing! It would suck to spend that much money on a tail that may not fit you in a short amount of time. Have you talked to your parents about it? Is there anything that you can do for them to help earn money? Otherwise your only options are really to look around in your community (neighbors and the like) for opportunities and ask family for monetary gifts for birthdays/Christmas and hold onto those.

Iona has a fantastic thread on the challenges of starting with silicone that I also totally recommend a read if you're deadset on skipping the steps and going straight to silicone: https://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?7106-Why-we-don-t-advise-full-silicone-tails-for-your-first-tail

I’ve been mermaiding for five years with spandex and a neoprene tail, my friend has a silicone tail she lets me use as well. I’m waiting until I’m fourteen to send my order, but the faster I can get the money means I will be able to know I can afford it when the time comes, (14) I’m almost 13 and mostly done growing and that’s why I’m giving myself two years to get the money, where I live there are no profesional mermaids and I’d love to work at kids parties for not that much. I just want to be able to get as much as humanly possible by Christmas in two years because then I’ll order it.


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[MerEmma]

Wow! Congrats! That's great. Sequin tails can be a great, realistic alternative to silicone, or painted neoprene, at a much better cost. If you have the personality and local marketing, I'm sure you can get some gigs with one of those, especially since there isn't any pro mermaid "competition" in your area! Do what you can to save your money (if you trust your parents on your account, you can look into a high-interest online savings account that has 1% interest rates like Ally) but I don't think any of us are going to be able to help you out much more than that since you can't yet get a real job. We're all saving for our own tails, too! haha.

I also believed I was all done growing at 15-16 but ended up outgrowing my Mahina monofin by 18, so I had to get a Rapid last year. Heck, I know some women who felt like they went through "second puberty" at 22 (which nobody can predict). So, don't be so certain! Everyone's bodies change and fluctuate throughout our lives, even when we are done growing, no matter what unfortunately.

[KTMaggs]

Wow! Congrats! That's great. Sequin tails can be a great, realistic alternative to silicone, or painted neoprene, at a much better cost. If you have the personality and local marketing, I'm sure you can get some gigs with one of those, especially since there isn't any pro mermaid "competition" in your area! Do what you can to save your money (if you trust your parents on your account, you can look into a high-interest online savings account that has 1% interest rates like Ally) but I don't think any of us are going to be able to help you out much more than that since you can't yet get a real job. We're all saving for our own tails, too! haha.

I also believed I was all done growing at 15-16 but ended up outgrowing my Mahina monofin by 18, so I had to get a Rapid last year. Don't be so certain! Everyone's bodies change and fluctuate throughout our lives, even when we are done growing, no matter what unfortunately.

I’m already 5’5” and both my sisters stopped growing around the age of 13 so I’m waiting until I’m 14 1/2 to order it. I have a saving s account with 177 on it and I’m doing a bake sale this week. After the bake sale I’m getting my flyers up and maybe be able to get more opportunities. I live in an estates with mostly people who have ski homes so


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[MerEmma]

Sounds like you're doing the best that you can with what you have! Good luck. :)

[The Water Phoenix]

Good luck! I'm 17, and I've pretty much stopped growing as I've only grown a millimetre or so in the last 3 years! I'm also tiny, 5ft 1.

[KTMaggs]

Good luck! I'm 17, and I've pretty much stopped growing as I've only grown a millimetre or so in the last 3 years! I'm also tiny, 5ft 1.

Thank you! I think I can get the money in two years and my mom said I only have to pay for 2/3 of the tail if I pay her back from gig money.


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[Kira Majeric]

Have you though of making one? I have started making one for my daughter. She is still growing. There is a lot of work, but it will end up being cheaper.

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[KTMaggs]

Have you though of making one? I have started making one for my daughter. She is still growing. There is a lot of work, but it will end up being cheaper.

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I tried to and um... it didn’t end well. At all. And the tail I’m getting is the Mernation genesis tail. Less than half the price of my original plan and very durable. Also ships in less than two months.


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[Kira Majeric]

I tried to and um... it didn’t end well. At all. And the tail I’m getting is the Mernation genesis tail. Less than half the price of my original plan and very durable. Also ships in less than two months.


Sent from my iPhone using MerNetwork mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=95032)They do ship fast and they are beautiful tails. I am actually looking at one for myself. But, I would not buy one for my daughter even if she was a teenager. Too much to spend for a tail that will not last my Little Mermaid a few years. The supplies for the method I am using is not 2000$

Why not offer swim lessons? Although you would have to be a little older and take the needed safty classes.

Or make things to sell. Either way, it will be slow going.

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[KTMaggs]

Have you though of making one? I have started making one for my daughter. She is still growing. There is a lot of work, but it will end up being cheaper.

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I tried to and um... it didn’t end well. At all. And the tail I’m getting is the Mernation genesis tail. Less than half the price of my original plan and very durable. Also ships in less than two months.


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[Theta]

Not to rain on the parade, but if you're only 12, you probably won't be able to do professional mermaiding for a while. You'd have to do some serious investigation of child labor laws in your state, as well as finding someone to insure a younger performer in a high liability business. You might want to work on laying the groundwork for opening up your business when you're 18 instead.

[KTMaggs]

Not to rain on the parade, but if you're only 12, you probably won't be able to do professional mermaiding for a while. You'd have to do some serious investigation of child labor laws in your state, as well as finding someone to insure a younger performer in a high liability business. You might want to work on laying the groundwork for opening up your business when you're 18 instead.

I’m not trying to do “professional professional” I just want to go to kids parties and like get 50 bucks. I have done serious investigation and I can’t do it for the next month until I’m 13 but I won’t have purchased my tail by then.


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[Kira Majeric]

As a mom that has hired Mermaid twice for my daughter. I would have to agree with Theta. I made sure they were very experienced as well as CPR trained and Lifeguard trained. The two in the water as well as the Mer Handler.

I would recommend that you look for a local pod and try to be an apprentice.

I am a performer, although not as a mermaid. I am a musician and a dancer. Most places will not pay a teenager to preform. Especially one so young.

And if you wanted to do parties, parents can be much more critical than a venue when it comes to who they hire. Lawsuits and what not are a real thing. And you are not old enough to sign any contract or liability release.

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[KTMaggs]

As a mom that has hired Mermaid twice for my daughter. I would have to agree with Theta. I made sure they were very experienced as well as CPR trained and Lifeguard trained. The two in the water as well as the Mer Handler.

I would recommend that you look for a local pod and try to be an apprentice.

I am a performer, although not as a mermaid. I am a musician and a dancer. Most places will not pay a teenager to preform. Especially one so young.

And if you wanted to do parties, parents can be much more critical than a venue when it comes to who they hire. Lawsuits and what not are a real thing. And you are not old enough to sign any contract or liability release.

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I am lifeguard and CPR trained because I was a swim lessons helper thingy. The instructor was out of the water showing the strokes and ow a sin the water showing the strokes. I’ve also been mernaiding for five years.


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[Theta]

Here is some advice and I pray that you take it: if you decide to become a professional mermaid, commit to it and become a "professional professional." Not to put too fine a point on it but doing parties under the table opens up you and your parents to civic, and probably criminal, liability if something goes wrong. If 'everyone' thinks you are too irresponsible to babysit, how are you going to control a crowd of children, whose ranges can be anywhere from 2 and up? It's nowhere near as easy as it looks on paper or youtube. If one of those kids slips under the water and drowns, you're screwed.

Also, as Kira says, you're not legally allowed to sign contracts on your own, or deal with liability releases, if that's even an option. She also says that parents are critical with who they hire; that's very true. Most parents expect you to be able to wrangle their hordes of children and keep them occupied for at least an hour. However, venues are also critical of who they allow in their spaces - other mermaids I know have been turned away from pools because there was a problem with the paperwork, and the party went on without the mermaid. Pools and anyone who owns one are going to want to cover their butts, first and foremost.

If you've decided you want to do mermaiding, awesome. Work with other mermaids and gain skills, get CPR certifications, take lifeguarding classes, and babysitting courses. Take some early childcare electives if you can through your school. Save up for a tail and all the ten thousand other unseen expenses it's going to take to get you going in this business.

A good option is volunteering to read ocean stories in your fabric tail to the toddler classes at your public library. That way you can get some experience under your belt with kids in a safe environment.

[KTMaggs]

As a mom that has hired Mermaid twice for my daughter. I would have to agree with Theta. I made sure they were very experienced as well as CPR trained and Lifeguard trained. The two in the water as well as the Mer Handler.

I would recommend that you look for a local pod and try to be an apprentice.

I am a performer, although not as a mermaid. I am a musician and a dancer. Most places will not pay a teenager to preform. Especially one so young.

And if you wanted to do parties, parents can be much more critical than a venue when it comes to who they hire. Lawsuits and what not are a real thing. And you are not old enough to sign any contract or liability release.

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I am lifeguard and CPR trained because I was a swim lessons helper thingy. The instructor was out of the water showing the strokes and ow a sin the water showing the strokes. I’ve also been mernaiding for five years.


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[KTMaggs]

I am lifeguard and CPR trained because I was a swim lessons helper thingy. The instructor was out of the water showing the strokes and ow a sin the water showing the strokes. I’ve also been mernaiding for five years.


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And I show them in the water***



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[Kira Majeric]

Bottom line is if you can not babysit then you should not be in a pool with little guppies. Too many things can go wrong. The youngest I would have allowed in the pool with my daughter would have been 18 and only because I knew his swimming skills.

Under the table jobs as a performer is too risky and that is on land. You add water and you raise the stakes by a monumental degree. At that point you are putting children's lives at risk, including your own.

My recommendation is to save and plan to buy the tail when you are 18. As well as look for local Mers to swim with. My daughter does events in her tail all of the time. All unpaid and all for fun. But, she is learning a lot.

Also, do you have a Mer Handler?

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[KTMaggs]

Bottom line is if you can not babysit then you should not be in a pool with little guppies. Too many things can go wrong. The youngest I would have allowed in the pool with my daughter would have been 18 and only because I knew his swimming skills.

Under the table jobs as a performer is too risky and that is on land. You add water and you raise the stakes by a monumental degree. At that point you are putting children's lives at risk, including your own.

My recommendation is to save and plan to buy the tail when you are 18. As well as look for local Mers to swim with. My daughter does events in her tail all of the time. All unpaid and all for fun. But, she is learning a lot.

Also, do you have a Mer Handler?

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I have a mertender and the only reason I don’t babysit is that I don’t like kids unless I’m a mermaid.


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[Saelyyia]

If you don't like kids you really don't have any business working with them. As a birthday party entertainer let me tell you. If you don't already enjoy them you are wasting your time and the clients time. The kids can tell and parties are difficult. The parents will not be policing their children. You will often have rude and misbehaving kids that push every button you never knew you had and if you already have that unpleasant feeling about young guppies you won't get very far.

[KTMaggs]

If you don't like kids you really don't have any business working with them. As a birthday party entertainer let me tell you. If you don't already enjoy them you are wasting your time and the clients time. The kids can tell and parties are difficult. The parents will not be policing their children. You will often have rude and misbehaving kids that push every button you never knew you had and if you already have that unpleasant feeling about young guppies you won't get very far.

Actually I love kids, my dad doesn’t trust me though because I don’t take my ADHD meds unless I’m working or at school so it makes me bad at executive functions and really hyper. He let me start this year.


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[Saelyyia]

I have a mertender and the only reason I don’t babysit is that I don’t like kids unless I’m a mermaid.


Actually I love kids, my dad doesn’t trust me though because I don’t take my ADHD meds unless I’m working or at school so it makes me bad at executive functions and really hyper. He let me start this year.

:confused: Maybe I misunderstood you posts then, but they do seem to contradict.

[KTMaggs]

They do ship fast and they are beautiful tails. I am actually looking at one for myself. But, I would not buy one for my daughter even if she was a teenager. Too much to spend for a tail that will not last my Little Mermaid a few years. The supplies for the method I am using is not 2000$

Why not offer swim lessons? Although you would have to be a little older and take the needed safty classes.

Or make things to sell. Either way, it will be slow going.

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I actually have been do mermaid swim classes for a few months. My mom (my mertender) helped me watch them. (I used my fabric finfun tail and magictail)


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[KTMaggs]

:confused: Maybe I misunderstood you posts then, but they do seem to contradict.

It’s not kids I don’t like, I don’t want kids, and I don’t like babies.


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[Kira Majeric]

Bottom line: you are not old enough to be swimming with kids and if you do not like them, you really should not be swimming with them. A child's party is not a place to show off a tail and make a few bucks. It is a magical time to for a small child to see this creature that they have read about.

Beside that. If anything happens you will make a group of children scared of Mermaids. Or worse! You will make the parents hate them.

If you do not have the means to make the money for the tail and no one trusts you to babysit, then you are not ready to be a professional mermaid.

You have so many telling you to wait, and I suggest you listen. That way you will have time to fully prepare yourself and you will be able to have contracts with clients.

Oh, and a few month of swim lessons is not enough time to swim with a silicone tail. They are so much different than a fabric tail.

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[lynsea]

Many hired performers also create contracts between themselves and whomever is hiring them. This ensures payment and standards are met and a legal framework if they are not. As you are underage and below the legal work age, I don't think you can even sign one of these but even if you could, you would be placing all legal responsibility on your parents which, as everyone else has said, is quite a lot.

[AniaR]

she IS a kid. Nothing wrong with the ambition to become a mermaid, but everything in good time...

[Theta]

she IS a kid. Nothing wrong with the ambition to become a mermaid, but everything in good time...

What's great is the amount of time she has to save up money/train/get used to dealing with kids/etc. It will be different for her to start mermaiding than it was for us :) She's got the blueprints at her fingertips, now she just has to be patient, which is hard as hell.

KT, you're actually like the Little Mermaid, you have to wait until you're of age to visit the surface!

[Kira Majeric]

she IS a kid. Nothing wrong with the ambition to become a mermaid, but everything in good time...I agree with this. Being a young mermaid is a wonderful thing. My Little Mermaid is 5 years old and has been a mermaid for 2 of those 5 years. This is also why I am making her a tail but only for land use, only.

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[KTMaggs]

What's great is the amount of time she has to save up money/train/get used to dealing with kids/etc. It will be different for her to start mermaiding than it was for us :) She's got the blueprints at her fingertips, now she just has to be patient, which is hard as hell.

KT, you're actually like the Little Mermaid, you have to wait until you're of age to visit the surface!

Yeah I know how hard it is to be patient. I have ADHD so I can’t wait for crap. I either can’t focus or I can’t not focus. It’s confusing. And I want to get as much practice as I can before I’m 16 and ten I’ll start. I might also go to places with New England mermaids as an apprentice. Taking your advice in I realized I’m not old enough to do this yet. I am getting the tail though.


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