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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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Honestly i don't suggest getting a silicone tail at that age, you're going to grow out of it pretty fast then you'll be out of $2k. Try for cheaper alternatives like partial tails (mazu's emporium and purple mermaid studios offer affordable partial tails ) there are also the finfolk mythic tails and i think mertailor has an eco tail option as well.
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Also was this thread posted twice?
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At 12, I honestly think you should worry more about school. 2000 dollars is a ton of money which can be put to better use. At your age, like Momo said, go for cheaper options instead of diving into a tail you'll outgrow and a ton of debt. 2000 gets you a semester of college where I'm at, and that's cheap.
Like I said before: Focus on school. You are way too young to worry about getting a job and making THAT much.
Just my opinion, I'm a very thrifty (read: cheap) person. My eyes nearly flew out of my head when I saw my tail and monofin were 135 and I set stricter settings on my budget.
I’m done growing and I’m not planning to go to college. School has always been really easy for me since I got my adhd meds and I’m a very determined person. And even if I’m not done growing I’m getting the money over the span of two years. My sister gets paid 50 bucks to babysit for a day and if she does that 10 times she has 500.Quote:
Originally Posted by MerFantasy
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I am done growing. Most 12 year olds aren’t 5’5”. I just happened to hit puberty in 3rd grade (yay me) and I haven’t grown in months. And it’s something I really want to invest in. When i our my mind on something I will 100% get it done. Also, when school starts I tutor.
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KTMaggs that is not how the human body works. you will not be done growing for about another 10 years as growing does not always mean vertically. Perfect example your hips won't settle until you hit your early 20's. There is a reason the community as a whole does not recommend silicone for mers of your age. Also peoples keep in mine that the maintenance on such a tail will be very involved and time consuming at times. Please consider the advice of some of the other mers here who have offered alternatives. They are not trying to stomp on your dreams but protect you and your dreams.
This. The human body doesn't stop growing till you hit 20 or so. Being tall doesn't mean you finished growing, it just means you're tall.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saelyyia
You're young, a silicone tail is not a smart thing to invest in while that young because 1) you ARE going to grow out of it. 2) it'll be hard to sell a full silicone tail made to fit a 12/14 year old so you most likely won't get that money back.
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My whole family does sports. So we measure everything, we all grew to 5’5” (or lower) and stopped. Also after 14 our hips stopped growing and settling. Also It will be easy to sell a tail fit for me cause I’m adult size.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mermaid Momo
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I don't think 12 is within Mernetwork's age limit btw. To comply with child safety laws there's a min age for joining the forum...
If you are under 13 you just need parent permission. I read the terms, also I decided not to get that tail and get one half the price.Quote:
Originally Posted by AniaR
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Like everyone says your going to grow out of it and would have spent all this money on something that lasts like a year. Also you are most likely not allowed to get an actual job yet I believe most places you must be 15 to get a job. Yes you could babysit mow lawns and stuff if you want to. What I would recommend is if you want a silicone tail save for one and get a head start [emoji4] don’t actually buy one till you are about 18/21 tho please you will only be disappointed if you do. In the meantime do your recherché and buy a nice fabric tail it’s better to start with a fabric because it’s easier and gets you used to mermaiding.
I have four fabric tails and I turned an old finding one into a partial silicone tail.Quote:
Originally Posted by brynnwiens
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I hope all these people aren't just making you mad, and that you are taking their advice for what it is: experience-based and logical advice.
It isn't the time to get a full silicone tail. Outside of the biological changes you are going to go through, think of your tail's artist. Few artists are going to be excited at the prospect of spending hundreds of hours on a tail for someone who may only have a year to use it before it is too small, and then not able to sell it due to the measurements being very uncommon. It seems quite disrespectful to THEIR work and THEIR time, simply because the commissioner doesn't have patience.
Please stick to fabric or partial (think silicone fins on a fabric body) tails until you finally are finished with initial puberty and growing. 18-21 would be a good age. Plus, you will have a real job then.
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Hello sweetie. You may or may not have heard of my daughter the owner of Merbella Studios. She was about your age when she decided to become a mermaid. She started out making her own fabric tails while saving to buy a silicone tail. At 12 years old there aren't a lot of opportunities to get a job. So...she made jewelery, hair wraps, learned how to do henna etc. It took a few years to save that money and buy her first silicone tail. In the interim she also studied and learned everything she possible could about the mermaid business, child labor laws etc. and eventually learned how to make her own tails. The point I am trying to make is that when she got started she got a lot of this same advice. She listened, she learned and by 16 she started Merbella Studios. But there was tons of trial and errors and far more failures than successes. Her family and the mermaid community supported her efforts the entire time. She built her dreams from the ground up and continues to build her business at 27. Please know that your dreams are attainable if you work hard and listen to people who have been there and have patience. There is so much more to this than the glamor of a beautiful tail.
I am 18, and still waiting to finish growing so I can get my final measurements because I want a tail that will last at least 3 years... I am hoping it will last my entire life if I keep high maintenance on the tail.... I am hoping in a year or so, but I will probably wait till I am roughly 21 and have a more stable job to officially buy it.
Aside from what everyone else has pointed out about how you'll probably keep growing, (it's not just height, your hips may grow or you may gain or even lose weight) I don't think you'll be able to get professional mermaid gigs until you're like, 16 at the earliest. Child labor laws and all that. There are exceptions for child actors and models and the like but I seriously doubt there's much demand for experienced child mermaids that you'll be able to get any gigs before you're 16.
Just do mermaiding for fun for now. If you're really serious about doing it professionally, work on skills that will help you do it in the future. Practice swimming as much as you can, and see if you can take synchronized swimming lessons. Once you're able to start making money, save it. A silicone tail is not a necessity, even for an aspiring mermaid (there are plenty of lovely fabric and neoprene tails) so it's really not something you should be asking random people to give you money for. I know it's hard to be patient at your age, and it can be pretty annoying when everyone is giving you the same advice that you don't want to hear, but there's usually a good reason so many people are giving you that advice. Reaching a dream takes a lot of work and patience, and becoming a professional mermaid is no exception. Professional mermaiding is more than just putting on a tail and swimming around looking pretty, otherwise I'd be doing it, ha ha.