Anything To Win

Growing up, my mother taught me many things. One of them was certainly NOT to win by any means necessary. Apparently this mother was taught the opposite.

Hannah Montana essay winner a fake

GARLAND, Texas - An essay that won a 6-year-old girl four tickets to a Hannah Montana concert began with the powerful line: "My daddy died this year in Iraq."

While gripping, it wasn't true — and now the girl may lose her tickets after her mom acknowledged to contest organizers it was all a lie.

The sponsor of the contest was Club Libby Lu, a Chicago-based store that sells clothes, accessories and games intended for young girls.

The saga began Friday with company officials surprising the girl at a Club Libby Lu at a mall in suburban Garland, about 20 miles northeast of Dallas. The girl won a makeover that included a blonde Hannah Montana wig, as well as the grand prize: airfare for four to Albany, N.Y., and four tickets to the sold-out Hannah Montana concert on Jan. 9.

The mother had told company officials that the girl's father died April 17 in a roadside bombing in Iraq, company spokeswoman Robyn Caulfield said.

"We did the essay and that's what we did to win," Priscilla Ceballos, the mother, said in an interview with Dallas TV station KDFW. "We did whatever we could do to win."

She had identified the soldier as Sgt. Jonathon Menjivar, but the Department of Defense has no record of anyone with that name dying in Iraq. Caulfield said the mother has admitted to the deception.

"We regret that the original intent of the contest, which was to make a little girl's holiday extra special, has not been realized in the way we anticipated," said Mary Drolet, the CEO of Club Libby Lu.

Drolet said the company is reviewing the matter, and is considering taking away the girl's tickets.

When I read this story, I had a different take on it than many of the bloggers out there did. While many of the bloggers out there believe that the child wrote the essay, I do not. I believe that this mother wrote the essay but made it look and sound like a child did. There are several reasons why I believe that it was the mother and not the child.

* This mother has clearly stated that THEY wrote the essay the way THEY did so that THEY could win. However, I don't believe for one second that the child wrote it. If the child was supposed to write the essay, why was the mother involved at all?

* What child would lie about their parent being dead, even if it was for concert tickets? I find it very hard to picture a child writing an essay about how her father was killed in Iraq when he wasn't. The only way that I could see that happening is if the father has never been in the picture, and this mother has talked trash about him to her daughter for her entire life.

* This mother strikes me as the kind of parent who attempts to live out THEIR dreams and desires through their child or children. Thus, it makes perfect sense that she would write the essay because she would do anything to get what SHE wanted. Have you ever watched a parent at a sporting event or a pageant? It's not about the kid. It's about the parent!! This is no different!!

Regardless of who wrote the essay, this mother should be charged with fraud because that's exactly what she did. If her daughter wrote the essay, she allowed her daughter to commit fraud. Since the child is only six, the mother is responsible. But since I believe that the mother wrote the essay, she knowingly and willingly committed fraud.

What I would really like to know is where is the father? Is he in the picture? Is he married or dating this woman? Is he really in the military? What does he think about this? If it were me, she would be kicked to the curb faster than she could say "I'm sorry!!". If I were the father, that mother would no longer have custody of that child. This fraud was committed in order to get concert tickets. Imagine what else she has or would teach that child. Better yet, don't imagine!! Just make sure she doesn't ever get the chance to again!!