Trying to be a better mommy!

I have made a recent revelation, one that I am sad to admit. I have dressed, deciplined and trained my children in a certain way because I feel like they are a reflection of me. I don't know if this is something that is normal when you are a mom or something we define ourselves as but it made me really sad when I suddenly realized it. I find myself wanting my kids to look perfect, be the smartest, most athletic, bestest kids in the whole world because of the way it makes me look. I was so sad when I realized this because it came out of Hunter seeking my approval and his dads approval of his appearance, something I could tell he wanted to do but didn't. I was sad because I knew in that moment that I had made him insecure with his choices and his decisions. I am working really hard not to micro manage his wardrobe choices now, I do still pick out all of the clothes in the store but how he chooses to put them together is up to him! If you know Coop you know that he is very confident in himself and his choices. Every day he dresses himself, puts his bat-cape on and tells me how good he looks, even when NOTHING matches and I tell him nothing matches, he tells me he looks good. I love this about him! We bought black fingernail polish and painted his toes and fingers, he then wore flip flops so everyone could see how good they look. Now the great part about this is that even though it is not the "norm" for guys to do this, Taylor told him it was cool too. I really want to let them reflect who they are, not who I am! Now, I am a work in progress so I do still try to manage. Last week when I went to the dentist I laid out clothes for Coop to put on in an effort to make him match and be cute. What he did with what I laid out was a test, and I passed. This is how Cooper wore his shirt all day, in public, with me!