I turned 40 in the hospital the day after I had Harry – my first and only child. So, I had quite a few years to romanticize being a mom! Oh the fun we’d have – all kinds of cheerfully fun scenarios danced in my head…

• Buying all kinds of bathtub toys, since I loved them as a kid, my child would love bath time!
• Coloring! I still love coloring & crayons and now I’d have someone to make it legit! (This was just before the adult coloring became a “thing”)
• Someone who’ll share my love of Harry Potter books/movies!
• Halloween! I love this holiday and now I could have even more fun with a trick-or-treater.

Then, came reality…

• My boy has hated baths since he was born. Once old enough to stand with help, he showered.
• Coloring? Nope. Not his thing. At all. The disappointment was crushing.
• Harry Potter? Another nope. “It’s ok, I guess”. This can not be my child!?!
• And to quote him directly: “meh, dressing up and going to strangers houses for candy isn’t really my thing”. M’kay then.

What being a mom did teach me though is that they aren’t us. We, as parents need to let them (and help them!) be the best “them” they can be! As much as I wanted a “Mini Me” in my misguided imagination, I now know I’d never trade it for not letting him find his own things and ways.

I support what he likes and has interests in – even if they don’t interest me. My job is to help by guiding him and allowing him to discover his own likes/dislikes, fortes etc. It doesn’t really matter if they’re things I am interested in, it’s got to be about what lights him up and what he’s passionate about. I’ll never force him to do things because I want him to – if it’s something I’d like for him and he decides he’d like it too – cool, and if he decides it’s not for him – that’s cool too.

Even if I do wish he’d love coloring, Harry Potter and Halloween!