Correction

My mother-in-law Maureen always says that one of the toughest parts of being a parent is seeing your faults and shortcomings begin to show themselves in your offspring. You look at them and you know that quality came straight from you.

When I was young, my parents always tell me, I was a total perfectionist. (Ok, well, I still am, but I'm not so obvious about it now...) I used to correct everyone (my word of choice was "actually..."), I hated to be laughed at, and I generally refused to do things that I couldn't do right the first time. My brother Tony is three years older than me, and he was always a naturally gifted artist (still is!) -- from the get-go, I compared my work to his and decided I was no good at art because my three-year-older brother could do it better!

Now I'm beginning to see flashes of my younger self in Max. No longer is he willing to simply scribble all over his coloring books; he wants to color within the lines. And when he's unable to do so (he's three, for crying out loud) he gets frustrated and refuses to color, telling me to do it instead.

The biggest flashback moment was a few weeks back. I said to Max, "Come here and give me a hug, my big boy!"

"I'm not actually a big boy, mommy."

I called my dad immediately, and his response was basically this: "Wow, he's only three and starting that already! I don't think you were that young... you're in for it now."

Let the corrections begin!