My Son Is So Much like Me ...

When I see that in my kids I either grin/smile or laugh!
They have parts of me in them, parts of my late Dad, and parts of my Husband too. But to me, they have lots of my similarities. LOL

And being "emotional" is not a bad thing.
And "emotional" to some, is just laughing too emphatically. To another, it is frowning. To another, it is just being over the top intense with any daily mishap.
So the bottom line is: what is "emotional" to you, may not be emotional, at all.

My Hubby grew up with a Mom that had no expressed emotion outwardly or verbally. Boring quiet woman who does not say how she feels. Or if she does, it is so neutral. Good grief. So then, being that my Husband grew up with that type of person, he thinks that my family is so "emotional." But we are actually just very "expressive" and say our minds. And we speak up. Unlike his Mom.
You see, there is a difference between "emotional" and "expressiveness."
But not everyone understands that difference.

I tell my Husband he must've grew up in a library. Because of the way his Mom is and how he thinks everyone is so "emotional." But I tell him I grew up the opposite. Where speaking your mind and expression, was a good thing.

My kids are very expressive. Like me.
I am proud of that.
My Husband will actually tell them they are so "emotional."
And when he does tell them that, I tell them "Right on! Good for you, you can express your ideas and are so articulate!"
And I smile.

I would rather have my kids be "expressive" than staid and quiet.

It's amazing what parenthood teaches you about yourself, isn't it?

Kids learn more from modeling than anything else, so we're forced to go back and correct what we don't like about ourselves (well most of us anyway).

My kids have def made me a better person.

:)

It makes me look at how I'm dealing with it and modeling it myself.
Of course, no one's perfect and there's nothing wrong with being emotional, it's how we HANDLE it that matters.
So if you recognize that you are easily flustered and frustrated, or led to tears, work on finding a good way to deal with it, and talk about it out loud.
"Mommy is getting really frustrated right now, I think I need to stop and take three deep breaths"
I can be very impatient, and I have seen my kids get like this, especially my son. I have tried REALLY hard to slow down and remain calm when things aren't moving fast enough for me. I have also apologized for my impatience when I find myself snapping at them or getting irritated to quickly.
Humans are always learning, not just kids but parents too. Accepting your weaknesses is totally fine, but I think you should be actively working on strengthening those weaknesses too, that's the best example for your son IMO.

I look at it this way...since my son is also a lot like me (good and bad), I know how he feels and can empathize. I try to turn things around for him and look for the good that can come out of a situation. I can help him learn to work through his feelings at a young age and hopefully he will come out a better person for it.

There have been many, many, many times when we are talking things through and he feels better and I have thought to myself, "why don't I take my own advice, dummyhead?!"

There's nothing wrong, as WW said, with being emotional. So don't try to teach him not to be.

But what you should focus on is being resilient. Feeling however he feels, and then having the ability to bounce back or jump back up when he's feeling knocked down. He should be able to engage in positive self-talk when he's feeling negative or sad. He should be able to rebound positively from disappointment. He should be able to try again after a failure, because failing at an action doesn't MAKE him a failure as a person.

So, teach resliliency to your son.

And yes, my kids are just like me. I just tell myself that I'm helping them learn to overcome the things I struggled with in a healthy way just a little sooner. :-)

I'm with Wild Woman on this. Being emotional isn't a flaw.
Can we strive to always work on ourselves; to better handle things? Yes.
Just be organized so your mornings go easier.
Have lunch backed night before (except a sandwich as it will get soggy).
Have clothes picked out the night before.
Backpack packed, homework signed off etc.
You lead & he will follow.
Give yourself a break & model the behavior you want to see.
Again, organization plays a key part in all of our lives, staving off chaos etc.

I'm with Wild Woman on this. Being emotional isn't a flaw.
Can we strive to always work on ourselves; to better handle things? Yes.
Just be organized so your mornings go easier.
Have lunch backed night before (except a sandwich as it will get soggy).
Have clothes picked out the night before.
Backpack packed, homework signed off etc.
You lead & he will follow.
Give yourself a break & model the behavior you want to see.
Again, organization plays a key part in all of our lives, staving off chaos etc.

My eldest son is almost my twin. It is a bit freaky at times. It is like I get to watch myself grow up again, but this time as a boy. Sometimes we can have a whole conversation where we don't even finish sentences. Neither of us are morning people and that makes things interesting when we all have to get going in the morning. Being the same sometimes makes us have ridiculous arguments and we both tend to be stubborn. But he is tenacious like me too, so that is cool. My youngest son is my complete opposite and is just like his dad. Even our friends have noticed this.

Ditto. You're the leader. When you say you get emotional, I think you mean you get upset easily. That's something you can fix in yourself, putting your emotions to better use, and then your son will learn how to fix it in himself from watching you.

That said, I do agree - it's humbling to look at your child and think, "Oh, no - he's turning into his mother! Couldn't he have picked a better trait to copy?"

Well, at least you know your own coping mechanisms that you can teach to him. What else can you do? As you know from your own experience, you can't change who you are...

I tell myself that I am not perfect, just like every other human being. Then I make an effort to work on that particular trait. Leading by example is a powerful thing. I also tell my son, "I had a bad day. I yelled at you and I shouldn't do that. Mommy gets upset just like you do but I'm working on it too. I'm sorry." And then tell him some of the strategies that you use. It's funny how being a parent suddenly shines such a bright light on those "less desirable" traits that we sometimes we forget we have or don't realize about ourselves...that is, until we see them rear their ugly heads in our children! :) That's the great thing about having kids though. It's a wonderful motivation to help them improve and help us to be the best version of ourselves. Don't beat yourself up. It's an opportunity to improve. Besides, it's good for your child to see that you are not perfect and you can make it a good experience to work on it together!

Good luck! :)

There's nothing wrong with being emotional. It's not a flaw. So please don't talk about yourself that way.

My oldest son is much like me. It's funky to see my "reflection" in him. There's a few things we are working on TOGETHER since they seem to be common in both of us...to help make us BOTH better people....

Do this with him. Work on these traits that you don't always like about you and that he has received from you - and work together on making them better. When you are having a bad day - stop and take charge. Don't let your emotions rule you....is it easy? Nope. But you CAN do it!!!

Was there something that could have been done to avoid the stress this morning? If so - work on it this evening. If it means having him set his clothes out the night before, make his lunch the night before, and have his backpack and all his work in one location - then do it. Organization helps cut down on chaos.

Being emotional is not a flaw!!

That I will try to be better next time.