Realize your kids are not you. Work it out in your head that your kids aren’t a reflection of your own coolness or togetherness, and let them be who they are. Don’t ever allow them to have the power to embarrass you. You are you and they are them. This isn’t easy. It feels good when people tell you that your kids are cute or funny or nice or great at sports, and you can’t unfeel the internal satisfaction those comments bring. So it can be a bit of a fight to hold it loosely. Don’t bolster yourself or rely on affirmation. Yes, that’s the best way to say it; hold it very
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