Admission: The term “Mini Me,” when used to describe one’s child, is a bit squirm-inducing to me.

It’s meant, of course, as a term of endearment. And yep, I use it all the time. But (Armchair Psychiatrist Alert!!!) I wonder if using that phrase over and over doesn’t subconsciously push us as parents to expect our kids to be like us, or conversely, push our kids into thinking that they should be like us–which please, no thank you, one of me is enough to perpetrate on this world.

I know I am perhaps overanalyzing this… No wait, I definitely am… but it’s just something that’s popped into my head lately as I watch as a parent what my kids are interested in.

Inevitably, you compare your kids’ interests to your what your own were.

Take, for example, my daughter’s love of dolls and princesses. Guys? It is so real. And dolls are exactly not what I was interested in as a child. My sister and I were more into not typically “girly” things, like exploring outdoors, as my poison-ivy-covered body and no-doubt frustrated mother could have attested to dozens of times.

But I love that my girl is her own girl, her own person. It’s, well, rad to see our kids being into things that we weren’t so into as kids ourselves. How amazing that these little people who we created are in fact little universes unto themselves, with their own thoughts and feelings and beliefs and loves?

So yeah. Dolls. Princesses. That’s what’s going on around here lately. Besides making for a very long cleanup process at night during which I have to pluck said dolls from the bathtub and dry off no fewer than 25 dolls (because the only thing worse than princesses everywhere is moldy princesses everywhere),I find her interest in the whole princess thing incredibly sweet and endearing.

So, tell me: What are your kids into lately? Are they little versions of you, or do they have their own interests? And what are they? I’d love to hear more!

P.S. I think the hormones are messing with me lately, and what drives you? Here are some things that are always top of mind for me.

Sonni Abatta is a wife and mom of three and runs this Orlando lifestyle and mom blog. Let’s work together! Reach out here.

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