Natalie Morales on Parenting Her Son

My 5-year-old, Josh, has exactly my personality. He'll do something that is so me, and my husband will turn to me and say, "Gee, I wonder where he got that from?" Turns out, he's a perfectionist just like me.

For instance, when he first learned how to draw, he was very specific and meticulous: How many wheels are on the train? Does it have windows? How many? If he doesn't get it right, he has to do that until it's perfect. (I can't tell you how many drawing pads we've gone through.) Once he was drawing and coloring a picture and he went outside the lines. His immediate reaction was, "It's not good enough. I need to start over!" So he got upset and I wanted to comfort him. So there I was trying to tell him it was OK-but at the same time I get it: I wanted it to be perfect for him!

I feel a little bad about this because I don't want him to feel like he can't make mistakes, and I want him to know that whatever he does is wonderful to me. But his inner drive also makes me oddly proud. Am I sending mixed signals if I'm proud of his imperfect accomplishments and proud of him for being a perfectionist at the same time?

Besides being a mom, Natalie Morales is best known as a national correspondent and co-anchor for theToday show.