Being "That" Mom

I got an email today from the Freedom Festival people with information about the baby contest for this year. I'm on the mailing list because I did the baby contest with my daughter last year. The whole thing was a lot of fun. Part of that may have been that Ellie won a prize, but I remember enjoying myself way before the award ceremony.

Now, having said that, I've been wondering recently (yes, even before I got the email) if I want the two of us to participate again. The entire reason for doing it last year was because my mom had done it with me on my first Fourth of July. I no longer have that excuse. Now I want to enter my daughter because it was fun...(and because I want her to win a prize again. Shh, don't tell). I just don't want to be "that" mom. You know, the mom who stands next to the judging table coaching her child on how to smile and cock her head, the mom who feels she is validated because someone else agrees that her child is charming and beautiful. That's not who I want to be, even though my child is very charming and beautiful.

The other reason I want to enter the contest is because this time I'll go for an all-out, totally awesome costume. I have the skills to make it and I would love doing it. But I don't want to be "that" mom, either. She's the one that uses her child to showcase herself and how amazing she is at whatever she (i.e. her child) is competing in. That's not who I want to be, either, even though I am a talented seamstress.

So, would entering my daughter in the baby contest this year make me "that" mom or am I making too big a deal out of it? And if I participate, what unique ideas are there for the Freedom Festival theme "Family. Freedom. God. Country." or other patriotic type costume? I originally thought of Betsy Ross, but I saw several of those last year. At least it's not a pageant, right? That makes it less obnoxious, right? Hmm...