Kids don’t come with a manual and parents are bound to make mistakes along the way, but one first-time mom is turning to Reddit to try to minimize hers. With a 15-month-old at home, she asks the parenting subreddit if there’s anything they would do differently.
“I want to hear from parents who have kids who are ‘grown up’ (18+) now, specifically, because they can see the full picture and hindsight is 20/20,” the mom writes. “I don’t want to make mistakes, although they’re unavoidable over the course of such a long experience. We can learn a lot from each other, and that willingness to learn is a part of good parenting.”
More than a hundred parents responded with advice, reflections and things they regret most.
- “My kids are now 43, 41, 37. Read to them, teach them the skills it takes to live on their own and give them understandable rules and enforce them. Your job is to prepare them to be kind, caring and responsible adults.”
- “Be as silly as you can with them now. It helps in so many ways. It helps their brain development, eventually their own sense of humor.”
- “Primarily I wish I practiced more patience, stepped in less, all the while being more tuned in.”
- “If I could go back to their infant stage, I wish I could just be more present. Enjoy the moment, instead of always waiting for my next break.”
- "I would have played more, I'm not a player, I'm terrible. Far too many times I let them play by themselves so I could clean, do work, goof off (aka relax my brain). 'Play with me' can be a child's way to say, 'I love you.’”
- “Don’t rush the milestones. Don’t rush the academics. Let your child enjoy the moment.”
- "Always reassure them that no matter what you will always love and support them. Be the parent that they can call at 3am and ask for a ride home knowing that it's no questions asked, mom is just going to show up and be there for me when I need her."
- "You will always cherish the memories of time spent with them and so will your kids. Your kids will appreciate what you think are little things that don't matter, so just show up and be present.”
- And the comment with the most upvotes is from a mom who encourages the other mom to ask herself, “Will this matter in 5 years?”
Source: Newsweek