biggest-parenting-regret

Parenting regrets. We all have them. It doesn’t matter if we’ve been in the gig for fifteen years or fifteen months. All of us, looking back, have things we would probably change or do differently. That’s because we are human.

There are little regrets and big regrets. Like, I wish I hadn’t given up so soon when my 12 month old started rejecting his vegetables. Now I know that repeated exposure to food increases the likelihood that he will eat something. Now he pretty much only likes bread and cheese.

I wish I hadn’t stopped nursing my middle child so early. With a two year old and a baby, I felt desperate for freedom, and made what I now consider to be a pretty selfish decision to stop. Is this why he doesn’t show affection?

I wish I had spent more time teaching them and playing with them, instead of resenting that they were imposing on my independence. Maybe this is why it feels like they never listen to me?

I wish I had exposed my first born to more friends early on. Surely, I am the reason that he is not über-social.

But identifying my biggest regret? That seems a little more daunting. Do I have any ONE thing in my children’s short existence that stands out as my BIGGEST parenting regret? And then it hit me. It’s the one thing that could possibly make every regret worse down the road. It’s the one thing that, in ten years, when my oldest is graduating high school and I am 42 that, if I have done it, I will most definitely be bitterly regretful.

My biggest regret and biggest fear is this: giving up too soon. Believing that “it’s too late,” and that things can’t change. I’ve already done it enough. A minor example? The veggies. There are plenty of times I just don’t put them on the plate or in the lunchbox. Cause what’s the use? They won’t eat it. See, what’s happening here!? Giving up. Giving in. I need to believe it’s not too late and keep trying.

Name the regret. Too much screen time? It’s not too late to change. Haven’t been enforcing your own rules? We know that down the road those kids without boundaries are the most insecure. It’s NOT too late to turn things around. Think you and your child could have a better relationship? Is there something broken? Don’t give up on it. Plant the seeds needed to reap a good crop. Pray hard. And never ever ever give up.

What is YOUR biggest regret? 

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