12 Times You Wish You Had Listened To Your Mother

When you were a kid, you likely got tired of all the motherly advice your mom offered up at every available opportunity. She had all kinds of lines that you heard over and over again. Sure, you rolled your eyes when she said these things, but looking back, you kinda see where she was coming from. As much as you hate to admit it, your mom was right about some things.

1. Eat your vegetables. What kid likes to eat their Brussells sprouts? Vegetables likely weren’t your favorite food as a kid, but now, in your 20s, you really wish you would have gotten into the habit of eating healthier. As your metabolism slows down, you realize you should have made friends with salads at an early age. Getting into your jeans in the morning would be a whole heck of a lot easier.
2. Bring a sweater. Every time you leave the house, you can still hear your mom’s voice telling you not to forget a sweater, and you’re still ignoring this advice. Sure, it may be a pain in the ass to carry a sweater – maybe it won’t fit in your purse and chances are it’s going to throw off your outfit – but there’s nothing worse than goosebumps and chattering teeth when you’re trying to make a good first impression on your date.
3. Don’t stay up too late. How many times have you woken up to the sound of your alarm thinking there’s no way it can be morning already? You’ve used coffee as a portable energy pack, nearly fallen asleep at the wheel and wasted an entire day sleeping on more than one occasion. Get some rest.
4. Use your words. This was likely your mom’s number one saying when you were crying, when you were angry, or when you were flat out having a tantrum. And it’s still some of the best advice you were ever given. How often do you wish you would have communicated better with a friend, a partner, a family member? How many times did regret something you didn’t say? And how often have you avoided important conversations that could have saved you a lot of heartache? This advice was not just about standing up for what you want, but about making intimate connections with other people. To this day, you can still count about five occasions where you wish you would have ‘used your words’.
5. Pee before you leave. You’re everyone’s least favorite road-tripper. You can never remember to go before you leave and everyone knows you’re not very good at holding it in for long periods of time.
6. Pick your battles. This could’ve saved you in more than one relationship. There were times when maybe his dirty laundry on the floor wasn’t the end of the world, or maybe you overreacted when your friend screwed up. Whatever the case, looking back, there are some things you should have just let go. They weren’t worth the argument, and if you asked your mom, she would have agreed.
7. Wear sunscreen. Eventually, all those summer sunburns are going to add up. The older you get, the more you notice sunspots and wrinkles, and the more you wish you would have listened to your mother.
8. You’re too young for a boyfriend. Ain’t that the truth. Whether you gave up that opportunity abroad to save your high school relationship or you lost all your friends in university because you wanted to spend every second with your boyfriend, you were definitely too young for a serious commitment. You should have played the field, found out what you wanted and had more fun in your younger years. There’s plenty of time to settle down later in life!
9. Save your money. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to put everything on credit card. You didn’t care that you didn’t need those shoes – you wanted them. You never waited for something to go on sale, you never looked at price tags, and you spent impulsively just because you could. But now that you’re on your own and the bank of Dad has closed, you could really use that extra cash.
10. Wear comfortable shoes. Heels are pretty. No one is denying that. They make your legs look phenomenal, they make you feel sexy and you didn’t buy those shoes for them to sit in your closet. But at the end of the night when you’re walking barefoot or battling blisters, you can always hear your mom’s voice in your head telling you to ‘wear comfortable shoes’.
11. You’re going to regret that tattoo. Oh, you mean the butterfly with zero meaning on my calf? Or the word ‘princess’ in size 36 font across my back? Yeah, I should’ve listened to my mother.
12. Your friends are more important than that boy. We’ve all been there. We’ve been with the wrong boy and it’s caused us to lose some good friends along the way. Maybe you lost your best friend of 10 years because of a guy you dated for a couple months. Whether your friend disapproved of your boyfriend, whether you were fighting over the same guy, or if you chose to spend time with your boyfriend over your friends, you will always look back and regret choosing the fling over the friendship. Good friends are hard to come by. Boyfriends will come and go. At the end of the day, your friends will be there to pick you back up. As much as you hate admitting it, your mom was right about that one.