Parental Guidance: 17 Reasons to Listen to Your Mom

By the time you reach your twenties, your relationship with your mom has come full circle. You come into the world thinking she’s the best thing out there, slowly start to lose interest around 11 or 12, and by the time you’re 16, you’re convinced that your mom doesn’t know anything at all, especially anything about you. But as you creep out of your teen years and reach adulthood, you realize, yet again, that your mother isn’t just awesome, but pretty wise, too. If only you’d realized that at 16 – think of all the stuff you could’ve avoided had you asked for her input!

Since you’re an adult now and ready to have an adult relationship with Mom, it’s time to start paying attention and listen to what she has to say.

1. She knows you better than anybody. She actually knew you even before you came into this world, because you took up residency in her belly… for nine months. Obviously, this means she knows you best.
2. Actually, she probably knows you better than you know yourself. You may hate to admit it, but she’s watched you grow from fetus to young adult. In watching you, she’s has a perspective that you just don’t have.
3. You can trust her implicitly. Unlike some people in your life, your mom has no ulterior motives. She’ll always give it to you straight.
4. She only has your best interest at heart. I’m sure by now you realize that any discipline she dispensed or boundaries she set up for you when you were a kid was because she wanted you safe and happy at all times. She always did and always will think of you first.
5. She has a lifetime of experience you don’t have. It might be hard to believe, but your mom was your age once. She also loved and lost love before she met your dad, dealt with the same stresses as you, and knows a thing or two about life as whole.
6. She always has time for you. Do you know anyone else who would immediately drop their life just to be there for you? Probably not, because only moms do that.
7. It will enhance your already awesome relationship (or make it better). When you listen, you show that you have respect, and respect just leads to better relationships. Throw some respect Mom’s way.
8. You actually don’t know it all. Breaking news: You don’t have it all figured out and you probably never will, because you’re human. Mom, however, is at least closer to knowing it all than you are.
9. She’s cooler than you think. Admit it! She’s cool! Where do you think you got your sick sense of humor?
10. She always has your back. You know who always stands by serial killers? Their moms. Why? Because that’s what moms do.
11. She makes more of an effort than most. She may know you like the back of your hand, but sometimes you can be confusing. Mom is the one who makes a valiant effort to get in there and figure things out in ways other people just don’t.
12. You usually forget a jacket. And only mom really cares if you wear one or not, because she doesn’t want to see her baby sick.
13. She’ll let you repeat yourself, and will never complain. Although she might be multi-tasking in the process (because you’ve bitched about your ex over 300 times now), she’s still there and listening.
14. She delights in your happiness more than anyone else. When you hurt, she hurts. So, when you’re happy it truly warms her heart.
15. She literally thinks you’re the absolute best. There’s a reason she’s been bragging about you to anyone who will listen all these years. You make her proud by just being alive!
16. She loves you more than anyone else could. You were connected by an umbilical chord, lived inside her, and she was kind enough to change your dirty diapers… and that was just the first couple years. No one could possibly love you more.
17. You’re going to be just like her one day. So, you might as well accept that and listen up. Besides, you’ll want your daughter to listen to you and all your wisdom someday, too.