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“No regrets” is a great life motto. We shouldn’t regret anything we’ve done (or haven’t done), because all those experiences add to our lives and make us who we are today. I have no regrets, but, admittedly, if I had a parenting do-over there are a few things I would do differently.

I would have journaled more

When my oldest was just a newborn, our pediatrician suggested I write down how often my baby ate and how often I changed his diaper. I not only took him up on that suggestion, I also started adding in little details about our day.

Sometimes (most of the time, actually), this included all the mundane trips to the store, what I had for lunch, and who called to say “hi”. But, I also included the bigger experiences like my son’s first time rolling over, or sitting up. I have a record of his first steps and his first words. Mind you, I never wrote in prose or sentences. I just made a bullet point list of experiences.

I can go back and read that old journal and see not only what day he first said “dada”, but also everything else from that day that led up to that moment. I have a complete picture of that memory because of that journal.

Somewhere along the line, the journaling stopped. By the time our daughter was born a few years later, the journals were stuck in a Rubbermaid bin somewhere in the back of the closet.

What I wouldn’t give to have more of those memories (both the mundane and the monumental) to peruse now.

Maybe I’ll start a new journal today.

I would have fed them better

I don’t have it in me to be that super healthy, vegan, organic, crunchy granola mom. I truly do admire those of you who can pull that off. But, honestly, in retrospect, I probably should have pulled back on the sodas and oatmeal cream pies. My teenagers today are walking, talking garbage disposals. One day that’s going to catch up with them.

What I wouldn’t give to see my children living healthier lives.

Maybe I can start today to be a better example to them.

I would have taken more pictures of myself with the kids

I’m as vain as any first world mother. I’ve always shied away from the camera and now I wish that I had not been so vain.

Consider this: I spent hours, days, weeks, months, years as a stay at home mom to these people, yet I only have about 10 pictures of me with them.

All that time spent together laughing in the kitchen, playing board games on the coffee table, reading books and singing songs at bedtime, yet very little evidence exists today of those times together.

What I wouldn’t give to have more photos.

Maybe I can pull out the camera today and start taking pictures of us… all of us, together.

I would have believed all the people who told me not to blink, because they grow up so fast

If there’s one truth I’ve learned in my almost 20 years of parenting it’s this: the days are long, but the years are short.

I couldn’t see that truth over all the tantrums and laundry and carpooling. In all the mundaneness of life, I had days I thought would never end. Time tends to slow to a crawl when your baby is teething, or when the toddler wants just one more drink of water before bed.

Yet, here I am with two teenagers who are busy making plans for moving out and moving on. I am excited about their futures and I know they are ready to tackle the world as independent people, but… it just all happened so fast. I blinked. Where did the time go?

What I wouldn’t give to have them little for just a little bit longer.

Maybe today I can rejoice in the memories and start moving confidently toward becoming the mother of adults that my children will need me to be in the very near future.