What do you wish your parents had taught you as a child?

[NayYay]

There's a few things I wish my parents had taught me as a child. Some of it is really basic stuff but has had a massive impact on my life. I don't want my kids to have to go through the same.

Financial - how to budget, loans, mortgages etc
Oral hygiene- my DM had a phobia of the dentist and as a result I only ever went to the dentist twice as a child. She wouldn't let me go.
How to cook

What did you wish your parents told you about.

[ItsInTheSpoon]

That not all people are nice, even if they seem so.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Any extra stuff - no dance lessons, no instruments

[Thingsdogetbetter]

That other people's opinions really don't matter. Irish family and obsessed with other's opinions unfortunately.

[ArmchairTraveller]

No, I had all that. All the practical skills.
I wish their love had been unconditional, unrelated to exam success and achieving goals they set.

[Lockheart]

That you had to push the button on the bus to get it to stop (we lived very rurally with no buses, so we never got them!). I thought it was an emergency thing, because they're big and red and say STOP on them in huge capitals.

That's not an episode my teenaged self will ever live down!

[1sttimedd]

The only thing I wish my parents had taught me is a second language. However, neither of them can speak a second language themselves!

[Kismetjayn]

Well, aside from the horrible stuff, practical things.

How to wash up, how to iron! How to figure out tidying up and where things should practically go. How to use a hoover.

[EnglishRose13]

Same as @LaurieFairyCake. Especially piano, or another language.

[hidinginthenightgarden]

Finances.
They gave me a great work ethic but always said that I could do whatever I wanted to do. Well that's not true is it?....It has to cover the bills is the bit they missed out. That and actually how to manage money were missing from my life. Not sure if that is something you are supposed to learn through experience though?

[FoggyDay58]

How to make your own decisions and life choices without having them dictated to you.

[Merryoldgoat]

How to work hard at school. I was naturally very bright, made no effort and wasn’t pushed at all. Because I did well my mum didn’t emphasise how important a work ethic was and I came unstuck at A-Levels.

I’m fine now, good job etc but the career I wanted became a distant dream because I thought I could rely on natural brightness.

It’s not her fault obviously! It’s just I was never encouraged to do more as what I did was ‘enough’ If that makes sense?

[Hedgehogblues]

That girls matter as much as boys do

[Dimsumlosesum]

Finances. Cleaning. Self reliance.

[Aprilshowersarecomingsoon]

That education gave you more opinions.
And that all men weren't twats.
That I was worth a nice life.

[smellsofelderberries]

Independence in general. Mum really suffocated me in particular and it has created a real sense of expectation in me that things need to be perfect and easy all the time (because Mum spent a lot of my childhood trying to make me happy due to various early childhood traumas).

[bringincrazyback]

I wish they'd taught me to cook, and I also wish they'd taught me before I went to university that class snobbery still existed, because that came as a nasty shock.

[MaFleur]

That people could be nice and it was ok to have friends.

[GregoryPeckingDuck]

I wish they had pushed me to persevere a bit more (I was allowed to quit hobbies as soon as I wanted to) and I also wish they’d encouraged me to marry for money. I was so scarred by their terrible marriage that I chose my husband based on compatibility and likelihood of having a loving marriage. But he is terrible with money and it’s made life very difficult. In hind sight I would rather be financially secure and get my emotional support elsewhere.

[NerrSnerr]

Personal hygiene, teeth, hair etc. Housework and gardening, they didn't really do it. It's taken me years to realise that if you want a presentable house/ garden then you need to work hard at keeping it that way.

[Jenala]

The importance of saving/not getting into debt.

The importance of physical activity, I wish I'd been encouraged to take part in any sports rather than being laughed at when my 100m time was less than my mother's etc.

[Disfordarkchocolate]

How to manage money.
Been more encouraging of my love of reading.
Helped me understand how to manage friendships, I just don't get it.
Overall though I had lovely parents, always did their best and were fair.

[cleomummy]

How to make friends and keep them better. Not to be so sensitive and paranoid and to have self belief and to learn from mistakes.

[ahhhhheckmecervix]

Self confidence and how to stand up for myself

[NotTired]

How to swim! I learnt at secondary school but I'm still scared of deep water and going under.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

My parents covered pretty much all the essentials, ie my mum taught me to cook from being very little, my dad taught me how to put in my spare tyre if I got a flat when I bought my first car etc
The only things that I was never taught where I feel my domestic life is lacking are:

• Ironing. I’m shit. I put more creases in than I take out, so I don’t iron unless something is obscenely creased or my DH is around to iron it. (Bonus fact: I made it through a few years in the army despite my shocking ironing skills )
  
• My mum has a “secret recipe” for beautiful, meat-filled Polish dumplings, and she will not tell anyone. Not a single person. I know how to make the dough, as she taught me how to make other varieties of the dumpling, but she literally shuts off the kitchen and barricades herself in there when she makes the meat filled ones Not sure if that’s worrying or not - for all I know she could be killing the local cats and shoving them in dumplings