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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

What do you wish you could warn younger you about?

131 replies

OneUmberJoker · 12/12/2025 17:42

Inheritance tax

OP posts:
Katemax82 · 12/12/2025 20:25

Life with my husband and his kids....

DontbesorrybeGiles · 12/12/2025 20:24

My current job. Just don’t even go to the interview. It’s all going to be downhill from there.

elliejjtiny · 12/12/2025 20:20

Don't get pregnant again until you have lost the weight from the previous baby.

Don't buy videos after 2001.

Those water drops things are expensive and taste horrible, don't bother with them.

Lifelover16 · 12/12/2025 20:18

Beware older men who flatter and groom you into having sex. Have the self respect to tell them to bugger off.

Lifelover16 · 12/12/2025 20:15

Stop being a doormat and people pleaser. Learn to be assertive and work on your self esteem.

HoneyParsnipSoup · 12/12/2025 20:13

LifeBeginsToday · 12/12/2025 18:35

That I'm not broken, I'm autistic. That I will find out in my early 30s and by 40 I will love myself and not try to fit in to a world I was never meant for.

To be fair I think very few people are ‘meant for this world’.

santasbaubles · 12/12/2025 20:12

Your husband is autistic and your children probably will be too. This won’t make you love them any less but knowing it will help you understand them better.

Prelim · 12/12/2025 20:10

Enjoy it! Stop worrying about everything. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Don’t feel pressured into settling down if it’s not right for you, but if it’s what you want go ahead! Make the most of the things you enjoy and don’t worry about people who say you’re too young/old/fat/thin/ugly/beautiful. Live your own life and own it. I honestly would not change a thing, it’s made me into the person I am today!

WellyBellyBoo · 12/12/2025 20:04

You can have leave having kids until your 30s without being a failure

Plinkplonk1 · 12/12/2025 20:01

Marriage

2025mustbebetter · 12/12/2025 20:00

PMDD, PND, perimenopause!

I'd like to have been more prepared!

Tryingatleast · 12/12/2025 19:50

I don’t know, everything I’ve done wrong has helped me … I’d probably get back to the area I started working in (I was tempted to say not to become sahm but I loved it when it worked!)

blueshoes · 12/12/2025 19:49

Buy that flat in Hampstead when I first arrived in UK around 2000!

Waitingfordoggo · 12/12/2025 19:48

Look after your teeth better. (So now I tell my kids in the hope they won’t have to spend ££££ on dentistry).

WestwardHo1 · 12/12/2025 19:46

Wear sunscreen, because blotches and sunspots and worrying scaly patches are a massive PITA

Start a pension in your 20s not your 40s.

Realise earlier than your mother's constant attempts to shame you were a her issue, not a you issue

Ablushingcrow · 12/12/2025 19:43

Men. Dont even bother with them. Save money as much as you possibly can and tell no one.

TheeNotoriousPIG · 12/12/2025 19:39

Despite what went on at home, and at school, life will get better (especially when you finally obtain access to your own bank account and a car). You just need to:

Say no to everything, especially family pressure that dictates that you should be in a relationship from 16 onwards (Your confidence has been so battered that you don't even like people, so why would you want someone near you far too often?!) and do your A-Levels, a degree and a 'proper' job which will inevitably culminate in a nervous breakdown. Also, a good credit rating is an advisable thing to have in comparison to not having one at all.

Yes, you're female, but stand up, say no, and stop being a people-pleaser. Don't give in when you're told to be quiet. Also, question why it is fine for the men in the family to sit around while the women run around like they're on fire to keep them happy. You are important.

Be bold and be brave. You'll grow up, change the name that you hate, end up working in the sector that you wanted, and you'll move sufficiently far away for the family pressure not to get to you. Believe me, life is going to be much better!

MaybeItWasMe · 12/12/2025 19:35

Don’t buy the project house. It will drive you to a nervous breakdown.

Another2356 · 12/12/2025 19:34

Men

Mydahliasareshit · 12/12/2025 19:31

Don't cut your hair short on a whim. It will never grow back as long thick and bouncy again.

Larymarylary · 12/12/2025 19:24

Stay single.

Starconundrum · 12/12/2025 19:23

ChristmasinBrighton · 12/12/2025 18:15

Men

This.

unsync · 12/12/2025 19:22

1 Domestic abuse isn't love.

2 It is OK to be single.

3 Therapy, get your shit sorted out so that you recognise no 1 and understand no 2.

powershowerforanhour · 12/12/2025 19:13

Get to Vanessa Whyte's house before Wednesday 23rd July 2025, get her and the two children out of there and away to safety and fill the place with heavily armed cops ready to lift him when he comes back. If I could do one thing, it would be that.

ThatLemonBear · 12/12/2025 19:11

You think you’re ugly but you’re not. Don’t fall for the slick lines out of the mouths of older men.