Remember that time when your dad insisted on teaching you how to change a tire, and you thought, ‘Why bother, we’ve got roadside assistance’? Or perhaps you rolled your eyes when your mom insisted you wear a hat on a sunny day, only to later admit that it did save you from a scorching sunburn. These ‘Darn, My Parents Were Right’ moments are more than just moments; they’re lessons in humility, gratitude, and the enduring guidance of our elders.
Get ready for a heartwarming trip down memory lane as we celebrate these instances of parental insight. We’ll share stories, laughs, and a newfound appreciation for the sage advice that, no matter how much we tried to resist, shaped us into the responsible adults we are today.
I used to make fun of my mom for always recommending a hot bath for whatever was ailing me. Headache? Hot bath. Sore? Hot bath. Congested? Hot bath. It looked like an obsession to me when I was a kid.
She was totally right, though. A hot bath is great for just about everything.
Dad: “Heat never goes past 68! If you’re cold, put on a sweatshirt”
Own a house with roommates, set the heat at 75, enjoy a tropical month, and get your first heating bill. Promptly lock the thermostat to 68. The roommate whined and told her to put on a sweatshirt.
“Never leave your drinks with anyone you don’t trust. Don’t trust them? Finish your drink. A smoke can wait.” Went out with a longtime friend and said friend’s boyfriend. They’d been going out roughly a month or two and we knew each other, sort of. We asked him to watch our drinks while we went outside to smoke, disregarding one of the golden rules of drinking. Came back and my friend ended up finishing my drink for me – one hour later, we’re in the hospital and she’s off her face. Everyone else claimed she drank too much but we’d had two drinks – that was it. Later came to find her “boyfriend” was abusive and also had quite a thing for me. Can’t prove it, but we suspect he slipped something into my drink. Sheer bad luck on her part that he got her instead of me. We’re still friends, but she no longer speaks to the abusive w*nk-stain that potentially poisoned her.
My Mom laughed at me when I told her I would marry my high school sweetheart. When she cheated on me the first week of college, it was tough to admit Mom was right.
They would always tell me that after I got grossed out when they kissed as a little kid. I didn’t really realize the huge truth behind that until I started going to friends ‘ houses more and seeing their parents almost always argue and stay in separate rooms or something like that.
Said to me as a young teenager… “I know it’s hard to imagine now but the age of 40 really isn’t that far away. Before you know it you’ll hit 40 and wonder how that happened so fast”.
My mum always used to tell me you could never have a nice house while you have kids and dogs. Now I have a destructive toddler and a fluffy rough collie I couldn’t agree with her more.
I grew up with 4 brothers, 5 boys total. The oldest was born in 1987, and the youngest in 1994, so we were all close enough in age to fight and hate each other. My mom always told us, as we bled and cried, that one day we would be best friends.
She was dead on, obviously. I’m 25 now and they’re truly my favorite people and we talk all the time.
They said I should break up with her, and they had never been that intrusive.
Then I called them from jail after I was arrested for a crime I did not commit. The case was almost immediately found to be fraudulent and thrown out of court. Years later she called and apologized. I spent thousands on bail and attorney fees.
That I was too young to get married. Reaaaallly wish I listened to them.
I met my ex-husband when my dad was stationed in Germany. He found my AOL profile. I just turned 18, he was 23. We dated for 6 months, then my dad was stationed in Newport, RI and I moved with them. I was going to go to college in Dallas while my ex-husband was deployed in Iraq. We were going to get married when he came back. I told my parents and they weren’t too happy about it. My dad was in Iraq at the same time my ex was (this was 2006). My dad got injured and was sent to Germany a week before my wedding. My parents met him. They were cordial. But they kept telling me I was too young. I married him anyway. My parents couldn’t come. The only people who showed up for me were my sister and best friend.
6 years later, a child, and a ton of emotional and physical abuse later we got divorced. And I look back at how easily manipulated I was, and how much he controlled me. He was 5 1/2 years older than me. I thought I was so mature for my age. But it was still developing. And I’m a totally different person than that 19-year-old twerp.
It’s OK now. He got married to a woman I can tolerate, moved to Seattle and is transitioning to be a woman. So….there’s that.
In the early 1990s, my father took an interest in computers and the Internet. He tried to tell me that the Internet would grow and everyone would start using it daily. He even had an idea for a website where people could put their own stuff up for sale and other people online could bid on it (I’m not exaggerating in the least).
I didn’t care about computers (other than some silly games) and the Internet because there were no girls on there (in my mind).
Basically, every time they said ‘Someday you’ll have a kid and they’ll pay you back for everything!’
yup. I get it. Loud and clear.
My hair at work today looks greasy. It isn’t. It’s 1/3 yogurt. Also this morning, after changing a poopy diaper, there was a giant piece of corn on my thumb.
When I used to be bothered by bully types at school (not necessarily myself being picked on but just the nature and cruelty of children sometimes) my mom used to say, “You don’t know what their home life is like.” This used to annoy me to no end. I knew she wasn’t excusing their behavior but it was still difficult to care if they were suffering in other ways.
I went on to get my psychology degree and although I’m not going into counseling I learned how much an environment can really shape a person, a perspective that allows me to be empathetic and happier as a direct result.
They kept telling me that I should start saving up for a car as soon as I could because the better the condition of the car, the less money I’d have to put into it later.
An exploded head gasket and disintegrated brake pad later (both separate incidents) I realize that they were totally right.
It was forced down my throat, and I was good, but I was sick and tired of playing stupid music from music books, that I’d never heard of. The only concert I’ve ever been to was the Beach Boys, other than my grade school shows (which we all know are lame.) This was before I even liked girls.
I feel if I was taken to concerts where there were pianists, then I’d see what the goal was. Instead of forcing an instrument down my child’s throat, I’ll show them the coolness of it first, and the music they may be interested in, or the potential before just saying “NO. sit down and read these notes.”
Ding,……… dong,………. blong, DONG DONG DONG. Wahhh. I hate this!
I was becoming friends with a kid in elementary school. I went over to his house to play one day and my dad picked me up. When he met the parents he wasn’t exactly impressed. The next weekend he called and asked I I could spend the night. I was pretty excited since he was one of the “cool” kids, but when I asked my dad he said no. He said since the adults were using profanity, and getting drunk around kids it wasn’t a fit environment for me. I was so mad at him and cried for days. I had to call up my friend in between tears and tell him I had already had plans. From there on out I had to come up with b*llsh*t excuses until he finally got the message.
I gotta say my pops pulled a clutch move that day. My “friend” ended up not graduating high school, having a kid at 17, and now deals drugs to make money. I’m at a good state university and got a 4.0 last semester. Goes on I show what good parenting can do.
“You shouldn’t eat an entire cake, it isn’t good for you”
The first thing I did when I moved out from my parent’s house was buy a cake and eat it, all of it. Because I was an adult and I could do what I wanted.
Dad: Go to college and get a degree, you don’t want to work like this your whole life.
Went to college, f*cked around, and didn’t get a degree. Currently working the way he said I didn’t want to work my whole life. He was right, this sucks.
My Mum told me that I get to choose the person I become. All you have to do is to keep that thought in your head when making decisions. Also, every action has a reaction, so make sure that reaction will be a good one.
It wasn’t something I really listened to at the time, but now those thoughts stay with me all the time, and I have definitely become a better person for it.
A phrase my mom always said to cheer me up while stressed in university: “If it was easy everybody would do it.” Sounded so stupid at the time but I’ve used the same line to cheer up countless friends who were stressed with exams etc. Mom is always right.
I was 21 years old, living in a shared house (GF + 2 other roommates), struggling to pay even the most necessary of my bills to the point where I had to make decisions between gas or food.
I was sitting there and wallowing in self-pity when I realized that when she was my age my mother had already left my father, and was living on her own in a townhouse about the same size as the one I had to share with 3 others “adults” just to be able to afford it, and even then was still able to give us everything we needed to survive.
Realizing that my mom was way better at adulting than I was hit me like a slap in the face, and it really put a lot of my childish/bad decisions into sharp focus. I called her to tell her that I was sorry for all the sh*t I had ever given her for not getting what all the other kids had, and to thank her for giving me as good a life as she did.
Later that year when my life finally fell all the way apart, she took me back in and helped me get my life back on track in very short order. That was almost 20 years ago now, and today I’m doing pretty well as a husband, father, and professional.
My parents were always frugal and my cousins always got showered with video game consoles and gifts. I always thought it was unfair and often complained to my parents. Patiently they would say, that’s not how we’re doing it, we’re going to save our money.
Fast forward 15 years and my cousins are in massive debt and my brother and I aren’t, having learned how to save money. But at the time though it was totally unfair.
My parents had me cook dinner for the family once a week starting at 13, then more often as I got older. I know I whined then, but now I am so grateful. Cooking is a great skill to have and I can make a bunch of stuff with no recipe, it is so useful, healthful and frugal.
My dad was sick and dying while I was in high school. During that time he sat down and read everything he could about student loans for college. He made me promise him I would always buy this optional loan insurance. It added a couple hundred to every d*mn loan. I had people try to talk me out of it, and I always had to say I had promised my dad, who was now dead.
Just as I finished my studies I got sick. It took a while to figure out it was incurable and I was going to be chronically ill the rest of my life. The insurance paid off my student loans and took one big stressor out of my life. So even though my daddy was dead, he was taking care of me. Even my mother told me I didn’t need that insurance. He was right, I needed it.
My mother always told me “You will leave this world the same way you entered it, with nothing. So put pride in your work, treat all with respect, and give your family undying love. When it’s all gone, you will know you have done the right thing, and death won’t seem so sorrowful.”
When consoling a friend of mine who had a terrible relationship with his father after he passed away, my mother’s words hit hard immediately.
My dad is a doctor. My whole life growing up I ate sh*t like cereals, cheerios, cookies… he didn’t smoke or drink and only ate healthy stuff. He grew up poor and the son of a farmworker so he never got to eat junk food and later on in life he found it disgusting, so I thought it was just a matter of taste. He would harangue us about how bad this stuff is for you, this and that, and we mostly ignored it.
In med school, the first few autopsies we attended showed us just how -f*cked- your body’s insides become on an unhealthy diet. Atherosclerosis makes your arteries hard as bone, the pathologist used them to tap a rhythm on the table. Smokers’ lungs were so black it was hard to tell what was what.
Then the pneumology rotations begin and we could see it in the living: obese individuals with COPD, barely able to breathe or talk, diabetic, immobile and with heart failure….. day after day after day, meeting individuals in their 50s whose bodies were wrecked and who always answered filled their history forms with ” Smoker 10/15/20/30 etc. years” ….. Cholesterol through the moon, fat as f*ck, no exercise…. drinkers. The ravages of alcohol make themselves shown quite often too. It’s horrific. Your body is tough as f*ck, but people underestimate just HOW BAD these things are for them.
I don’t drink, smoke and I don’t eat junk food and I avoid red meat like the devil itself these days. Never felt better. I still remember the pathologist tapping on coronary arteries so occluded and hard they resembled chicken bones. F*ck that sh*t.
Talk radio (podcasts, actually) is more interesting than most contemporary music. If I ever had to go into their bedroom late at night, he would be listening to a little transistor radio to faraway stations.
I thought my father was the most boring man alive. Now I’m the most boring woman.
“That girl is no good for you” In relation to my ex-girlfriend.
She was spiteful, sly and cold – but easily one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen. My parents obviously picked up something I didn’t. I got into a huge fight with my Mom when she kept saying there was something about the girl that was untrustworthy but I defended her (my ex) to my Mom until the cows came home because I was so blindly in love lust with her. Then, on the night we broke up and after the 2 years we were together, she finally revealed what a truly nasty person she was and I realised that my Mom & Dad were so accurate about her. I met up with her 2 months ago and she confirmed all over again that I should really trust my parents’ intuition.
“You’ll regret not taking care of yourself later.”
I’ve dealt with anorexia for most of my life. I thought this was crazy because I never thought there would be a time in my life when I wasn’t devoted to starving myself.
Now, I’m trying to get healthy, and my stomach no longer remembers how to digest food. Whenever I try to eat, my stomach enters a state of near paralysis, and the food rots there until I vomit five times. I have my first of many procedures coming up to try and fix it, and it’s an expensive and h*llish process.
I wish I’d just been a normal chunky teenager snacking with the rest of my friends, instead of destroying my body forever.
“Don’t pay by card for everything, it won’t feel like you’re spending money and you’ll go over budget without realising” took me 2 years (and a thousand quid of student loan splurges) of uni to realise my mum was right. The best I’ve ever budgeted was when I took out my monthly budget and split it into 4 envelopes, opening one for each week. Nowadays I’m a massive stinge about money because I get paid in cash so I find it super easy not to spend anything when I can literally see my cash leaving my hands.
I used to ask my parents when it was mothers or Father’s Day, “When is kids day?” They would say “Every day is kids’ day :)”
As someone who works full time, I totally get that.
Also, they said the school was the most fun thing ever, and they were right! Totally takes a turd on being an adult.
Also, they told me (regarding career decisions, etc…) to make them young and just “get going on something. Before you know it, you’ll be thirty”… I’m 29 and wish I started stuff way earlier.
They literally made the soul read on everything (soul read is a poker term used when you are incredibly accurate in your prediction of your opponent’s hand)
Save money when you are young. Start saving in your twenties. It does not have to be huge and ambitious; 20 dollars each pay and do not touch it. You will have money to return to school if that is a great desire, a fund to invest, but do not spend it unless it will further a goal. A vacation is not a goal, the trip of a lifetime might be.
Respect money and pay yourself. Do not drive yourself into needless debt (fun, not necessary stuff, is a no-no on credit). As my father tells me, but for the big purchases like a car or house; you can have whatever you can pay for.
Not even 60 and retired with some comfort, not rich. I thought that they were nuts when I was in my 20s. They were right, I see how right now as I can live and not work and many non-saving colleagues cannot even imagine leaving work… ever.
Save, even though 60 seems far off, it will come before you can imagine and it is nice to have a bit of cash and security.
My father dropped me off on my first day of work when I was sixteen. As I was getting out of the car, he said, “This is your first day of work, and after this, it will never end, you’ll likely work until you die.”
I’m 24 now and recently out of the military and back into the civilian workforce. I’m tired of working after less than 10 years, but he’s probably right.
I was once warned that the character flaws that annoy you most when you see them in other people are often the ones that, deep down, you know are your own.
When you can’t stand the way someone makes constant cutting remarks about others, must be the centre of attention, or shows off their accomplishments ad nauseum, ask yourself if you detest their actions in part because you are prone to any of these behaviours. Today, I use that piece of perception to keep my less admirable tendencies in check and think it has helped me mature into a better, more honest person. I tolerate blowhards and nasty people with sympathy instead of resentment, and, hopefully, am much less annoying than I was as a young person.
My dad always said “You can be whatever you want in life, enjoy every minute you possibly can. I won’t tell you not to do this or that, but always remember to be safe.” He was right, and I listened to him (sometimes) and I’m glad I did.
After reading all of these, I’m so fortunate I realized how awesome of a father I had at a young age. All my friends would say he is “the coolest dad.” Divorced single father, brought me to all my soccer games, and inspired me to try any sport or thing I wanted. Helped me get into the college I wanted.
I currently have a degree I don’t technically use in a job that’s not that great of pay, but every day he tells me “You’re doing so great for yourself, and I’m so proud of you”
I teared up even writing this, and I’m not even drunk. I love my dad. I hope to be like him someday.
“Go to community college, figure out what you want to do at low cost; don’t make that girl your life; take care of the car”
This year, I dropped out of art college because I was an idiot and went to a school that cost $50K a year, and now I’m living back home with my parents.
My 4-year relationship ended after she wanted to be “independent” and she was my everything. Went into a deep depression because of it.
The car broke down like three times, and I make barely enough to cover the repairs.
The one that has stuck with me the most as I have grown and experienced the world is: “The only thing lost by politeness is a seat on a crowded bus.”
Even when everyone else is rude, unaccommodating, and generally mean to one another, that’s the phrase I hear in my head over and over in my feeble attempt at being a decent person. Hold the door, put your shopping cart in the return area, and for goodness’ sake, give up your seat to the older people and children.
After I broke up with a really bad boyfriend (that my mom had been right about), she gave me this piece of advice: “You two just really weren’t right for each other. You need someone who likes to get out and do things. You need someone who will dance with you and burst into song in the middle of a store.”
A few months later, a guy took me to a bookstore for our first date and when I mentioned I could salsa dance, he said, “Me too!” and we danced in the aisle of the bookstore. As we were dancing, I thought about my mom’s advice.
Three years later, we danced at our wedding. When I had our wedding albums printed, I put the story of my mom’s advice on the first page.
My parents were right about so many things. Growing up, I thought “UGH! I’ll never be like my dumb parents!”. I’m 28 now and I just hope to become the people my parents are.
That money is only important if you don’t have it, what makes life worth living is your friends and the experiences you make.
Used to be obsessed with getting rich and almost took a job that would make me a sh*t ton but would make me work 14 hours a day 7 days a week and then obviously be available 24/7. Now years later my happiness comes from being with my friends and doing stuff that costs barely anything with my plentiful free time, something I would never been able to do if I chose the other path.
When I was growing up my mother used to say “You pull your own little red wagon through this life and let others pull theirs.”
Meaning don’t concern yourself with drama in others’ lives if a family member or friend did something awful, various marriages, situations, etc. and keep your own counsel.
This has come back to me so many times and so frequently that I cannot identify any particular moment.
“It is always better to be honest, accountable, and upfront with not just us but with people in general. You will always be better off than lying or covering up your actions and behaviors.” Never heard better advice than that. I was run off the road by an a**h*le speeding down a narrow street and took out someone’s mailbox, so what I did was looked up the person’s phone number, said it was me who did it and would be more than welcome to pay for the replacement cost to get it repaired. A gentleman a few days later gave me a phone call and I drove over to his house and he showed me the bill from Home Depot for $75. I gave him the cash and he told me something I will never forget, “Every year the people who plough the streets have taken out my mailbox, you are the first person who has reached out to me to make things right. You are a true gentleman and thank your parents for me!” My dad’s advice really was right, I felt really good for doing what I wish someone would do for me!
“The people you will work with aren’t your friends. They will talk about you behind your back and try to get ahead at your expense. England is the perfect example of this type of place.”
I could not accept that, even though he had been working for 30 years. I got a full-time job at an office before I started university to save up money. My dad was so right. People acted as if they were friends when they spoke to each other, but when they spoke to their managers or superiors they started rooting each other out like it was nothing.
Whenever I didn’t feel well, my parents would tell me to go poop. This continued even as I was a teenager and until I moved out. It annoyed the heck out of me. Headache? Go poop. General feeling unwell? Go poop. Didn’t matter what, that was always their first answer.
Y’know what? Like 85% of the time, pooping is going to make you feel better. I kind of hate that they wet right about that because it annoyed me so much as a kid.
As a teenager, I sometimes complained about my looks. My mom then told me: “You are the product of me and your father. You are insulting us and our genes when you complain about your looks.”
Since I love my parents to death and see them as the most beautiful human beings on earth, this really changed the way I see myself. I am now somehow proud to be a beautiful product of my beautiful parents.
Oh and quote from my Dad: “I am too poor to buy cheap stuff.” We weren’t rich, but he always bought stuff with higher quality, e.g. cameras or TVs. Cheap things tend to break faster, so you have to replace them again and in the end, you spend more money on bad quality than for the high-quality product.
“The harder you work in school, the easier you’ll work in a job.”
Which they meant as “If you want to dig ditches your whole life, then by all means coast through school. But if you want a job that you both enjoy and use your brain, then you’re going to start working for it as a kid.”
My dad drives so smoothly and safely. He can drive for days and never complains. My mom once said, “If he can teach you to be just as good as him, I will be happy knowing your family will be safe.” He’s always focused and detailed in everything he does. I wish I could be half the person he is.
When I wanted to buy myself all the newest cool games and gadgets as a treat to myself and my dad said “You don’t get to treat yourself once you move out. Your treat will be paying to keep a roof over your head and warm food on the table.”
Best lesson I ever learned. I was paranoid that the dog would run into the street and get hit by a car, or run off and get lost, or so on, that I never wanted to let it off the leash, even miles away from civilization with no one around.
After thinking about it on my own, it occurred to me why my parents imposed occasional restrictions on my life, and that they were actually pretty chill. I was offered a lot of freedom that I might not have given myself if I were in their shoes.
Used to do everything fast. Would rush through everything in order to get to the next moment. I would always be anticipating something and basically glide through life in order to get to that point. Then when that happens another moment takes its place. Before you know it, you’re dead, and you never actually lived much of your life.
Once you start working, you’ll learn the true value of a [insert unit of currency], as well as the concept of “need vs want”. They were right. The flipside is, that I have better money management than they do, and do tons of research before sinking money, while they (with two salaries and no debts) always overdraft and make the poorest purchase choices.
The sad flipside is, that I immediately realised going out with friends was a massive waste of money, and became an antisocial freak from the age of 16 -> 24. Yep. To the point where Dad feels guilty and slips me 20 euros on the rare occasions, I do go out.
However, as a result of this discipline, I could afford whatever I wanted (car, two laptops, exchange trip for 3 months) etc outright, while my siblings, who seem to have rejected this double-edged wisdom are always begging for $$$.
My father once told me “Son, one day soon, you’ll look back at your life and regret one of two things; either the things you’ve done or the things you didn’t.”
My older brother and I were planning a safari hunt with our kid brother. I had to put it off because my (now ex) wife needed me present at a work function. We planned to reschedule the trip after he came home from his assignment overseas. Well, f*ck me, because he didn’t make it home.
“Money has no power over happiness, it’s okay to save some for a rainy day, but don’t be too worried about cash to live your life.”
I didn’t know how good that advice was until I moved out on my own. I work hard, pay my bills, and keep some cash away for emergencies, but I also go to concerts, drink a few beers with buddies every once in a while, and travel whenever I can. While some of my friends are going through midlife crises right now, I love the life I’ve had so far.
“Whatever you do, from the most humble task to the highest responsibility, never be the trailer. Always strive to be the engine.”
Something my dad always said and only recently I started to understand. Never be content with where you are. Keep going forward. Listen and learn from those who came before you but also try to lead others. Be someone to look up to.
