35 Women Share The Things They Thought Were Stupid As A Girl, But Now Realize Their Mom Was Totally 100% Right About
Recently, Reddit user Competitive_Swan_130 took to the popular Ask Women page of the site and asked what I thought was kind of a cool question: "What's something you thought was stupid as a girl, but now as a woman, you realize your mom was right about?" Here are some of the most compelling answers:
1. "SUNSCREEN! Lmao. I used to think my mom was so dramatic about it! Like, why would I waste time putting on sunscreen multiple times a day? Now, I get it."
"She wasn't just trying to annoy me; she was saving me from future regrets (and expensive skincare). So yeah, mom, you were right. I'll take my SPF 50 and my humble pie now."
—u/ j_silva_sp
2. "I used to think it was silly when my mom said, 'Don't chase people; let them show you they care.' Now I see how much energy I wasted on people who didn't deserve it. She was so right."
—u/ kennelinimicum
3. "'Nothing good happens after midnight.' Definitely used that at parties/clubs, and I missed a lot of the traumatizing drama when I was in bed with my cats in college."
—u/ Aimee6969
"People should be particular about the parties and clubs they go to. I've always had a great time and kept safe because I was picky and prepared."
—u/ jay-jay-baloney
4. "Clean a little every day so you don't have to spend the entire day cleaning at the end of the week."
5. "The patriarchy. I used to roll my eyes when my mom would point out problematic patterns in our society. Like, when I was watching The Little Mermaid, she would remark that it's not the best message to send little girls that the main character gambles away her family who loves her for the chance of being with an older man when she's only 16 years old. At the time, I insisted it was romantic. Now I'm like, WTF was that? 😅"
6. "She was right: I do need a coat, and I will be cold."
7. "Silence. As a teenager, it was so irritating and unthinkable to me that my mom never had her radio on when she was driving. To me, that was the time to crank it up!"
"Now, guess who drives around in silence because it's the only goddang time I have to hear my own thoughts! That and I can't see when the radio's too loud, lol. 😆"
—u/ mintjulip
8. "Don't overpluck your eyebrows!"
—u/ thomasinanna
"I blame Madonna during the Erotica album. Whew, that was such an interesting period in time, and my eyebrows paid the price in full!"
—u/ wtfpie
9. "That one must not tell everything about oneself even to the closest of friends, because people can change."
"People get jealous, resentful. It's not necessarily because they are bad. It's just circumstances. We don't need to judge them for it. But as a self-protection mechanism, it's best to keep one's very intimate details to oneself."
—u/ Intrepid-Penalty-169
10. "I used to think my mom was overprotective about friends and dating. Now I get it; she just didn't want me to get hurt. She was right more times than I want to admit."
—u/ champagnemortis
11. "My mom complained about how quickly time passed. It seemed like she was always telling me that time just flew by, and it was 'already almost Christmas' or 'time for school to start up again' or 'the weekend already?!' To me, time dragged like a snail through molasses."
"Now that I'm much older I cannot believe the speed at which time passes. I'm complaining about it being Monday and in no time at all I'm sitting at Thursday, then the weekend is here and gone. Back around, then again. Mom was right!"
—u/ MonkeyCatDog
12. "Honestly, my mom always warned me about making life choices based on the people I dated. She was respectful about it, but basically told me that it wasn't going to last and to make sure I made choices for myself."
"At the time I thought we would be high school sweethearts and be together forever, but now looking back it's silly how naive that was, lol."
—u/ LanaofBrennis
14. "That 'we have food at home' was actually financial wisdom, not betrayal."
—u/ 5onjacloudy
"Real...the moment of realization that she also probably wanted to get food while we were out. Being a mom seems impossible, to be honest."
—u/ rkmoses
15. "I thought my mom was just trying to make me feel better and not hurt my self-esteem even more when she'd tell me that people at my middle school and high school were just shallow and immature."
"She told me that I wasn't the problem, I just went to school with kids who were too mean/stupid to appreciate what I had to offer.
Now as an adult and a teacher myself, I realize my mom was right. I was a little quirky (gifted-identified, only child who had braces, acne, freckles, frizzy hair, and was fat) but I had a good heart and was true to myself. There really are a lot of shallow and cliquey people out there who don't care if they bring other people down."
—u/ Belle0516
16. "To not bleach and dye my hair so much because it would get brittle and break off."
"I was goth/punk back in the day and would constantly want to dye my hair and then decide that I wanted the totally opposite color of what I currently had. My mother would tell me to just pick a color and be happy with it until it grew out. SO ANNOYING! 🤬
I haven't dyed hair in years and I just went from red to blonde, and yeah, mom was right."
—u/ Can-Chas3r43
17. "Being forced to eat veggies. I always hated that, and asked my mom, 'How come my friends' parents never force them to eat veggies, but you do?'"
Bymuratdeniz / Getty Images
"I am now an adult who enjoys a large variety of foods and has the flexibility to eat anywhere I want. I'm surrounded by 30-some-year-olds who say, 'Ew, I don't like XYZ, I can't eat that.'"
—u/ PomegranateFast4097
18. "My mom NEVER bought flavored drinks or soda. Sometimes, she would buy orange juice, but it was rare. I used to be embarrassed when my friends would come over and I only had water to offer."
"She was a single mom working 2-3 jobs, so I had a vague idea we were poor. As we came up a little financially, it didn't change. I can remember being so mad about it and asking, 'BUT WHY?!' To which I got the standard, 'Because I said so, that's why.'
Now, as an adult, I appreciate that habit of only drinking water, being poor or not. It taught me the value of health, money, and necessity."
—u/ carebearpayne
19. "That life is not worth restricting foods you like. Eat everything in moderation without guilt, but exercise for vitality."
"I'm so happy I didn't have an almond mom. She helped me so much when I was recovering from an ED. I love movement now purely for the joy it gives me."
—u/ Aihcdnagelrap
20. "'Be careful who you choose to spend time with.'"
Maskot / Getty Images
"She was right. I invested too much time and emotion into a scummy and abusive ex-boyfriend and sketchy so-called friends, all of whom hurt me in the long run, and I'm still recovering from the scars. I just wish she was still alive so I could thank and hug her."
—u/ Ritz2Fly
21. "Lotion! All over your body. It was a huge deal for her to have just the right kind…she was right. 😂"
—u/ aunte_
22. "She hated when I sat with my hands clenched. Said it looked like I was angry. Turns out I was angry. I notice it in other people now as an adult."
24. "My mom wouldn't let us hang out across the street at our friend's house if the mom wasn't home because she felt something was off about the dad. She was right."
25. "The fact that as a woman, you can't say to ANYONE, 'I think this happened,' you have to say, 'This happened for certain,' otherwise no one will believe you. Sad, sad story."
26. "My mom was right about one very important thing. Get a vertical file box and put your important shit in it. Insurance papers are in one folder, and healthcare records are in another. Birth certificate/social security cards/passport, tax forms, all that important stuff that you don't need 'til you NEED it and can't find it."
27. "Cleaning the house before you leave on vacation so you come home to a clean home."
29. "Having home insurance. It wasn't so much my thinking it was stupid, it was thinking that bad things always happen to the neighbor."
VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm / Getty Images
"She paid for my home insurance at first since I initially couldn't afford it. When lightning struck our home and killed eight electronic devices, I had to eat my words and tell her she was right. Insurance paid up six days later after processing our case."
—u/ WrestlingWoman
30. "Decentering men. I used to enjoy attention from boys and was a bit of a 'not like the other girls' type until I realized in my early 20s that most boys/men did not see me as an equal, and that their attention did not equal respect."
"My mom was right. By decentering men, I got far greater enjoyment out of simple things like study, work, travel, and sport, and my female relationships became far more rewarding.
I like men and I enjoy their company, I just value the opinions, support, and advice of the women in my life more because I feel there is less of an agenda attached to them."
—u/ womandatory
31. "Don't read in the dark; turn a light on."
"I say this as I have to reach for my 'cheaters' (reading glasses) because my phone (and anything else readable) is fuzzy if I don't."
–u/ legalbeagle001
32. "You cannot change someone. Accept them for who they are or leave them alone."
—u/ IndividualCry0
33. "Almost everything! A made bed makes a room look clean; put things where they belong; friends come and go; you cook with love; don't do good things for others and expect it in return, just do them because you're a good person. God, the list goes on."
Fcafotodigital / Getty Images
—u/ deleted
34. "She didn't let me get a belly button piercing or a nose job, lol."
Granger Wootz / Getty Images/Tetra images RF
—u/ celestialism
35. "Not having good posture. I think that's why I have back pain now."
Carol Yepes / Getty Images
—u/ likesomecatfromjapan
I'd love to hear all your thoughts down below; and if you have advice from your own mom you'd like to share, feel free to do so!
Or, if you want to share but prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to check out this anonymous Google form. Who knows — your answer could be included in a future BuzzFeed article!
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