A Legacy Letter to My Children and Grandchildren

My dear children and grandchildren,

I am so proud of each and every one of you. You have raised or are raising beautiful families and some of you are now stepping into the world of grandparenting… which I must say is much easier than parenting — love them and send them home to mom and dad.

I can remember telling each of my children at one time or another, “If you don’t like the way I do things, then you change it. When you become a parent, do better!”

Parenting is something we are thrown into without much formal training. Instead we have to use our own intuition and the example of others. While all of us thrive to do our best, there are bound to be days that we feel we have failed. However, it only takes that sweet child wrapping his or her arms around your neck and telling you they love you to make it all worthwhile.

As years have gone by, I’ve had some regrets about my parenting, and I’m going to share them with you in the hopes that maybe you can do better with your children and grandchildren:

Parenting Regrets

1. I regret that I didn’t cherish every moment I had with you. When you were young I thought you would never grow up and then one day it happened. How I miss those days and wish I could recapture them.

If I had it to do over I would not worry so much about cleaning the house, cooking and doing laundry, and would instead take more time to join you in your world of play and adventure.

2. I regret not teaching you more about finances. This is an area that so many young people struggle with. They step into the adult world with little idea how to manage their money.

If I had it to do over I would start at a very young age to teach you about money and how to budget. I would stress the importance of saving money so that you are prepared for an emergency.

3. I regret the times you would talk to me and I never really listened. My mind was busy with things I must have thought were more important.

If I had it to do over, I would listen intently to everything you say. I would cherish the fact that you wanted to talk to me, and I now realize it was a privilege to have you share your thoughts with me.

4. I regret that I didn’t, on a more regular basis, share my belief with you that we have a loving Heavenly Father whom we can turn to in times of need.

If I had it to do over, I would share my testimony with you regularly and tell you how our Heavenly Father has helped me throughout my life. I want you to know you can turn to him in difficult times and he will answer your prayers.

These are just a few things that come to mind that I wish I would have done differently. I am confident that each of you are doing for your children what you think if best. I know you love and care for them and that means a lot.

Love you bunches,

Mom/Granny