Letter to my Younger Self No. 5 - Parents

Dearest Little Julie,

You know how sometimes you love your parents, and sometimes you just hate them? When you love them, you probably don't think much about it. Everything just feels good. When you're mad at them, you notice everything that's bad. 

Guess what? My kid is grown up now, and sometimes I wish I could go back and do childhood over with Dwayne. I wish I could have a second chance and do better.  There's a very important thing called hindsight. It means looking at things after they've happened, and seeing different things than you did when it was happening. 

Here's a few things I wish I'd done differently. I wish I'd crossed this one thing off my "To Do" list EVERY DAY - "Play with Dwayne". I wish I hadn't yelled so much. I wish I'd been more patient, and seen things from his point of view more often. I wish I hadn't gone to work so much and been too tired and busy to play with him. I wish that dinner time had been a happier time together.

Sometimes, parents don't really know what their kids need. If you tell them, you're helping them. Even if they don't like what you say. I know, you probably already do this. And a lot of times they do know. They might ignore it and just do things because it's easier, or that's what they need to do. Tell them anyway. 

• If you could change just one thing, what do you want your mom or dad to do differently?

Kids are kids. They don't always know how to speak up for themselves. That's normal. Please remember, all the thoughts and feelings you have inside - the more you tell your parent these things, the better your life will be. You always have the right to talk about what you need and things that bother you. Trust me on this. Please. If your parents don't listen, tell someone else.