Cover image via says.comMothers know best, but we the children don't always listen to their advice, thinking we know better about the facts of life
So we asked some of our colleagues if they've ever regretted not taking their mums' advice about life. They definitely did, and **here are the pieces of mum's advice they wish they'd taken seriously**:
1. "Don't waste water."
"Back in my hometown, we rarely get water cuts. In fact, I don't remember ever getting water cuts!
Then I moved here and every month or so got pipe burst *lah*, suddenly no water *lah*… I STRESS. So now that I have to always save water in buckets in case there are random water cuts, **I kinda regret taking the uninterrupted water supply I used to have for granted**."
– Nandini
Image via SAYS
2. "Save money! Don't waste money on useless things."
"I think this is a typical piece of advice every parent tells their kid, but most of them don't really care… including me.
I think I'm not at a level where I deeply regret not having a lot of savings yet, but **I do hate myself a little bit when I find myself eating grass at the end of every month**."
– John
Image via SAYS
3. "Don't jump around the house."
"I hated having to go shower after coming back from kindergarten, coz I'm too lazy to climb upstairs. To make things more exciting, I'd make a pathway to the staircase with my 'Peter and Jane' books so I can hop, hop, hop to the stairs. Because fun *mah*.
One day, while I was hopping, something epic happened – I slipped on one of the books. Obviously, **I fell… and my forehead got stuck on one of the steps!** STUCK YOU KNOW. My mum had to pull my head off the step.
**I had to get six stitches and now I have a permanent scar on my forehead.**"
– Priscilla
Image via SAYS
4. "Don't rush into a decision simply because you want to escape National Service (NS)."
"I got chosen for NS. I didn't want to go for NS. So I enrolled myself in college for a Diploma in Hospitality Management so I can apply for deferment.
**Two weeks in, I discovered I hated the course. I dropped out and ended up wasting at least RM10,000 of my parents' money, because I couldn't get all my money back.**"
– Jennifer
Image via SAYS
5. "Finish your homework before you go out."
"C'mon, I was 10 years old. Of course I was gonna pick going out to play with my friends over staying in to do homework.
Then every day I regret my life choices because I have to stay up late to finish my homework. **My entire childhood was spent crying and doing homework, while my family watches TV.**"
– Jason
Image via SAYS
6. "Don't play video games in the dark."
"Why else do you think I've been wearing glasses since I was 9?"
– Zul
Image via SAYS
7. "Don't get a boyfriend while you're still in school, it won't last."
"I was young, I was rebellious, so of course I went out and got myself a boyfriend.
So you know how everyone thinks their first love is their forever love? Like everyone else, I found out that it's a myth the hard way, coz **he dumped me three months later and left my heart shattered to pieces**. Damn drama."
– Ying
Image via SAYS
8. "Sleep early."
"My sleep pattern is so messed up! Normal bedtime for me is 3am, so **I regret not listening to my mum every morning when I force myself to wake up for work**."
– Rudy
Image via SAYS
9. "Stop climbing up and down! You fall down then you know."
"I was a hyperactive kid who'd climb on every tall thing I could find. I'd climb on chairs, on the table… I've even climbed to the top of the slide and monkey bars at the playground.
As fate would have it, I was nicely having the time of my life climbing and hanging off the monkey bars… when **my sweaty hand slipped and I went splat onto the ground.
I ended up having a huge bump at the back of my head for a week.**"
– Jay
Image via SAYS
10. "Why you always listen to your friends? Your friends are not always right, I AM!"
"Teenage me had a hard time keeping up with peer pressure; **I did a lot of stupid things just to fit in with 'the crowd'**. Looking back, man… my ex-friends were such jerks."
– Melissa
Image via SAYS
11. "Take accounting. You'll make a lot of money."
"I mean, I like what I do now… I'm just not making as much money as I thought I would at 25, y'know? So sometimes, **I can't help but wonder if my life would be different if I'd listened to my mum instead, coz let's face it – money buys the things that bring you happiness**. Being broke SUCKS."
– Alison
Image via SAYS
12. "Are you sure you want to bleach your hair?"
"I was a cheapskate. Instead of going to the hair saloon, I decided to buy my own packet of bleach so I can DIY at home.
You can probably guess what happened next – **inexperienced first-timer who's never dyed her hair before in her life ended up with dried up straw for hair. I had to cut it all off coz they got so damaged.**"
– Gowri
Image via SAYS
