Knowing what you know now....

no matter how hard it is, stick it out, don't give up....go get your Arizona (he really was waiting all along)

enjoy being home while parents have to be the responsible ones taking care of my every need...the real world is waiting

YOU WERE FREAKING HOT---GO FOR IT ALL.

feel like i need to clarify a little---when i was 16 i was very shy and thought i wasnt pretty---let alone skinny. everyone wanted me to go out for cheerleader/ homecoming princess/ etc/ guys even wanted to date me but i wouldnt do any of it. i found a pic of my sister and who i thought at the time was my daughter---at the lake---then realized kelsi has never worn a one piece bathing suit----IT WAS ME. DAMN I WAS FINE--just wish i had felt that way about myself then---

I know what you mean. I always thought I was chubby, but now, when I look at pictures of myself from childhood and high school, I don't think so at all. By the time I graduated from college, I definitely had some pounds to drop, but before then, I worried way too much about it.

Don't date that guy

Don't date that guy or that guy

Don't marry that guy

Don't marry that guy

I would really love to say "don't marry that guy"

Don't get involved with that loser

There's a pattern here. I can't quite put my finger on it...

LOL...for guys it would be a lot of...I should have hit that if I knew she was gonna be this hot now.

I wouldn't have any advice for myself at 16. I was living the life, learned from the mistakes I made.

Listen to your father he's right about that guy! Also, you are a fighter and you are not willing to give up your dreams, so believe in yourself more!

Omg where do I start. I was such an idiot.

-That boy really is a jerk, he'll end up wasting 6 years of your life
-Don't put him in front of your friends
-You'll regret telling your Mom you hate her
-How about you pay off the credit card rather then going to collections
-Oh and how about you pay off those old phone bills too (both of them lol)
-Don't keep eating all that junk food, it will catch up
-High School is important, attend class it will get you into a good college
-Megan don't drop out of college
-Megan DON'T drop out of university
-Moving away for that boy is silly, you're going to dump him in 6 month's because he's a loser, you know he's a loser now.
-Don't quit your job before finding another
-You met a great guy awesome, use protection or you'll get pregnant lol (I love my son but yes he was not planned, I wouldn't change it for the world now though)
-Don't spend all your money on make-up and clothes, SAVE

-Most of these apply from like 16 to 21 lol.

I swear I really was the worlds biggest idiot. The only thing I did right was I didn't do drugs. And I was a good friend to the ones who truly mattered. That is all. WOW!!! It's awakening when you really think about it. I didn't start getting my crap together until i got pregnant. Finally I have my head on straight. Having children changes you that's for sure and for the better thank goodness:)

Take your birth control regulary.....you can get pregnant and you are not infertile just because it hasnt happened yet
(but love my unplanned daughter and wouldnt change her for anything)

Take that filthy smoke out of your mouth and never put one there again...ever...not even a sniff

Dont drop out of nursing study because you want to work in a bar because its fun....its harder to go back and finish once you've taken 2yrs off.

Wear a bikini while you still can...while your boobs are perky and your stomach is tight...

For God's sake.... run like hell when your brother asks you to go to a party on Thanksgiving night! I mean who has a party on Thanksgiving anyway! This way I wouldn't have met that jerk I wasted almost 10 years with......... once that's out of the way then everything else will fall into place!

You think you have "troubles" now?!?! ROFL!

Wait till you get into the real world.

It sucks.


..
...


you're gonna love it!

Take the shares.

Don't take that job in bournemouth, or if you do, don't move into the same area. Unless you like being stopped by the police, thinking you're kerb-crawling, and have to explain to them that you just moved into the area!

This makes me think back .. to long long long ago .. When life was much simpler .. and I was such an idiot. I took soo much for granted, as most teeniboppers do. I was never rebellious or a nasty kid, just didn't appreciate my family support system as much as should have.

If I could verbalize some good solid advice to my former 16 yr old self ,, I would probably say .. Go and give your Mom a huge hug and tell her how much you love her .. right now!

She has sacrificed so much to provide you and your household the things you take for granted. She never had a bike as a kid, she never had a drawer and closet full of clothes, she never had the opportunity to learn to drive, she never had a room of her own, she never finished school because she had to work to help support her own family (because her father was an alcoholic, her childhood was filled with hardships) , she never had a lot of the 'things' you have. Yet, she works to provide these things for YOU. Because dear Old Dad is always out of town working (who in those days was also an alcoholic), dear old MOM stays at home and provides a clean environment and food on the table. One of the things she DID have however, was a keen sense of 'family'.

I never got to really appreciate my Mom like I should until AFTER my own children were born. When I became a mother myself, it was then I had that "AH HA" moment.. and suddenly realized why she made me clean my room, learn how to do cook and clean. She helped me hone my manners, empathy and respect. She taught me how to treat others, but also tried to instill self confidence.

Back in those days, I thought it was because she was punishing me for something .. Never did I realize until AFTER I 'grew up' that she was teaching me life skills ...skills that I would need to have in order to be able to provide for my own family some day...AND skills that I would someday have to pass on to my own daughter. I have much to thank my Mom for .. and had I only realized back then, what I know now .. I would not only have shown my appreciation a LOT more but I would appreciated what little time I had left with her.

She and I were very close, when I became old enough to pull my head outta my *kitten*. I actually got to really get to know her objectively. She was good loving and patient person. She had so much to offer .. not to mention her sense of humor. Her house was always full of laughter.

She died when my oldest daughter was 9. She loved me, and loved my family. On the night that she passed .. I sat with her beside her hospital bed just to keep her company. I had an overwhelming urge to tell her that I loved her. At that moment, I realized I had never really told her that before. And there she was, laying on a hospital bed, dying from Cancer.

I am grateful for that opportunity to tell her those very important words. I take a lot of comfort from knowing that she knew how much she meant to me, even if it was last minute. To this day .. 26 yrs later .. I still regret waiting so long to tell her.