What would you do different if you could do it again

[HouTex 1,894]

No shit.  No band for my kids.  Christian-based all girls camp.  Queue the lesbian jokes.

[Zepol87 9,198]

Fuck, I have a whole lot of shit to type. Might get back to it later tonight

Edited May 22, 2019 by Zepol87

[Sandman 3,419]

2 hours ago, tantric superman said:

I started my first job after law school and the woman who started with me was a woman (OU law school grad) who was in the last stages of denying she was a lesbian.  She came out full force a few years later, and although I have enjoyed by two kids, she's traveled the world and lived pretty damn large -- two income childless gay couples have a bit of extra spending money than us folks with kids.

Especially in this overcrowded world, I could see being comfortable with the decision not to have kids.

As a guy, I never ever felt there was some biological or ethical force to have kids. 

To fuck like snakes, yes.  But not to have kids.

I never had a desire to have kids. My then-wife wanted kids, I went along with it because I figured that's what you do. I bet there's a lot of guys that had kids because their wives wanted it and they just went along with it. 

[Patricio Swayze 17,058]

I never had a desire to have kids. My then-wife wanted kids, I went along with it because I figured that's what you do. I bet there's a lot of guys that had kids because their wives wanted it and they just went along with it. 

I would say I am as close to that as one can be without actually being in that category. Our first was via IVF. My wife was pretty upset with the whole thing. I told her that I was fine either way. If it happened, cool, if it didn’t, cool. IVF worked

[Nueces River Rat 5,559]

1 hour ago, Sandman said:

I never had a desire to have kids. My then-wife wanted kids, I went along with it because I figured that's what you do. I bet there's a lot of guys that had kids because their wives wanted it and they just went along with it. 

I don't think you are wrong with this opinion.  But on the other hand I think many guys (me included) maybe were persuaded to get the process going earlier and maybe for good reason too.  Some of us are married to gals who  are  few years older and they have a clock if you will and the older they get, the more worried  they get about their health and the baby's for that matter during maternity.  Plus it's harder for them to get rid of the extra weight and all that stuff when having babies well into their 30's and they would prefer to be on the younger side of the scale when it comes to being grandparents.    But no regrets at all.  Absolutely none.

[tantric superman 4,668]

Ha.  You want a monsterously long thread try:  "Kids, things you would do differently in raising them. "

[Hefeweizen 5,346]

Would have stuck with tennis as a young person. Wouldn't have drunk as much. Really wouldn't change anything else. We are a product of our experience.

[deadshank 24,653]

Should have stayed more  focused on  the guitar and also hung around with mariachis.  I'd be the only 6'4" pinche bolillo mariachi singer in the biz. 

Serious.  

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,529]

Of the many things that come to mind, I think it boils down to worrying too much about the negative effects of a decision, resulting in taking the safe choice.   Safe choices can be good but not everything in life has to be safe.

and I don’t want to be sitting in 2039 wondering why I acted the same in 2019.

[mdmost 43,060]

Listen to my dad more when he was doling out advice and life lessons before he passed away. I also wish I asked him more about his time in the Navy. Where he went, what he did, how he felt when the Bay of Pigs Invasion was about to commence and he was on the deck of one of the carriers that was going to lend support to the invasion. Listened to and helped out more when he was showing me things that dads should know how to do. Not be so quick to want to rush off to do other things because I didn't want to spend time with him. 

Talked to my grandfather more about our family history. He was the family historian and typed up the complete genealogy of our family going back to when we first landed in Philadelphia in the 1730s.

Spent more time reading books when I was a kid versus playing video games. Same with sports. I wasted so much time as a kid with video games.

[pearlandhorn 3,274]

I wish I had stuck with football growing up.  I liked basketball more but would have been a lot better at football with more practice.

Left for college immediately after high school.  I stayed a year and went to JC and transferred to McCombs after a year.

Been more social in college and met more people.  I think that's probably my biggest regret.  I was pretty introverted in high school and really only came out of my shell in my 4th year at UT.

Took better care of myself in my late teens and 20s.  I've lost a ton of weight over the last year but I could have been a whole lot more active in my 20s if I had just stopped being a fatass.

[SydneyCarton 48,222]

38 minutes ago, pearlandhorn said:

I wish I had stuck with football growing up.  I liked basketball more but would have been a lot better at football with more practice.

Left for college immediately after high school.  I stayed a year and went to JC and transferred to McCombs after a year.

Been more social in college and met more people.  I think that's probably my biggest regret.  I was pretty introverted in high school and really only came out of my shell in my 4th year at UT.

Took better care of myself in my late teens and 20s.  I've lost a ton of weight over the last year but I could have been a whole lot more active in my 20s if I had just stopped being a fatass.

Interesting thread.

Honestly, I've been pretty blessed. The first thing I would tell a younger self is key shit they would have to get right. For me those things would be which first job out of college to accept, and when and where to meet my wife. No gain even remotely approaches the chance of fucking those two things up.

As other posters have said, Apple Stock. When I was a senior in HS, apple stock was a dollar. I've often thought about that, a lot. Other than that, I'd learn to be handier. My father was extremely handy. He could fix pretty much anything electrical, and could do pretty much any task. He built my bunk beds as a kid. Installed everything in our house. Built a treehouse from scratch. Fixed plumbing. I can do none of those things. I really wish that had been something he sat me down and made me learn how to do, but instead he was a good parent and didn't try to force anything on me I wasn't interested in outside of school. But man, I wish he had at times.  Sticking with swimming in HS would be another thing. But honestly, I wouldn't change much. 

[orangecat92 306]

Gone AD in Army band.  All-state band senior in high school, joined National Guard band while still in high school.  Was stationed at Fort Sam for the summer of 84. Easiest duty in history..5 hour days, and some soldiers had part time jobs  delivering pizzas.  Of course  pay was way too low.

I couldn’t justify going AD for $700 per month.  Army would have paid for at least B.S.  

But the real opportunity would have been to try out for one of the top bands, Army Field Band and the top band both have incredible musicians.  

But the negative was the number of  nutjobs on AD, at least at Fort Sam.  

Young musicians today have it made, start at E 4.