#2) I wish I didn't work so hard.

This is one regret that I don't have. Even though I've worked for the majority of my adult life, I've almost always been lucky enough to find a good balance and devote time to my family as well. When Michelle was a baby, I was very privileged to find Darlene, a full-time sitter who became Michelle's second mother. Michelle called her "Dee" and twenty-four years later they are still close, keeping in touch through Facebook. In spite of the fact that Darlene moved several times, we followed her through two Southern California counties and kept her as a babysitter, sometimes going to great lengths and traveling for miles in order to do so!

When Julie came along, I had begun working as a part-time consultant for Wells Fargo Alarms, and I could pick the days I wanted to work. I could work around babysitter's schedules, school programs, and most anything else that came up. I honestly don't think there was ever a time that my family felt I was away at work and unavailable to them to any great extent.

That's not to say that I didn't have times when I wished I was with my children rather than working! I remember one day in particular when Michelle was somewhere around 2 years old, and I was picking her up at Darlene's house after work. Darlene was watching several other children at the time, and Michelle was having a great time playing outside with the kids. Then I drove up to take her away from all the fun. She wasn't a happy camper to say the least! Darlene had a girlfriend over at the time and they were watching from the front porch as I attempted to strap a kicking, screaming Michelle into her car seat. All the while, Michelle was hollering, "I want to stay with Dee! I want to play!"  I was ready to cry myself as I tried not to feel rejected by my own child! Darlene told me later that she felt so bad for both Michelle and me. Not one of my finer moments!

Another day I remember well was Julie's graduation from pre-school. I'd been working in Redondo Beach for the previous couple of days, and I was just getting home in time to attend the graduation. Rich was in charge of getting Julie ready and taking her to the ceremony. As I sat down in the audience, I noticed that all the little girls were dressed to the hilt in their "Sunday best" dresses, except for my daughter. To my embarrassment, Julie was wearing a pair of black shorts and a black T-shirt. There she stood with a huge, proud grin on her face, a mortarboard on her head and the tassle waving in her face. She gave me an excited wave as she saw me enter, totally oblivious and uncaring about the fact that she wasn't dressed up like the other girls. I have to admit, I had some twinges of thinking "I should have been here to help get her ready," but I realized that the important thing was how happy and proud she was. So I shoved aside worrying about what the other parents might be thinking and smiled right along with her. Later when I asked my husband about it, he got defensive saying, "Well, that's what she picked out to wear!" *sigh*  A typical man answer!

But I have to admit, I chuckle when I think about these isolated incidents today. I really don't have any serious regrets about working too hard.