Growing up, I could not wait until I was older. But the older I get, the more I wish I could go back to my younger days.

Granted, I would rather not have to relive middle or high school, but I would go back and appreciate my parents more now that I realize how much they did for me.

I have something I like to call childhood guilt. As I get older, experience more and realize how much things cost, it really puts into perspective what my parents did for me.

I don’t think I appreciated that enough growing up. I know I didn’t — I was a child, but now I have different perspectives.

For example, over the summer, I went through my clothes to slim down my closet. It was unexpectedly more complicated than I imagined.

As I riffled through my clothes, I saw some that were presents from my parents or even other family members. I couldn’t remember the last time I actually wore many of them.

I specifically saw the Simply Southern reversible jacket hanging in the back of my closet, which I got two Christmases ago. I liked it and thought it was cute, but I never wore it.

I looked at other moments in my life and applied the same logic of receiving and not using.

I never realized how much I had taken for granted. Sure, it’s your parents’ job to keep you clothed and fed, but something about their hard-earned money going to waste broke my heart.

I thought of all the times my parents bought me a random snack I begged for, only for me to try it and hate it.

There are days I wish I could go back and do it all over again and show my parents just how much I appreciate everything they do for me.

I didn’t realize how much I mourned my childhood until I was at the Kalahari Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells and I saw all the little kids with their parents.

Suddenly, it clicked that I was no longer the little girl on a trip with her family, but I was the older kid that I couldn’t wait to be.

What do you mean that when I look in the mirror, I see a grown woman staring back at me, not the little girl who had so much growing up to do?

This childhood guilt hits me harder the older I get. My friends tell me they think it too, and we all wish we could go back and be more appreciative.

Now two years later, I brought that reversible jacket to school and wear it all the time. I love it.

It’s times like these when I think about that quote from the series finale of “The Office” by Andy Bernard: “I wish there were a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”

So if you were to take anything from this word vomit, let it be this: next time you talk to your parents, make sure you not only tell them you love them but that you appreciate them — it might mean more to them than you think.

Boggess can be reached at [email protected].