People share the best habits and lessons they learned from their parents

We pick up a lot of our parents' traits—both good and bad—while growing up. Although some of them might not be so obvious at a young age, to ourselves or others, every adult is sure to have a moment where it hits them just how much they've turned out like the ones who raised them. A while ago, some Redditors on the AskReddit forum took the time out to share the positive habits and values their parents passed on to them when u/iamrootnotgroot asked: "Adults, what's something your parents did right raising you?"

Here's are 20 of the best responses:

1.

"Let me debate with them on why I wanted something/should be allowed to do something and would change their minds if I made a compelling argument." — Reddit user

2.

"I remember being told it was very important to admit when you're wrong, and I think that was solid advice." — u/ixnayupidstay

3.

4.

"Supported my (then) unusual interests. I was into astronomy as a younger kid and they bought books and telescopes and drove me to/from the local astronomy club at late hours. Later (this was the 80s) they bought me a series of computers which were pretty expensive for the time and for their income. I'm grateful they supported what I was into." — u/Dapper_Presentation 

5.

"They instilled a good work ethic. 'If you do something half-a**ed, you'll have to put 2 asses in to fix your f*** ups. If your name is going on it, make it your best.' They also always encouraged my creativity- never told me I wasn't capable of something. They always told me I can accomplish anything I want as long as I put effort into it. My parental units are awesome." — u/HanginWithLucretia

6.

7.

"This is the single biggest thing my mom did in raising me. I never had curfews or restrictions and she trusted me to not be a dumbass. If I was a dumba**, it was my own fault and I’d have to fix it on my own (within the scope of capability at a given age). My mom operated on 'I'll trust you unless you give me a reason not to.' I never gave her a reason not to trust me and we never had problems about it. We still argued over religion and other normal parent/teen stuff. But not about where I went or with whom and when I'd be back (again, within reason and respective to a given age). I believe people who say they had strict or controlling parents, but I can't relate to it." — u/JerseyHurricane

8.

"They made sure I understood money, money management, saving for retirement, etc. Made my life so much easier have never had to worry about money or debt a day in my life." — u/FlameFrenzy

9.

10.

"My dad always made my brother and I take the lead. He would obviously always know what was going on and would be a few steps ahead of us. If we were in a new city, we would be in charge of working out which bus to take, or if we were cooking, we'd be reading the recipe and telling my dad what to do, etc. It's pretty simple but it meant we were pretty good at doing things ourselves and were already really independent before leaving home." — u/ThisArsehole

11.

"My mom always made me try a bite of any food in front of her before she'd allow the 'I don't like it' line. Now, thanks to her, I'm willing to try any food/drink once, even if I think I won't like it. I'm glad she did that." — u/dontaskmethatmoron

12.

13.

"Something that has stayed with me forever was when my dad gave me an article from Time magazine that explained in layman's terms how our brains don't stop growing until we're in our early twenties, and one of the last parts of the brain to form is our ability to fully comprehend the consequences of our actions. We think we can, but we can't fully understand the magnitude of our decisions until later in life. I was about 15 when he gave me that article. 
He went on to explain that his job, as a parent, was to sort of fill in that gap by making decisions for me that will decrease my chances of making a 'bad decision.' Basic stuff like curfews, picking me up from things instead of letting friends who might have been drinking drive me home.
The most important takeaway was that he wanted me to know he 100% trusted me, but there was a limit to that trust because even if I thought I was making good decisions, I didn't have all the tools yet to make the best ones.
I appreciate that, looking back on some of the dumb stuff I still managed to get away with at that age. Stuff I would NEVER do now. It was nice having a parent explain why he wanted to control some aspects of my life besides just saying 'Because I said so.' — u/menomenaa 

14.

"My mom instilled a deep sense of empathy in me and compassion for those less fortunate than myself." — u/poornose 

15.

16.

"They sat us down with them when they paid the bills every month. We started out thinking we had a ton of money ('let's buy X!'), then watching as the paycheck money dwindled as bills were paid. We'd inevitably finish paying bills and think we still had a lot, then Dad would say 'you want to eat this month, don't you?' and put aside money for groceries.
It was so useful because we learned how much things actually cost, how to put money away for items you couldn't yet buy (like groceries), and how to save for specific things like retirement and a new roof for the house. It also got us to stop asking for money since we saw that there wasn't much left over." — u/the-magnificunt 

17.

"My mum taught me and my brothers to take care of ourselves domestically by time we were 16. At that point we were essentially tenants, responsible for our own needs and expected to contribute to the household. My dad gave us a strong impression of what would be expected of us in the workplace and instilled a sense of pragmatism that last a lifetime.
You only have a few years to prepare your children for the world. It's basic training before they enter the battlefield. You want them to survive, to succeed. I'm a parent myself now, I understand." — u/HeyL_s8_10

18.

19.

"My mom always said if we ever found ourselves somewhere we didn't feel safe or comfortable, we could call her and she'd come get us, no questions asked, nobody in trouble. She also said if we ever didn't want to admit to our peers that we were uncomfortable, we should pretend our grandmother was sick so we had to go home. If we called and said, 'Hey, how's Grandma?' she was coming to get us." — u/palacesofparagraphs

20.

"My parents accept everyone as they are. Didn't matter what color your skin is. Gay, straight or something in between. Didn't matter. My parents loved and accepted all of my sister and my friends. Let some of them live with us when things got bad at home. Now we are all grown up and having children... All those kids are calling my mom and dad Grandma and Grandpa. See. Love does win." — u/firefairyqueen