A Parental "Do-Over"

Let me get the cliche out of the way first: Being a parent has been simultaneously one of the hardest and most satisfying things in my life.

I had a good Dad so, while raising my daughter, I rarely worried about the things I'd often heard other men say, i.e. "I don't want to be at all like my Father" - I figured I'd be doing pretty well following most of my Dad's example. And, because my only child is a girl, I also escaped having to worry about the father-son dynamic that can reinforce those nasty male stereotypes. I got to enjoy my daughter without the same gender rivalry stuff. That was my wife's worry.

But like all thinking people I know, my doubts about being a good parent were usually on the front of my radar. Now that my daughter is an adult and I sometimes see in her some of me, there are a few reasons I'd like a "do-over". Foremost is I'd like to show her less of my impatient side. How about you? If you could do a parental "do-over" what would you change? For any parent having no ready answer to this question, when next I see you please remind me - I'd like to throw down some water and watch you walk on it.