Former Bachelorette and mother of three Melissa Rycroft also chats with PEOPLE about being the stricter parent and her single proudest mom moment

Melissa Rycroft Opens Up About the 'Frustration and Heartbreak' of Her Biggest Regret as a Mom

“Every child is different” is a lesson Melissa Rycroft learned the hard way.

The former Bachelorette admitted in a recent interview for PEOPLE’s Celeb Parents Get Real that she wishes she had understood earlier on that the distinct personalities of her three children — sons Cayson Jack, 2, and Beckett Thomas, 4, plus daughter Ava Grace, 7½ — meant she would need to tailor her strategies accordingly.

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“I took too long realizing that they all need to be parented differently,” says Rycroft, 35. “I think if I had just taken a moment to be like, ‘Beckett needs something different and Cayson needs something different,’ then I could’ve saved myself a lot of frustration and heartbreak.”

She adds, “I think I would’ve been a better parent.”

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Since becoming a mom in February 2011 — just over a year after she tied the knot with Tye Strickland — Rycroft has her proud moments, too.

“My single proudest moment was seeing my daughter [be] the one student out of her entire school to be nominated to represent her elementary school in this citywide district,” she praises. “When she got picked, she was so proud — I could see it.”

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, that makes me so proud,’ ” says the mom of three, joking, “This is one of those moments where I’m like, ‘Maybe I’m doing it right. Maybe I’m not screwing it up, like I feel.’ ”

RELATED VIDEO: Melissa Rycroft Reveals What Her Crazy Life at Home Is Like With Three Children



In her household, Rycroft confesses she is “the rule enforcer” — because someone has to be!

“I have to be a strict parent because my husband is not,” she tells PEOPLE. “He comes home and he just wants to play with the kids all day!”