A lot of memes I across the Internet are about how everyone, no matter how old, is just a kid inside, trying to figure out what’s going on, which is something I definitely identify with.
But every once in a while, something happens that does actually make me feel like a grown-up. It’s usually small, and kind of silly, but it’s fun, and I thought people might want to share theirs.
For me, most recently, it was realizing I like Greek yogurt now. It was trendy when I was like 12, and I couldn’t stand it then, but I bought some on a whim, and now I keep the fridge stocked. That drastic change in my tastes took me aback momentarily, but I thought it was a nice fun little milestone.
How about you?
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Helping my son deal with his mental illness, drug addiction, and ultimately suicide.
I really have never felt like an adult, until my son moved in with me (I met him when he was 5 days old, and was kept from seeing him again until he moved in with me when was almost 17). Suddenly I had to deal with his medication, his appointments, keeping him out of trouble, learning to be a father of a 17 year old I did not know.
After his death the feeling stuck around for a while, but has slowly gone away over time. My last born child turned 18 earlier this year, and while that made me feel old, it did not make me feel like an adult. I even took him to register for college that, just feeling like an old kid.
I just…I want to hug you.
His birthday is coming up in a couple weeks, his death 6 weeks later (11 years this year). This is the hardest time of the year. Some days I could really use a hug.
Sending you a hug
Sending all the love an internet comment can muster friend
I feel like an adult almost all the time, but it got more common when I gave birth. I’m not a kid. I’m not a teenager. I’m not a college student. I’m a grown adult and everything I do all day taking care of others is adult stuff. Even the fun moments of playing a video game or looking at my phone hidden behind a book, or the hard stuff where I have no idea what to do. I don’t feel like a kid, I feel like an adult playing a fun game or an adult feeling confused and scared.
To me, being a kid meant feeling confident that everything was being taken care of for me. I don’t get the adults feeling like kids thing when things are confusing or hard. When I was a kid my parents dealt with the hard stuff, or at least helped me deal with it
Well said. Being an adult is knowing that the hard thing and the right thing are usually one and the same.
When I turned 30, my insurance went down and I went “Woo hoo! My insurance went down!”. . .
“Wait… did… did I just ‘woo hoo’ an insurance rate? FUCK ME!!!”
My insurance seemed to go down about as fast as inflation, so it feels like I’ve been paying about the same for decades. I didn’t really realize how much lower my rates were until I talked to some
kidsyoung adults.Were they on your lawn?
I’m 51 but in my head I’m the same guy I was at 21 but wiser because I have more experience and more data points, not because age matured me. That said, I can remember feeling like the only “adult in the room” as far back as 16 years old, after my only parent died.
So to answer your question, I don’t think I ever feel like an adult, more like less lost than those around me and burdened to take care of them before they hurt themselves or others. This is especially true during my many work meetings.
My lower back and knees remind me that I’m a grown up.
I’m pretty sure my knees are more of an adult than I am.
Being excited about buying a nice cooler to go camping with
Meeting the man of my dreams… and then meeting his beautiful wife.
Ironic.
Don’t you think?
Hey, it worked out for my wife!
Not so much for my first one.
At first his lips where sweet as mango, when first I held him to my chest,
But now we have this grim fandango and will four years before we rest.
–
Keep them close to where your heart used to be
When I bought an actual bedframe. It wasn’t the bed at my parents’ house, it wasn’t the bed that my college dorm owned, and it wasn’t an air mattress I had been sleeping on during my internships. It was an actual bed, a real piece of adult furniture. It wasn’t a small cheap metal frame. It was bulky and adult and real, and I owned it.
I was walking through the city at night smoking a (now legal) joint with a friend and talking and suddenly it occurred to me that none of what I was doing was against any rules and that society was literally built by adults and for adults.
Yeah, every once in a while it does pay off
Buying a new furnace.
That is multiple levels of adult beyond me lol
The death of parents.
Getting excited over “mundane” things. New silverware, vacuum cleaner, pan etc.
Going over bank statements. Going over stock options.
Using hot water to wash my hands instead of cold (don’t even do this yet but I’ll know I’ll be a geezer when I do).
Not caring about others opinions about you. Just living your life.
Cooking. Specifically soup and porridge.
Checking email multiple times everyday
When I go to a medical appointment and the doctor is younger than me
Making spaghetti for the first time, in my first apartment. Then realized I had made enough for four people for a week, aaaaand the feeling passed.
The serious thing: When taxes, interest rates and mortgages were no longer abstract concepts but things I dealt with on a regular basis (I have spreadsheets!)
The funny thing: When I realized I could spend >500$ on a telescope without having to ask, wait, bargain or argue with anybody about it. I want it, I buy it.
