Adulthood

[cjsmith]

This goes around LJ every so often, and it's always fun for me to think about it. This time a friend made a locked post (credit given on request :-) ) and asked what sorts of things made folks feel like adults. Not the obvious biggies necessarily -- kids, mortgage -- but the random small stuff. What has made you feel like an adult?

Here are some for me, in roughly chronological order.

- The time I struck a karate pose when my mother was about to hit me, and she didn't. (Age maybe eleven.)

- The day I checked into a hotel.

- Being called "Madame" (instead of "Mademoiselle") while I lived in France.

- The day I passed the "adoption check" to take home a kitten from a picky shelter.

- The year or so wherein I gradually realized I would never be able to run or hike or dance or ride a bicycle again.

- The day I bought a bottle of schnapps. (Age 38 or thereabouts.)

In some ways, too, I still don't feel like an adult. There are probably more of these moments in my future.

Comments

Re: My most recent thoughts on the subject

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed. I wanted to put something in my list about responsibility and chores, or even just doing the right thing rather than the easy thing, but I couldn't think of a defining moment: there was no "the first time I _____" that came to mind. But that's definitely a big part of what being an adult means to me. Some days I get all self-righteous about it and other days I just wish I could go play in the sprinklers all afternoon like I used to!