When did you grow up?

[Kitte]

Not just a parody thread title. I really got to thinking about it. Is there a defining moment in your life when you said, OK I am a grown up now? When it really hit you? Care to share?

I have had a few of them, like it came in phases.

I will think on it and get back to ya'll.

 

[Cleopatra]

You'd think I would feel grown up after having a child. Or two. But I don't. *shrug*

 

[Summery]

Probably the moment when my son was born and first put into my arms. Truthfully, part of me will always be a kid at heart.

 

[Eumenides]

I was going to grow up, but I decided to take the second star to the right and go straight on till morning. Therefore, it'll never-never happen.

 

[Zaudika]

I don't think I'll ever be totally grown up.

But..

What I thought of when I saw the question was probably when I was about 16, my father went to prison, and my mother lost it emotionally. My brother and I being the oldest kind of took care of the family at that point. A difficult few years, but things worked out just fine end all.

 

[medjay]

I knew I was grown when I decided it wasn't cool to sleep on a futon instead of a real bed.

When I decided I would rather stay home and have a good time than go out, spend money and have my clothes smelling like cigarette smoke.

When I decided I didn't need a roommate.

When I decided all domestic beer sucks.

 

[lobito]

when I was in University, but I feel too like I'm a big kid at heart... hopefully some woud agree with me, in a good way.

 

[Kitte]

Emoodie~ I tried that, didnt quite work..I do sometimes get stuck in that place between asleep and awake, where you still remember dreaming though.

Z~ I am sure that was a definate qualifier for the WOW I need to be grown up times.

Medjay~ Not ALL domestic beer sucks. I am fond of quite a few of the Microbrews. But then again I still sleep on a futon of sorts (I bought a real mattress for the frame tho!)

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

When I was a child (starting at age 5) I was a grown up. Oh, I played sometimes with other children, but, it was my responsablity to keep the house clean, the dishes and clothes washed, etc. When I was 9 my brother was born, and so I became a mother. Less than a year later I started working picking strawberries, my dad and I spilt a flat because once it was half full I couldn't carry it, and so he would give me a new flat and he would finish the one I started. I also sewed burlap bags and turned bark. This was a speical bark they use to make laxatives and my dad would go out and harvest it, and I would dry it out and pack it.

When I was 24 I became a mother, and I tried to do it "right", but after my daughter was about five I realized that I had missed a lot of things that I was provideing for her. Games, toys, learning opptunities, camping, crafts....and I realized that after I had met my responsiablities and as long as I provided solid ground work for her morally etc there was no reason why I couldn't also enjoy these things.

So, I am now a child as I should have been in the frist place. The big threat around our house when my daughter starts to cross the line is "Don't make me be a mom." She says she thinks of me as her best friend. I tell her that right now we have a lot of fun, but we can't be friends. When she doesn't HAVE to do what I say, but can take or leave my advice, then we can be friends. But that doesn't mean that we can't share a sense of joy and wonder in the world around us.

I am greatly enjoying myself, and find it a great healing experince. I think I will continue to enjoy my childhood for the rest of my life.

 

[medjay]

Medjay~ Not ALL domestic beer sucks. I am fond of quite a few of the Microbrews. But then again I still sleep on a futon of sorts (I bought a real mattress for the frame tho!)

Maybe so, but as a general rule . . .

Yeah, I've turned into something of a beer snob.

A few more:

Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."

A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."

My friends are getting married and I'm thinking about it myself.

 

[Kitte]

A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."

That is one of my big ones! I used to drink all the wine cooler type wines, now for me I draw the line at a decent 9 or 10 dollar bottle. Anything less then that is pretty unacceptable. I had a nice Jacobs Creek Cab/Shiraz last night...

 

[Guest]

I'm usually grown up on Monday Wednesday and Friday.. but Friday night I'm juvenile again.

 

[Kitte]

I am greatly enjoying myself, and find it a great healing experince. I think I will continue to enjoy my childhood for the rest of my life.

Thank you so much for your post, very insightful, I love that you can define between being your childs friend and mother but still take time to be Pals. I think you have a great attitude!

 

[Guest]

I feel grown up every month when I write my mortgage check...but the minute I put it in the mailbox, I go back to being the silly free spirit I prefer to be!

 

[curious2c]

I always figured...when I get married...then it was after the first child...then it was ok...after my first grandchild...now I am not sure if I will ever grow up.

 

[fond of facials]

Growing up is over rated. I hope I never totally grow up.

I did mature greatly however the day I gave birth to my daughter and then again when I had my son.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Awww, gee thanks for the compliment!

Being a mother, to me, means you have certain responsablities, and you have to maintain a level of respect and trust to meet those.

Being a friend means you can advise, but the other person doesn't have to take that advice.

She'll be 18 in about twenty months, and we have a great foundation for a friendship in later years, something I know my mother and I will never have.

Her boyfriend still gets confused though. I told her it was time to go and he said "Your mother asked you to get ready to go." And I straightened him out. "No, I told her to get ready to go. If I had asked her she'd have the option to say no. When I tell her something, there is no option."

I'm such a meanie.

But, on the up side my daughter says that she's never been punished when she didn't deserve it, and that she knows that she can come to me with anything about anything. She says I've never gotten mad at her for no reason, and she wants to raise her children the exact same way. Now, can a mom ask for a better compliment than that?

 

[teddybear4play]

When I was 6 and my father moved out, I managed to both mature into an early adulthood and become frozen in permanent immaturity.

TB4p

 

[Zmey]

6 month ago when I turned 25 ... sux to be old

 

[Angel]

When I started giving my mom money to pay her bills after I'd moved out.

 

[ozraven]

Not just a parody thread title. I really got to thinking about it. Is there a defining moment in your life when you said, OK I am a grown up now? When it really hit you? Care to share?

I have had a few of them, like it came in phases.

I will think on it and get back to ya'll.

Agreed, it comes in stages.

1. @ 11 I was sent to another country by myself to go to school my parents and everyone I knew were 3000 miles away.
2. @ 17 my grandfather, the man I admired most, and was closest to in my life died.
3. @ 24 I became a father, and truly understood responsibility
4. ......

And so on, at no one poinyt did I say "I am now an adult". it has just happened, and like many others, deep down I am still that same kid, and hope to always be......

 

[Pixie]

Ummm...tomorrow?

 

[paratrooper]

The first time I saw a dead body.
Now I am into my second childhood and I am enjoying this one better than the first so I am not going to grow up again.

 

[Dietrich K.]

I'll let you know if it ever happens.

It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

 

[Secret Pleasure]

I knew I had to grow up and did, right after I had my son.