Ah, adulthood. Does anyone ever really start feeling like a bonafide, card-carrying adult? For some, moving out on your own is what marks the occasion. Others think it’s marriage, or having a child. Many are in some strange grey areas in between. Whether you still feel like a kid at heart or not, here are five undeniable signs you’re leaving childhood behind.
1. Teenagers Seem Like Infants
Growing up is weird. Even after leaving grade school, you can still feel more closely identified to teens than you do other adults for a while. That is until abruptly one day, you don’t anymore. You pass by some youngsters you swear couldn’t be more than 12, and find out they’re actually 16. You can scarcely believe the baby-faced folks before you used to be your peers. Did you used to look like that?!
2. You Can’t Believe What You Thought Mattered In High School
Speaking of teenagers, it’s suddenly apparent how trivial the things you stressed over in high school really were. Whether you were listening to cool enough music, wearing nice enough clothes, keeping up on the latest trends, all while acting like you didn’t actually care that much. It was a delicate dance, and once you move on from that environment you realize just how little people actually care about any of that – there are far too many bills to care about now.
3. You Get Excited About Interior Design
Once upon a time, it was all toys or the newest video games. Maybe some of us still have video games on the list from time to time, but a sure sign of adulthood is the growing excitement about furnishing and decorating your own space. The second you’re animatedly bookmarking functional dining sets or saving color swatches for the kitchen wall, you have stepped firmly out of the realm of childhood daydreams.
4. Saving Up For Something Fun Includes Household Appliances
After you’re done picking out some new wallpaper or houseplants, another symptom of your maturity will probably rear its head with just how excited you can feel about the purchase of a new washer and dryer or a fresh set of pots and pans. Hell, you’ll find yourself saving up for these things with as much anticipation as you’d expect from a kid on Christmas.
5. You Realize No One Has Any Clue What’s Going On
One of the biggest lessons anyone learns as they get older is the realization that no one, not even some of the more “seasoned” adults, really has any idea what is going on. There seems to be some notion that once you hit a certain age, you’ll suddenly understand what to do and how to navigate the crazy waters we call life.
The truth is far more complex. Almost everyone has been winging it since they left grade school and has just kept the charade up, hoping things don’t unravel before them. There’s no one thing that makes everyone feel like an adult, or that they’ve “made it”. Reality simply isn’t that black and white. But if you’re afraid of feeling like you’re faking it til you make it, don’t worry. So is everybody else.
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