When did you become an adult?

[Firebird]

There seems to be a general consensus that age is just a number, there's no magical age when people grow up.

When do you feel like you personally stepped over that threshold from childhood/adolescence to adulthood? And what was the catalyst for the change in your case?

[swamp]

I'm a grown up?

[Green Eyed Lady]

22 years, 4 months. Right after watching Fried Green Tomatoes.

[moxie]

Hmmmm...when I got married at 23 and stayed out all night that night ... Never went home after that!

[quotequeen]

Lol... my facebook profile still says "pretending to be an adult."

[moxie]

JINX, GEL!! Close enough! ;D

[Sum Dum Gai]

5 days before my 19th birthday, when my first child was born. I'd lived outside my mother's home prior to that, and was already enlisted in the military, but it wasn't really real until she was born.

[Deleted]

I heard someone once say that you aren't an adult until your parents die.

[Deleted]

May 24, 2012 13:04:33 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

I heard someone once say that you aren't an adult until your parents die.

but what if you're like Batman where both of your parents are killed when you're a kid? Are you an adult at 10?

I felt like an adult after I had DS and they let us take him home.

[moxie]

"when my first child was born."

It kicks in for sure when you have this tiny lil life you are responsible for...that's why so many guys faint in the delivery room...reality sets in. lol

[moxie]

"I heard someone once say that you aren't an adult until your parents die."

It's earlier if you are responsible for their care in any way...when they need help.

[Firebird]

For me, it was at 20 when I left college. It's interesting that so many people say it was when their kid was born.

[thyme4change]

I got my period on March 6th, 1981. That is when I flowered into a woman.

[The J]

Possibly tomorrow. Or maybe next week.

[movingforward]

I still go ice skating, roller skating, to Six Flags and SeaWorld, love going to different zoos and I have no children. I'm not sure if I can be classified as an adult. I felt pretty adult once I was out of college, had a full-time job, my own apartment with no roommates, and paying for everything myself. Going by that I have been an adult since the age of 22.

[Deleted]

May 24, 2012 13:12:05 GMT -5 Firebird said:

For me, it was at 20 when I left college. It's interesting that so many people say it was when their kid was born.

because now you are completely responsible for someone else and their needs will come before yours.

[Sum Dum Gai]

It's interesting that so many people say it was when their kid was born.

Being responsible for a helpless infant tends to do that.

[moxie]

"I got my period on March 6th, 1981. That is when I flowered into a woman."

<<<snicker>>>

[raeoflyte]

I think there are degrees of adulthood.

When I came out to my parents at 17 knowing that it was possible that I would leave the house with nothing but the clothes on my back and had a plan to deal with that--in many ways I was an adult. I was certainly ready to (and mostly already did) take care of myself.

But it wasn't until I was 25 that I really felt like I was grown up. And once you're responsible for another life, such as a child or an ailing parent you grow up in very different ways.

I don't think I'll ever be an adult like my mom is. She just knows how to do and what to say always. But when I look at her life experiences and what shaped her, it makes a lot of sense.

[kittensaver]

I think I became an adult the day my father died. I was a college student living on campus and far from home, and suddenly had to drop everything, go home, step up/step in and deal with a bunch of stuff whether I liked it or not (including issues with my mother and family).

[Deleted]

"I heard someone once say that you aren't an adult until your parents die."

DH and I each lost a parent young and it's certainly had an effect but it didn't make us grow up.

I felt grown up when I had a kid, a mortgage and a SUV.

[steph08]

May 24, 2012 13:01:03 GMT -5 Firebird said:

When do you feel like you personally stepped over that threshold from childhood/adolescence to adulthood?

I don't think I have made it there yet...and I'm 26 (and married...with 4 dogs but no kids).

I do feel like a grown-up every other Friday when I have to send my paycheck off to pay bills instead of buying whatever I feel like! Of course, I have always been a saver, so I guess sending my paycheck off to pay bills instead of hoarding all that cash in my savings account!

[Sum Dum Gai]

My mortgage doesn't really bother me. It's really no different from a rent payment. Although seeing the principal and interest total when you're signing the docs is kind of a kick in the nuts. I was already an adult when we bought a house though, so I guess maybe it would be different if you bought one right out of college or something.

[Deleted]

For me, it was when I realized my parents are human and make mistakes just like everyone else.

[Firebird]

May 24, 2012 13:15:14 GMT -5 @moneyjenny82 said:

May 24, 2012 13:12:05 GMT -5 Firebird said:

For me, it was at 20 when I left college. It's interesting that so many people say it was when their kid was born.

because now you are completely responsible for someone else and their needs will come before yours.

Sure, but for me, just being fully responsible for my own needs was a pretty heavy kick into the adult world.

[Deleted]

May 24, 2012 13:31:58 GMT -5 Firebird said:

May 24, 2012 13:15:14 GMT -5 @moneyjenny82 said:

because now you are completely responsible for someone else and their needs will come before yours.

Sure, but for me, just being fully responsible for my own needs was a pretty heavy kick into the adult world.

yeah, but it's different. Sure you could eek by trying to eat one meal a day or surviving off ramen noodles if you're totally broke, but you can't tell a baby/child that you can't feed them more than one meal today because you're broke.

I'm not saying that having a kid is the only way to make a person grow up - I'm just saying it WILL make a person grow up and fast.

[midjd]

Possibly tomorrow. Or maybe next week.

I keep waiting for the adult switch to kick on, but nothing yet. And I've been married almost 3 years and have a mortgage and mortgage-sized SL debt. Maybe having a kid would do it? I dunno.

When I came out to my parents at 17 knowing that it was possible that I would leave the house with nothing but the clothes on my back and had a plan to deal with that--in many ways I was an adult. I was certainly ready to (and mostly already did) take care of myself.

K for your bravery. I can't imagine how scary that revelation must be, especially when you don't know how others will handle it. YSIL came out at 16 and DH was worried about some of his family members would react, but everyone took it amazingly well. Still, I know she spent YEARS worried about what would happen when someone figured out her BFF was actually her GF. A lot of pressure for a teenager, especially on top of all the normal teenager crap.

[moxie]

raeoflyte...Very insightful.

[zibazinski]

I think, age 32.

[dividend]

When I was a kid, occasionally I'd be up early enough on a weekend morning to catch my dad eating key lime pie for breakfast. I used to say, "Dad! You're can't eat PIE for BREAKFAST!" He'd smile and say, "I'm an adult. One of the perks is being able to eat pie for breakfast if I want!"

The very first time I remember thinking, "I might be a grown up," I was home visiting for winter break my freshman year of college, and Dad offered me a piece of pie for breakfast.