Being An Adult
Posted By Kathleen David on July 31, 2009
In some ways I feel that I never grew up. I am tricking people into believing that I am an adult. I can remember on my 18th birthday my parents took me out to dinner and my father talked about the fact that now I was 18, I was a legal adult and now have all the rights and responsibilities that magically happen because I turned a certain age. And he was going to give me the great secret of being an adult. He handed me a small package. In the package was a Mr. Spock Action figure from the first film and he said, “You never really do. But you will figure out how over time.”
And over time I have become an adult. There are times I wish I could go back and tell myself some stuff to avoid or try but these were learning experiences which has made the person I am. Good and bad, it has all shaped me into the person I am today.
My life changed and time passed but I didn’t really notice much until I had a child. And my entire world changed and speed up to a rate I never knew possible. Also I swear my brain rewired while I was pregnant with her. My priorities changed and over night I grew up and became the parent rather than just a step-parent.
I now get to say “No” and when queried as to why I can use that immortal line, “Because I am your mother and I said so.” Which I have to say that when I was a kid I swore I would never say to my child but there it is. There is a lot as a child that I said I would or wouldn’t do to my child that I find myself doing exactly what my parents did to me. And I do thank them for raising me so well that I did become the kind of adult I am.
It doesn’t mean I have lost my inner child at all. Peter’s inner child and mine like to play together a lot. Last night we found Buckaroo Banzai on and we quoted lines and giggled our way through the movie. There is a silly level at this house that I am totally comfortable with and revel in. But that is partly because Peter and I are so compatible.
I am an adult. I have certain rights and privileges that were granted to me on my 18th birthday and my parents were no longer legally responsible for my actions not that they didn’t help me when I really needed it. They have been aces in the support department. Now I have to help my child get ready to become an adult in today’s rapidly changing society. And I hope I can do as good as job as my parents did for me. I do know that what I do now will shape the woman she will become in the future just as my parents did with me. And I am proud that I can do that.
I am grateful to my parents for giving me such a solid foundation to help me become the adult I am today.
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