1) I automatically throw away toys in cereal boxes.
This morning I was opening my box of Cherrios and and without even thinking about it, threw away the toy car that was inside. I remember the days when the sight of a toy inside a cereal box was like finding a pirates buried gold. I felt on top of the world, and whatever was ailing me at the time, was temporarily forgotten as I held my new found treasure. I get more excited when I find a coupon on the side of a box. Oh how times have changed.
2) I know what time of the month it is by what bill is due.
As a kid, I really could think no further than a week at a time. I was worried about homework or that big test coming up. Highlights of the week was when I got to be near a crush of mine. Bills were not even in my atmosphere. Money seemed like some unattainable thing that my parents had and I wanted for toys. As I grew older and made more money, bills started finding their way to me like the walking undead. They never swallowed me whole but I always seem to have some sort of bill due every other week. College only made it worse due to my inability to live within my means, even with room mates. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to go back to that sweet bill-less time when a week was just a week.
3) Your friends stop saying, “My parents don’t understand me,” and start saying, “What the hell am I going to do with my life?”
The biggest things me and my friends complained about in high school were boys and parents. We complained that boys are stupid and lame, (haha that’s still a complaint) and that our parents didn’t understand us and/or were too bossy, nosy, annoying, embarrassing. How I miss those days. Now most of us graduated college but are in jobs that have NOTHING to do with our majors. Or we are in jobs that we hate but pays the bills. Growing up, we were led to believe that once we graduated college, we’d land a job where our degree was important, and stay at the job until we retired. I know now that I will never be at one job for thirty or more years. This revelation has pleased me and saddened me all at once. I don’t want to be stuck at one job for my entire working life. I want to experience new things and people. But, I won’t the strong job security as my father did. I can only hope that ten years from now I will have some type of career and that I’m not merely bouncing from one dead end job to another.
4) Babies and Marriages are the new “it” things to have.
I remember the pain and beauty of slap bracelets, jelly shoes (in the 80′s), and junk bracelets. I also remember pocket rockers, BK shoes, CD players, and walkman’s. It was a must in school to have these things and if you didn’t have them then you weren’t cool. These have all become obsolete but as you reach your thirties, two new things are must haves; a husband and children. Correct me if I’m wrong, but men don’t have the same pressure to marry as women, even in 2010. Then there’s the pressure to have children. Women are constantly being reminded of their biological clocks. This cycle will always continue because those of us who were pressured, will inflict the pressure on others when we are older; mostly because we are being pressured to have grandchildren.
5) You are writing a blog post about signs you are a grownup as you grumble to yourself about the loud college kids outside.
I am going to be THAT old lady. I will be the one watching people from my window and griping about balls in my yard. I’d like to think that I’d give them back if they asked nicely. One thing I’ve found myself wondering lately is the moment I felt grown up. I can’t say for sure. It wasn’t when I got married. It felt very surreal to me. I honestly have to say it was when I turned twenty nine. I thought my twenties would last forever and suddenly I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a cliff. I’m too afraid to look down because I don’t know if I will land on a hard ground or a something soft to lighten my fall. I know these past 2 years have been life changing but that’s for another post.
