At what point did you start feeling like a "grown up"?

[Andres88]

When I got my first credit card.

 

[GMullins]

I'm 29, been married for 11 years, have 3 beautiful kids, have done all the "grown up" things, and yet I still feel like I'm 16..... I blame it on falling in love with my wife at 16, I feel like the age you fall in love is the age you remain in your head.

So to answer the question I dont feel grown up yet. Not sure I ever will or if I even want to. Looks like my dreams of "being a Toy R'us" kid came true.

 

[PersephonesTear]

It came in a couple of phases for me. When I was kicked out at 18, and suddenly had to pay for everything on my own was the first phase. When I graduated college and moved into my own apartment at 22 was the final one.

 

[TanteBelle]

When I believe I became an adult according to my belief in scripture; 20 years old. That was a very sobering moment for me.

 

[GuusVA]

Well I got more serious when I was 16 we were financially getting worse amd I got bullied a lot. Then when I turned 18 everything got a little more formal and stuff but it just gradually came to it

 

[GuusVA]

When I got my first credit card.

 

[leothelioness]

.

 

[Mikon]

I had to take on a lot of adult responsibilities very young- I would say when I started acting like an adult around 15-16, feeling like an adult was around 17-18 because instead of just pitching in here and there, I literally started to help financially support my family. The stress hit high notes between 21-23 when I was solely responsible for my family financially- which kicked my butt into adulthood whether I liked it or not.

But it really hit home when I realized adults aren't to different from teens, they just have more bills to pay.

 

[Fenny the Fox]

When I started dealing with insurance nightmares and pharmaceutical companies. lol (SO...like 18?)

Not really. I feel about the same, I guess. But different too. Hard to explain. I mean, I work, go to school, pay my own way (with occasional help, given my health issues and meds and medical debts...), am in a relationship, all that jazz. But I still feel like the same person as I always did, just busier. haha

 

[graciesings]

well, when I was 11 and started wearing bras lol

actually for me I still kinda see myslf as a kid or teenager, even though I've been interacting with adults on an adult level a lot lately.

I have noticed a many people regard me as older than I feel. Someone called me a "woman" on CF the other day and it warmed my heart!

 

[pressingon17]

I didn't feel like an adult till I got married and could provide for my wife and I on my own.

 

[Orange Crow]

People around me say that they see me constantly changing and I am on the right way to get more mature, day by day, although there's a lot to learn and gather when it comes to general knowledge about all kinds of things. But compared to a year or two ago.. I have really changed and I still am changing and growing day by day.

 

[SeekerOfChrist94]

Around 19 years old.

 

[faroukfarouk]

When one has gotten one's first tattoo at around 18, is often what feels like the rite of passage into adulthood.

 

[tomwhite84]

When did you start feeling like an adult?

I'm 29 and I still don't feel like an adult, despite being independent of my parents, having a job, living in my place, etc.

I think in part that is because I am single while many of my friends and community are married. When I stop to think, I know that it is wrong to equate "getting married, settling down, raising kids" with "growing up", but there is still the feeling that I have yet to join the adult world because of it. To some extent I think the conservative culture of my community reinforces that idea, probably in reaction to teens and other twentysomethings running around indulging in sex drugs and EDM or whatever.

 

[NaturallyGone]

Wait... WHAT? I'm a GROWN UP??? When did that happen?

 

[GuusVA]

Wait... WHAT? I'm a GROWN UP??? When did that happen?

 

[Blue Wren]

-

 

[RobertMerton]

When I was young my parents used to say 'you'll understand when you are older' (similarly to 'you'll thank me later).

Well.. when I first started to understand and that was when I considered myself to be an adult.

 

[vanillaicecream]

When I started living away from my family and budgeted my own money.