November 18, 2013
When Does Adulthood Start?

I think adulthood hits you little by little. It's not a landmark, at 18 or 25 or whenever, that you can just have a birthday and say "Now I'm an adult!" It's more like a path through deep woods. Every day, every success or failure, takes you a little farther down the path. I remember moving across the country by myself at 18 to go to college. I had to get a job, get myself up in the morning, and feed myself. At the time I didn't really feel like an adult yet, but I knew that was what adulthood looked like.

Not long after, I moved back to Washington. I was driving to Seattle one night to go see a show with a friend. As a kid, going to Seattle was kind of a big deal - it was a special occasion. I remember working my way through traffic in the car I had bought with my own money and thinking, "I'm an adult. I can drive to Seattle whenever I want because I have my own car and money to go out with."

A few years after that, I got married. I would often wake up and look over at my husband, sleeping in our own bed, in our own house, with our own dogs, and I would think always somewhat incredulously "We are adults. This is what adulthood is."

Now I'm pregnant with our first kid and as thrilled as we are, there is a certain solemn understanding and maybe a little fear, this is another step into adulthood. Often we still feel like kids, and I hope that never changes, but it's exciting to keep growing up and maturing into the kind of adults we want to be.

I'll be 25 when this baby comes and I'm so glad I've been preparing and practicing responsibility for the last several years. I absolutely love my life and I'm glad I didn't try to put it off till I was older.

 

Bekky

Posted by Staff at 11:15 AM