Growing Up

I wrote this a couple of years ago:

When did I become a grownup? Was it when I graduated high school at 18? Was it when I graduated college at 22? Was it when I bought my first home at 23? Was it when I got married at 24? I can't put a finger on when it was, but I know it has happened.

People grow up at different ages. When I met my husband he was already a grownup and I was still a kid. He was 20 and I was 22. He became a grownup by necessity. When he was 17 and going to college, his parents didn't have the means to pay for it. He got a full time job and took classes at night. The job he got is with the same company that he still works for today. He worked his way up the ladder over the last eight years. I am proud of him for this, but also upset that the college thing never got completed.

My parents helped me through college. I didn't work, only focused on getting good grades. They didn't spoil me, but gave me whatever I needed. We had a system where I got a weekly allowance; we called it my "paycheck". With that money I had to pay all my bills, buy my food, and entertain myself. This taught me how to budget, but did not make me a grownup. Grownups earn their money. I graduated. Would I have without my parents' help? Who knows.

I guess in the end, it is kind of like potty training. They say that no kid goes to college wearing a diaper. It doesn't really matter when they get trained. I guess the same goes for becoming an adult. No 50 year old is still a kid, so what difference does it make when you became an adult?

My husband and I are both well adjusted adults. We came at it different ways, but we are both there. How did you become an adult?