Friday, April 27, 2007

Friday Five: Five reasons being an adult does not suck

On my birthday last month, my friend Amy gave me a card that she claimed she purchased months in advance, because she thought it was so very perfect for me.

I can't argue with her for thinking of me, I guess... Here's the card in question.

Outside:

La La La

Inside:
See? There are perks to getting older!


At times, it is easy to forget all the advantages of being a grown-up. When I'm paying my mortgage or my gas bill or spending $70 at Target and having nothing fun to show for it (that is, unless garbage bags, shower cleaner, paper towels and the like can somehow be deemed "fun"), it is hard not to look back fondly on the carefree days of youth. But then I remember all the reasons I would not go back to being a kid... all the reasons that being a grown-up does not, in fact, suck one bit. Here are five of them.


  1. Consuming alcohol is not verboten (in fact, in many cases, it's encouraged!)... and it's actually a lot more fun than I realized during my misspent goody-goody youth.

  2. Usually, when I am out for the night, I am more than ready to go home by midnight. (Particularly on a Friday. It is rough getting up at 6:30 a.m. every day!) That said, however, on those rare nights when I'm able to rally and keep it going into the wee hours, I do enjoy having no curfew and no one waiting up for me angrily when if I get home.

  3. Getting paid is in no way dependent on whether my clothes are put away or my bathroom is clean. In fact, the person who signs my paychecks has actually never even been in my house to assess this sort of thing. And that is the way I prefer it.

  4. I have to finance my own vacations, yes, but I do not have to take my vacations with my parents (huddled three across on the vinyl seats of an ancient station wagon), and, better yet, I actually get paid my full salary while I'm gone!

  5. Cereal for dinner is a perfectly valid choice, as is eating said dinner on the living room floor in front of the TV. This was never an option as a kid.


I'm sure I am forgetting several other very good examples, but I am going with the first five that initially came to mind. If you have other points of proof as to why being an adult is not so bad, feel free to leave them in the comments. I need to send another check to the mortgage company this weekend, after all, so I could use all the reminders I can get.

17 comments:

Mair said...

Oh, my God! The paycheck thing is genius. I have never thought of it in quite those terms, but hurrah indeed!

3carnations said...

Some people might disagree with this, but one of the best things about being an adult - No more high school. I'm not talking about school in general; I loved elementary school. But high school...I would not choose to go back there. :)

Stargazer said...

I really like this Friday top 5 Stefanie :)

lizgwiz said...

You can see R-rated (or X-rated, if that's your thing) movies without being accompanied by a parent or guardian.

L Sass said...

I enjoy sleeping in without someone trying to prevent me from developing a character flaw!

Anonymous said...

Good list! Another one: You can swear all you like, and no one is going to wash your mouth out with soap. And thank GOD, because I'd be foaming at the mouth big-time.

steve said...

Might I add the freedom to drive a car? And to drive it wherever and whenever you please?

That was one of the freedoms I looked forward to most when I was a kid.

Sharka Girl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharka Girl said...

I especially enjoy saying, 'it's my house so you have to do what I say' to my parents when they come to visit.

Noelle said...

That was a beautiful post, and so true. The only thing that worries me is that it sounds like those five things are only valid until you have kids of your own. Then, it's no drinking whenever (usually), no going out whenever without a babysitter, cleaning your room to be a "good example," having to take kid-friendly vacations and making sure vegetables are served at least once a day.

I'm staying childless, I think.

Whiskeymarie said...

I laughed at this, because tonight I mentioned to my husband how great it was that no one was going to give me a hard time for not putting the clean laundry away within the first oh...2 days of it being done.
I love adulthood.
I swear a LOT.
I eat whatever, whenever.
I clean when the mood strikes (unless, of course, someone is actually coming over, then the mood is NOW)
I eat chips, cookies, cheesy stuff or ice cream WHENEVER I damn well please.
Yay, adults!

Stefanie said...

You guys brought up some excellent additional examples; thanks! :-)

Malia--Well, I neglected to mention that the paycheck is still dependent on doing OTHER work, but that goes without saying, I suppose.

3Cs--I agree... though I also think going back to high school knowing what I know now would be a whole different experience than the first time around.

Stargazer--Thanks. :-)

Liz--Good point. Oddly, though, I never got carded for an R movie until I was 25 (and I'm sure I went to at least a few with friends in high school). Guess they weren't really sticklers about that sort of thing where I lived in the early 90s.

L Sass--So true. And staying in my pajamas until 3:00 on a weekend without anyone hassling me about it is pretty cool as well.

Nabb--True, but I still don't swear in front of my mother. Maybe she wouldn't care, but I figure it already makes her cry to know I don't go to church on my own; why push her further, I guess.

Steve--Oh yes. Though of course car and insurance payments are things I do NOT relish about adulthood.

Sharka Girl--Ha! I love that! :-) Must implement that myself the next time my parents come to visit.

Noelle--Having kids also means no more sleeping in until whenever. I have often thought about that in the context of whether I could see myself ever wanting kids or not. I love my sleep too much!!

Whiskeymarie--Ha. Sounds like we are very much the same sort of adult. :-) Yay us indeed.

shelleycoughlin said...

Definitely the traveling thing- I can get up and go whenever, wherever I want. No need to worry about a ride from your parents or friends. Want to hop on a plane to NYC for the weekend? No problem. I used to hate waiting around for people to cart me around.

The Other Girl said...

I would like to play along, but I've spent this entire weekend standing in line at Home Depot, fixing drippy faucets, and periodically staring at a funky-looking mole on my leg that I never noticed before. So at the moment, I would like nothing more than to be sitting in my fourth-grade art class making a maraca out of an old lightbulb and papier-mache (strips of old newspaper and glue made out of flour and water). On the other hand, if I were in the fourth grade, I couldn't drink the very large glass of whiskey I plan on having during The Amazing Race, so there is that.

Anniina said...

A) You can spend a whole day in bed reading a book without a parental unit saying, "It's a beautiful day, go play outside."

B) You can color your hair any which color you want; cut it any way you want; and wear anything you want, without a "you are not going out looking like that!

C) You never have to give up your bedroom when Aunt Hilda comes to visit.

D) You can stay in the shower or bath as long as you want, without a parent asking you if you were trying to wash yourself down a drain.

E) You can listen to any music you want, as loud as you want, without a parent yelling, "Turn DOWN that AWFUL noise."

F) Nobody to nag you to do your homework, or remember to practice your piano lesson.

metalia said...

I fully support cereal for dinner...and I adore the card.

miss cupcake said...

I concur with the cereal for dinner. My favorite part about it is that I can mix cookie crisp with cocoa puffs and kashi and eat as many bowls as I like, which thankfully isn't too often.