# By what age did you consider yourself "grown up"? Second try. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079 "2012-06-23T15:45:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/1 "2012-06-23T15:45:50Z")
With my miserable failure in selecting appropriate options in the previous thread [At what age did you consider yourself “grown up”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=656104) and with nobody (that I have seen) trying for a better group, here’s an effort for a more meaningful anonymous poll. One vote. Make it real, or at least funny. 🙂 Poll as quickly as I can copy/paste the options. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/2 "2012-06-23T16:33:57Z")
Double income no kids… Like I said last thread, LGBT/Peter Pan syndrome go hand in hand. I’m 41 and have given up on waiting for the grown up feeling to kick in. I like shows like Tosh.0 and watch Qubo afterdark most nights when He-Man and She-Ra are on just for fun. Mom died when I was 16 and Dad is still kicking. Maybe when He passes away it’ll happen, but I doubt it. I have a strong suspicion that the whole “Grown Up” thing is tied strongly to raising children. Since that’s not gonna happen for me, well, I guess I’m not gonna grow up… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/3 "2012-06-23T17:47:21Z")
oh come on, we _just_ did this! ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/4 "2012-07-07T11:42:18Z")
Not sure I’m there yet. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/5 "2012-07-07T13:15:02Z")
By 25 I was moved out and had knocked a girl up so was looking for a larger apartment to make a go out of raising the child together. So I’m calling that the mark. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/6 "2012-07-07T15:03:43Z")
When I got married at 24. A wedding anniversary is a very grown up celebration. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/7 "2012-07-08T02:17:13Z")
I had a good deal of freedom as a teenager, and was living on my own and supporting myself totally by 19, so I’ve considered myself an adult since the moment I was fully moved into my own apartment. That was 8 years ago now, damn. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/8 "2012-07-08T02:45:11Z")
I’m 19 and still do not feel grown up. I am unsure when I finally will. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/9 "2012-07-09T20:53:44Z")
Still not completely. I’m much different than when I was a kid, but I’m still more of a young adult despite getting up to the ages where I should be a regular adult. And it’s almost all due to being homebound for 3-4 years and the situation that caused it. I couldn’t grow for 2 years, and then I haven’t been challenged enough to grow for the other two. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/10 "2012-07-09T20:59:08Z")
When I was 22 and living in another country and supporting myself. Pretty grown up. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/11 "2012-07-09T22:22:02Z")
When both girls had gone off to college, and I looked at The Wife and realized that I was finally, consciously, comfortable with my life. Being a grown-up is more than being a responsible citizen; it also includes some honest self-assessment and satisfaction with what you have made of yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/12 "2012-07-09T23:11:52Z")
When I was living on my own and supporting myself – 22. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/13 "2012-07-10T03:38:13Z")
“You know my heart keeps telling me, you’re not a kid at 33.” –Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues That song struck home when I was that age. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/14 "2012-07-10T05:22:44Z")
By age 25, I was an officer in the Air Force. Pretty much had to be grown up to deal with the responsibilities my assignment demanded. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/15 "2012-07-10T14:00:36Z")
Still no option for ‘not yet’. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/16 "2012-07-10T14:11:44Z")
> [@D-bear](#): > > Double income no kids… Like I said last thread, LGBT/Peter Pan syndrome go hand in hand. I’m 41 and have given up on waiting for the grown up feeling to kick in. I like shows like Tosh.0 and watch Qubo afterdark most nights when He-Man and She-Ra are on just for fun. Mom died when I was 16 and Dad is still kicking. Maybe when He passes away it’ll happen, but I doubt it. I have a strong suspicion that the whole “Grown Up” thing is tied strongly to raising children. Since that’s not gonna happen for me, well, I guess I’m not gonna grow up… Yeah…no. I mean I do that kind of stuff. I watch Tosh.0 when I have access to it. I also watch silly cartoons and never ever intend to have children. But I certainly feel grown up. Not just a bank account but my own private savings accounts, retirement account, safety deposit box, new car, going back to school, being able to afford all of these things, considering my future career, and electing to get my tubes blocked to not have children, all of these things let me know I am grown up. Double income no kids too, but I’m still all growed up, thank you very much. I just choose to remain young at hearts. Mayhap kids just make you old. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/17 "2012-07-10T14:42:12Z")
I really don’t think I woke up one day and said “hey, I’m all grown up.” I guess a defining moment would be when I started my first full time job 250 miles away from home at the age of 22. My company paid for my flight and bus ride to my new town. I borrowed $300 from my Dad and left home with a suitcase. I lived in a company-provided motel for 3 weeks; then crashed on someone’s couch for a couple of months before renting a house with a guy from work. A few months later I got a bank loan, bout a used car and officially received my adult credentials: own place, own car, own bills. ---
**Author:** ![CyclopticXander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@CyclopticXander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyclopticXander)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/18 "2012-07-10T17:58:33Z")
There are kinda conflicting answers for me. At 27 I still don’t feel grown up in this sense of at all having my life together in the economic or responsibilty sense, and I don’t forsee that happening for quite a while, if ever. Intellectually though, I was there by 17. All that’s different now is I know more stuff, my worldview and sense of self are pretty much the same as then. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/19 "2012-07-10T18:47:09Z")
22, when I moved partway across the country for my first job after college. I packed all of my junk into a SUV and moved into a sublet, all paid with money I earned that summer. Before then, my parents paid most of my living expenses and tuition. Since then I’ve been entirely independent, and have done lots of Grown Up Stuff like getting married, paying off my first car, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/by-what-age-did-you-consider-yourself-grown-up-second-try/626079/20 "2012-07-10T21:33:08Z")
Married, house payment and a baby by 24…and a job to pay for all of it, and I was still going to college as well.