Those who stay up till 5 a.m. generally sleep at some other weird hour. I’ve seen 5 a.m. from all possible sides lately.
There is still someone telling me what to do. It’s generally me instead of my parents now. I say generally because I have not joined the official ranks of grown-up people yet. As long as I have to ask my mom to come bring me my interview shoes, I am not an adult.
Heh. I’ve been planning my day for the release of The Sims 2 next Tuesday in order to get all my responsibilities done and be able to spend the entire evening in glorious play. I’m almost to the point of making an itemized list with exact times: 1:00-3:30 write; 3:30-4:30 cook dinner, clean kitchen, do laundry; 4:30-5:00 run to store and pick up game; 5:00-5:30 eat; 5:30-7:00 exercise, install game; 7:01 pm set alarm clock in order to avoid playing until 2 in the morning. 
(The sad thing is, that’s probably pretty close to the real thing.)
I may not keep the house spotless all the time, but it’s always cleaned before our weekly D&D game, since I consider that a sign of respect to our guests. And I’m very, very serious about making deadlines for my writing. The only time I missed a deadline in about five+ years of writing was when my mom was in a car accident and almost died. Even then I let my editor know.
Well, there was that one time…[sub]I kid, I kid![/sub] Really, they’re not that bad. They (and really, it’s just my dad), just make occasional remarks when I talk about how much I love the Buffy series (“That’s what the kids at your mother’s school talk about”) or mention the games I play. My whole family is very sarcastic.
My parents really are great, and they were a wonderful influence on how I viewed marriage (they’ve been happily married for 32 years). They’ve never tried to control my life, since they knew it wouldn’t work anyway, but they always provided good examples and taught me a lot about taking responsibility, even when it was really hard on them.
That reminds me of the time in eleventh grade when I got a stomach flu and puked all over the bathroom. (Missed the toilet by this much.) I cleaned up the chunks and slept all day. When I explained to my mother what happened, she said, “You cleaned up your own puke? That means you’re officially an adult! Congratulations!”
[sub]I seem to be posting a whole lot about puke these days[/sub].
What almost everyone else said. A big plus is the ability to march to your own drummer without being anxious about other people’s opinions (including your parents) of your choices (assuming those choices are within the law).
One of the most difficult things about being a parent of adult children is watching them make choices with which I disagree. If asked, I offer my opinion. If I feel very strongly about something, I’ll offer an opinion even if I’m not asked, but then I keep my mouth shut. Sometimes that’s very difficult, but I’ve mangaged to do it so far.
Your parents are entitled to their opinion about your gaming; and you’re entitled to play computer games, etc. to your heart’s content.
Have fun.
To me, being an adult is recognizing:
-what I must do
-what I should do
-what I can do
-what I want to do
and then deciding which I’m going to do and then actually doing it. This includes long term and short term. I think once I realized that in order to live the kind of life I want, I have to balance all these things, I also realized I was an adult.
Agreed.
% and I don’t even remember, if we were lovers, or if I just wanted to… %
sorry, it’s been running thru my head the whole thread. If I didn’t post it it’d never get out!
If you (not your parents or the government) are taking care of yourself, you are an adult.
If you are making legal money and paying your bills, you are a responsible adult.
If you realize that if you want the right to live your life the way you want to within the law, you have to give others the same right within the law, you are a moral adult.
Being an adult means knowing when to act childish!
I disagree.
It means being able to be tried as an adult for major crimes.
Ooh, that means my wife who just had her 30th birthday isn’t an adult 
And by many of the definitions in this thread, mostly those evincing maturity, responsibility, and respect, I know many ‘adults’ who don’t qualify.
No, you know many “grown-ups” who don’t qualify. There’s a difference between growing up and being an adult.
Being an adult means knowing when to prioritize responsibilities and fun. I try to put responsibilities first and then plan fun later, but sometimes my brother calls and asks if I want to go bowling, and I say “yeah”, even if I need to do some housecleaning. I know I’ll have enough dishes and clothes, so they can wait.
I know and work with people who still have not grown up, even though they are well into their twenties.
Really, everything that can be said about being an adult has been said.
The moment I realized I was an adult:
I got a paycheck. The take-home amount was more money then I had ever recieved in one shot in my entire life. And the only thing I could think was “Well, guess I can pay rent and buy groceries now.”
You don’t need to have children to be an adult. For a lot of young people, having a child is more a sign of their lack of maturity than otherwise. And plenty of both young and old parents are really shitty at it, providing further evidence of immaturity.
I suggest that adulthood means having a clear picture of your own responsibilities, obligations and problems, and having the tools to address them. In addition, it means understanding what things are NOT your responsibilities, obligations or problems, and not allowing these burdens to be shifted on to you by others.
I assume you mean lack of maturity as in willingly or unwillingly being unable to have control over their own sex drives, which results in little “surprises”?
I know what you mean about bad parents of all ages, though. They are such a sad, pathetic sort. How can someone act childish and foolish with children of their own? 