# Your "I'm a grown-up now" moments **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692 "2012-12-21T01:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Quarter\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f475e1/32.png) [@Quarter\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quarter_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/81 "2012-12-27T04:45:41Z")
My parents weren’t the nurturing type and so I had my first adult moment when I had to pay $400 to have my impacted wisdom teeth removed. I was 17. Then the next year when I was talking about my plans of moving out of my parent’s house my boyfriend asked if they were going to let me keep my car. I was very proud to tell him that they didn’t so much as co-sign for the car. It was all mine. So I’ve felt like an adult for a long time but I do have moments when I am amazed that I’m old enough to be married and, WOW, have a ton of kids. When did that happen? Celebrating 19 years next month and have four ankle biters. ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/82 "2012-12-27T09:06:54Z")
When I realised I’d rather get up bright and early and hit the gym, than stay at the pub longer. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/83 "2012-12-27T14:09:58Z")
Moving out of the house at 18, the moment came after I was all done moving and cracked open a beer on the sofa. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/84 "2012-12-27T16:08:50Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > I think this is the most universal turning point. > > When getting snowed in is a problem or a hassle, instead of a free day to sled and play with your friends, you’ve crossed that line, never to return. > > You kids! Get your sled off my lawn! > > Me? I’m almost 50, and I look forward to a foot or two of snow more now than I ever did as a kid. > > Not sure what that means! I’m 35 and still crave snow like a big kid. Never a hassle, more an enjoyable challenge on the rare occasions it actually happens. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/85 "2012-12-27T21:47:11Z")
I just had one. I’m filling out paperwork to start a new job and I’m weighing choices in dental coverage. Fucking _dental coverage_! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/86 "2012-12-28T05:31:57Z")
Here’s one of the more recent. As I was getting my hair washed by a young woman before getting it cut, I realized I was old enough to be her grandfather. And I haven’t quite hit standard retirement age. When I was around 40, I visited a cousin a few years younger than me and his family. Their kids were around 5, and I had last visited before the kids were born. While my cousin and his wife were out of the room getting dinner ready, the kids and I were in the living room. When I was talking to them and just watching them, I noticed they were watching me a bit cautiously because I was The Adult and they were not quite sure how to behave with me and were looking to me for cues. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/87 "2012-12-28T14:25:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think **Filbert** meant that he realised the toilet needed to be cleaned, and a tool must be purchased to achieve this, and he was going to do both himself. > > Or herself. But probably himself. My thinking was- when you’re a teenager or kid, a toilet brush is pretty much a joke item, and a clean one is usable for ‘hilarious’ costumes and practical jokes (though I did use them for their intended purpose as a kid when necessary); when you’re adult it’s something you buy, because, you know, the toilet needs cleaning, and no-one else is going to do it, and it’s not a funny object any more. And I’m pretty sure I’m a herself, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/88 "2012-12-28T14:48:18Z")
I’ve had a lot of them (mortgage WHA?, getting on a plane to a foreign country alone, etc.) but these days it’s been really weird for me to try to get used to saying “husband”, as in “my husband”. Husbands are something other people have! They require, like, a lot of maintenance and it’s hard to get parts for them! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/89 "2012-12-28T20:55:50Z")
On my wedding day when my MIL called Mrs. LavenderBlue. I looked at her and thought oh shit that’s my MIL not me oh wait . . . :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/90 "2012-12-28T23:26:49Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > And I’m pretty sure I’m a herself, actually. Noted. I must say playing with a toilet brush as a toy seems somewhat unhygienic, even for a kid. ---
**Author:** ![codgerone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@codgerone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codgerone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/91 "2012-12-29T16:00:05Z")
Two at once. Closing the door of the first house I bought and sitting in the lounge thinking this is all mine and I can do whatever the hell I want to here. Closely followed by thinking this is all my responsibility and no one is going to bail me out if I don’t make the mortgage payments. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/92 "2012-12-29T16:06:45Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Noted. > > I must say playing with a toilet brush as a toy seems somewhat unhygienic, even for a kid. Clean as in unused- and the appearance of unhygienicness is sort of the point. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/93 "2012-12-30T02:49:28Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > On my wedding day when my MIL called Mrs. LavenderBlue. I looked at her and thought oh shit that’s my MIL not me oh wait . . . :smack: It really hit me when I started _answering_ to Mrs. Doors. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/94 "2012-12-30T02:56:31Z")
My first one came when I had my daughter and was in the recovery room after my C-section. It hit me that I was now responsible for an actual person, and my actions would determine her future. I remember thinking, “Oh shit, this is for real. I’m a mom. I’m a grown-up.” I had another one earlier this year, shortly after my mother passed away. My mother usually did most of the cooking, and dinner was ready shortly after I came home from work in the evenings. After the funeral, several relatives had stayed with us for the first few days, and they did most of the cooking. After they left, I remember thinking, “I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?” and then realizing that I was the one who had to cook dinner or else no one in the house was going to eat that night. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/95 "2012-12-30T03:08:49Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > What in the world else would anyone buy a toilet brush for? A magic wand for your “fairy princess of Toiletiana” costume? LOL! Or as my dearly demented & departed mom did: use it to brush her hair. (It was a new one, never used.) Humoring her and telling her what a Clever Bee! she was for finding that new use for a TOILET BRUSH! made me feel grown up. She did put up with a lot of weirdness from my sister and I growing up, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/96 "2012-12-30T03:27:30Z")
When I was at the airport, and the agent asked if I was traveling for business or pleasure, and I answered “Business”. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/97 "2013-01-03T18:40:51Z")
I just got excited about my latest ebay purchase - a new brush/head for my Dyson, woo! … and then thought of this thread for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/98 "2013-01-03T18:50:48Z")
When people started throwing retro-themed parties about fashions and music styles that grew up and waned when I was already an adult. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/99 "2013-01-03T18:55:12Z")
I was a fresh-out and working my first job when I totaled my car on an icy road. The grown-up moment was when the insurance settlement came, and I realized that I didn’t need my mother’s permission to buy the replacement. I did honor her advice, however. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692/100 "2013-01-03T19:07:21Z")
A good sort of grown up moment was during my internship. I was really stressed out on a work project and at one point my boss came by and looked it over and made suggestions. I suddenly realized that I wasn’t being graded on it. If it wasn’t right, I wasn’t going to get an “F.” I would get a chance to make it right AND it was alright to ask for advice or help from coworkers. It REALLY helped me adjust to life after grad school. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-im-a-grown-up-now-moments/644692.md?page=6)