When you were a child, what did you imagine life would be like when you grew up? Perhaps you had a fancy job in a generic ‘office’, where you got to wear a pencil skirt and have very important lunch meetings. Maybe being a grown-up meant you could eat chips and ice cream for every meal.
As a child, it’s hard to imagine what adult life is really like. While it’s true that you can eat chips whenever you want, it’s not without its drawbacks. Responsibility, bills, work – none are quite as glamorous as they might seem. And the weirdest bit? You still feel like the same child inside. Just now you have to think about council tax.
There are some pivotal moments in life where the reality sinks in. Moments that make you really feel like perhaps you actually are a grown-up, even though you still feel nine years old. Let’s take a look at a few of the simplest ways to tell whether or not you’ve reached the important adulting milestones.
You go to parents’ evening as the parent
Having kids is a biggie, obviously, but even that sometimes isn’t enough to make you feel like an adult. If anything, it can have the opposite effect – are they really going to let you leave the maternity unit with a newborn baby when until now you’ve struggled to remember bin day? Surely at some point someone will step in and realise that you don’t have a clue what you’re doing?
But no, they do not.
The first time you turn up at a parents’ evening though, is something else. You still feel the same nerves and apprehension, of course. Even if you were the model student as a child, there’s something about being in school that makes you feel like you’ve done something wrong. Your heart races as you approach the teacher and perch yourself on the tiny plastic chair. Only this time there’s no risk of detention. Instead, you have to talk in a grown-up way about phonics and key stages and the curriculum. Good luck my friend.
You own more than one property
Owning your own home is adulting level one. This is hard enough to do in our current economic climate. If you own a second property, you have levelled up significantly. Have you ever been to Starbucks enough in a single year to qualify for gold membership? It’s like that. Grown-up gold status membership unlocked.
Some people are lucky enough to own a second home that’s a holiday property, or somewhere as a working base in a city. For others, it’s an investment. Both come with a level of responsibility that only real grown-ups can handle. If it’s a second home for yourself, that means twice the bills, twice the maintenance, twice the cleaning. If it’s a rental, you might delegate the day-to-day to an agent, but there’s still plenty to think about.
You join the National Trust
This is the big one. The crowning moment of adulthood. The arrival of your National Trust membership card and vinyl car sticker. With this in your window, you’re telling the whole world that you’ve made it. You appreciate a well-maintained lawn and an Elizabethan frontage. You’re a grown-up. Let nobody tell you otherwise. Stride forth with your card and explore the historic homes of the UK with pride.
Of course, the real adults amongst you will know that the primary appeal of joining the National Trust is that you always know there will be a decent cafe and good toilets. But then let’s face it, if you’re at the point of planning days out around bathroom facilities, you really are an adult.
It doesn’t strictly have to be the National Trust. You can attain a similar level of grown-up status by joining English Heritage or the Royal Horticultural Society. Bonus points are scored for being able to casually drop plant names into the conversation.
‘Oh, what a delightful agapanthus, now shall we find the tea rooms?’