STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I still don't really feel like a grown up!

Some things that have given me a hint of that feeling though:

Going on my first vacation with Mr. Elle - by ourselves!
Everytime we move cities/states.
Buying our house.
Seeing my parents faults, and being able to see them as people instead of just 'my parents'.

Honestly though, I think I probably won't feel like an actual grown up until I have a grandchild!  That seems very grown up to me !

I still don't, despite all evidence to the contrary. I'm 27, live in my own apartment, have a 'grown-up' job, pay all my bills, etc, etc, etc. But I still don't feel like a grown-up. Half the time, I still feel like I live like I did when I was in college-- which really, isn't such a stretch b/c I still eat cereal for dinner and pizza for breakfast. So, maybe when I stop doing that, I'll feel like a grown-up.

Or maybe it's the fact that I'm single (meaning, not married and/or living with an SO) that makes me feel like this, too. I think I felt more like a grown-up when I was living with my ex.But in any case, at this moment in time, at 27 years old, I do not feel like a grown-up. At. All.

About a year after I became financially independent. Before that, I still felt like a teenager. I thought being married would make me feel grown up, but it took about a year of paying all our own bills and like Elle, planning a vacation entirely on our own.

I'm 26 and still don't feel much like a grown up.  I've been married for 3 years, financially independant since I graduated from college, etc. but I don't think I'll really feel like a grown up until I have a baby.  Plus me and my sister are the "babies" of the family so all my older sisters and brother still make me feel like a kid.

i don't feel grown up yet. I hope i have 10 more years to be a kid.

I'm the same as Sausora...I swear I was born old. As a kid, I always wanted to hand out with Mom's friends instead of their kids- I just related better with them. Even now, most of my friends are a good 5-10 years older than me.

I do have times though when I get a wave of feeling exceptionally grown up though- usually when DH and i are on a vacation, or when I'm redecorating or buying stuff for our apartment. Also when the apt is nice a clean and I've cooked a "real" dinner (like a roast or something fancy and labor intensive).

I felt grown up since I was 17.  Looking now at my "kept" 20 year old brother, my parents pay his tuition, car, insurance, and bail him out of money situtations when he blows it all on his gf....I realize was really independent and bought everything for myself since I got my 1st real job as a bilingual document translator 2 days after I graduated HS.  I bought my 1st car, insurance, clothes, shoes, paid my parents rent (I volunteered), paid my own way through school, etc.  DH didnt have a steady job until we got married!  I dont know what I was thinking, good thing he straightened out in time!  I think I was always a little bit ahead of the game in HS, I couldnt wait to graduate and start my life, so a week b4 I graduated, I figured I'd get a head start b4 everyone else started looking for an permanent office position.  I got hired the day of my graduation and stared 2 days later! 

I think I was this way cuz my parents were VERY VERY strict and overprotective.  I didnt visit a movie theatre until I was 16 w/o my parent's knowledge!  I wasn't allowed to do any sports or activities or sleep over any of my friends house or go to anywhere like the mall if a parent wasnt there.  I couldnt wear pants cuz "they were too tight and boys would look at me". I had to lie to my dad about prom and tell him it was a "formal" dinner.  If he knew there was dancing and secular music I would have not been allowed to go.  I am the oldest and 1st girl so my dad thought the world was out to get me so he kept me secluded from everything.  However, I ended up doing my own thing anyway, so now he lets my sister do everything I was never allowed to do.  I try not to resent him for it cuz he did it cuz he wanted the best for me but when I see my sis wearing cute jeans or playing a soccer game or watching HS musical, I feel sad I never got to experience any of that. 

Wow, sorry for all that unnecessary addt'l info, I'll save it for my therapist

I feel very much at an in-between stage.  Sometimes I feel like I'm doing a reasonably good job of impersonating an adult and some days I totally like I have my sh*t together (but that usually ends up with me tripping and falling on the ground or some other circumstance that leads me to believe that in no way do I have my sh*t together.)  So I don't know.  But the experiences that made me feel more like a grown-up were:

Buying a house, but sleeping in the house for the first time really made it feel real
Buying my own contact lenses/glasses (something my parents always did for me)
Having the computer die and having the funds to go out and buy a new computer with cash
Taking a trip with DH
Buying appliances
Doing taxes and complaining about it
Realizing that I hate doing tequila shots (and that I've now probably gone years since I last did one)
And all those times I don't go for that second or third glass of wine because I have a meeting in the morning

It took me a while.  I think it was after I got married.  DH and I had been together for about 6 years before that, but I was in college or graduate school.  My family helped with my expenses during law school and the bar, so I wasn't financially "mature" for a while.  I still don't feel completely grown up though!  I'm beginning to think I never will ;)