Tuesday, January 14, 2014

10 on Tuesday: Ten things that make me feel like a grownup.

This is kind of a strange topic.  There are the "ever" kinds of things - milestones that only happen rarely, but you are definitely a grownup (or the moment comes with big responsibilities whether you are a grownup or not) when it happens.  Then there are the day-to-day kinds of things - they happen enough that you kind of get used to them, but still, when you stop and think about it, they are the things grown ups do.  Here's what I've got.  Not surprisingly, a lot of it is money related.  The other half seems to be parental.


  1. Financial stuff that has long term consequences:  paying taxes every year, 
  2. Closing (or refinancing) on the house.  
  3. Filling out the US Census forms.  
  4. Doing open enrollment for work - picking out the various benefit levels and making sure the choices make mathematical sense (is the $500 in additional orthodontic benefit more or less than the delta for the year in dental premiums?)  
  5. Parent/teacher conferences.  Childbirth classes were in this category too.
  6. Making Halloween costumes for my kids.  And teaching them how to make their own.
  7. Making schooling decisions:  touring daycares, touring magnet schools, helping register for college classes for the first time.
  8. Healthcare decisions for kids - taking them to get shots and well child checkups, taking care of them when they are sick, and dealing with household accidents and injuries.
  9. Being too tired the next day when I stay up late the night before.
  10. Most of the time, the reason I'm not sleeping is not because I'm up doing my own homework or out having fun, but because I'm up helping a kid - either a sick kid or one with a homework project.

2 comments:

Bonny said...

Great list, and I really like how you simplified things. They do all seem to be financial or parental!

Donna said...

All the parenting stuff makes me realize I am no longer a kid! Childbirth classes were one of the first realizations of that.