Adulthood

Well, it’s official. I can no longer put it off. The time to procrastinate and make excuses is at an end. Sadly, I am an adult.

You’re probably saying, “Okay…is turning 37 that big of a deal? Or is it having two kids? Maybe you’re having a mid-life crisis, Melissa…” Maybe I am.

It isn’t as if there’s a day in one’s life when adulthood officially starts. It’s certainly not when you turn 18. It’s not even when you turn 21. For most of us, it probably comes at least before we turn 30 for by then the majority of us have a job, or are married and possibly have kids, or have likely moved out from our parent’s home. But which of those achievements equals adulthood I’m not sure. And for some, “none of the above” applies.

For me, I probably entered adulthood rather young, even if I didn’t get married until I was 34. Sadly, I was one of those kids who couldn’t wait to grow up. Not because it meant I could eat out whenever I wished, or drink a Coke just because I felt like it, or eat ice cream for dinner. I wanted to be an adult so people would take me seriously and I could be considered responsible. I didn’t realize that being taken seriously depends upon whom you’re talking to or what “status” you are (single vs. married typically). Nor did I know that people considered me responsible from a very young age. Which is probably why I didn’t simply enjoy being a kid.

But all that aside, according to my former roommate in Texas, Haley Myers, adulthood is truly reached upon the purchase of a vacuum. This will likely explain why neither of us would spend the $50 or $60 for a decent vacuum when both the vacuums in the house broke. (Well, one no longer sucked anything and the other didn’t rotate – if we could have put them together, we would have had one working vacuum.) Instead, I “stole” the one from work (borrowed until we put wood floors in the office and then I simply took it up to our house where it stayed until I moved out). Neither of us wanted to be an adult…

Upon arrival in Minnesota, I simply borrowed the one at the office at work when I finally gave in to vacuuming my apartment. (With only me, it wasn’t like I made a mess.) And the landlord here in Pittsburgh left a vacuum in a closet. So…even upon getting married and having two kids, I have avoided adulthood.

Until Saturday. This past Saturday we purchased a vacuum. This coming Saturday, we’re moving and there is no vacuum left in a closet by the landlord at our new place. And with two kids…well, my floors are in frequent need of vacuuming these days. So, I bit the bullet and a vacuum was purchased.

Sigh. Adulthood is for the birds.