The #1 sign of adulting has to be paying for your own stuff.
this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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Mine was paying for an airbrush, and i was in my 40's by this point, but the realisation i could buy a completely superflous, but expensive, thing for myself was a bit if a wow. But yeah house bills also lol
Celebrities (especially politicians) younger than me existing.
Still trying to figure out who this bbno$ character is...
"I-M-H-I-M the Gen Z Eminem"
How dare they, frankly. Tell them to get off my lawn.
Ahhh, see mine is but even being aware of who counts as celebrities these days
When you stop caring if something is a childish thing or not. Some people never get there.
Taking responsibility for your own actions.
Not just mistakes, but being proactive about positive things without needing to be prompted.
A bit of both for me. Whenever I dropped a bollock in work or whereever, my head used to go down and I'd be waiting for the hairdryer treatment like I was waiting outside the headmaster's office.
Now, if some cockwomble decides to mass-email someone with a passive aggressive email about "could the person who..." and it's quite clearly my mistake, I take great pleasure in absolutely owning it, smashing that reply-all button, and explaining in painful detail how yes it was my fuck up; yes I did do it with good intentions but hey things go sideways sometimes; and yes abso-fucking-lutely thank you for your shitty email that has had all the effect of a silent fart.
I think the best part of adulting is that you can make no mistakes and still lose (yeah Picard boiiii), and realising that nobody's going to care about it in a week's time.
I'd point out that taking responsibility for your actions doesn't necessarily mean fixing them on your own.
It's often more difficult (and more adult) to acknowledge that you've dug a hole for yourself that you can't escape from on your own and ask for help.
Saying this as the parent of young adult children that are adulting well, but still need to ask for help. Also as the old adult child of my parents who must still force himself to ask them for help.
Realizing capitalism sorta sucks
Insert Winston Churchill quote here.
I posted a gif of Ray Liotta laughing in Goodfellas a few days ago. Someone replied telling me the gif was perfect, and asking what was it from?
Oh shit, I think that was me on my feddit account.
I'm 40 years young, I was just never into Mafia films. Still never seen Scarface.
Getting a new kitchen appliance is exciting. I was so amazed when I first got an air fryer. Also, getting socks as a gift is pretty good.
Problem with the socks is that I also just enjoy getting myself socks, so now I own an absurd amount of socks
Waking up at 7 on a Saturday for no fucking reason
I wake up at 5:30 on Saturday because it's the best time to be awake
You empty the dishwasher immediately, as it is the only time during the day you have the time to do it.
You wash your sheets, because of the calendar notification popping up.
you vacuum the flat on saturday at 8 AM, as that is the time to vacuum the flat in your planner.
The most exciting thing in my life right now is the spreadsheet I just made to track chores.
basically means you can watch adult movies and commit this thing called adultery. ezpz.
kidding aside, i think a good sign for me is following through with my decisions, and, if i decided not to, acknowledge my mistake and learn from it.
Sounds mundane but a few days ago, for the first time I bought myself a jacket. I am 28. My grandma loves to gift clothes for christmas especially stuff like jackets, so I didn't really need to buy one until now. On the way back from the shop I felt weirdly adult. I bought most of my other clothes myself for around 10 years, but never a jacket
When I got a well-paying job, earning me about 10 times as much as I did while working as a teaching assistant at uni. I realized I could afford more than renting a student apartment and cheap food. Buying furniture, an apartment, having kids, tech toys. A car.
Makes me feel independent and in control of my life, I guess.
One big sign is when you stop demanding to be treated like an adult and just start being one.
Being an adult is just a decision you make one day.
Years ago my older brother was on the phone complaining to me because our mom found out he bought a motorcycle and was mad at him and my dad (who helped him pick it out).
He wanted to know why my mom thought she could treat him like a child.
I pointed out that when he decided to get a motorcycle and kept it secret from our mom, he was acting like a child and enabling her to treat him like one.
I have no interest in ever owning a motorcycle. However, if I ever did, it would never occur to me to keep it secret from anybody, because I'm an adult in charge of my own life. Everyone else can have opinions, but I get to decide whose opinions matter to me.
Starting to remember the good reasons why you DIDN'T like something in the past and trusting your past judgment.
Coming around and disagreeing with your younger self hits pretty hard
That happens first, then one more time you will be faced with the same choice, and you will remember that happened and that you were already wiser once.
When you see your parents as people and stop blaming them for everything.
You get excited about a pillow
Or new socks
A new pair of exactly the same New Balance
Ah, and if it's spring, you get to rotate the old pair out to be 'new' yard work shoes!
You start to wonder, “when am I going to feel like an adult?”
When your empathy extends to people you don't even like.
Not as important as what has already been said but actually making a call when you really need something done. You'd be impressed how much more quickly your problems can get fixed when you talk to a human being.
Buying and cooking your own food. Reading the nutritional info on labels.
For me it was the moment I bought my first lawnmower.
You wash all your dinner dishes before you go to bed.
Eating a meal that is mostly vegetables.