For me it’s moving your bed away from the side walls so it’s in the middle of the room. I had my bed to the side my whole childhood
The #1 sign of adulting has to be paying for your own stuff.
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
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 start saving boxes. You think, this looks like a good box.
I was in my late 20s and two of my uncle was having a heated argument over politics. Everyone else was quiet, afraid to say anything. I spoke out in a normal tone, not raising my voice, “that’s enough”. They stopped immediately. It was fairly surreal.
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.
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!
When throwing away a perfectly good box is a well thought out decision after the box has been in a staging area for some time while you think about it.
Most of my boxes are cat scratchers. Some of them are to paint on. A couple are in a closet in case I have to return the expensive thing that it housed.
Having the opportunity to buy cake whenever you want, having enough money to buy cake whenever you want, and choosing to not buy cake whenever you want.
choosing to not buy cake whenever you want
That’s past adult and goes into senior territory.
No, wait, I’m not that old yet right?? Right???
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?
Being around kids and being seen just like I remember seeing adults when I was little. Assumed authority and decision making power and the answer to every problem or wish.
You find yourself compulsively drawn to woodworking.
I have been working my wood ever since I became a man
I just finished my third and fourth cutting board this week.
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.
You start to wonder, “when am I going to feel like an adult?”
Starting to remember the good reasons why you DIDN’T like something in the past and trusting your past judgment.
Your body starts betraying you.
More specific to becoming a middle aged man, I started finding any sport enjoyable regardless of what it was. Additionally I started listening to history podcasts. Not sure these are gendered activities but there is definitely a stereotype that men start getting more involved in sport and history.
