The concept of an adult

[bobcat]

I was thinking recently of family members who are growing up, and beginning to think of them differently, and it got me to wondering:
When does a boy become a man, and when does a girl become a woman? (Not necessarily the legal age.)
When did it happen for you and when did you begin to think of yourself differently in that regard?

 

[RadishRose]

I was thinking recently of family members who are growing up, and beginning to think of them differently, and it got me to wondering:
When does a boy become a man, and when does a girl become a woman? (Not necessarily the legal age.)
When did it happen for you and when did you begin to think of yourself differently in that regard?

I don't know.
Sometimes I think it never happened.

 

[horseless carriage]

When I turned sixty, my father, whom we were visiting at the time, couldn't get over having a son who was sixty. Dad was eighty-eight at the time, meaning I came along when he was twenty-eight. Chances are it might have been earlier but Dad spent four years in a German POW camp.

A couple of months ago my wife and I attended the funeral of her younger sister. There was a moment at the service that brought back Dad's comment. At the funeral we met the daughter of my wife's elder sister, we haven't seen her for a good few years, she will be sixty next birthday. Hold on, sixty next birthday, this is the four-year-old bridesmaid at our wedding, she can't be sixty.

My father passed away at the age of ninety-two, yet I heard his chuckle. I could just imagine him saying, "You might not have any kids, but you ain't getting out of the realisation that they grow up."

 

[bobcat]

I don't know.
Sometimes I think it never happened.

But you think of yourself as a woman now, right?

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Sometimes we grow up, realize how boring it is and go back to being childish or child like

 

[OldFeller]

When my father was in his 80s, he was in the hospital for a hip replacement . There was a guy in his 90s in a bed in the same room who when he found out my dad's age bellowed out "Ha! You're just a kid!"

 

[Naturally]

When folks started calling me mister and sir, I knew something was up
Did that make me a man? ... by no means no, but it was a milestone perhaps

 

[Beezer]

Still like the line...

'I'm old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyways.'

 

[Nathan]

When does a boy become a man

When I joined the Army at age 17 I made the transition to manhood.

 

[Myrtle]

People become adults when they are ready to accept responsibility for their actions. Sometimes that doesn't ever happen no matter how long they live.

 

[bobcat]

When I joined the Army at age 17 I made the transition to manhood.

Me too. Only at 18 and the AF.
Just out of basic.

 

[Ruthanne]

Well, I think it happened just this week.

 

[bobcat]

Well, I think it happened just this week.

Well, I like it when people don't rush into things. Lol

 

[DaveA]

I'm not sure when our kids made the transition to adulthood, but they're 66, 64, 63, and 61 and we're still having trouble keeping them in line.

 

[Gary O']

When did it happen for you and when did you begin to think of yourself differently in that regard?

I worked hard all my life, since around 13
Played hard too
But
It was all for me

Then

The birth of my first child
Responsibility for someone else, someone helpless, came to the fore

Time to man up

 

[bobcat]

When I joined the Army at age 17 I made the transition to manhood

I worked hard all my life, since around 13
Played hard too
But
It was all for me

Then

The birth of my first child
Responsibility for someone else, someone helpless, came to the fore

Time to man up

That makes sense. I guess becoming a man comes in steps, and certainly becoming a father is a serious one.

 

[Teacher Terry]

When I got married at 18 and had my first child at 19.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

When do we become adults? I'm not sure. I guess it depends on the situation and the people involved. I started to watch college baseball, because of the athleticism, and the emotions. ( For major leaguers, it's more or less another day at the office). When these college guys take off their helmets, my god, they are just kids. I lived almost 60 years before they were born. When we're young, we don't realize how young we are. It's only when you're a geezer, do you realize how new you are when you're young.

 

[bobcat]

When I got married at 18 and had my first child at 19.

It does seem that significant life events are what changes how a person views themselves in going from youth to adulthood.

 

[chic]

Puberty made me a woman pretty fast. That was undeniable, but I don't think I was really adult until I accepted responsibility on my own.

 

[oldaunt]

There are many people who never actually become adults right up til they die of old age.

 

[Kaila]

I think that I thought I did, the minute I walked down the street, away from home, as a teenager.

Now, I know it was years later that I became an adult.

Not sure when. I think it was shaped from life's events, as was said in above posts.