Stuff That is Great About Being an Adult...

Ok, here is the follow up to my last note...the other side of the coin!One of my children aspires to be an adult, and if you know my kids you know for sure which one it is. He always wants to know, "What's it like to be a grown up and be able to......?". I tell him to relax and enjoy being a kid. Adults have the luxury of, well, of being adults who can look back on childhood with fondness for the most part. From where they sit, kids must think things seem pretty rosy for us, you know? Here are all the things I can think of that make the WORK worthwhile:

1.Staying up as late as you want...So, this is one of those things that is great when you are in college and soon after. You know, when you have fewer REAL responsibilities. I love staying up late. But having to get up at the crack of dawn and drag short people out of their beds sucks, and it sucks more when you can't open your eyes. Then, the cruel irony of this is once your kids get old enough to be responsible for themselves in the mornings (I'm still semi-waiting for this!) YOU are too old to stay up late. Where is the fairness in this? But, the point being, you CAN do it if you want to ;-)

2. Eating ice cream for dinner...Now, I can't honestly find anything bad about this. I have done it before and I'll do it again. Of course there is that pesky issue of weight gain to consider....

3. Swearing and not getting in trouble...And by trouble I mean that you can't get technically grounded. Of course one can't run around swearing at work all the time (or, in my case, ever) but no one is going to wash my mouth out with soap (and yes, that did happen to me as a kid, phhhhhlaaat! gross!) for dropping an f-bomb here or there when I am feeling especially colorful. Oh, I did swear in front of my kid's friend this weekend...I called his mom and fessed up. She didn't seem too mad...

4. Buying something you don't "need"...We are not exactly "well off" but we get by. While I don't have money for huge extras sometimes I do make time for me (especially if there is a sale at AT Loft). That is the perk I get for working my butt off everyday so we can live here, right? I make my kids repeat the mantra, "We have everything we need and some of the things we want." And I do believe that, but heck, Mommy gets pretty clothes every now and then, right?

5. Getting to be right, even if you aren't...and yes, I know that this blurs with just "being the parent". But any adult can pull the, "I'm right, so there" card. Only occasionally will this get you beat up...and even less occasionally if you are a woman.

6. Driving...I love driving. It is fun and it reeks of freedom. I especially love being in the car in the summer, windows down, sunroof open, and cheesy metal playing really loudly. That is fun. Although when I get to a stoplight in town I do kind of turn down the music. I don't wanna scar any Deerfield kids by seeing Ms. K banging her head to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" at the intersection...

7. According to AJ Schmitz, the best thing about being an adult is bossing your kids around. You can make them do whatever you want. As I tell them all the time, "What's the use of kids if they can't work for you?" I love it when they want to do something or go somewhere and I can say stuff like, "Well, ok...but bring in the garbage cans, get the mail and straighten up the basement first." The best!

8. Wine...'nuff said. And it doesn't even have to be expensive...especially after the first 2 glasses.

9. Voting...Even when my candidate doesn't win I love voting. It makes you FEEL grown up, doesn't it? Although voting in my county is kinda boring. You just fill in the bubble with a marker, a scantron test! In college when I voted in Wisconsin they had actual "pull the curtain and yank down the lever" voting booths. It was so cool!!

10. This goes along with #7...Changing the rules whenever you feel like it. I can say stuff like, "No pop with dinner" and then change my mind when I want to, or when it suits me. I can do this at home and at school ;-).

Ok, what else? What is your favorite thing about being a grown-up?