Take me back to Neverland!

Newborn child, seconds after birth. The umbilical cord has not yet been cut. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up? This is a difficult question for me because in many ways I don't feel like an adult now. Maybe it's because I got married so young. Maybe it's because I have gray hair and am clinging desperately to my youth. Perhaps it's because I never did the college and career thing. It's even possible I'm over thinking all this because I've not had coffee yet. Who knows.

Anyway, my first "Oh my gosh, I'm suppose to be a grown up now" moment was when we brought Little Man home from the hospital. After all the visitors left and it was just us staring down at this incredibly tiny human depending on us for his survival, something clicked inside me. I should say I questioned the nurses extensively about keeping him a little longer because he was so small, we were just kids, and I had this realization that all the books I'd read in the months before his arrival had done nothing to prepare me for this moment. They said no and made us take him home. And it was in those first moments alone, as a new family of three, that some sort of change happened and for the first time ever I really felt my childhood was over. Over at 17.

This is the point at which I feel it necessary to remind my children to do as I say not as I do and DO NOT FOLLOW IN MY FOOTSTEPS! I wouldn't trade my children for anything in the world, but I want better for them. Plus, I am still not grown up enough to even entertain the notion of being a grandmother. Young people need to live their lives and I want my kids to fully enjoy their carefree days as long as possible. Learn from my mistakes and all that jazz.

I got completely off topic. Anyhow, when did you first feel like an adult? Was it a specific moment or did it happen slowly over time?