Being a grown-up

I remember way back, when I got married the first time (yes, it really was in 1989 - scary, I know) thinking about what makes the transition from being a child to being a grown up. One of the things I couldn't do then was just get in a car without planning exactly where I was going. Every turn stressed me out. (I'd gotten a license right before I turned 18, but was living in Israel alone, so I didn't have a chance to drive until after I got married and we bought an automatic car.) So that was one thing... I don't remember the others - perhaps being able to buy toilet paper without feeling embarrassed... or being able to go for a medical procedure alone. I think it was an issue for me because I was always really independent. I boarded in Atlanta, 2-1/2 hours away from home, from the time I was 12. That meant getting on a Greyhound bus, ending up downtown alone, getting on a bus to school, etc. (And downtown Atlanta was pretty scary for a really shrimpy 12-year-old.) Then, when I was 16, I came to Israel in early June - for a vacation - and stayed nearly 25 years (so far). That was back in the days before cell phones. When you'd make a call from a pay phone just because it was available. And when international calls were $4 a minute AND you had to go to the international calling center behind the main post office (where you sat in a weird little booth and heard your money beep away faster than you thought possible). So, was that being grown up? Being married certainly isn't what does it... (I am not sure my ex will EVER qualify as a grown-up in my book...) So, at the young age of 40, aside from when certain-people-who-will-remain-nameless-but-don't-read-this-blog-or-know-of-its-existence-anyway start trying to tell me how to run my life, I definitely feel like a grown-up (though I've also done a good job of keeping in touch with my inner child - see my jewelry collection as proof :-)) and, as I mentioned in the previous post, my brother Ben and I developed sleeQo - a meme tool that allows you to come in, fill-in the meme of your choice & post it on your blog or on Facebook (or send it by email... whatever you want) - and I'm currently responsible for putting in the initial memes (so people will have what to fill-in when they come visit our site or when we send out the subscription newsletters).

Here are my answers to the "grown up" meme (pronounced meem):

You're a grown up when...

Rules: List 5 things that make you qualify as an adult... Tag 5 *adults* to do the same :-)

1. You can drive and park a car - and even find it once you're ready to go...
2. You can sit at a table in a restaurant alone and not feel awkward.
3. You feel like you know what you should do in most situations - and know who to ask when you're not sure.
4. You know that things that seem like "the end of the world" usually aren't.
5. You care whether your clothes are wrinkled or not - enough to iron them or choose something else to wear.

Everyone tagged Click here to fill in this meme


p.s. to paste your completed meme into Facebook, go into your Notes, press "Write a new note" and then paste in the HTML - we've made it Facebook friendly.