All Growd Up

When do you really grow up?
When are you no longer a child?
When did I cross over that liminal space of "Not a girl, not yet a Woman"
Was it when I turned 16? 18? When I got my licence? When I started College?
Or was it when I moved on campus and had to, for all intents and purposes, live on my own?
I believe it was the day I found myself advising my Parents on this wonderful, albeit painful, journey we call Life.

This came up today in conversation with the ever inspiring Ambika Singh, aka, Potato.
We bonded over how we had to Bring up our parents.
It went beautifully with the "High School Never Ends" discussion.

Ive noticed this over the past two years maybe. I mean, aside from the questions I get asked about "The Facebook" and other baffling phenomenon on the ever confusing computer or cell phone, and the questions about current slang and chat speak*, I am also questioned about serious things. Let me paint you a picture: One half of the parental unit gets stumped on how to deal with a social situation and approaches me, the offspring. I listen, call upon my 20 years of experience and wisdom, and deliver a heart wrenching, inspiring monologue sprinkled with good advice. The concerned half of the parental unit looks at me in shock and proceeds to take this advice, which then in turn renders me absolutely baffled. There is always, this exchange of surprised looks. From the parent it generally says, "When did you grow up? Only yesterday I was trying  to get you to quit sucking your thumb." My response, "Where in the hell did THAT come from? This is too fast for me, I want a bouncy castle and cotton candy!"

Somewhere between 16 and now, I grew up.
Somewhere between asking for advice and ignoring it, I started advising.
Somewhere between asking questions and demanding answers, I found myself answering.

Now, I'm the type of person who runs from growing up, my mother will testify to this. I hate the idea of not being a child, or being responsible. I want to be silly and ridiculous and have people look out for me. I want to jump about in a bouncy castle and ride that stupid choo-choo train I don't fit into anymore.
Needless to say, I was not happy with this discovery. Add graduation to that and you have a very distraught me.

The other day I found myself advising my parents on parenting.
I don't advocate this. It is a bad idea. They've managed fine till now without you telling them how to deal with you. Don't start now.
However, this situation did warrant a friendly word or 500 on the subject.
By the end of the conversation, I found myself exhausted, emotionally and surprisingly, physically. The only physical movement I had made whilst discussing said topic was holding the phone to my ear and swapping ears. I might have possibly switched seating positions once or twice but nothing more. Yet, I was exhausted. And from what I hear, once you take this job, there really is no quitting, no going back. Its a life time appointment, what the modernists call a "no exit" situation.
I'm going to take this moment to say Kudos to the Parental Unit. Trying to sort out just one situation almost got the best of me. You have brought up both me and my brother reasonably well with minimal to no damage. You have dealt with such situations on a daily basis and made it through and are still sane. You are my inspiration. Some day, I hope to have brought up relatively damage-less children.

However, until then, I shall practise on you.

Bringing up the parents.

I hear trial and error is the only way to go about it.

*Once I was asked what ":)" was. On another similar note, old people, LOL does NOT mean Lots of Love when we say it. It means LAUGHING OUT LOUD. Though chances are, the person who said it isn't. Laughing out Loud that is.