All grown up

As I was getting ready for bed the other night, I was considering skipping brushing my teeth. That's probably unthinkable to some of you, but I really don't like brushing my teeth, especially at night, when I just want to get in bed as quickly as possible. But, I went ahead and did it.

When I was younger, I used to skip brushing my teeth all the time. So I asked myself, "Why won't I let myself skip anymore?" Then I realized, "Because I'm a grown-up now." The realization was a little startling. I truly am a grown-up. It's hard to believe that, and I think the main reason is that being a grown-up is nothing like I thought it would be when I was a kid. When I was younger, these were the things I thought I would most enjoy about being an adult:

• Going to the grocery store whenever I wanted and not having to wait for mom's scheduled trip. Ha! I would love it if Mom still did my grocery shopping for me. And I have a weekly trip. If I run out of something before then, I often just do without.


• Buying whatever I wanted. Well, I guess technically I can, but I don't because I don't have the money.


• Eating out whenever I wanted. See above.


• Skipping church if I was really tired. I've never skipped on a Sunday morning and have very rarely skipped Wednesday (now, Thursday) nights.

It just seemed funny to me that most of the things I thought I would do when I was an adult (spending money, skipping church, etc.), I don't do because I am an adult. Being an adult involves a lot of doing stuff you don't want to do! (Not that I don't enjoy church; it's just that there are times when I would really like to stay home but I go anyway.) Now, don't get me wrong, I like my life, and I do plenty of things that I enjoy. Overall, I think being an adult is pretty fun. But being a kid was super fun; I don't think I appreciated that enough.