Adulthood: it really takes it out of you doesn’t it? Honestly, the further into adulthood I get, the less often I know 1) what planet I’m on, or 2) what bloody day it is. Responsibility isn’t for everyone, I mean honestly I couldn’t look after a goldfish if I tried – but it gets thrown at us anyway involuntarily and we kinda just have to fumble through life and get on with it (preferably without moaning about it too much). We all struggle with the turn into adulthood at some point in our lives and wish we could go back to the simple days of drawing on your parents walls in crayon and not having to worry about the mess afterwards, or even just the days when you lived at home and your mum worried about what was for dinner that night. Let’s face it, we’d all probably take any scenario along those lines right now. As much as we moan about it, it is pretty fun being all grown up – but there’s definitely a few things I wish people warned me about before having to figure them out all by myself…
1) You really will be that person on the telly that spends their rent money on clothes
See, i’m pretty responsible and I don’t do this all the time (is that fair to say when it’s bill money instead of rent money, idk), but the urge is so real. When I was younger, my mum would like to get all of the new clothes shopping out of the way in one big go. Really, it was such a treat and a few times a year my mum would drag me and my sister to Meadowhall for some new clothes for the season ahead to make sure we were all sorted and didn’t need anything last minute (god I bet having a kid with ever-growing legs like mine were was an actual nightmare, sorry mum!). It was a great way to be organized, but it definitely didn’t prepare me for the payday anxiety that is trying to forget my payment info so I don’t buy anything new.
Now, i’m a bit of a monster and the day before payday my shopping urges start… And the deliveries soon come swarming into my PO Box. Latest purchase I love, my new Oliver Peoples sunglasses, woop!
You’ll run out of toilet roll what seems like daily
I think this is possibly the worst part of adulthood so far. I mean, how did our parents just always seem to have the necessities in? I don’t think I ever saw a time that there wasn’t body wash, shampoo, toilet roll, kitchen roll, tea, soap – you name it – in stock at my family home. That’s the kind of level of having yourself together that I don’t think i’ll ever reach. But really, running to Aldi while absolutely desperate for a wee is not the one at all.
Getting out of bed at 7am never gets easier
When I was younger I always used to tell myself ‘it’s fine, you’ll be used to it one day’ every single morning that I dreaded getting out of bed for school. I always thought since you did it everyday your body would eventually get used to the fatigue. Boy, was I wrong. I’m a good few years into my working life now, and I can tell you now – getting me out of bed on time for my alarm is impossible. I’ll take that snooze opportunity 15 times, thank you very much.
You’ll wonder how you ever co-inhabited with other people
(and why you argued with your family all the time)… Living with other people can be intense. We all have our own things personal to ourselves that we like to do in the comfort of our own homes. Mine is curling up in a ball and watching Netflix for hours on end. My dad’s is watching any football game on the tele he can as loudly as possible. My mum’s is moving people’s stuff to places where they’ll never find it again because I presume she’s bored so she’s just tidying – again. My sister’s is collecting rubbish in her room until it becomes an actual landfill. See, we all have hobbies. But what you don’t realize until you move out is how easy life can be without so many other people’s ‘hobbies’ around you. Ahhh, hello peace and quiet.
You’ll literally never do your groceries
I like food, in fact – like is an understatement. All I ever do is eat. Unfortunately for that part of me, I never have food in. Ever. You’ll come to my house on a weekend and you’d be able to place a hefty bet on me not having breakfast or lunch that day cos the only thing in the fridge you’ll find is an old Babybel at the back somewhere. Back in uni (when I obviously had more time on my hands that you’d ever believe), i’d make sure I was stocked up each Sunday – and even pop to the shop mid-week for snacks or whatever. But now? There’s an ongoing joke between myself and people who know me IRL about how i’ve needed to go to Aldi since August 2017. I still haven’t been. Sorry, fridge… And prospective guests.
