17 Apr 2011

I'M A GROWN-UP? WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

"When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."
 I Cor. xiii. 11.

Many thanks to Jenners for a post that was both funny, bemusing and kind of depressing (but in a nostalgic kind of way) all at the same time.

Yes, I'm talking about her GROWN-UP MOMENTS post in which she chronicles the moments in which she realised the time had come to put away childish things - yeah, right!!!!!! - and become an adult. Times like when she ........

  • ate cookies and ice cream for dinner … and no one stopped her.
  •  realized she could set her own bedtime.
  • smiled to herself at the antics of younger folks—in exactly the same way that used to annoy her when she was one of the younger folks.
 Sound familiar?

I thought so.

So here's my list of the moments that made me realise I was (gulp) a grown-up.
  • When I realised that pulling a 'pet-lip' and stamping my feet didn't look cute any more and certainly didn't get me what I wanted.
  • When people began to look at me strangely if I had chocolate/ice-cream smeared all across my face.
  • When I realised I could sleep without Snowball, my beloved stuffed toy rabbit.
  • When my shoes no longer had to have velcro, buckles OR even laces.
  • When the cute puppy/kitten posters on my wall were replaced with Leif Garet posters.
  • When I stopped getting the lecture about men with dogs/sweets who were around every corner waiting for little girls like me AND began to get the lecture about boys who were hanging around street corners waiting for a not so little girl like me.
  • When the candles on my birthday cake became a serious fire hazard.
  • When I began to see the appeal (namely firemen) of my cake candles setting fire to the house.
  • When I realised I was old enough to go on an 18 To 30 Holiday.
  • When I became a Mrs.
Still, its not all bad ......


When it comes to the big stuff, grown-up, ok then, middle-aged brains outperform the rest.

In her book, THE SECRET LIFE OF THE GROWN UP BRAIN, Barbara Strauch argues that 

 on a range of cognitive skills, the middle-aged brain (roughly aged 40-68) outperforms all other age groups. There are a few tricks we lose – for example, retrieval of information such as names and a slight slowing down – but that is more than compensated by the huge gains in many of the most important forms of brain performance.
The middle-aged brain has developed "powerful systems that cut through the intricacies of complex problems to find concrete answers. It more calmly manages emotions and information. It is more nimble, more flexible, even cheerier." On four of six key mental abilities, the peak comes in mid-life. It can size up situations better, draw the connections and see the wider context; this enables better judgment. It appreciates subtlety and ambivalence. In research on wisdom – what it is and who has it – one study concluded it peaks at about 65 after a sustained accumulation through mid-life. - Madeleine Bunting, The Guardian (11/04/2011) READ FULL ARTICLE.






18 comments:

Unknown said...

You make a good point about th firemen, I think I will have to have candles on my cake this year!

I think I first realized I was an adult when I had to get a job, pay rent and bills and still make sure I had enough money left for food.

Arti said...

Well a great post Tracy. We have all been through these moments... Since I am the smallest in my house I still get away with some silly stuff sometimes!!!
Have a lovely day:)

The Bookworm said...

I just came from jenners blog and saw her post too. lol about the candles on the birthday cake :)

R. Ramesh said...

haha as they say, to be childlike is a blessing, to be childish is stupid

BookQuoter said...

How true, how true, same here with all your observations. But oh, to be a child again, to not feel guilty nor ashamed to do some of those things one more time:(

Kelly said...

I enjoyed Jenners' post and yours was every bit as enjoyable!!! I can relate to several of yours, too! I'm glad you decided to do your version.

Dorte H said...

What a great and thoughtful post!

I loved being a child, I quite like being a grown up, but I found the bridge between them fairly daunting.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

I was going to say I'm never growing up... and then you brought up fireMEN... hm... I may have to rethink that. :)

Alexia561 said...

Ice cream for dinner is a wonderful thing! My ah-ha moment came when I ate an entire bag of pretzel rods in one sitting. My mom would only let me have one at a time when I was a child, so that's one of the first things I did when I went away to school. Childish & caused a tummy ache, but oh-so-satisfying! :D

Kate said...

Love this post.

Firemen... Mmmm...

Being a teacher, "Mrs." hit home really quick. Also...

*Making a very conscious effort to take care of my skin and my "crows feet" and "puppet lines".

*Trading in my little red car for a sensible SUV so we can haul stuff to the dump.

*Being in my sister-in-law's wedding - she's 4 years younger, and if you look at the pictures, I LOOK like the older bridesmaid.

*Realizing that weight comes on much faster than it used to... :(

tattytiara said...

Haha, when my mom turned 60 I got 60 candles lit up on that cake! Every balloon in the room exploded. It rocked.

Gina said...

Great post Tracy but oh...put away the fun stuff? Never! ^_^ Though there are some trends and things that belong to the younger age group alone. Like glitter belts and chunky white sneakers....yeah, saw this combo on a lady the other day...lady as in older mom type person....yeah, not a good look. O_O

Anonymous said...

This is another of your great fun posts! By the way, who or what is Leif Garet?
Re, “When I became a Mrs” – I can’t comment. That’s never happened to me…..
Take care.

All the best, Boonie

Jenners said...

Oh this was wonderful...but points off for Leif Garrett! HAHA! And I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed reading that article excerpt...it made me feel much better about the whole thing.

Revd. Neal Terry said...

Well then 'Mrs', I supose that's my fault as well is it? Considering our engagement wasn't much of a proposal and more of a mugging.

Dorte H said...

I wonder who mugged whom? ;)

Revd. Neal Terry said...

I am always the victim Dorte.

purplume said...

Oh good next year I peak at my wisdom.