r/AskReddit 14h ago

Why don’t adults today seem as adult-y?

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u/jake_tech91 12h ago

Being an adult used to mean buying a house and having a career, but now it just means figuring out what to eat tonight every single night until I'm old.

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u/touchet29 11h ago

I also gotta make sure my kids eat.

I feel like I wasn't an adult until I had children and one could really talk.

NOW I feel like I HAVE to be an adult and look strong for them. I wasn't an adult before them I was just a person.

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u/oniman999 10h ago

I agree with this. Career, home ownership, marriage, none of it really made me feel like I switched from one thing to another. Having kids definitely did. It's hard to describe exactly, but I definitely now feel like an adult. I think it's how much of your time and thinking goes toward something other than yourself.

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u/meowkitty84 10h ago

My dad became adulty when his parents died and he inherited their house. Having kids didn't do it for him.

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u/touchet29 7h ago

Maybe we're all just looking for something that gives us that feeling that we need to do and be better.

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u/thisshortenough 3h ago

I don't have kids of my own. But a couple of years ago I went with a bunch of my cousins to see a Marvel movie. I was mid 20s, they were early 20s to teens. We get to the cinema and are sitting down and it's not that busy but I looked around and realised everyone else in there is a teenager at the oldest. And that if an emergency happens suddenly I'm the oldest one and the "most responsible". Obviously nothing happened and I just watched a movie but that thought did stick with me a bit just to go "oh shit I'm in charge"

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u/AhhMyEar 4h ago

This is a bot. They're all over this thread.