Nangle Natters: Grown up, shmown up

I just choked on Lilt. I’m pretty sure this is the grown upness I was always destined to enjoy.

What is a grown up? I’ve discussed this with a number of people over the years. My opinion wavers between calling shenanigans and declaring grown ups a myth, and thinking it’s what you are when you stop worrying about – whilst simultaneously managing to pay – your bills. Which is not to say that I don’t think grown ups experience debt. When I got my first mortgage I was congratulated on becoming a grown up, to which I replied; “what’s more adult than getting a huge debt you can’t ever imagine having paid back?” So I’m saying my definitions are flexible.

Another one I like is that point at which you see someone stop trying to ‘adult’ and finally get in touch with their childish playfulness. We’ve all seen that kid at school who was clearly aching to wear a suit or step into that twin set and pearls combo. Watching them let loose and climb a tree in their twenties, thirties or beyond is a treat to behold. Seeing someone finally living in the moment and putting that future aspiration on the back seat for even a moment is an utter privilege.

Others have told me this moment is not the grown up one, and have their own ideas. Perhaps they’re equating growing up with acting maturely, or it could be some other measurement of an adult that is their own and secret – I don’t know. I quite like to ponder it though.

That point when you see someone stop trying to ‘adult’ and finally get in touch with their childish playfulness

The silent time when it crept up on me that I might be a grown up though, was less loud and showy offy. It was a quiet realisation that I’d switched sides and hadn’t even realised. I no longer identified as one of the ‘children’, the ‘kids’. If someone muttered about ‘the youth of today’ I knew they weren’t talking about me anymore – or at least, I didn’t take offence on my own behalf. And suddenly I was a grown up. Who chokes on Lilt. Which – it turns out – isn’t half as bad as I feared it might be.