When did you become an adult?

As I listen to the radio, the topic for today’s phone in poses the question: ‘when did you first feel you changed from a child to an adult?’ 

 

I personally thought this was a very interesting question. I also think it is an interesting thought for us parents. The day we ourselves become parents, we are no longer just someone’s child but are indeed someone’s parent also. Our relationship with our own parents can indeed change when we ourselves too become parents. 

 

For me, I remember developing a deeper respect for my parents and a huge sense of gratitude for all they had done for me throughout my childhood. I was also grateful  that I still had both of my parents alive to share my early parenting years. 

 

For my parents, the day I became a mother was as equally exciting and life changing for them. They now were not only someone’s child and someone’s parent but also someone’s grandparent. I still remember the pride and love in their eyes the day they held my first born and their first grandchild. It was all so new to all of us. Their little girl had a little girl of her own and they were bursting with pride. 

 

So when do we change from being a child to being an adult? Is it the day we turn 18? The day we get our first real job? When we move into our first house? Is there a defining moment in our lives that we really do change from being the helpless child into the all-knowing adult?

 

As I pondered the question and listened to the funny responses on the radio, I reached my own conclusion that the child in me has never really gone away. I am still as inquisitive, eager to learn, and excited by new things as I was when I was young. I am also still learning every day of my life and for as long as my parents are alive, I will always be their little girl, wanting to please them and make them proud. But most of all, always turning to them for love, support and guidance when I need it most. 

 

I feel it is important for us all to embrace the child within, and allow those childlike qualities to enhance our lives and make us the best parents that we can possibly be. Although our children need guidance and assertion from their parents, they also need to see the fun that lies within us and experience the joy that comes from embracing the inner child inside us all. 

 

Gráinne Reid lives in Co. Longford with her husband and two children. With a background in social care and 14 years in the child care industry, she still finds her two little girls teaching her new things every day. You can also follow her personal blog here.

 

Image via Pinterest