Growing Up

In finding old friends on Facebook it's hard not to reminisce about the times spent together during those days long ago from past periods of our lives.  Of course one of the first things we do when we discover a friend we haven't had communication with for quite some time is to attempt to make up for lost time and catch up with the current status of our lives since then.  

I find myself now communicating with people that I haven't seen in 10-15 years or so and it makes me think what's changed in my life over the last decade.  This is a good thing to because it reminds me that I celebrate my 10 year anniversarry with my wife this year and that while I haven't planned a single thing, I've got until May 1st to figure it out.

I think about the schooling I've done, the kids I've had, the places I've lived, the jobs I've had, and the friends I've made in the last 10 years.  As I recall these things with people that knew me during the earlier pre-marriage years, I still feel hesitant to accept a title my kids might bestow upon me as "grown up".  

When we were younger, we asked each other and thought about what you want to be when you grow up.  Part of me is still trying to figure that out.  I enjoy some of the benefits of "adulthood" like having a home & family of my own but there are times when I wish I could also enjoy some of the things I did when I was younger.  To some degree I haven't stopped some of those activities from my younger years like video games & cartoons but even those types of things have changed and decreased.  

Recently I had to have the discussion with my wife about "an allowance" for our kids if they accomplished certain household chores and what-not.  She initiated the conversation and I initially told her I didn't want to have that conversation because doing so meant that I had to take another step closer to assuming the role of an "adult" with "responsibilities" and making decisions for these young lives I'm in charge of.  Even though I'm 33, I'd like to believe that there's still a care free kid inside me and having this conversation mean admitting to myself that I am a grown-up and I am responsible.  

I never answered the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" with the answer, "I want to be a responsible adult with a wife, 3 kids, and a mortgage."  But now I find that it comes with the package called "The American Dream" and apparently I'm living it and I wouldn't change it for the world.  (Though I would like to travel with my family more.)     ;)