Age is weird and relative (like time)

Age, maturity and grown-up-ness have been recurring thought themes recently... and this is something I'm unfortunately unable to figure out. On the one hand, I'd consider myself a grown-up. I do grown-up things such as work, earn a salary, pay the bills, deal with Biomüll, take care of the appartment, etc. And sometimes I'll even wear my fancy-schmancy high-heels and classy professional black jacket to work. Look out!! :)

In cases such as this, people usually over-estimate my age; they think I'm in my late twenties. And I've noticed that in general, people think I'm older than I am. *shrugs her shoulders*

But then there are times where my own immaturity surprises me. For example, I'll sometimes goof off with some of the teens at the church. A couple of weeks ago, I ended up being dragged kicking and screaming across the lawn and being soaked by the baby pool after shoving the Little Rascal (he deserved it - he'd been splashing me and everyone else the entire afternoon!) in. I can't even remember the last time I got into a "physical fight." Assuming such a thing has even occurred!

And then there's the fact that I can become rather *ahem* dependent on and attached to certain people... but that's a topic for another day.

So... the clincher question, as phrased by a curious twelve-year old kiddo the other day:

Kid: "Are you a grown-up?"
Mary: *ponders a moment* "Yes..."
Kid: "Oh. Well, why do you look so young?"
Mary: "It's the anti-aging cream." (I actually didn't say this)

Actually, I don't know if I'm a grown-up. On the one hand, yes. But on the other hand, there's definitely room for improvement. So, I guess the answer would be "kind of; it's situation-dependent."

Which leads us to another question... am I a healthy balance of professional-responsible-adult and fun-goof-off-kid, or should I see a shrink to be tested for dissociative identity disorder?


Lyric of the day: We'd gather around all in a room, fasten our belts, engage in dialogue. We'd all slow down, rest without guilt, not lie without fear, disagree sans judgement..." (Thanks to Alanis)