So only recently I’ve discovered how much being an adult sucks. Technically, I’ve been an adult since I was 18, but only recently I feel like I’ve had to become a proper adult. I guess leaving home and getting married does that to you!

Being an adult means that I have to consciously make an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables. When I was at home, my parents were constantly on me to more vegetables and lentils (yuck) and I pretty much ignored them. But my dad would usually cut a plate of fruit, in an attempt to get us to consume more fruit rather than sugary stuff, and we would actually munch on it. I don’t know what it is about cut fruit, but I’m more likely to eat it.

Now, I have to make such a conscious effort to eat healthy. Now that my dad’s not here to cut me fruit, I actually have to remember to eat it! I definitely buy it when I go groceries, but it sits in the fridge for a week until I go groceries again and am about to reach for more of it until I remember all the fruit I have left…

Being an adult means that if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. I wasn’t messy by any means, but my mom wanted everything neat at all times. So that meant that if I left something on the table the night before, the next morning it would probably be gone. If there was anything I forgot to do or pick up, my mom could send my brothers to go and grab it.

Now, I have to remember to do everything myself. If I forget to do something, I’m the one who has to go and do it. Or if I forget to grab something at the grocery store, I have to go and buy it. It makes me a lot more conscious of my time and all the things I have to do! Cooking is a big example. I love to cook, but sometimes cooking for myself is just such a chore. Sometimes I wish I had someone to cook for me, like my parents used.

Being an adult means becoming more like my mom! When I was younger, I hated doing all the stuff my mom liked to do, whether it was cleaning the house, staying home, going window shopping for fabric, dishes, or other household stuff.

And now I can’t get enough! I love keeping my house neat and tidy (although I don’t get ‘warm and fuzzy’ like my mom does after it…) and my favourite things to shop for are dishes and other household things. It’s the most fun.

But seriously, the older I get the more I feel like I’m becoming like my mom. I find myself judging things on the nature of my mom’s exacting standards. If I cut corners in cleaning or housekeeping, it’s like I can just feel my mom watching me over my shoulder and so I just do it the way she taught me until it’s second nature.

Basically being an adult is realising how much your parents used to do for you. Only after leaving home have I realised how much my mom and dad used to take care off me, even well after I had graduated. The big stuff I’ve been doing for years, but it’s the little things that I’m now remembering. It definitely makes me appreciate them more.

So all you readers out there still living with your parents: enjoy it while you can! Because you’ll definitely miss it later.