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When did you realize you were no longer a kid anymore?
(or if you are a kid smile At what point in your life do you think will tell you that you are officially not a child anymore?

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The distinction between being grown up and being a child is truly very slight, for there's always going to be that inner child in you, and you will want/need your parents at certain points in your life (a characteristic of a child).
My mother always claims that I am very mature, but I have to think that I won't truly be an adult until I have to start living on my own, paying bills, buying groceries, cooking dinner, being self-motivated to do the things that need to be done. -A_Trying_Writer

Being sexually abused repeatedly when I was 8 definitely ended my childhood, but I wouldn't say it made me feel like an adult either.
But being in a serious, adult relationship has probably made me feel finally 'grown up'. When money (or the lack of it), bills and interest is all I think about these days, I figure that means I'm officially an adult lol.
Basically I think responsibility tends to make people feel like adults. If much is expected of you, and if you get to the point where you need to make your own decisions and take care of yourself, then you've grown up a lot. - Violet Fog


I honestly can't remember when I last felt like a child vs an adult trapped in a child's body. For me the change started happening when I was 10 and became my sisters' babysitter/2nd mom. Ever since then I've felt like I had to be responsible for someone either them or responsible for myself so that my family could concentrate on taking care of them. I started paying for half the household bills when I was 17 and have been giving my mom money when she was short until I was about 23. -Awen Dana

I'm 27 and I live on my own, but sometimes I still don't fell "grown up." - Clovereffect


I grew up gradually. I was always more mature than most kids in my school.
I'm 18 now. I know I'm growing up and that I still have a long way to go. I don't know if I'll ever "grow up" completely.
I think I'll always have a bit of that inner kid for the rest of my life, and I'm perfectly happy with that. If you completely forgo childhood you won't really have a fun life at all. - Bane Rie


I've never had much of a childhood since I was five;I had enough responsibilities and problems to make me feel like an adult. I still do;but I'm trying to make up for my lost childhood now. I try to as much childish moments as I can. Life is too short and full of miseries not to have fun. And,as a dear friend of mine always says: Fun is mandatory! So I definitely try to have as much childish fun as possible. Though,admittedly;it's mostly because I'm terrified of what she'd do to me if I didn't. icon_sweatdrop.gif My friends are crazy. And scary sometimes. But that's why they're mine! I icon_heart.gif love icon_heart.gif them all. icon_3nodding.gif
Still;trying to have childhood now doesn't quite replace the one I lost. Often times I don't want to be an adult. But what's done is done and there's no going back. Depressing to think about sometimes;but that's life. - Lilithmae


I thought of myself as a child until I started to drive at 16. Then I thought of myself as not a child, not just a teenager but not quite an adult. Somewhere around 20 I started acting and think of myself as more of an adult.
Recently I've seen that even though I'm already an adult I have a lot more to learn and growing to do.
I'm 28 now and wonder when I'll start thinking of myself as old? I sold a pack of smokes to a girl the other day that just turned 18. My first thought was "I remember buying my first pack of smokes legally...." - Shatterfist The Mangler