Summer Camp Day 4 - The Surprises of Adulthood

Day 4 – What has most surprised you about being an adult?
Being an adult is wonderful, but dang if it isn't hard. I think that was my biggest surprise, how difficult things can be...how hard it is to make some really scary, life altering decisions for those you love all on your own, and how horrible it feels when you learn that despite your best intentions, your decisions didn't pan out the way you wanted them to. Everything is on you, which is such an awesome responsibility. That realization has made me very careful about what I decide for my family, especially when it affects the boys, and I take things much more seriously than a younger me would have.

Another big surprise for me is how fast time seems to pass. A summer vacation from school when I was a child lasted forever. By the end I was begging to go back. Now, a summer vacation from school seems like it is over before it even starts. The vacation of long ago and today's are the same length, but now there is never enough time.

When I think of how fast my kids are growing, I just want to stop the clock and savor every second. I wonder how it could have been that I never felt like I would get to be a teenager much less an actual adult myself and yet it feels like my own kids are going to be a teenager so soon. I literally feel like the days fly by now.

What have you learned about yourself through blogging?

Blogging has helped me see just how hard on myself I am. I've gone back to read posts I've written and have been shocked at how downright mean I am to myself. I now know I expect unrealistic perfection in my thoughts and actions from myself and yet will forgive almost anything from someone else. I am trying to give myself a break when I see that I am doing that now.

I've also learned that I am not so different than most other people--such a freeing thought! We'll just leave it at that. :-)