The "I've never been able to actually write this" Blog.
I've started to write this blog about 10 times now, but continually back out. I'm not entirely for sure why. Maybe I'm not enjoying the beats its taking, or it feels pretentious or something. Well, today...I'm writing it.
I keep reading "30 is the new 25" or "40 is the new 30" Thank Christ, because I'm taking my sweet ass time in age.
I've taken a while longer to grow up than most people I know. When I say "grow up", I'm not talking mature. I've felt since a young age that I was fairly mature. I mean, I still make dick and fart jokes. But taking care of business...that sort of thing. The growing up I'm talking about is more along the lines of getting married, having kids, buying a house. But do those things even really constitute being a grown up? I see television shows where people are getting married, and having kids while in High School. They seem to be about as mature as middle school child.
And its not like I'm against marriage or having kids...or buying a house even. I'm getting married in October. Its just that...I didn't see the point of rushing in, like 99% of my fellow graduating class did. I feel like I've been able to experience so much more, that if I had gotten married, or saddled with children at an early age. Would have I been able to go to Mardi Gras for the first time? What about bar hopping in downtown Nashville? Going out of town on a whim? Meeting people that I consider life long friends?
Now, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with getting married, or having children right out of High School. A lot of people seem to be perfectly happy in those decisions. But I also see quite a few folks who are miserable, or have since divorced.
All this makes me believe, that despite what my mother has told me, that maybe...just maybe...I was on the right track. She used to tell me "if you are single now, then all your friends (from HS) who are getting married and having kids will be more free when its time to retire to do fun things while, you'll be behind them."
Which made no sense. Why would I want to wait to retirement to enjoy my youth?
Does getting married make me feel like I won't be able to still do all the awesome things I did when I was single? Absolutely not. I'll have someone to do those things with. I'm absolutely happy that I waited to become a grown up.
I keep reading "30 is the new 25" or "40 is the new 30" Thank Christ, because I'm taking my sweet ass time in age.
I've taken a while longer to grow up than most people I know. When I say "grow up", I'm not talking mature. I've felt since a young age that I was fairly mature. I mean, I still make dick and fart jokes. But taking care of business...that sort of thing. The growing up I'm talking about is more along the lines of getting married, having kids, buying a house. But do those things even really constitute being a grown up? I see television shows where people are getting married, and having kids while in High School. They seem to be about as mature as middle school child.
And its not like I'm against marriage or having kids...or buying a house even. I'm getting married in October. Its just that...I didn't see the point of rushing in, like 99% of my fellow graduating class did. I feel like I've been able to experience so much more, that if I had gotten married, or saddled with children at an early age. Would have I been able to go to Mardi Gras for the first time? What about bar hopping in downtown Nashville? Going out of town on a whim? Meeting people that I consider life long friends?
Now, I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with getting married, or having children right out of High School. A lot of people seem to be perfectly happy in those decisions. But I also see quite a few folks who are miserable, or have since divorced.
All this makes me believe, that despite what my mother has told me, that maybe...just maybe...I was on the right track. She used to tell me "if you are single now, then all your friends (from HS) who are getting married and having kids will be more free when its time to retire to do fun things while, you'll be behind them."
Which made no sense. Why would I want to wait to retirement to enjoy my youth?
Does getting married make me feel like I won't be able to still do all the awesome things I did when I was single? Absolutely not. I'll have someone to do those things with. I'm absolutely happy that I waited to become a grown up.
Congrats on your upcoming nuptuals! I had Joseph at 23...and most people I went to high school already had 4 year olds by then. I felt like an old lady having a kid at 23! It definitely does make things so much harder, I'm the first to admit it. You can't do things on a whim anymore. Everything takes careful planning. Our vacation we are planning for next year is going to cost a third more because we have an extra plane ticket to buy, and an extra mouth to feed. One third is a lot when you're talking about $1000 to $1500. You're on the right track. I wouldn't change my life for anything, but it is absolutely the right way to go to travel, have fun, and live before settling down. I wish I had done more of it myself. It's so much more difficult to do these days. But I also want my kiddo to be worldly and recognize that there is moer than this small town so that he'll aim for more than being another townie. So we'll definitely be doiung more traveling! Congrats again!
ReplyDeleteI love this - I'm so happy we're making this jump and journey together. I have been thinking a lot about this as well. I was always the oldest of all the neighborhood kids growing up and oddly enough sometimes felt so far behind them in aging. Again I was mature, but in no rush to leave the nest, or get married or do "grown up" things. I'm happy we too our time in life - if either of us rushed into marriage we never would have met. In the end I think we've made the right choices for ourselves :)
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