when did it happen?

When did I get to be the adult? No, I don't mean when was I allowed, I mean, when did it sneak up on me, capture me and post a sign above my head. Notice I didn't say that it beat me into submission, adulthood is still working on that, but I have a good hold for the moment, and I won't go easily.

Do you wonder about these things? Oh, I don't really mean the responsibility part. I do, but that is different. You can be responsible, and take care of the bills, and the important stuff and all that. Its important, and it is one of the marks of an adult. You can have kids, and be a kid (just look around the high school that I work at). I don't really mean _an_ adult, I mean _the_ adult. There's a difference. Do you think your parents felt the same way about it? I don't think mine did. They may not have had the luxury. My grandparents also lived into their late 80's and 90's, so it may not have hit my parents like it has me.

Still... I guess it has something to do with age. Time passing if nothing else. The previous generation goes, and there you are the matriarch or patriarch of your family. Whether it is because you are the oldest of the "kids" or maybe it fell to you some other way, it doesn't really matter. Responsibility I already mentioned, parenthood? I know I would like to leave some sort of family continuity to my daughter, but the family dynamics are fluid and changing. Distance and time. There are cousins and aunts and uncles that she has never met, and may never. By the time she is old enough to appreciate them, and be ready to keep the ties bound, the ribbons may be gone.

I think about it. I don't know what to do about it, really. I think about it, though. Meanwhile, get your chores done.