Friday, February 06, 2009

Grown-Up



I have trouble with the word grown-up.

To me, the word grown implies you’ve finished with the growing process, that you are done. And the word up seems to imply you’ve reached the top, the pinnacle.

I’ve done neither.

As a child, I thought being a grown-up meant having achieved maturity and wisdom. Not only haven’t I achieved these things, but I’ve encountered very few people who have.

There just shouldn’t be a word that suggests an end to growing and becoming – particularly if it also implies having outgrown giggling, playing and being silly. These things still come naturally to me.

The word adult is okay. I’ll accept being classified as one of those – no connotations of being finished or completed with this word.

I am (still) a work in progress.



********


While on the topic of maturity, playfulness, etc., although it’s not like me to bare my bathroom soul, it’s also not like me to refuse a dare. So, when Oreneta says, “Play?” – I play.

Here’s my contribution to her challenge, “What’s in Your Drawers?” (Bathroom drawers, that is.)



Observing the contents, one might conclude I’m obsessed with hair removal (3 razors…) and dental care. Not so. Rather, I have a tendency to buy new razors (new is always better, right?) but never bother tossing the old. As for the dental paraphernalia? This drawer is a dumping ground for all the freebies received from my dentist. And I do floss but obviously not as frequently as they think I should – hence, the overflow of floss containers.

If you’d like to take the plunge (so to speak) and meet Oreneta’s challenge, let her know and she’ll link to your site. You don’t have to be crazy to do this – just willing to play!

28 comments:

Attila the Mom said...

Hehehe. Oddly enough, neither of our bathrooms have drawers. Just fake drawer-like fronts attached to the cabinets.

So we have to keep our personals in bins under the sink. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I think we are all still growing, no matter what the age. I use to think widsom and maturity would come magically when I was an adult. Sadly, that never happened. I too, am a work in progress and like you, just try to do the best I can. Past issues/hurts definately play a part in my growth. As I continue to grow, I just try to do what is right for me, be compassionate and try not to hurt people. Not always easy. I do agree, laughing and being silly are a MUST!!! That's what most of life is all about. Interesting post.

If I showed any of my drawers, I could never show "my face" in cyberland again.LOL

Enjoy your weekend.

Travis Erwin said...

I read a quote somewhere that went something like this.

People tell you to shut up when they want you to stop talking so what does it mean when they tell you to grow up.

Sherry said...

I love how you think...and yes, "grown up" tends to signify that it's "over", we've hit the end of the road. I'll accept "adult", but I won't wear it like a mantle. Thanks for sharing your "drawers"!! lol!!!

Sherry said...

oh I love that quote Travis shared!!

Angel said...

HA! Well, I don't have a single drawer in my bathroom....but I do have a plastic bin under the sink that holds all my ...."stuff"....If I get brave enough!

Shari said...

I always said, "When I grow up...". LOL. When I went back to school, I said, "I don't know what I wanna be when I grow up." Frankly, now that I'm done with school, "I still don't know what I wanna be."

Im ny bathroom drawer, which one?? The first one has brushes and combs of different sizes, deodorant, and an electric razor of Hubby's that he never uses (he uses the manual kind).

Charlotta-love said...

When I was younger, I thought 'grown up' meant staying up past 8:30 so you could eat ice cream. Now that I'm 'grown up', I hardly eat ice cream. Where did my priorities go?

Sornie said...

To me being all grown up means that you should drive the speed limit (maybe even under the speed limit) and always have your hands at ten and two. I don't want ot grow up because those are the last two things I'm clinging to.

Beth said...

Attila:
My "personals" are also in a bin below the sink - hence, no picture!

Cheryl:
When my kids were little, one of them asked me, "What are you going to be when you grow up, Mom?" That certainly gave me pause.

Travis:
Either one - a futile request!

Sherry Lee:
Happy to share my "drawers" - just won't buy any for you!

Beth:
You're brave enough - do it! Oreneta will be thrilled (and proud).

Shari:
And that's because "growing up" is a never ending process1

Charlotta-love:
Once you're allowed to do something it sort of loses its (forbidden) appeal. Bet you have other (forbidden) priorities now.
(Hope school is going well - miss your blog.)

Sornie:
I read your blog. Those are not the only things you're clinging to!

oreneta said...

It's so colourful!!! Pretty! You must have teeth like mine, really close together so you have to use that flat floss. I like that mint flavoured stuff, not too bad tasting.

I used to think that the mark of a grown up was that they had cash in their wallet for more than an hour at a time. Still not there yet.

Bee said...

I'm on-growing?

Anonymous said...

Puhleeze.......hair clips? I AM rolling on the floor. That is NOT your drawer. OK, maybe it is but it's from the 70's. LOL

Beth said...

Oreneta:
I TOLD you my drawer was like yours! And, yes, flat floss only - mint flavoured.
The sign of being an adult is having cash (even if it goes quickly) - not just change.

Bee:
On-growing. (Always.) I like that.

Anon.:
They're mine and the picture was taken yesterday! True as true. And I use them - to keep my oh-so-long hair out of my face when washing. (I'll show ya!)

The Bodhi Chicklet said...

I agree, the word "grown-up" is odd. I can't hear it without thinking of the Star Trek episode with the "grups". There's the child in me, I guess. The same one who hoards things in her bathroom closet....

The Guy Who Writes This said...

You must have wonderful teeth with all those dental products.

bjkeefe said...

Evidently, we are all post-teens.

@Bodhi: I'm with you -- grup is permanently stuck in my head, too. "Buck buck, on the head, buck buck!"

Beth said...

Bodhi Chicklet:
Grown-up/grup - there is no good word!
As for "hoard" - I prefer to use the word treasure.

Guy:
I would have wonderful teeth if I consistently used all those products...

Brendan:
Or worse, pre-elderly.

Anonymous said...

i don't worry so much about being grown up. it's just a label.
and to say i'm developing sounds... well, indecent or inappropriate somehow.
maybe that's my biggest 'maturity' problem: being inappropriate.
so i try and try and try to be appropriate. that's what adults have to do.
but the more appropriate i am, the less i like myself.

Anonymous said...

The whole concept of 'grown-up' is a bad joke; I used to think it meant having the world all figure out . . . ha!

I remember being in my 20s and waiting for some kind of epiphany, and here I am in my 40s and I'm still waiting.

still waiting still waiting

I have a bad feeling about this . . .

Beth said...

Seraphine:
Don't strive to be appropriate. It's highly overrated. Trust me.

Trish:
Never mind that "bad feeling." Think of it this way - Peter Pan and the boys in Never Never land were right all along.

Anonymous said...

I think it's more important to strive to be a good person rather than to strive to be grown up. Growing is continual and not stagnant. Maturity is a process too. But doing right by others and sticking to what's ethical and loving are standards I want to live by. Maybe we should be asking ourselves what it means to be loving rather than what it means to be grown up?

Lainey-Paney said...

...I don't feel like a grown up either.
Sometimes it's overwhelming when I feel so inept & yet, I'm "in charge of"/resposible for the upbringing of another human being. ***I'm**** supposed to mold this little impressionable being into a good, kind, and contributing member of society?!

Patti said...

My children often ridicule me for being immature. But I ain't playin'. Our house was built when Lincoln was president, we don't have drawers in the bathroom.

Anonymous said...

Grown-up. I think that it means that you've physically reached your pinnacle, and from here on you must rely on yourself. And the punishment for not taking care of yourself: a few years or decades down the line, you will start shrinking. That's called growing-down.

Anonymous said...

my drawer is a mess. i can't find anything in it, and if i try, the drawer falls out. one day i'll fix it.

Gary said...

Mmmm, yes, 'grown up' is a strange concept. What do you think makes someone and adulut? (I've heard lots of answers to this question).

Interesting drawer!

Cipriano said...

I'm currently at Starbucks, so I can't do it right now, but this posting has made me think that as soon as I get home I am going to grab my camera and take a photo of the inside of my drawers.
[Well... you know what I mean, right?]