When I was 10, I couldn’t wait to be 11. When I was 11, I couldn't wait to be 12. And when I was 12, I couldn’t wait to be 13 — finally a teenager. I could watch PG-13 movies by myself, paint my nails black, go shopping with friends and pick out what I thought was cute outfit, and I could FINALLY take charge of my life, no more looking back! It was all going to fall into place. Because of course, as a kid, being older meant everything was going to be better.
I was continuously eager to grow up. In my mind, turning a year older every November meant more freedom to do different things and be with friends more than my family. I was going to have it all. I told myself I was going to have that picture perfect life with all of my hopes and dreams in front of me. And the last thing I wanted to listen to was people older than me telling me that they miss their mom doing their laundry and cleaning up after them. Who would want that?
So now I’m here, 19 years old, finally understanding what everyone meant when they wish they didn’t have to grow up. Even though needing to face responsibility is a scary and stressful thing, there are some things I’d rather much do for myself now.
1. Doing Laundry
Not everyone may agree with this, but if I had the choice between my mom doing my laundry or myself? I would definitely take the option to do it myself. What if something gets thrown in the dryer when it's supposed to be hang dried! I need to make sure those articles of clothing are where they need to be!
2. Cooking
I absolutely love love LOVE looking for different recipes to try and cook. I'm never NOT on Pinterest scoping out for my next meal. Being in charge in the kitchen is probably one of the most liberating things for me -- it's my food, my way!
3. Making my own appointments.
I remember the first time I called to make my first doctor's appointment. I was nervous at first because I didn't know what they were going to ask me or what I was supposed to say. But once I got over that first call, I realized that it's one of the most simplest things to do4. Emailing my teachers.
In elementary school and middle school, I always dreaded when my mom said she was going to email my teachers. It made me nothing but sick to my stomach because emailing a teacher was never a good thing in my eyes. So now that I get to do that on my own, it relieves so much stress and pressure because I know that I'm able to take control over communicating with my teachers instead of my parent.
5. Cleaning and organizing
I was never huge on cleaning my room when I was younger. That was probably because if I always left my room the way it was, I would know where everything was. If my mom cleaned it, then I didn't know where anything went! Cleaning and organizing is definitely one of the things that I truly don't mind doing now.
6. Buying my own clothes.
Every time we took a trip to the mall, I would hurry up my mom so that I could go to Limited Too. Now that store was my heaven. Cute animated animal t-shirts and glitter galore -- it really didn't get any better than that. But here was the thing, every shirt I wanted would be in the front of the store, and my mom would ALWAYS drag me to the sale items in the back and pick out everything I didn't want to wear! Now I never have that problem!
7. Managing my daily routine
Even though I loved hanging out in the big Costco carts while we went grocery shopping, I would always get bored. And of course, my brother and I couldn't just stay at home by ourselves. But now when I have plans or need to go some where, I'm (for the most part) completely in charge of what the rest of my day looks like.
8. Budgeting
I love buying things I need and things that I don't need. But recently, I've learned to walk away from something when I don't need it which makes for a better idea of what kinds of things I'll need to sacrifice in the future because I (unfortunately) have very expensive taste. It's always hard, but I'm consciously thinking how that's going to financially affect me later.
9. Choosing my own bedtime![]()
As an English major, I'm usually up late finishing what seem to be, never ending papers. So in this case, I don't really go to bed at a reasonable time (but what college students really does?). But because I'm away at college, I get to control that which is stress relieving because I'm not confined to a bed time anymore!
10. Finding my way
Now this one doesn't really sound like much of a responsibility, but in a way it is. Navigating my way through school can get overwhelming at times, and sometimes help isn't always available the second you need it. So for the times when I have to do it on my own, I just take it day by day because I know that I'll eventually get where I need to be.
