Millennials! Come one, come all! I have news for you, it's a doozy so I hope you're sitting down.
Adulting is a made up concept.
Are you okay? Do you need some water? I know it's hard to believe. But it's true, go look in a dictionary you won't find it. It's a word we made up to make ourselves feel proud of everyday things we're expected to do. You're not alone in using this word, I used to throw that word around like a valley girl saying "like" while telling a story. Until I realized how un-"adult" it actually made me sound. Going to work, paying bills, not sleeping all day, running errands are all things we're expected to do when we get to a certain age and giving it this name of "adulting" just makes us sound like little kids playing pretend.
When did having a job become an adult thing? Depending on the state you live in you're able to get a job at 16, last time I checked you're not a legal adult until you're 18. Jobs aren't just for adults, so saying you're adulting by having a job isn't a valid statement. Calling paying bills adulting is a little more understandable, but again it's something expect of you to do no matter your age. Wow, you ran errands today and bought things you needed? Such adult, very wow. NOT. You fulfilled a task so you had things you needed, a basic human task.
You know what is a little embarrassing for our generation? The fact I googled "adulting awards" and found out you can buy these awards for yourself and others
These are basic human tasks, not you "adulting." Don't get me wrong there's days literally all of these I deserve, but when I deserve them I'm not tweeting about how much adulting I did for the day because none of that should be considered being an adult. Two Youtubers I love Dodie Clark and Carrie Hope Fletcher posted a video of a song Gold Star For Me. The concept of this song is fairly similar to calling putting pants on for the day adulting, but instead giving themselves a gold star. Although this could seem a bit childish as I mentioned adulting seems because when you think of giving out gold stars you think of elementary aged children. But I'd rather have a gold star for a minor task than sounding proud of my self for being an adult for the same minor task that shouldn't be a measure of how much of an adult you may or may not be.
Whether or not you continue using the term "adulting" after reading this article is up to you, but if you want more adulty adults your parents age to think you're the adult you are I'd maybe reconsider using the term.