Soapbox

Auspicious Day

Today is the 18th of April. In addition to being Paul Revere Day, it is my daughter’s half-birthday. This means that 6 exactly months from today, my baby will be an adult.

Gulp.

I mentioned this to her this afternoon as she was driving herself home from school, and she rolled her eyes like I was telling her the sky is blue. Apparently this is something she is keeping a close eye on.

    "Yeah, I was making a list of all the things I can legally do, once I’m 18" she said.
    "Like…?"
    "I can vote. I can join the military, I can get married- I was going to say I can have sex whenever I want to, but I think in Ohio the age of consent is 16, which is just dumb if you ask me… "

Yeah, me too. And anyway kid- you can never have sex whenever you want to. Life doesn’t work that way.

    "You can sign documents and consent to surgery, run for office, at least most local ones, and get a loan." I offered.
    "I don’t have to obey juvenile curfews, and I can buy cigarettes, and I can get a tattoo or something weird pierced, if I want" she commented, changing lanes.
    "Oh, and don’t forget that when you’re 18 your parents can kick you out of the house and make you support yourself." I added cheerfully . "Just in case you’re considering the tattoo thing."

Wow. 18. What an auspicious occasion that will be. Life changes when you turn 18, right? I think back on the big, important changes in my life after I turned 18… ummm, well…Ok,  life didn’t really change much at all. I finished high school, which was nice, and got to move out of the house into a dorm for a year. That made a bit of a difference in how much of an adult I perceived myself to be. Of course the next year I was back home again, so it was short-lived independence. Back then 18 year olds could buy "low beer", but I hated beer, so I never did.

Truth be told, 18 sounded like a big deal, but it turned out not to really feel like one. (Not nearly as big a deal as I think 50 is going to be!) There was still so much growing up left to do; at least for me there was. I think the biggest "You have arrived" moment for me was getting my first book of checks, and then my credit card. A credit card meant you were definitely an adult!  We pay for it, but technically, Katie has had a credit card for a year and a half, and while she’s responsible about it, boy does she know how to use it! I think that in many ways, she is more grown up now than I was at 19 or 20.

And here I am on a gorgeous spring day when my youngest child, my little Katie Belle is 6 months from legal adulthood.
Which makes me 6 months from…. ?
Uh oh. Best not to go there.