3 Things I Love About “Adulting”*

A few years back I put together a post about things I hated about “adulting”. I was 28 and I can honestly say in the last 6 years (and of course the last few we’ve lived through a Pandemic) things have only felt even harder. This year especially. I often feel like every few years I have a “bad year” 2012 and 2013, 2017.. they were all bad year. And although 2020 was a bad year for the world, it was good for me.. but 2021 and 2022 have been another story. I’ve reached the point, four months into 2022 where I’m manifesting something good to happen, just one thing to give me a bit of hope!

I’ve also sat down today to write an article about things I do actually love about being an adult. Because while right now I’ve hit a rough patch, on the whole, I enjoy being an adult way more than I enjoy being a child and living under someones rule and roof. Yeah, adulting is hard especially as a single mum, but would I want to go back and live those teen years? Hard pass.

See if you agree with any of the things I love about adulting;

No Guilt For Treating Myself

Okay, this isn’t 100% true. I do get some guilt when I treat myself anything big and I know I shouldn’t as all the money coming into the house is mine and no one could ever argue that my kid doesn’t have a great life. So I do try to keep my treats small, and one of those monthly treats that I savour every moment of, is investing in good coffee. It’s my one big thing. I got a coffee machine last year for my birthday and I love it. I use it daily to brew fresh coffee and it makes the house smell amazing. Even better than an expensive candle, and I can’t really ingest that!

I really splash out on real coffee because to me, that first mug in the morning is vital when it comes to starting my day. Roastiva Coffee Roasters is the kind of brand I usually go for. A small business that tells exactly where it comes from and how it was roasted. Good coffee is a passion and I like to drink coffee for pleasure, as well as the caffeine boost. It really is the little things that make life worth living, and knowing I get up every morning to a good cup of coffee helps even on the bad days so I never feel guilty about buying it.

Getting to Make The Plans

As much as I love my Dad, he’s a control freak. Even at 34 because I don’t have a partner he feels like he should have some say in my life and how I live it. The great part about being an adult though is I get to disagree with him now and go my own way. Obviously as a kid living under his roof this wasn’t something I had any control over. My parents picked the holidays, the days out and just generally made the plans. We stopped going to America when I was 14 and started going to this really boring Greek island. Yeah of course I was thankful for the holiday, I went, I smiled and the food was good, but being an incredibly pale skinned with ginger undertones girl, lying on a beach for 10 hours a day was not my thing. I’m definitely a city break kinda gal, and once I was an adult with my own income, those were the trips I could choose to go on. I love this aspect of being an adult. I love that I make the plans and book the hotels and flights that suit me and work for me. I’m truly blessed I got to go on holiday with my family as I know back in the 90s/00s that holidays were a luxury, but being so different from my parents, I’m glad that this is my time for choosing where in the world I want to explore, and knowing I won’t have to spend two weeks sunburned with prickly heat!

And while I’ve focused on the big things such as holidays, I even like having control over the little plans? Like if we’re going to stay in our pjs all day (something my parents never ever allowed) or if we’re going to have take out for dinner! Those day to day “fun” plans that I as the adult get to make really do make some hard weeks easier.

Doing the Grocery Shop

Speaking of food, I’m the weirdo who loves to do the grocery shop. I know this isn’t a thing for everyone, but I love doing the grocery shop and planning meals. When I was really young, my mum didn’t work, so we lived on one income. Money was incredibly tight until I was about 9 and that meant food shopping was a military act and my parents always bought the same things week in and week out. As an adult I’ve realised that’s not exactly a cost effective way to shop, but I guess by buying the same thing they could see the price fluctuate? These days when money is tight I buy whatever is on offer and make meals that way. Not only does it keep my shopping a similar price, but it means we get varied meals and that for me is the important part. Growing up we ate the same thing on the same day every week. Monday was corn beef hash or stovies, Tuesday was tuna bake, Wednesday was something from the freezer, Thursday was some kind of pasta, Friday was chicken done in the deep fat fryer, Saturday was freezer and Sunday was a roast. I never got any say and if I didn’t like it I went without (woo the 90s!) When I left home I was so excited to teach myself how to cook from scratch and have something different every day. I officially left home almost 16 years ago now, and while yes, I have a rotation of meals that I do cook on a regular basis, it’s mixed up enough my daughter never grumbles. I like having that control, and although that meme about adulting just being deciding what to have for dinner every night until you die sums things up, since getting my slow cooker from Swan (use my discount code LIVVYBIRD20) in February it’s opened up even more cooking ideas and has made things so much easier and more enjoyable. I 10/10 would recommend (especially with rising price in energy, did you know slow cookers are the most energy efficient?!)

Yeah, adulting as us Millenials say is really, really boring and often really stressful, but I wouldn’t go back to those awkward teen years for anyone, I’m the adult now and I like to be the one in control of my life, no matter how messy it often feels!