To ask how is adulthood different from what you thought it would be like as a child?

I thought I'd be like Ria in Butterflies.
Popping out in my mini and getting a few bits and then having reflective moments in a graveyard. Having a nice husband and nice kids and a Ruby. And being a better cook than her.

Whether or not I had a nice extra male friend - didn't really understand the affair thing at the time.

Never realised the tiredness and the repetitiveness and how friends would still be hard work. Never thought ghosting would be a thing. I thought be a nice person and everyone will love you and do stuff for you.

I thought adults knew what they were doing and are always in control.

That I wouldn’t be married to John Taylor.
There’s still time and I’m up for it if he is but his wife and my husband might object.

I thought that I would be wearing court shoes. I thought that was the uniform once you got a real grown up job, and I genuinely worried because I find slip on shoes rarely stayed on my feet.

Fortunately I have never had a job that required formal footwear!

The typical you can do what you want thing.. I can’t be bothered to do anything fun after all the daily relentless stuff is done.

Thought I would be able to do what I liked when I liked, or a least make own rules and decisions. Discovering I wouldn’t have anything like the freedom I’d imagined and way more stress than I knew existed has been somewhat disappointing

I thought life would be more social, like in Friends or the Big Bang Theory. People popping in and out. Comedy moments: To Me, To You / Pivot! Occasional mysteries to solve, Scoob.

Also thought risk quicksand, the Bermuda Triangle and spontaneous human combustion were way higher than they actually are which is zero where I live.

That life would be fair if you were a good, kind person who worked hard. How wrong I was.

I thought I'd be living on Moonbase Alpha. ☹️

I never realised what hard work everything is, how tired I would be, how many idiots are in senior positions, how ruddy expensive everything was going to get, how crap food would become, and that the world would go totally insane in 2008.

I often reckon that Hadron Collider fiddling about in 2012 ISH sent us all down the wrong leg of Terry Pratchett's trousers of time...

Same.

I also thought that I'd have a wonderful social life and would be hosting dinner parties.

I thought I'd have more freedom, not less.

I thought by 30, I’d be adulting properly and completely have all my shit together. How wrong I was.

As a child, I was obsessed with being a wedding guest and all the outfits I would wear to friends’ weddings. I fantasised about my own wedding but less so (as wedding dresses are pretty boring). I still remember some of the fantasy dresses too, 25 years later.

More generally, I was a very unhappy teenager and I could never have imagined how great life as an adult could be. I used to hate being told what to do, by teachers, parents, toxic friends etc. and having little control over my life. As an adult, I am free and independent and more or less do what I want when I want. It’s utterly fantastic.

When I was a child I thought that being 'grown up' meant that no one would ever be able to tell me what to do again. NOT EVER!

Oh, how wrong I was!

I thought I’d be a lot more glamorous, have a daring job and throw fabulous parties for my large group of friends in exciting locations. Well I usually wear graphic tees and leggings, I’m a bit of a recluse and I work in cybersecurity. Real life has a lot less quicksand and daring rescues than my childhood reading led me to believe. Also no one has dramatically asked me to save the world yet…. Still waiting on that one 😂

I’d never get married but have multiple mysterious men pining after me…

Also flying cars and aliens figured in there somewhere…

I didn't realise it would be so shit! Adulting is hard

I thought I would live with my best friend. We would talk about it excitedly and couldn't wait! Like one long sleepover.

It's a bit hard to remember what I thought it would be like, but I do know if you'd told me I would be able to choose to read during meals AND to do things like go shopping and/or go to the cinema on a Sunday, I would have thought that was absolutely brilliant, and tbh it really is.

Tbh I am still incredibly excited at most of the things I'm allowed to do as an adult. There's something to be said for a childhood involving a lot of church, hard work, long walks, visits to ancient relatives who live on bran and like to test your general knowledge, and hand me down clothes.

On a more positive note it's easier than I thought it would be though. I was the kind of anxious child who assumed I'd do badly at everything so as a result I feel like I'm actually doing quite well😄

I thought it was easy to meet a partner and fall in love but alas I’m still single in my 50s

At some point, listening to the charts and knowing all the words for the latest releases stop featuring in your priority list.

You cannot rent an office (with a half cloudy glass panel), call yourself a detective and be brought interesting cases that you can solve easily with your superior intellect, gadgets, and mayabe with some help of your niece, Penny