To ask what's a small joy of being an adult you didn't expect?

[pandarific]

Not at all to dismiss the hard times being had by people on the companion thread, but so we all don't end up with Monday-itis... what are some small joys you have discovered come with being an adult?

Some of mine are:

• We have a tea cupboard. It is a little skinny cupboard not much good for anything else and houses all teas, coffees, cocoa making things etc. It is organised not by category but by frequency of use, and it gives me a little burst of pleasure every time I open it.
• I worked out why our washer dryer was shrinking and felting everything in sight BY MYSELF, with the manual, determination, and extended experimentation. I was so overjoyed I told our mutual friend who looked at me like ... but I do a lot of laundry.
• Having pets. The picture attached was the morning after an eye watering emergency vet bill... FFS. But look at his little face!
• Haggling - and the satisfaction of a good deal well done. Channelling Del Boy gives me immense joy, especially when the other party is a fellow Del Boy and you can have a bit of fun with it.
• The slow realisation that I can actually make my own decisions without anyone my mother needing to approve. And that I don't need to be a Nice Girl all the time.

I love not having to tell anyone where I am going or how long I will be.

Being able to decorate my home how I like and buy what ever furniture I like.

If I want a new pet i can get one (or 2).

I can wear pj’s all day if I want too.

Being able to fart when I want at home and not having to apologize or blame the dog.

I kind of wish DH didn't do this . Although choruses of "Daddy you STINK!!" are starting to embarrass him into controlling himself.

Having a house clean to my standards. I love my Mum, and her house is by no means dirty, but she and I have different standards.

Interesting thread that got me thinking. I HATED being a child - people making decisions for me that they thought were right, and were not - awful - still affects me now. As an adult I pay for my own house, I have a garden (albeit the dog has wrecked it, and thats totally worth it!) I have my house, pets, and my furniture, all paid for by me, I make my own choices in life. I am clearly still scarred by my childhood - which is in some ways very unfair, my mum did the best she could - it was wrong for me, but she did not know that ( she and I are very different people, and my dad died when I was a teenager)

going to the cinema.
Never ever eating baked beans ever again.
Juice instead of cheap squash.
Painkillers instead of gargling TCP.
Travel sickness tablets.(I wasn't 'trying to get attention' and I never out grew it.)

To be able to determine who I spend my time with.
I have my own little family who are incredible, and i have a few select friends that i would walk over hot coals for.
So much of my youth was spent trying to 'fit in' with peers, who looking back, were twats! And living with my parents who i argued with on an almost daily basis.
It's so liberating

Not living in the town I grew up in is AWESOME!

Having a reputation based on things I've actually done not (a) had done to me or (b) supposed to have done.

Oh and no school uniform, such an overlooked source of misery. How is bizarre corporate drag supposed to help me learn?

Being able to fill the house (well - one room) with fabric, art materials, wool, and all manner of wonderful crafty stuff without somebody (mother) moaning about 'making a mess'.
And ditto having house rabbits. Who have a room of their own, and ditto 'making a mess' - l'm more than happy to put up with fluff, hay and the odd bunny currant for the love and enjoyment they give me.
Being able to eat what l want, when l want.
And OMG, LoadOfUtterBoswellocks, yes! l was just thinking about the PE thing the other day!

Getting a taxi, or even just the bus, just because I want to.

JohnMcCain, thanks for reminding me about school uniforms how I hated mine. I adore not having to wear a uniform to work and choosing my own clothes, shoes and make-up every day

And agree about not living in my home town too. Shudder

I figure out, how to move the unit in DS' room to the lounge with fish tank on top, over a car grip type thing on my own. And didnt spill a drop of water

Spending hours on the internet if I want to. ( Wasny even invented when I was a child).
Buying myself whatever I want when I want and not having to wait for Birthday / Christmas.
I’m the boss of me. ( This is more to do with being now single rather than just an adult)

Oh and a deep bath in a warm bathroom for as long as I like.
Still a thrill after 30 years.

Not sailing. I actually said that out loud, "The best part of being an adult is no-one can make you go sailing" when the team I was working with was planning a team building day on a small yacht. I come from a sailing family, we used to go sailing for a fortnight as our summer holiday, that is not a 'holiday' that is a choice between throwing up for two weeks or sleeping because that's how the sea-sickness drug works.

This is great! Mine are similar to others:

• never having to eat liver ever, ever again

Sometimes when I’m telling off grumpy entitled teenagers at work, in my head I’m thinking “yeah, but I can go home, eat icecream for dinner, have sex with someone I really like who fancies me, and then drink posh gin in the bath. What’ve you got? Homework? Ha.”

Not having to live with anyone I was scared of.
Not having to live in a rough area.
Not being nagged to look for a second job by two parents neither of whom had worked for most of my childhood because "someone your age shouldn't only work part time."
Being able to have a glass of water in my own home without my Dad coming into the room just to stare at me.
Being able to take a bath without my Dad trying to break the door down after five minutes because I'm taking too long.
Not having to eat steamed potatoes every day.
Not having to live in an area where people I don't know and am sure I've never seen in my life know not only my name but my entire life history.
Not having to socialise with friends who I secretly can't stand because they are the only available friendship circle.
When my shift finishes at work, knowing that's it for today and not having to go home and do several hours of homework.
Being able to go out without permission.
Being able to NOT go out if I don't want to.
I didn't like being a child much as you can probably tell.

Alcohol and credit cards. Used wisely, they're rather good fun.

The knowledge that never again will I have to submit to the helplessness, terror and guilt some adults engender in some children in their care.

I don't have to attend parties if I don't want to.(Exceptions apply)

Driving.

Leaving if I'm bored.

Staying later if it's great.

Saying 'no'.

If other adults say rude things to me I can tell them to fuck off.

No PE teachers in my life.

When I sew I can choose whether to pin and tack.

I get to decide what music we listen to in the car.

Hotel mini bars, room service and laundry are a choice not out of bounds

Oooh yes!! I remember on our honeymoon, my freshly-minted DH opening the wee bottle of champagne for me in our hotel room. I was gobsmacked - in a good way.

Not wishing to piss on anyone's fireworks, but also I presumed I'd left exams behind me when I finished at sixth form. I've taken three lots of professional exams in the last decade. I'm in my 50s

What a lovely idea! Place marking for the future.

Yes I had to take exams when I was 50. I thought I had left that behind a long time ago.
Also thought I had left homework behind until I started to do jobs where I had to finish work at home in the evenings.

I've thought of another one! Wearing knickers in colours other than white. My mum only ever bought white or very pale colour knickers for me. Made it very embarrassing having leaks around periods. now I wear black and navy! Go me!

What a brilliant, thought-provoking thread!

Autonomy- if I’m hungry, I can eat. If I’m tired I can nap. If I’m feeling lazy I can watch tv or play a game without judgement.

The joy of a line full of laundry drying in the sun.

Replacing things that are worn out or threadbare or dulled.

I make a big deal of my birthday.

I don’t have exams to revise for during holidays.