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.

Being able to do something just because I want to do it and I can afford to do it.

Want to learn French again? I'll book a course of lessons and eat brie and drink wine during said lessons just to add to the joy of it.

Want to pick up piano again? I'll book myself a good teacher.

Guitar? Ditto - DH and I are having joint lessons

Just making decisions based on what joy it brings, not just because it's the right thing to do. In fact, I base most of my decisions around how much joy it can bring.

I don't have to justify buying new things on whether I "need" them or not
I can get them because I want them

Choosing what I like on the TV

Having really hot, deep baths

Running the tumble dryer as often as I like (and doing a ludicrous amount of washing because I never have to wear things twice Eg. Jackets, pyjamas, jeans, I even wash my slippers and towels after almost every use)

Buying books full price or in hardback not waiting until it lands in the library

Never having to spend another minute of my life on the shithole council estate in the grotty insular little dump of a town full of closed-minded inbred morons in which I grew up.

Education offered me a way out and a pathway to a different life and I am thankful for it every single day.

Not being forced to go to church

Most of mine are related to being independent of my parents...
I can leave my stuff around - I can take my coat off and leave it on the floor if I want, and abandon my shoes in any location I fancy, and step out of my clothes and leave them on my bedroom floor if that's what I feel like. Ahhhhh sweet relief. (stepmum would die if I had done it at her house.)
I also never have to eat overboiled peas or butter beans or kidney beans EVER again. (Another childhood one)
I could go on and on! Great thread! Good to remember little things to feel grateful for.

Being allowed cake whenever I want

Not having to listen to other people fighting. That's a big one for me.

The ongoing pleasure of giving less and less of a shit what people think of me as I get older.

Travelling solo. But I didn't do enough of that before coupling up and sprogging up sadly, so on hold for a while. Anyone in a position to do so, get out there now!!

TV in bedroom.
Huge luxury for me it's been in here about 6 years now and I still massively appreciate it.
When I'm ill it's a god send, it's been a god send when dd 2 was a baby! It's been a god send when I was ill and dd 2 was at home with me as a toddler!
It wakes me up every morning I love it.

Op, I thought that pic was some weird Jack fruit what WHAT abeautiful cat!!

Omg he's gorgeous! Makes me want to get one.

Yes much food related stuff too really. Yy to never ever any more liver or soggy cabbage and spinach!

Wearing whatever clothes I want from a shop of my choice not "something nice and smart". The amount of arguments over clothes from a young age was ridiculous and it wasn't like I wanted anything way out just stuff like the other kids wore.
Having cat sleep on my bed.
Baking cakes if I want too.

Bedroom telly
Food when I like
Pets what I like (I have a cat to)
Go where I like when I like
Purchase freedom
Decorating freedom

Not having to deal with my mother anymore. It’s bliss!
Also being able to go to the cupboards or fridge and have a snack whenever I choose.

Eating what I want, and the satisfaction of doing flat pack furniture! My dad is great at DIY so always just did it himself and we weren't allowed near. But it's fun!

SO MANY AMAZING CATS.

Oh the clothes thing too definitely I hated the clothes my mom made me wear. This goes for shoes too.
Coffee more than once a day.
Food different types of food. Like I can have a roast dinner on a Monday (shocked face)

I can, within reason, please myself. So if I want ten pets and to spend my holiday volunteering in an animal sanctuary, I can.

I didn’t particularly enjoy secondary school and for many years after I’d left, I’d have recurring dreams about being back at school with my peers. At some point I’d realise that I didn’t have to stay there, and walk out

^

Another one always dreaming about secondary school. I'm usually wandering the halls, feeling lost!

@halfwitpicker I dream that to about being at school realising I don't have to be there and walk out. Or I dream I'm really late for school and I'm going to get in loads of trouble then I remember oh hang on I've left 20 odd years ago hahaha

my children
Egyptian cotton bed linen
a king sized bed - all mine with a lovely duvet and masses of pillows.
being able to drive
being single - I love it.
my kindle

Eating whatever and whenever I want. Chips in bed at midnight on a Monday! The decadence

Spending the money I earn on things I like without my mother saying ‘you don’t want that rubbish’, because actually Mum, yes I do.

Being able to stay in bed past 8am without it being looked upon as a moral failing.

Not having to have a roast and watch countryfile on Sunday nights. I can go out on Sunday nights if I want to, which alleviates the ‘back to school’ Sunday feeling.

No PE and no school uniform!

Getting a buzz cut just for the hell of it

Not having to do whatever my mother wants😐

@HellsBellsAndBatteredBananas
Your room is amazing . I love it . My mother would have loved it too !

Without a doubt, going to University saved my life - I would probably be dead if I had to stay in my home town.

It is wonderful thing to not have people who 'know' you but who don't know you but you provide so much of an Outside Context Problem that they would rather try and destroy you rather than understand.

Having a properly hot hot water bottle made with freshly boiled water... my mother always made lukewarm water bottles that never really warmed my feet properly.

Yes to cats!

I can eat what I want when I want. Although this has backfired somewhat. Turns out chocolate every day WILL make you fat. Who knew?

Making the bed because I WANt to ...not because i am told to.
Spending as long in the shower as I please and hogging the bath...with more than 2” bath water
Central heating that comes on automatically...no ice INSIDE the window
I am allowed to touch the walls in my house (I don’t WANT to ....but I CAN)
If I ‘un-plump’ the cushions it is not a sin greater that those wrought by Judas and Cain combined
I wear shoes IN THE HOUSE!
Nobody can throw my stuff away...it is MINE
And this......