To think joy doesn't end when Adulthood begins?

[QueSyrahSyrah]

So often on MN I see scorn poured on posters who dare to put a little importance on an occasion - with the usual rhetoric 'do adults even do Valentines?' or 'You're having a birthday party? Are you 5?' or 'WE don't even remember our Wedding anniversary' or 'A wedding invite? How tiresome. Don't go'.

AIBU to think these people are anomalies in real life? Not for not marking occasions themselves, each to their own on that score, but to be of the opinion that any kind of fun or joy is strictly for children and us Adults should just take ourselves deadly seriously, trudging glumly through life until we drop dead? I genuinely don't know anyone like that in the real world; everyone we know tries hard to squeeze every small drop of fun from life.

Life is long and often hard enough without denying yourself (and more bizarrely, others!) any silliness or cheer. The more the better I say.

YANBU at all. Life is to be cherished and enjoyed, occasions to mark are part of that. We’re celebrating Valentine’s Day tomorrow, pancake day the week after, Mother’s Day, then we’ve got a bunch of birthdays, Easter, a new baby due, I’m excited about all of it!

It doesn’t require loads of money and actually worrying about energy bills and the fucking mortgage going up hundreds in a few months make me want to find things to celebrate for free or pennies even more.

We have a bird feeder in the garden, I love watching the crows going mad on it and the pigeons being lazy sitting underneath chomping the bits that fall down.

The churchyard is filling up with snow drops and daffs. I baked some excellent biscuits last week. I made a new friend who’s lovely. My business had some good news. I’m finding joy in as many places as possible. I could drop dead tomorrow, I’m making the most of today.

YANBU - I choose to believe it's a Mumsnet thing. Even if it is a real-life thing, it's not something I've ever come across in person (although people might be silently judging) and I definitely do lots of hobbies/things that a 'grown adult' should be sneered at for doing on Mumsnet😃

Disney films + PJs
Trips to Disney (wearing ears)
PC Gaming
Giddyness at Christmas and decorating
Dressing up (costumes, not fancy clothes)
Watching e-sports
Getting really excited at the chance to go to a petting farm
I spent a good 5 minutes earlier this evening staring wide-eyed at my fish tank really enjoying watching the fish whilst giving DH a run down of all the 'cool' stuff they were doing

The list does go on... I reckon me and my DSs will have lots to do together as they get older.

I love weddings and parties. Maybe I just love weddings because I didn't grow up with much extended family so I don't associate them with childhood tedium/being a thing that there's too many of. I'm a bit sad that basically everyone's married now of our peers and it'll be a while before anyone else who is likely to invite us could be getting hitched!

I find adulthood much more fun tbh (although can’t say I had a particularly enjoyable childhood). Can’t imagine living a life where you don’t enjoy frivolities and a sense of occasion. I think those people must congregate on certain threads!

I'm glad it's not just me. We love some silliness and an excuse to celebrate something in this house.

There's a lot of it on the Valentines Day threads today, the smug 'I didn't realise Valentines Day was for adults' or 'We prefer to appreciate each other all year round' like anyone who likes to exchange a sweet or funny card with their partner or spouse is a simple immature fool.

Funnily enough there's always substantially less of it around Mother's Day which is equally driven by marketing