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

[Cordroy]

I never thought grown adults would have friendship issues.

How wrong I was 😭

This and how boring and hard being an adult can be!

I'm constantly knackered, the house is never tidy and I have no idea what I'm doing, I just bumble around and hope I'm doing life right.

When we asked as kids to do something that cost too much, my mum would say she didn't have enough money. Apparently we said cheerily, "Just go to the bank and the nice lady will give you some!" No concept that you had to put the money there in the first place...

I also remember sitting on the side drive with my back against the brick wall of our house, feeling its solidity, and wondering what my house as an adult would be like. It never occurred to me for a moment (at that point in time) that I might not own a house, it just seemed to be what you did. You grew up, got a job and bought your own house.

Admittedly I first stayed with other people, then rented a bedsit, then rented a two up-two down terrace, then bought my own. £20,000 in 1997.

Was told a lot as a child that “school days are the best days of your life”.

Struggled at school and with my mental health all through childhood, so I’m very glad that adulthood is a better experience, and those weren’t the best days.

As a child, I felt like I could do anything or be anything when I was an adult. In my 30's now and can say that's definitely not true. Most people aren't going to be anything really significant or important, including myself!

The tiredness, the mental load, and constantly thinking about what to have for dinner

@Darragon Where did you think you'd put the supermarket shopping on your horse? They don't have a handy boot...

I also didn’t realise how BORING it is to decide what to eat everyday, then having to cook it. I always assumed that if you didn’t want to cook you could get takeout. I didn’t figure it was so expensive!

I do A LOT more cleaning than I envisioned.

It's waaaaay harder than I imagined, and I'm fucking exhausted to a greater degree than I ever thought I would be!

I didn't realise that being a grown-up meant doing all the repetitive stuff necessary in a household; for instance, washing and ironing clothes so you have enough clean clothes to wear while washing and ironing on another day. I fondly imagined I could do whatever I liked, whenever I liked. And going to bed early isn't the punishment I thought it was...

I used to be jealous of my dad's post, I equated it with cards with a fiver, he was getting bills, now they're all online so I get less post in my 40's than when I was 5!

Saddlebags like in fantasy movies. 🤣 My mum used to just artfully arrange it all around DSis's pushchair before we got a car so I just thought a week's shopping would fit in saddlebags.

This. I also didn't think parenting would be so tough.

When I was a child, I thought adults were safe to be with. My maternal uncle's regular sexual abuse ensured that I have never really trusted adults about anything they tell me. I only trust animals, who have never let me down.

I thought it would be like the Richard Scarry books.

I thought I’d have better/ more clothes and that I could shop for clothes all of the time!!

I thought I’d do/be something amazing and special. Now I’m content with being hum drum 😆

Astrak

Im so sorry 💝

I thought I'd be very rich - shocked and upset to find myself a squeezed middle classer.

I must admit that I thought I would automatically become nice and tidy and organised like my Mum. Unfortunately I am still waiting for that. I also thought that I would not be dull and have a mortgage and a job where I lived for the weekends. Additionally I thought that it was my parents’ fault that their children thought they were boring and my children certainly wouldn’t think that about me. As you can imagine it’s all been a bit of a shock 😮

Brilliant

When I was about 15, I ogled BMW 3 series cars and large detached tudor style houses.
I knew I wanted to work with children in a nursery but goodness knows how I thought that would fund those things!
I remember my mum saying I had better meet a rich husband (didn't happen, although he is great in many more important ways!)
And that I had a 'Rolls Royce mind and a pushbike pocket' 🤣

That you can't just open the yellow pages, call someone, they'll turn up, do the job, get paid and all done. I never imagined how much of a slog it is to find a plumber/fencing person etc, and then you second guess everything.

Also petrol tokens. We had to go to particular petrol stations as we were saving up. I loved the little catalogue. We had a set of saucepans I still use! I looked forward to my own token days...

I was a well-behaved and conscientious child who worked hard at school and got good results. I thought that kind of attitude and track record would be rewarded, you get out what you put in. On some level, that life would be fair. Reader, life is not fair...

That going to bed early would become a treat rather than a punishment