Stuck in NeverNeverLand

So when is it that you officially become an adult? I feel like I've always been a kid, but I just keep getting older. By law it's when you're 18, but I think of the 18 year olds I know and think of myself when I was 18 and yeah, I don't think so! Is it when you graduate college? When you get a real job? Whatever that means. Why can't making coffee for people every day be a real job? It has the bad wrap of being the transitional job...something you do while you are preparing for something else. I miss those barista days so much...they were so much fun and you can go home and not have to think about work when you're not there. So do you suddenly become an adult when you get married? I have to admit, my sister acts more like an adult now. She fits the profile: homeowner, high-paying job, gets up early in the morning, makes dinner every day. Subscibes to Family Circle and shops at Coscos. I know its all a matter of perception. The kids call me Miss Young and its really wierd because I don't feel like a Miss anything. I feel like I am really kicking and screaming this adult thingy. I want to listen to my music, buy clothes in the kids section of Target, stay out late at night and never have a mortgage. But then sometimes there is something really attractive about not living at my Dad's house anymore, buying pretty dinnerware and having a real job...whatever that means. I am so close to having my credentials and I am so excited. I've worked so hard for this and I am realizing more and more that this is what I was created for. I couldn't really think of a better job for me. And being a teacher does not necessarily tie me down...I can teach in Zimbabwe if I wanted to. It's probably one of the most flexible jobs there is. Please excuse all the stereotypes. I know all too well I'm an adult...I'll be thirty in three years for crying out loud! And I know that my students need an "adult" if that means, someone who they feel safe with, someone who will care enough about them to give them guidelines...not the cool babysitter teacher. I realize the huge responsibility of teaching in the larger sense of the word...we are judged by higher standards. I embrace this because it reminds me that I cannot do it right without HIM as MY teacher. He has made me who I am. My own accomplishments are garbage in comparison to the work He has done in me. All that said, I better go jump in the shower, button up my collared shirt, throw on some slacks and go be an adult somewhere. We all know the truth...I'd rather be watching cartoons.