Being A Grown-Up

I had this thought as I opened the dishwasher to begin unloading it.

Children like to pretend that they are grown-ups.  They play house.  But being a grown-up means taking the responsibility and initiative to do the things that need to be done.

Nobody loves unloading the dishwasher or putting out the trash.  But these things need to be done.  Kids might do such things - but usually under pressure from an adult.  Adults see that things need to be done, and they decide to do them because they accept the responsibilities of adulthood.

Adults get up in the morning to get to work and do the things that need to be done.  Adults go to their job everyday, even when it is difficult.  Adults take care of business, focus on their work and care for their children.  They plan meals, do grocery shopping, do the laundry, mop the floor and fix the broken window.  Grown-ups live in their budget and make sacrifices.  Grown-ups clean up their own mess - and often the messes of others. Somewhere between infancy and adulthood we transition from everyone else taking care of us to being responsible to take care of ourselves and others.

To some extent this is a constant struggle against our innate selfishness.  We want to be served rather than to serve.  We want to be entertained rather than to expend mental and physical energy on work.  We want to sleep in.  We want to eat, but we don't want to cook.  If we cook, we don't want to clean up.  If we clean up, we don't want to empty the drainer.

So we sigh.  But because we are grown-ups we go ahead and take responsibility and do what needs to be done.  Maybe we are pretending a little bit ourselves, but we go ahead and empty the dishwasher - eventually.