I STILL Don’t Feel Like an Adult

It’s one of my favorite stories about my daughter.

She’s three years old and we’re working together on a craft. We get to a part where something needs to be cut in half. Lydia looks at the scissors and looks at me.

“We need a grown up for this part,” she says.

I confidently reach out, grab the scissors, … and look all around the room for a grown up.

My daughter, bless her naive heart, laughed. She thought I was joking. After a second I laughed, too, and cut the paper (poorly).

That story will always stick with me, initially because it was one of those amazing belly laughs kids give out when they think something is especially funny and they don’t know, yet, that people judge you when you laugh too loud.

But also because it was the first time since my daughter was born that I actively had the thought, “Oh hey, I’m an adult now.”

Up to that point, I had a job, I paid bills, I had owned a house, shit I had become a father. I never actively put into words the idea that I was an adult. A real, honest-to-goodness, grown up.

Today, I dropped off my daughter’s school supplies for first grade. I walked through the halls, with her holding one hand and my other hand holding grocery bags full of glue sticks, folders, and other supplies.

I looked at all the other people. All the other parents with their kids. They were all walking with such confidence, as if they knew what was going on, and they all just seemed like adults.

I didn’t feel like one. I still don’t. So what do you do?

I’m honestly still new to blogging, just like I’m still (relatively) new to feeling like an adult. This probably isn’t going to be a place you go to find resolution. Really what I want to do is to provide an outlet to let people know they’re not the only ones. You’re not the only one feeling the way you do. If you’re a parent, but you’re not sure you’re doing it right — whatever “it” is — this is a place for you.

If you want to talk about sports, but you don’t hear your topics discussed on First Take? Oh, this is definitely a place for you.

So stick around, ride this roller coaster, and please always feel free to reach out.

Shane's Life is a Fantasy Blog

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This is a companion blog to the podcast of the same name. Here we will write deep dives into topics that interest us. Ranging from sports, to politics, to beer.