"Isn't it fun being an adult?"

This was the question my mother asked me earlier today about halfway through our lengthy phone conversation. Despite the 3,073 miles that sit between my parents home in Washington and my apartment in Rhode Island, mom still always tends to get at least one sarcastic commment in that lingers in my mind and makes me think about it as reality for at least a few hours after the conversation.

Filing income taxes. Paying bills. Fighting with insurance companies. Dealing with sucky bosses. Only with adulthood do these always interesting and never straightforward topics emerge. As a child all I wanted was to be a grown-up. Now that I technically am one, with each passing day handing over to me a new and seemingly endless pile of difficult tasks that are required of me, I only wish that I had the uncomplicated life that I once held. The life where my biggest stress was what color to paint my fingernails so that they would color coordinate with my slouch socks and L.A. Gear hightops; when my largest financial requirement was the one I put on myself to place at least 50% of my weekly chore allowance into the bank; when my only fights and frustrations came with my sister when she hogged the bathroom or wouldn't get off the phone so I could talk to my BFF Stacy 24/7. Those were the days.

I guess there really is no way of going back to those days and in all honesty, I truly do enjoy certain aspects of adulthood and am eagerly anticipating what my future holds for me. However, it is difficult to not look back on those days with longing during times when my patience, perseverence and wallet are stretched to the limit.

Good thing I have those childhood memories of an easier time to hold on to...and a mother whose comments, despite their sarcastic intentions, make me think of life as it truly is.


CURRENT MUSICAL OBSESSION: "LOVE" - MATT WHITE