Responsibility

Being an adult is weird. All I really want to do is play Portal, but instead I do a whole bunch of other stuff that’s really lame. Pssht. Stupid responsibility.


I remember being taught responsibility when I was a kid. I think everybody has at least one encounter with their parents or teachers or babysitter where they look up at the more experienced person and swear that “when I am an adult, I...” will or won’t do whatever the authority figure is trying to make them do or not do.


When I was a kid, I swore that I would always have pepperoni in my refrigerator, just in case I wanted a snack. (There is some there right now.) When I was a kid, I swore that I would never make the bed. (You’re just going to unmake it again when you go to bed... I still don’t make it very often.) When I was a kid, I swore that I would play all day and never do any chores. (That one didn’t stick, thankfully.)


Most days, I plan out what I’d like to get done (work and other chores), and by the end of the day, I haven’t accomplished half of it. I get sidetracked, or realize later that I had a whole pile of laundry that I could have washed, or I have a surge of creativity that has me writing most of the day and taking breaks only to make sure my children don’t get into too much mischief.


No kid says, “When I grow up, I’m going to use my time wisely and be a fiscally responsible member of society!” Fun is what being a kid is about. It’s important to learn responsibility, because it’s important for being an adult. Responsibility is what being an adult is about.


That, and managing your time so that everything is taken care of at the end of the day and you can relax and play some video games.