Transitioning into the “real world” means a lot of growing up, and growing up comes with a lot of responsibility. Electric bills, insurance costs, grocery shopping, and car maintenance… the responsibilities pile on so quickly and before you know it, you can’t remember the days when you got allowance and your parents drove you to school.
Living the adult life has definitely been a huge change for me. For the most part, I love it, but then there are the little things I miss about living at home with my parents. One of them, is definitely being taken care of when I get sick, the chicken noodle soup, hot tea in the morning with toast and medicine, getting to lie in my bed all day and wake up to a new beverage next to my bed… that was totally the life. Now I have to crawl out of bed and get my own tea and medicine, I have to make my own doctor’s appointments and drive there weak and all alone… it’s rough. Okay, so maybe it’s not that rough, and maybe I am just a big baby, but living alone in a city without my mom to rub my back when I have a fever and drive me to the doctor’s office has been one of the hardest things for me to adjust to.
I woke up this morning with a horrible sore throat and an even worse voice to go along with it. Unfortunately for me, I think I might have strep… and the only way to find out is to go to the dreaded doctor. I made my appointment all by myself, and I will be going alone to the cold, unfriendly offices with the bare and desolate walls. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it doesn’t make it any better. I miss my pediatrician’s office with the cheerful blue paint and the lively fish tanks next to tables of brightly illustrated children books, all of which, no matter how old I was, always made me feel a little less sick. And, lollipops after a strep test or a shot? Why do you have to give all that up just because you are no longer “a kid”??
I mean, the adult life is great: no curfew, no checking in to get your plans approved, and the overall independence and empowerment is awesome… but it’s definitely going to take me a while to get used to being sick. And until then, I guess I’ll just have to buy my own lollipops.
