I turned 42 recently, but I don't feel it (how is it meant to feel?). My friends range in age and not one of them seems particularly older or younger than me. I don't know many twenty somethings, but I have teenage nephews. I imagine to them I seem pretty ancient, but I really don't feel that much older than them. Being a teenager doesn't seem that long ago. In the same way that I don't feel that much younger than my friend's in their 50s.

The only people that seem older than me are my parents, but in all likelihood that's just because they are my parents - the ones who disciplined me, and spoiled all my fun* as a child.

Now I'm in my 40s I still don't feel like a grown up, and I'm told no one ever really does, except maybe my brother who seemed to be born at the age of 30 (again this could be due to the fact that he was my older brother - by only two years - who bossed me around a lot*). But I'm a wife, a voter, a taxpayer, a homemaker, I'm self employed, I've kept pets alive for almost decade, I've been called up for jury service, and I grow vegetables and have a hankering for a shed. All signs of adulthood surely?

I own a cake slice for goodness' sake.

But I still find the word knob amusing.

I still sit on the floor cross legged (although admittedly I can't do that for very long anymore), I like love skipping, I have the urge to giggle at inopportune times, I think the best card game of all time is Snap!, I'm not above pulling faces behind someone's back if they're being irritating, I love swings (and am overjoyed if I come across a roundabout - of the playground variety - but you don't see many of these about anymore), I can still climb a tree as long as the lowest branch is low enough, Easter egg hunts still delight me, and I love dressing up. So, how can I possibly be all grown up?

Is there a test I can take?

I might not feel like a grown up but I'm glad I got to be a child when I did. (And here is where I start to do that thing that grown ups do - perhaps this is proof of my adult status?) There were no over the top health and safety regulations, no mobile phones, and school sports days had winners and losers. We had only three TV channels (I remember the launch of channel 4) none of which broadcast all night - and you had to get up off the sofa to change the channel! No internet, apps, or games to keep you in indoors glued to a screen. Of course it's all rose tinted to me now, at the time I probably thought it was all rather boring, except for the roundabouts (of the playground variety).

I spent a lot of time wanting to be a grown up (mainly for unfettered access to lipstick and high heels, and the option to go to bed when I wanted), all the while being told to 'grow up', and 'don't be a baby', but now I am allegedly an adult I have a growing desire to hold on to the essence of the girl who climbed trees, skipped a lot, and played a mean game of Snap! These days I have no problem with going to bed in the summer before it gets dark outside. I've outgrown my desire for heels, preferring the comfort of flats, and my lipstick obsession never really got off the ground. Adding another year to my age doesn't bother me, I feel neither old nor young. And I only adult when I absolutely have too.
 
*kept me safe by stopping me doing stupid things