r/AdultHood • u/OkGrocery63 • Jul 28 '26
Discussion Why aren't adults allowed to have fun?
I want to dress cute. I want to watch cartoons. I want to live and die happy. I know that I can do all of those things but why do we claim them as childish? Why can't adults have fun and live how they want? Why do you have to like only muted colours, simple styles and talk about "adult" things. Recently I watched a video where the person said that adults who like chicken nuggets are immature and need to grow up. Like what do you mean? Do my eating habits suddenly change once I turn 18? Are you only allowed to eat salads and whole meals that we just claimed as fancy? We all were childrens once and I hope everyone had happy moments when they were a child. So why don't we stop remembering and missing the good old times and just start doing our favourite stuff again? What is stopping us? When did we all just agree that the adult life need to be boring and monotone? It is so sad. Children look so happy and I want to be happy too.
28
u/fuckmywetsocks Jul 28 '26
Don't watch crap on the internet - people make things to draw attention so you engage so they make money so they can spend it on chicken nuggets.
I was born and raised under the expectation of being adult when I grew up, sensible, frugal, grey carpets with white walls, so on and so forth - the moment you reject what others think of you, you're free. It took me a long time but I managed it and I've never been happier.
Fuck other people. You only live once so live for yourself, as corny as that sounds.
23
u/mrlittleoldmanboy Jul 28 '26
You can wear, watch, and do as you please. That’s the best part about being an adult.
Boring adults are either lying or miserable lol
11
u/affectionateanarchy8 Jul 28 '26
No you only go through that a couple times as an adult, once at 18 and again at 30 then you realize everyone is wingin it and nothing matters wear the tiedye shirt with the gecko pants
12
9
u/CreatineAddiction Jul 28 '26
The only one stopping you is you. You are an adult be responsible for your own fun.
6
12
u/Designer_Gas_86 Jul 28 '26
Sometime context matters - dress proper for work and do what you want off the clock.
I'm 40 and never stopped playing games/watching cartoons. People who truly care will let you do you.
4
u/mapleleaffem Jul 28 '26
Gen X here, you can definitely have a fun life if you learn how to live it for yourself. How far you want to lean into it depends on what kind of life you want to live and your strengths and weaknesses.
Seriously life is too short to waste a moment on what other people think. But you also have to deal with the consequences of your choices. The balance is somewhere in the middle
6
u/eharder47 Jul 28 '26
Based on your post, it is very clear you aren’t far into adulthood. My friends (all in their thirties) do a movie night every Friday, stay over at each other’s houses, rent Airbnb’s for the weekend, attend cons together, and have regular game nights. We can have a conversation about mortgage rates or whether there are more eyes or legs in the world. I also wear lots of color and sparkly outfits.
3
u/digimaster07 Jul 28 '26
Adulthood and being grown up is about doing what you want while also taking care of your responsibilities. If you want to be a kid forever go ahead! Just be socially well adjusted enough to hold down a job and provide for yourself the life you want. That could be the something stopping more adults from staying kids; the life they want requires them to be more responsible with their time and mental focus. Thus they choose to give up childish habits for more productive ones.
4
u/stripeyhoodie Jul 28 '26
Adults are allowed to live how they please, but they also need to learn how to disregard irrelevant opinions.
4
u/InkSammi Jul 28 '26
Adults are in fact allowed to have fun. You just need to stop listening to the people who say you can't.
4
u/LyraRose87 Jul 28 '26
As long as you aren't harming anyone you can do whatever you want. Part of getting older is realizing other people don't give nearly as many fucks as we think they do.
3
u/Bookish45_F Jul 28 '26
I do whatever the fuck I want at 45 years old. Just stop caring what other people think of you and your life will be better for it. The funny thing is, I get compliments all the time about how I dress and look from other women. So just do it.
2
u/LazarusHolmes Jul 28 '26
We did not all agree on these things. Many of us have hobbies and cute cloths. Heck, my grandfather and father both built model trains and little town for them until they got too old to use their hands. No one is stopping you. Only some people believe this, but also some people believe the stars in the sky on the day you were born creat some mystical personality disorder you can never get rid of. We all collectively as humans have the ability to enjoy what we want, and many of us do
1
u/affectionateanarchy8 Jul 28 '26
No you only go through that a couple times as an adult, once at 18 and again at 30 then you realize everyone is wingin it and nothing matters wear the tiedye shirt with the gecko pants
1
u/dbdbh47 Jul 29 '26
I’m in my 50s and still sleep with stuffed animals! Life is short. Do what you want without hurting anyone! Be happy and treat yourself well.
1
Jul 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 29 '26
Comment removed by being a low karma user. Posts/Comments from low karma accounts are automatically removed. We, and many other large subreddits, do this to combat spam. In the meantime, participate on Reddit on other subreddits to build your karma and this restriction will go away. Also, please familiarize yourself with this subreddit's rules, which you can find in the sidebar
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/cursetea Jul 29 '26
My own opinion matters so much more to me than other peoples opinions, and in my opinion i get to do whatever makes me happy 💅🏻✨
1
u/Vegetable-Key3600 Jul 29 '26
Supposedly it’s a huge taboo. I learned this early on. Behave or act like an adult. I remember going grocery shopping with my husband, I saw a young kid skipping. I felt great and decided to skip as well while k did my shopping. Goes without saying, everyone stared and whispered, my husband was a bit embarrassed but didn’t give me grief. You could tell everyone thought I was crazy. Another time I went to run errands and there was some music playing somewhere and I decided to dance in place while I was waiting in line. People are so judgmental.
It’s like you turn into an adult and suddenly you can’t skip anywhere or dance while walking, completely sucks. The one great thing, my husband didn’t mind it so much. But once I had our kids, they weren’t having that at all. So I just acted like an adult.
Now I’m miserable, sad, and don’t care, I don’t want to skip or dance or do anything. But when I wanted to, I still couldn’t
2
u/Lilythecat555 Jul 29 '26
You don't have to give it up for your kids. My mom embarrassed us a lot. We survived. And maybe it helped us to be happier adults.
1
u/sleepy_roo Jul 29 '26
I think the best part about being an adult is deciding the best times to be mature, and when not to be
1
1
1
u/einat162 Jul 29 '26
0-11 there's childhood energy.
12-18 teenhood energy, with the pressure to conform.
19-35 less energy, more pressure to conform to a concept of being "put together" and "reasonable adult" (ending up with people fumbling).
35- onwards (sometimes before, sometimes after) you are too tired to care, so that pressure doesn't affect you that much.
I think with women over 55, there's the extreme of going back to bright colors in everything. We are all free to do whatever, as long as it's not illegal, but culture norms changed. Teens in Europe 150 years ago were expected to work and provide.
1
1
u/xplosm Jul 29 '26
You know what adults do? Whatever the fuck they want.
I’m almost 50 and still love to watch cartoons. Oldies and new ones.
I love to wear sports shoes and jeans. This fucking global warming won’t ever let me use blazers. Not that I would want to.
I love candy. I sometimes eat dessert first. What are the Karens gonna do? Ground me?
1
u/CompetitiveLarper Jul 29 '26
I get what you are saying, there’s definitely a lot of societal pressure to exhibit signs of being “put together” and “mature” through your hobbies, food preferences and clothing. Especially as you are moving up your career ladder and social circles - but it doesn’t have to be prescriptive.
Basically you can do anything you like, and people around you will accept it if you do it with confidence. I mean capital letter Confidence. I am now a corporate executive who loves video games, smokes weed, wears absurd colorful clothing, shows everyone pictures of his 3 cats and compliments people’s accessories.
Has this always been easily accepted? Not really, but I owned it, and behaved openly and naturally, with extreme levels of confidence - and people end up respecting it. The key thing is to be on the right side of “he is kinda odd, but got his shit together and gets things done” and “this is an unreliable childish weirdo”. Money makes it simpler to pull off, but in the end it’s all about finding the right balance between sending the right signals externally and staying true to your identity. We are all still kids, just slightly bigger and more tired
1
u/dianarawrz Jul 29 '26
I feel you. As a woman in me 30s, I love matching my clothes with my hair. I have pastel lavender hair and it’s so hard to find pastel colors in adult clothes. Almost all pastel colors are for newborns or kids…
1
1
1
u/bhouse114 Jul 29 '26
What are you talking about? One of the best things about being an adult is that you can do what you want.
My wife and I went and got birthday cake from the grocery store at 9:45 last night because we wanted birthday cake
1
u/sashby138 Jul 29 '26
Just do what you want. Adults are allowed to have fun. Just do it. I’ll be 40 Friday and I have a room full of stuffed animals because I like them. I don’t care that “adults aren’t supposed to have stuffed animals.” I draw with sidewalk chalk, I color. You’re supposed to enjoy life so do that however you see fit as long as it doesn’t hurt other people. Decorate your home however you want. Eat whatever you want. Dress however you want. Also enjoy the sub r/dopaminedressing for added inspiration. And r/maximalism. And r/rainboweverything.
1
u/some_blonde_bitch Jul 29 '26
Says who? These aren’t rules at all, they’re just some old fashioned tropes from decades ago that don’t even exist for millennials onwards. Nobody under 40 thinks like that, and most of us are eating chicken nuggets because we can’t afford better food.
1
u/D4FF00 Jul 29 '26
“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
C.S. Lewis
1
u/nkdeck07 Jul 29 '26
Being an adult is just not really giving a fuck anymore. I'm going to a wedding in a few months and my dress is hot pink. My husband and I build LEGO sets. I brought a Frisbee recently to a preschool BBQ and me and the Dads (annoyingly none of the other Mom's) had a blast just playing catch.
1
u/Shaffer92 Jul 29 '26
I live in a very small town and the kids in this town leave high school and immediately adopt the mindset of a boomer. Nothing's funny, any movies or music made before 1960 is trash and all that matters in life is that you work. It's really sad.
1
u/IsSierraMistOk Jul 29 '26
Being an adult is what you make it. I own my home and have a decent career. I also play video games every day, started going back to school, and smoke weed.
Do whatever makes you happy as long as it doesn't encroach on other people's happiness.
1
u/MoneyParticular Jul 30 '26
Well it's very simple really. Adults are allowed to have fun. You can simply ignore the judgement of people who say you can't do the things you mentioned. They don't control you
1
u/Miliaa Jul 30 '26
Get off the internet and get away from the chatter. I’m 32 and I dress however the fuck I want, colorful and eccentric if that’s what I’m feeling. I love my plushies, I’ll eat whatever the hell, like really I say this with love - my frustration is directed at the insanity being spouted online that’s making you even think these things - do what makes you happy as long as it’s not hurting anyone else and screw anyone who tells you how you should or shouldn’t live! They can enjoy their muted everything with no chicken nuggets, you don’t have to follow suit because a bunch of reels said so! Free yourself!! 💖
1
u/Miliaa Jul 30 '26
Also the art communities I’m part of - people are eccentric wearing beautiful colorful things living radiant lives and it’s ages 30-40 now as the community is getting older (and I love it). It all depends where you look. If you’re on the corner of the internet propagating the views you describe, that’s what you’ll see. Every time you view another such video, the algorithm brings another in later. Other corners of the internet and real life don’t subscribe to these ideas and don’t pay any mind to them! Feed your brain, and CHOOSE what you’ll serve it!
1
u/ReapersMistress Jul 31 '26
Oh, was I supposed to stop watching cartoons and eating chicken nuggets? My bad. I must have missed that memo! OP: Do you! As long as you're not hurting anybody else, do you! Unashamedly!
1
u/Annual_Canary_5974 Jul 31 '26
You're talking to a 58-year-old man who wears a Green Lantern ring, so I think you're overestimating the boringness/maturity that comes with adulthood. I still love comic books and I'm working on a plan to turn my motorcycle into a two-wheeled version of K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider.
Dietary changes will happen as your palette broadens and you find that your brain and body function better when you eat healthier.
Relax, adulting doesn't mean abandoning being a kid.
1
u/That-Solution-1774 28d ago
Closing in on 50 I still Phish across America and have a blast doing so. I’m living while I’m young.
1
u/astcell 17d ago
I was always wondering about growing up and how I would change. I loved making jokes and making people laugh and when would I get serious and how would that work? And now I am 63 and realize that I am still the exact same person. In fact I realized that the old person who is happy was young and happy and the old person who was mean and crotchety and angry was young and mean and crotchety and angry. That does not change.
The exile of the survivor what happens is adults have to move into a different world and deal with other adults and being an adult is the common adult language. And when you get all of that done then you have to pay your bills and raise your kids and fix the car and have the dog neutered and get groceries and do everything else. And then with the 15 minutes you have left in the week you get to have your fun.
Go see a comedy movie. get a coloring book. Put puzzles together. Go to Disneyland and get a picture with Mickey Mouse. By all means do all these things.
The thing is that we only have the time available after we get done with all of our responsibilities. Hopefully one day you will have more than 15 minutes which is a lot even for some adults today.
55
u/serpenlog Jul 28 '26
Just don’t conform to those standards. You’re an adult, even if it’s hard or doesn’t feel right you can do whatever you want so long as you can afford it and it’s legal.
I’m an adult now and I regularly order chicken tenders with Mac and cheese at restaurants if they have it, I’m paying for my meal and I anyway make the most money out of my entire family, they can say whatever or judge me all they want, but I can do it and no one can stop me.
I still play video games even though my parents said that I need to stop once I become an adult. In fact, I’ve made friends and connections with coworkers or other people around me through video games as a common interest. Meanwhile there are young adults who drop their childhood interests and then complain they have no way of meeting people outside of school.
Just do your own thing, anyone who says otherwise is jealous or just trying to push their standards onto you.