15 Parents Share the Moment They Knew Their Child Was No Longer a ‘Kid’
This is such a common feeling that someone even created a Reddit thread about it. When asked the moment parents knew their child was no longer a “kid” anymore, parents shared their best answers. Here are our favorite responses:
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They Eat the Same Amount as You
“When I started plating four same sized plates of food for dinner.”
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They Had the Better Sense of Direction
“Running through the Toronto airport trying to catch our flight that was leaving in 5 minutes. I hear, ‘Dad! Not that way, this way!’ She basically took charge from that moment on because she had a cooler head in that moment than I did. We made it to the plane with seconds to spare.”
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They Don’t Believe in the Tooth Fairy Anymore
“When she looked at me with disdain and said ‘take your money back’ after the tooth fairy visited.”
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They’re Suddenly So Friggin’ Tall
“When I was starting to get after my son about cleaning his room, and suddenly realized I was looking up at him.”
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They Can Be the Bigger Person
“With the quarantine now, my son (10) is often chatting with classmates while playing Fortnite. His friends were getting really rowdy. My son asked them to quiet down and got hit by a full-blown tantrum sh*tstorm of “DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME TO BE QUIET! IMA BLOCK YOU! TAKE THAT BACK, YOU *?$#!@!” My son just calmly said “Bye”, and hung up. Worked it out once the situation had cooled down. He handles conflict better than I do. He’s teaching me how to be a better person. This is not a kid anymore.”
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They’re Independent
“When she insisted she could carry her own backpack. And then she did. I don’t even want to think about what I’ll be feeling 10-20 years down the line.”
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They Need More Adult Punishments
“I was talking to my wife about something the oldest did and suddenly realized that I had to start punishing him differently because all of the kid things (taking away toys, go to your room, etc.) wouldn’t phase him anymore as he was no longer caring much about those things.”
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They’re Using Your Items…
“My daughter stealing my hair straightener every day before school. It was the beginning of the end. Now she’s a cool tween that teaches me tick tock dances and spills tea about her friends to me.”
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…And Possibly The Same Undergarments
“I was separating laundry and I couldn’t tell my wife’s and my daughter’s underwear apart.”
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They Catch the Adult Humor in Cartoons
“When I was watching an animated Disney movie, there was an adult joke hidden within the normal dialog. I thought it was funny but was keeping my mouth shut. My daughter busted out laughing…that was when I knew that she was no longer a baby.”
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When You Realize What They Do when They’re Alone
“I discovered his internet history.”
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When They Started Driving
“When I saw my 16 year old DRIVE past me while I was taking the dog for a walk.”
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When They Moved Out
“When my oldest just recently said, “Mom, Dad, I’m moving. Here are my plans, this is who I’m moving in with, and here is how I’ll handle my part of the bills”. Hit me like a ton of bricks.”
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No More Small Cutlery
“As a child, we had ‘big cutlery’ and ‘little cutlery’ that was the same metal design but the little ones were extra small for our hands when we were kids. When we were growing up, my littlest brother especially always needed a smaller set at the dinner table. You found your seat at Christmas by looking for the little cutlery and the big cutlery on the placemats. I returned from uni to find the little cutlery had been stored away, and my Dad had bought extra big cutlery. My little brother’s childhood that I remember so well, and the length of time where we were children and innocents and dependents is alarmingly…over.”
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When Everyone Drove to the Family Vacation Separately
“The day our family vacation started with the two of them meeting me at our destination instead of all of us driving in one car.”
What’s the moment you realized your little one was actually a “big” one?
