when i grow up

I just read a newspaper article which claims that the average age of video game users today is 35. I can't remember the last time I played nintendo or gameboy or playstation or whatever those boxes are that my brothers are obsessed with and that take up all that room under the tv in our family room. But then - I was always more of a Barbie Girl. ;)

So while I'm not exactly a gamer, and while my barbie collection has sadly and rather reluctantly been reduced (at the rather cruel insistence of my mother when I was at the tender age of 12), I still hesitate to label myself the A-word. You know - an Adult.

I had this coversation with a friend a little while ago who insisted that anyone over a certain legal age is no longer a minor - and thus joins the ranks of the grown-up.

But while in law this might hold true (and for drinking), I argue that this is arguable based on important facts of life (such as the aforementioned average age of gamers) which inhibit maturity and delay adulthood.

So what makes someone an adult?

Is a college student not yet an adult? But then what if that student is married with kids? And what if you have a job but you're still 19?

Does marriage and having kids make someone an adult? I used to think so - until friends younger than me became moms and dads.

I like to think that knowing certain things - like how to pay taxes - makes you grown up. But I've since realized that I might always have to depend on my father's accountant.

Does living on your own make you an adult? Maybe not so much in the frummy world where teens get shipped off to out-of-town yeshivas at 13...

And aren't more and more people in their late twenties and thirties still living with their parents? I read another article that talked about the newest trend in apartment living - post-college dorm-style à la washington heights or uws where whole buildings are almost entirely rented out by singles.

Is that why more people are single longer? Have none of us grown up yet? Are we too busy playing nintendo?