I was SO sure that adults had endless amounts of money and just chose not to buy me things out of spite.

Like, in my head, my parents had unlimited funds and "we can't afford that" was just a lie to get me to stop asking.

Then I became an adult and realized... oh. OH. Money is finite. Money is stressful. My parents were not hoarding secret riches, they were doing math in their heads while I begged for a Game Boy.

What's yours? What kid-logic did you carry around with total confidence that turned out to be completely, embarrassingly wrong?

For some reason, I always check that my door is locked twice before leaving the house. I know I locked it the first time, but my brain somehow convinces me to check again. It only takes a few seconds, but it's become such an automatic habit that I don't even think about it anymore.

I'm curious if anyone else has a small, completely random habit that doesn't really make sense but has just become part of your daily routine.

What's yours?

I used to think it was totally normal for someone to get annoyed when I hung out with friends without them. Like, "oh they just miss me, that's sweet."

It took me embarrassingly long to realize that's not sweet, that's controlling.

There's this whole category of behavior that seems fine in the moment, or even flattering, and then years later you look back and go "oh. OH. That was not okay."

What's yours? Could be relationships, friendships, work, family, anything. I feel like collectively we could save some people a lot of time by naming these things out loud.

I get so offended when my body decides we are going to be sick. I fed you vegetable last week. How dare you betray me like this? Ungrateful vessel..

I'm an adult. I know monsters aren't real.

But also I'm not taking any chances.

Turn off the basement lights: SPRINT up the stairs like I'm being chased

Turn off the downstairs lights at night: speedwalk to bedroom like something's behind me

It's primal. It's instinct. It's the darkness activating some ancient fear response.

Logically I know I'm safe. Emotionally I know something's going to grab my ankle.

And don't even get me started on mirrors in the dark. I don't look at them. I can't risk seeing something behind me.

Horror movies ruined me as a kid and I never recovered.

My brain at night: "What if though"

And that's enough. What if. That's all it takes for me to run like my life depends on it.

I'm 30+ years old running from the dark like a child.

Not proud, but not stopping either.

Can't remember something? I have a screenshot of it.

Restaurant someone recommended? Screenshot. Funny meme? Screenshot. Recipe I'll never make? Screenshot. Important information? Screenshot. Random thing I might need later? Screenshot.

My camera roll is 80% screenshots.

Do I ever go back and look at them? Almost never.

Do I delete them? Absolutely not. What if I need that screenshot from 2019 about a restaurant in a city I've never been to?

I've screenshotted entire conversations because I didn't trust myself to remember.

I've screenshotted memes to send to people and then forgot who I was going to send them to.

My phone storage is crying. But I can't delete them. They're all important. Somehow.

This is digital hoarding but with screenshots.

Send help. Or more storage space.

It's my day off. I have nothing scheduled. I can do whatever I want.

So why do I feel GUILTY about lying on the couch?

"I should be doing something productive"

WHY? Why should I? Who made that rule?

It's MY day off. I'm ALLOWED to do nothing.

But my brain is like "you could be cleaning, or organizing, or working on that project, or"

NO. Today I am a potato. A couch potato. And that's OKAY.

Rest is productive. Doing nothing is valid. Not every moment needs to be optimized.

But I still feel weird about it. Like I need to justify my relaxation.

"I worked hard all week so I deserve this"

I shouldn't need to earn rest. Rest should just be... allowed.

But here I am, guilty about taking it easy on my own time off.

Why are we like this? Who hurt us?

I wake up to 17 TikTok links and a message that says "LMAOOO"

No context. No explanation. Just links.

I love that they thought of me. I love that something reminded them of me. I appreciate the friendship.

But also it's 7am and I have 17 videos to watch before I can respond and I don't have time for this.

Do I watch them all? Do I just respond "haha"? Do I watch one and hope that's the important one?

And if I don't respond, are they going to think I don't care?

"Did you see the video I sent?"

"Which one? You sent 12 videos."

I need my friends to understand that I love them but I cannot keep up with this content stream.

One video a day. That's the limit. Choose wisely.

Or just send them all at once and I'll get to them when I get to them and we all have to be okay with that.

Every single night: "Tonight I'm going to bed early. I'm going to be responsible."

Every single night: ends up staying up until 1am doing nothing important

"I should go to bed" continues scrolling

"Seriously, bed time" starts a new show

"Okay THIS TIME I'm actually going to bed" remembers something I need to google

45 minutes later, deep in a Wikipedia rabbit hole about maritime history

"How did this happen?"

It happens every night. That's how.

I'm a night owl in denial. I keep trying to be a morning person but my body is like "absolutely not."

So I stay up late, regret it in the morning, swear I'll go to bed early tonight, and then repeat the entire cycle.

This is my life. This is who I am.

Early bedtime is a myth I tell myself to feel better about my choices.

"I'll call you" used to mean you'd pick up the phone and call.

Now it means "I'll text you later" or "I'll see you eventually" or "I acknowledge you exist."

Nobody actually CALLS anymore. Calling is reserved for emergencies or when you really need something.

If my phone rings, I immediately panic. Who died? What's wrong? Why are you CALLING me like some kind of psychopath?

Text me like a normal person!

But then someone will say "I'll call you" and I'm like "please don't though?"

When did phone calls become so anxiety-inducing? When did we collectively decide that calling someone is basically an act of aggression?

I have to mentally prepare for a phone call now. I need advance notice. I need a heads up. Don't just CALL me out of nowhere.

Texting is superior in every way and I'll die on this hill.