Having problems growing up...

[Oojey]

I just turned 20, and im honestly scared. The thoughht of having to grow up scares the hell out of me. I feel like i want to be a little girl forever. I still have stuffed animals and cute japanese bear decorations hanging around my room, and i feel like i never want to get rid of that. When i was a small girl, i always had a plain room. It was never decorated like the way it is now. My boyfriend spoils the hell out of me, and he knows i like cute things, so when i want something on ebay that is cute, he gets it for me. I know 40 year old men who have action figures around their whole room as collectables and have kids, but i feel like teddy bears and stuff like that are different. I love pillow pets and stuff like that. Stuffed animals are my life. Another thing i am scared of is being independant. I have depended on my mom my whole life, and its still going on. I mean, i have learned to do a few things on ky own, but not as much as i should. Im having trouble growing up. Is there any problem with me having stuffed animals and cute things all over my room? Also, how can i learn to be more independant?

[!d!ot Amer!ca]

I don't see anything wrong with a few stuffed animals here and there. I have a couple myself, and the Build-A-Bears I made for my fiancé and myself a few years ago. You should try to get a job if you want to become more independent. It will build confidence, and you'll have your own spending money.

[lividdarkangel800]

I am 22, married, still sleep with a stuffed animal, and have my little pony plushes all over my room. who cares what you like. its your room. as long as you know when to be mature and when its ok to be childish, its fine. they make you happy. nothing wrong with that.
as for growing up, do you have a job? if not try getting one and paying your own bills. or if you have a good friend be roomies and move in together. but never lose the child in you or your soul will shrivel up and die.

[Angeltear1716]

I'm 23, I sleep with my mameshiba plush and I can't not have him come with me on trips - the less said about the mameshiba army at the foot of my bed the better. Ive got a pink cardcaptor sakura clock and Twilight Sparkle lives next to that.
You're totally fine and perfectly normal. You like what you like and trying to force yourself to get rid of it in the hopes of a more mature room isnt going to make you happy. It wouldnt even benefit you in any extra way because your boyfriend loves you the way you are too.

[legnanellaf5]

Liking cute things isnt a problem. So dont worry. You do however need to stop getting s**t from your boyfriend. Right now all you are doing is changing your dependency from your mom to him for things, and the only way you can really get out of that is to not have him enable you. If you want something cute, go out and work for it.

[Delightful_FOOL]

The items one surrounds themselves with does not maturity make (or break). I'm 25 and still sleep with a stuffed animal. Every night. My husband too, although he isn't as adamant about it. My vast collection of stuffed animals is on loan to my son. I didn't give them to him, as I'm not ready to let go of them yet. Some of them I reluctantly did. lol What I find more concerning is that you rely on your Mom for things more than shelter, etc. Do you do your own laundry? Manage at least one bill (phone, car insurance, anything?) Are you in school? What do you spend all your time doing?

But, here's the thing about growing up: it takes a long time. You don't wake up on you 18th or 20th or 21st birthday and say, "I am adult now. No more of that frivolity and foolishness of youth. I will only drink lukewarm tea now and wear granny sweaters." No, it's a journey and a process. One step at a time. Maybe start with taking more responsibility for yourself and your life. Maybe your laundry. Then maybe get a job and opt to take care of a few of the bills in the house. Before you know it, you'll be neck deep in adult responsibilities and still loving every moment with your stuffed animals and teddy bear lights.

[Sakura Takafumi]

nothing wrong with collecting stuffed animals, figures or even posters.

Im almost 26, married and starting a family and i still have a good size MLP:FiM collection, Pokemon Collection and posters all over my bedroom and living room walls. (not as bad as when i was a teen, but posters are still posters)

And once you really start to feel like an adult you can put all these things in a room just for YOU. Like a game room, office, art room, sewing room, ect ect. Thats what I plan on doing once here in a couple weeks. A little place thats "you". Don't let people tell you that just because you are an adult you have to change your interests.

[Lashuri Chan]

ζɑʂɦʊɾȉ Ҁɦɑɳ

Well you can be more independent by buying your own stuff. Anyways sleeping with stuffed animals and having cute teddies doesn't equal dependency. And I don't think anyone really cares what/who you sleep with unless they couldn't figure out where their S.O was the previous night. No one is going to ask you what you snuggle up with when you go to bed.

Anyways though, you wanna be independent, get a job and buy your own stuff. That's really the only minor issue I see. There's nothing wrong with sleeping with stuffed animals. I still do it and I'm almost twenty two.

[Skypyro]

I wouldn't be too worried. A lot of people still have cute stuff and stuffed animals it's not a big deal and that doesn't define your maturity.
I think everyone is a little scared to start leaving their parents full care and that's okay you can work up to it. I am slowly working my way towards independence. i want to move out, have my own place, and privacy but I'm 21 and I haven't gotten there yet and that's okay and I am a little scared. Cause once I leave all those grown-up things I've been ignoring and no need to do will hit me hard.
You can do it though.
Going to college/getting a job can help get you ready and like the first person said gain confidence that you can do this and you'll know when you are ready. You have time. Least that's what I tell myself because I don't even have the money to move out yet so yeah.. ^_^

Hope that helps.

[apiyo]

There's no shame in having cute interests. Let's all be honest here, being a child sucks. Now you can buy whatever cute thing you want and not be subjected to your parents' whims. Enjoy your adorable stuffed animals. You think your room is awesome with teddies? So be it, you're grown, you've earned that right. I'm 25 and I still have Barbies, Beanie Babies, and Pokemon stuff. I'm not getting rid of that. I just bought a $8 Hello Kitty Pencil Box. My mom wouldn't have got it when I was a kid, she would've been all "that's too high scream " I didn't get anything Hello Kitty till I was grown and could buy it myself. I can actually buy video games for my computer and systems because it's up to me now. You see, you get adulthood, you can do that kind of thing.

As far as independence just do more things and you'll get used to bills, college, jobs, etc. The only way to prepare for it is to do it. School doesn't really prepare you for all those things, life does.

[Mickel228]

i'm 20 and i'm still immature. Ill never grow up because fortunately (or unfortunately) every day for me is the same, so nothing ever makes me do anything different.

[Princess_Jujubeans]

I am 23. I am married and I still have my pokemon cards, pokemon action figures, and beanie babies. There's nothing wrong with it! smile One day, I'll pass down all of my toys to my future children and watch them grow up playing with them.

Just because you have your childhood stuff doesn't mean you are immature. It just means you are still youthful and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! smile

[uMeowe]

I'm a 19 year old male college senior and sleep on this every night (at least when I'm back my university but I'm studying abroad right now aaaaa).
There's nothing wrong with liking stuffed animals or cute things in general. Really, growing up doesn't mean you have to stop liking those things.

[Wee Little]

There is nothing wrong with liking cute stuff, or stuffed animals, or anything of that sort. It's all about how mature you are. You can be mature and still have stuffed animals and like cute stuff. I'm 24 and my room is pink, I still have anime wall scrolls on my walls, and I am known for having a lot of Hello Kitty accessories.

But growing up is a fear that everyone has and it's perfectly normal. But as someone else said, it's not a good idea to just move your dependence from one person to another. Instead, ask for help learning the things that'll help you gain your independence. Most fear is fueled by what you do not know, not knowing how to do stuff, etc. One thing that'll never change from childhood and adulthood is that it is OKAY to ask for help when you do not know what to do. There is always someone there for that. There is a difference between asking for help and wanting someone to do it for you or hold your hand.

Just take it one step at a time and address issue head on as you go.