[Elspode]

Adults may not have the same sort of authority figures micromanaging us, but trust me, the responsibilities that that we (apparently) willingly shoulder make me wish to fuck that I *was* 17 again. At that age, I had more sex, more money, more free time (well, okay - now that my marriage is open, I'm having more sex now, but barely) and more self-determination about who I was and what I was doing than I've seen since I became a husband and a parent.

Growing up provides a certain small amount of a very narrow range of freedoms, but the responsibilities and stress that come with it are waaaayyyy the hell out of proportion for what you get in the bargain. And if you think its tough to have a relationship *now*, at your tender age, wait until you're on the second open marriage stage of your second marriage, and you're trying to figure out how involved you want to get with a very hot alternative partner who is trying to figure out if they want to leave *their* second spouse just because you are a lot easier and more providing of escapist pleasures and you remind them of how much easier and more fun it is to not have those burdens hanging over you.

I'm tellin' ya, man...suck it up and enjoy your youth. It only gets weirder from there.