Week Six-Card-Life Span Development Chapters 9 and 10

 In chapter 9 of Life Smart it describes the different ways human beings are described to develop into early adulthood; through religious, physical, educational, social, and or economical rites of passage. Dependent upon culture, humans can be considered early adults if they have reached puberty (girls, first menarche and boys, first wet dream), graduated from high school, gotten married, had religious Confirmation, and or joined the armed forces amongst many other occurrences. In Western culture, there are many ways by which human beings are considered young adults, but the most popular occasion is reaching the age of 18; if a human is at least 18 years or older they usually are allowed to vote, join the armed forces, at the age when they graduate from high school and or enter college, considered by law an adult, and parents are no longer responsible for wrong doings or needed for permission to have medical procedures/screenings or participate in an event.  In early adulthood "physical changes slow down after the dramatic changes that occur in adolescence...young adults are in peak condition" (Fiore p. 210). Early adulthood also comes with its own list of behaviors that are not conducive to becoming a healthy middle to late adult. They are more at risk for binge drinking, use of tobacco, rape, and sexual harassment. Surprisingly, the rate of sexual activity amongst this group has declined perhaps due to the availability of sex education and resources of affordable contraception. "In early adulthood, people begin to form patterns that affect their future lifestyle, and work, in turn, begins to shape a person's identity" (Fiore p. 224).
I call early adulthood (ages 18-25) the "rush to get to" stage. I remember how much I couldn't wait to get to the age of 18. My romantic crush at the time was one year older than I was and had asked me to his prom, my mom told me "No" and I was devastated! She told me since I wasn't 18 yet, she wasn't going to be responsible for the possible lewd behavior that going to prom promoted. I had never been in trouble before, at least not to the extent that I ended up in jail or a hospital, so I didn't understand what she meant. Looking back, I now see that she was just trying to protect me, after all, she was already a mother by the time she went to prom. I also remember being excited to skip over the ages of 19-20 to hurry up and get to the age of 21, this was the more official age for me; I could legally drink and buy alcohol, and get into clubs.  Early adulthood was very fun for me, I waited to do most things at the lawful age and didn't feel like I missed out on anything other than traveling more. This was the time in my life I remember making many mistakes, learning from the lessons, and I now see how they helped develop my identity; I now understand why I do and don't do certain things, and the example I try to set for my children using routine, love, discipline, understanding, communication, and consistency. Knowing that my children will most likely experience some of the same excitement I had for this stage, hopefully they can make different mistakes, and better decisions than I did.
Chapter 10 describes the middle-aged adult (ages 25-65). This age group is representative of "consequences that affect health and well-being [as a result of] habits that formed in earlier life stages" (Fiore p. 234). In middle adulthood Erikson describes "generativity vs stagnation" as the crisis; middle-aged adults are either able "to be useful to self and society (generatively) [or] become bored, self-absorbed, and unable to contribute to society's welfare (stagnation)" (Fiore p. 244). Many changes take place during this time because of the large age span; the middle adult experiences marriage or marriage reappraisal, divorce, having a family, relationships with aging parents, minor changes in sexuality, deepening of friendships, mid-life transitions, decline in reproduction, and loss of some intelligence amongst some others.
Being a middle-aged adult myself, I can relate to many of the identifying aspects; I am married, have a career, raising a family, have deeper relationships with both family and friends, as well as a volunteered decline in reproduction! I remember starting middle adulthood and at the age of 25 I moved out of my parent's house and bought my own house (with my boyfriend at the time). I became a parent at almost 29 and married at 30. I am currently raising a family, continuing education for career advancement, and feel that my health concerns and body image are results of pregnancy and child birth as opposed to nutrition (obesity) or lifestyle (alcohol or drug abuse). I have a selective hearing loss (lol), and I can both see and hear very well! I feel my intelligence has increased, and that I am useful to society with periods of stagnation due to lack of sleep. Did I mention I was a volunteer before my reproduction declined? I have not identified the paragraph that states how children cause aging in the middle adult; chapter 10 does not mention that children drive their parents to drink, have mental illness, break up friendships, and over eat. Children also make the middle adult actually enhance vision and hearing; middle-aged parents can hear a cough before it reaches a child's lips in the middle of REM sleep, and can see who is playing in the bathroom with one eye open and in another room!!!