Things I don't tell my parents...

There are things I don't tell my parents:
1) I don't tell my parents when I get home at an unreasonably late hour.
2) I don't tell my parents when I have to walk home late at night.
3) I don't tell my parents when my diet sucks, or I go a week without much sleep, or when I go to the bar and have just a hair more than I should to drink. 
4) I don't tell my parents when I forget to do laundry for two weekends in a row and am therefore forced to stay up after 1am on a Monday night to Tuesday morning because I have a meeting at 8am and I ran out of clean pants, socks, and shirts.

This list could go on.  And on.  But not too far because I don't really live a life in which there are things I feel I really need to keep from my parents.  No law breaking... nothing risque. 

There are things I don't tell my parents.  It's not as if I'm naive enough to think that they aren't aware, because they are.  They know that there are strings of nights where I get minimal sleep because of papers, quizzes/exams, and projects.  They know I go out with friends on Thursday nights.  They know that sometimes I don't leave campus until 11:30 which means I'm walking through my door at around 12:30.  But I don't tell them when it's happening in that moment.  Why?  I think it's two pronged...

1) I think it's my way of exerting my level of adulthood.  By keeping some things in my life to myself, no matter how trivial, significant, or just downright everyday experiences they might be, I'm establishing my life.  I think that as we all age, we strive to be seen as adults.  Unfortunately, (or fortunately for some) the terms and parameters that define adulthood are shifting and changing as our economy and culture continues to morph.  We each define adulthood in varying ways, and each personal perspective is worth merit and recognition.  But let me tell you, when you're a 25-year old seminary student who is relying on student loans and the generosity of others to get through school, when you're still on your parents' medical insurance, and when you don't have a job or other form of responsibility outside of school to hold onto, the concept of conventionally defined adulthood can kinda slip away.  So, by not telling my parents about aspects of my life (and I'm being truly honest when I say there really isn't anything unfit to share), I'm holding onto those few things that I can claim as my measure of adulthood. 

2) I don't tell my parents about everything in my life because I don't want them to worry.  I know they do anyway.  And I know that even as I grow and mature, I'll always be their daughter, but I somehow feel it necessary to shield them from the additional worry if they KNOW that in a specific moment I might be doing something that could potentially put me in danger.  I'm not certain it would fully play out like this, but I can guess that if I told my mom I was staying at the library until it closed at 1am and then had roughly an hour trek back to home, she'd ask me to call her cell phone or text and leave a message when I got home safely.  It's not as if these requests are overly challenging or too much to ask.  But I want to free my parents from some of the worrying that they already do and some of the worrying that they no longer need to do.  I think one sign of adulthood comes when you seek to protect your parents in ways that they protected you as you grew. 

Here are some things I do tell my parents:
1) Jokes and experiences from my adventures on the T
2) When I get good grades (or sometimes not-so-good ones)
3) Weekend plans
4) When my slippers start falling apart
5) When I'm just slightly overstressed
6) My holiday schedule (when I know it)
7) That I love them