Just from my basis growing up (and even still now in a way), the line from me looking at someone as more of an adult/parental figure as opposed to an older friend or cousin, was probably if they were more than 14-15 years older than I was. This was especially true if we're talking about teachers, and to a lesser extent maybe even certain babysitters. Probably because it was more of an authoritive role. There was a difference to anyone born before 1967ish.

I always felt more liberally about celebs, so it probably always took about at least 20 or 22 years difference there. If I was watching music videos on VH1 and MTV in the early '90s, I did think of pop and rock stars as cool. Heck, the three biggest 1980s stars were born in 1958 (Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson). Same with sitcom stars and stuff like that.

I remember when I was in jr. high...and I have a cousin who is almost 10 years older than me. I remember looking up to him and admiring his taste in music and styles (that's how I was first introduced to the Ramones...he had tons of their CDS...and I used to borrow them). He seemed SO much older to me back then...but nowadays he doesn't appear all that older.

I ought to say that it depended on the person.

Like, there was this guy who became a family friend that worked at Chuck E. Cheese when he was around 19 in the mid '80s (he was like a 1966er). Back then, my mom took me there to play arcade games and things like that, so we slowly got acquainted with him that way. After awhile he kinda got to know us, sometimes babysitting me or hanging out with us. I thought he was one of the coolest guys as a kid - he was very responsible, liked kids, and did things to help people out (he was also against stuff like smoking and drinking). But he acted like a big kid himself just in his general personality...for instance doing donuts in the parking lot, lol.

We lost touch with him awhile ago, but knew him until he was about 30 in the mid '90s. Even then, he hadn't changed, but last I heard he was becoming a volunteer fireman, which always seemed like something he would do.


The point being that it really depended. If I had some young teacher who had been his age and acted more "stereotypically adultish" my view might've been entirely different. I was never one to judge people on how old they are, even if like I said, my general line was about 15 years.

It depends I suppose.  Like, when I was like 5, my then 10-year-old brother seemed like an "adult" to me, lol.  When I got a little older (like 8 or so), I viewed him as a peer.

With my Aunts and Uncles, I didn't see them as peers until I was like 15 or 16. 

Maybe it has to do with how big the age gap is--like, I don't think I'd ever view one of my grandparents as a peer.

When I was a kid, my brother (who was in HS), and my oldest sister (who was in J.H.) seemed SOOOO OLD to me.  :D ;D ;D  The funny thing is, my husband is older than they are.  :o



Cat

that is a good question. i think about it often.  when i was a kid, i thought that my teachers and doctors were OLD...and they were in their 20s!  i don't think i'm an adult, and my peers are definately not adults.

but now, grown uups are.....50.

When I was 11 and they were 17 my oldest sister's friends seemed like grownups --- goofy pot-smoking grownups who still had to go to school and could still get grounded---but they were still grownups!


So I kept waiting for the day when I would be a grownup.  Then I realized what the "grownups" never told me:  There are no "grownups," only children who have back problems and owe money!
:D

Now that many of the children of my peers are teenagers, I'd say I'm there.

See, when you don't have kids yourself, you can don't have to set an example; you can eat all the pizza and ice cream you want, watch TV all night, hang out with the green guy, get home at 4:00 in the morning, and never pick up after yourself if you don't want to....and the list goes on!

If I didn't have a job and bills to pay, I'd be home free!
:-\\

In elementary school, my best friend's older brother seemed so cool and grown up. I liked him a lot, even if he wouldn't let me (or just about anybody else except his best friends) play with his Colecovision.  :D

It depends I suppose.  Like, when I was like 5, my then 10-year-old brother seemed like an "adult" to me, lol.  When I got a little older (like 8 or so), I viewed him as a peer.

With my Aunts and Uncles, I didn't see them as peers until I was like 15 or 16. 

Maybe it has to do with how big the age gap is--like, I don't think I'd ever view one of my grandparents as a peer.



Yeah, Its the same way with me too. When I was a kid, anybody that was more than like 7 or 8 years older than me seemed like an adult, but only because of how young I was. Like when I was 8 somebody that was 16 seemed very adult to me, but now at 20, I don't really see a 28 or 29 year old as a "parental" figure. I'd say anybody born after like 1968 or so seems like just an older peer to me.

Yeah, I agree with the majority of posts. Age differences do decrease with time too.

Part of the reason may have been because '90s teens tended to act older, in a laid back way; but I definitely viewed, say 15-year olds as pretty adult. Actually, come to think of it, I pretty much looked at teens up to early thirties people in a similar light: "older than me and adultlike, but quite young in the grand scheme of things".

To be honest, I used to be a little nervous around teens. When I was 11, I would've gotten along with a 27-year old better than a 17-year old. They were young enough to be cool to me, but not as obnoxious sometimes. ;) I do have some firsthand experience interacting with teens c. 1992, as the schoolbus I rode happened to stop at a high school along its route and dropped some of them off. While I thought the guys were cool, there was a little bit of an intimidation factor thrown in there too, just from them being so much bigger and living in a different world from me. Even though I was pretty bright and aware of things in general, the thought of actually doing stuff like driving or going on dates and to parties seemed so foreign to me. I wanted to be cool around them, but I was kinda lost when they were talking. Now, the girls...forget it! Combine that with thinking they were cute, and there's no way I could've talked to them on my own, lol. I did get along with all of 'em after awhile, though.


P.S. That Jerry Springer episode from 1993 about runaways...that's very much how I tended to view the way teens acted (not everyone had their life of course, but I mean in terms of attitude).

Part of the reason may have been because '90s teens tended to act older, in a laid back way; but I definitely viewed, say 15-year olds as pretty adult. Actually, come to think of it, I pretty much looked at teens up to early thirties people in a similar light: "older than me and adultlike, but quite young in the grand scheme of things".

To be honest, I used to be a little nervous around teens. When I was 11, I would've gotten along with a 27-year old better than a 17-year old. They were young enough to be cool to me, but not as obnoxious sometimes. ;) I do have some firsthand experience interacting with teens c. 1992, as the schoolbus I rode happened to stop at a high school along its route and dropped some of them off. While I thought the guys were cool, there was a little bit of an intimidation factor thrown in there too, just from them being so much bigger and living in a different world from me. Even though I was pretty bright and aware of things in general, the thought of actually doing stuff like driving or going on dates and to parties seemed so foreign to me. I wanted to be cool around them, but I was kinda lost when they were talking. Now, the girls...forget it! Combine that with thinking they were cute, and there's no way I could've talked to them on my own, lol. I did get along with all of 'em after awhile, though.


Makes sense -- (bolded) That could be because a 27-year-old could've viewed you as like...their own son, and so they might've acted like a parent to you in some ways.  Whereas a 17-year-old might've looked at you like his/her younger brother. 

When I was in kindergarten, if I ever got into contact with HS girls on the bus, they were always very maternal to me.  I myself viewed them as "adults", but if I were to see those same girls now, they would feel more like peers to me.

Makes sense -- (bolded) That could be because a 27-year-old could've viewed you as like...their own son, and so they might've acted like a parent to you in some ways.  Whereas a 17-year-old might've looked at you like his/her younger brother. 

When I was in kindergarten, if I ever got into contact with HS girls on the bus, they were always very maternal to me.  I myself viewed them as "adults", but if I were to see those same girls now, they would feel more like peers to me.

You're probably right - oddly I never really thought about it in that context, lol. I imagine if I'd met some of my favorite celebrities in the early '90s, they would've thought of me that way. Even the younger ones. That's true, I bet those teens viewed me (and the other kids from my school) as like their little siblings. ;)

Yeah, it's weird how age differences that were once huge become no big deal. I used to think even just 2-3 years was huge. Now, even like 7 years either way doesn't feel like that much at all.

You're probably right - oddly I never really thought about it in that context, lol. I imagine if I'd met some of my favorite celebrities in the early '90s, they would've thought of me that way. Even the younger ones. That's true, I bet those teens viewed me (and the other kids from my school) as like their little siblings. ;)

Yeah, it's weird how age differences that were once huge become no big deal. I used to think even just 2-3 years was huge. Now, even like 7 years either way doesn't feel like that much at all.



Yeah, as you get older age differences do matter less and less. I'm kinda in the middle of where you are now. Like someone that's 7 years older than me would be 27 now, and I generally don't consider them that much different than me. In fact the only real difference between me and somebody born in, say 1977 is that they would remember the '80s, and would have a bit better appreciation of the pre-internet times than I would. On the flip side someone that's 7 years younger than me would just be 13, and that still feels like a pretty big gap.

Of course when I'm 27 and there 20 it wont be that big of deal.

^ I think on the younger side, it seems more of a difference sometimes, although I think when people get over about 15 even that decreases a bit.

P.S. You know who else I kinda based teens off of when I was younger? Kimmie from Full House. When I was 12 and she was 16, I could've imagined her giving me a hard time for still hanging onto my NES, lol.

P.S. You know who else I kinda based teens off of when I was younger? Kimmie from Full House. When I was 12 and she was 16, I could've imagined her giving me a hard time for still hanging onto my NES, lol.


LOL, makes sense. ;D Yeah Kimmie picked on Stephanie quite a bit right?  But those two were like a 6-year difference I think. 

When my oldest brother and his friend were both at my house (both '81ers), they would always get annoyed by my other brothers (an '84er and '87er).  Yet not really with me--but that could've been because I was a shy little kid and I didn't pester them like my other brothers did. ;)