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There’s a dirty little secret about becoming an adult that no one ever tells you when you’re young. But listen up kids, because I’m here to blow the lid off this cover-up. Are you ready?

The truth is (insert suspenseful music here) you don’t wake up one morning and are magically an adult. In fact, most adults have no more clue about what we’re doing than you do. Heck, most of the time, we’re just winging it!

Oh, sure, we have more experience, which leads to more wisdom and maturity, but when it comes down to it, there is no manual, no instructions on how to be an adult.

That being said, some of us adjust to becoming adults better than others. Luckily for those of you wondering where you fit in on the “adultness” scale, I have concocted this handy, little quiz for you. So whip out that very adult pen of yours and answer the following questions.

1. When filing your taxes this year, did you…?

a. File them as soon as you received the proper paperwork from your employer.

b. Those are voluntary, aren’t they?

c. Wait until April 15, when you accidentally noticed the date, left work in a panic, drove 80 miles per hour to H & R Block and handed the nice woman behind the computer some wrinkled, coffee-stained shreds of paper that were once a WD-40 form (or whatever they’re called).

2. How would you describe your housekeeping skills?

a. You could eat off my floors.

b. My mom keeps my room wicked clean.

c. You once moved the couch to sweep under it and were so frightened by what you saw, you haven’t moved it since.

3. How regularly do you maintain your vehicle?

a. Like clockwork, I change the oil, rotate the tires and get a tune-up right on schedule.

b. All the time, man…until it was repossessed.

c. You remember you once wrote down you should get the oil in the car changed…three years ago.

4. When it comes to personal finance, you…?

a. Are almost done paying off all your outstanding debt and already have a nice 401k.

b. Have an awesome entertainment system, dude. Just bought the new XBoxWiiStation 5000 with my unemployment money.

c. Are the trendiest person buying Ramen Noodles at the grocery store.

5. Cultivating stable, healthy relationships is a benchmark of maturity. How would you describe your relationship?

a. We love each other and face each challenge that comes our way together.

b. What she don’t know, don’t hurt her.

c. The last argument you had with your significant other ended with you calling him a “butt-face” and slamming doors.

If you answered all A’s, congratulations. You are an upstanding, productive, adult member of society and probably not someone I have ever met.

If you answered all B’s, you’re probably one of my ex-boyfriends and by the way, you still owe me money, jerk.

And if you answered all C’s, well, then you are in the same boat as me. You’re still floundering in the sea of responsibility that you have been thrown into, sans lifejacket. But you’re slowly figuring it out.

There’s nothing wrong with being a C, folks. If Rome wasn’t built in a day, how can society expect us to rewire our brains any faster? And on the plus side, there are perks to being a semi-adult. Instead of saving up our money from the 381 lawn mowing jobs we did this summer, now we can just charge that XBoxWiiStation 5000 to our newly acquired credit card.

Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com.