When did you realize you were a grown-up?

Nothing beats writing for kids but this is awfully cool....


http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/second-annual-life-lessons-essay-contest-00000000013682/
The Second-Annual Life Lessons Contest

Enter your essay in Real Simple’s yearly contest.

When did you realize that you had become a grown-up? Perhaps it was when you first paid taxes or met your son’s first girlfriend. Whether the experience was difficult, funny, easy, or bittersweet, share your lesson and you could win. Enter Real Simple’s second-annual Life Lessons essay contest and you could have your essay published in Real Simple; win round-trip tickets for two to New York City, hotel accommodations for two nights, tickets to a Broadway play, and a lunch with Real Simple editors; and receive a prize of $3,000.

Read last year’s winning essay: A Witness To Grace

1. HOW TO ENTER: This contest begins at 12:01 A.M. eastern time (ET) on May 1, 2009, and ends at 11:59 P.M. ET on September 7, 2009. To enter online, send your typed, double-spaced submission (1,500 words maximum, preferably in a MS Word attachment) to lifelessons@realsimple.com. To enter via postal mail, submit your essay by mailing your entry to Essay Contest, Real Simple, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 9th floor, New York, NY 10020. Entries must be postmarked no later than September 7, 2009, and received no later than September 14, 2009. Limit one entry per person or e-mail account. Essays should be submitted in English at a maximum of 1,500 words and typed and double-spaced on 8½-by-11-inch paper. Essays exceeding this length or handwritten may not be considered. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, or incomplete entries; postage-due mail; or entries not received for any reason. Entries become sole property of Sponsor, and none will be acknowledged or returned. By entering, Entrant warrants that his or her entry (1) is original and does not infringe the intellectual-property rights of any third party, (2) has not been published in any medium, and (3) has not won an award.