You Know You're Grown Up When.

One day, you're eating out with your parents and you pick up the check. Or you notice your muscles are sore after washing the car. Or there's a bat in the bedroom at 3:00 A.M. and you're the one who has to deal with it. Then it dawns on you: This is what it means to be grown up.

For everyone who no longer wants his MTV, and who ranks New Year's Eve somewhere below Arbor Day on a list of favorite holidays, here is a little book of knowing observations on the nature of being an adult. It considers parents, work, spouses, personality quirks, materials, values, and children as a way to tell you you're grown up when: You're less embarrassed by weird relatives; your "baby brother" is getting a divorce; you know you'll never run a marathon, own a villa in the South of France, or control General Motors; you don't like shopping anymore; and one more thing: you'll know you're grown up when you can read a book like this and laugh instead of panic. Which you'll do, if you're grown up.

Jeanne K. Hanson is a literary agent in Minneapolis who loves her job and is proud to label herself as a workaholic. In addition to her previous book, You Know Your'e Grown Up When . . . , she is also the author of Kinkajous, Capybaras, Horned Beetles, Seladangs.