This page resolves the simple fact that I never really grew up beyond the 'teen' phase... :D
To be honest, I'm not alone in this. There are many people who felt like their chronological age and internal age do not perfectly match. From adults who feel like they're kids at heart(there is an entire subreddit for those, r/nevergrewup) to elderly people who feel younger than they actually are (like a 60-year-old feeling like they're in their 40s). And this isn't the first time I felt such an age dissonance either. When I was 3 years old, I learned a lot of things many people would've learned at later ages. However, those people with age dissonances are often ridiculed and put in relation to crime to 'justify' bullying, especially on 4Chan. HThis is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE!
It was only quite recently that I came across the term 'permateen'. It is commonly used by radqueer people but that does NOT mean I support or am part of the radqueer community, since the term started to have a life of its own on r/nevergrewup and the related Discord, more commonly with the related term 'permakid'. The term 'permateen' means: 'a person who is permanently a teenager at heart'. However, before then, at some point I already realized I didn't really grow up to be an "adult" like society would expect me to be. Teenagehood just... continued, even into my 20s. And it felt wired not being able to explain this, but now I can. :) In fact, despite my Reddit ban, I am still by exception able to write on the subreddit r/nevergrewup and occasionally will do that.
Being a permateen also doesn't mean at all that I am unable to take care of myself. In my chrono teenagehood, I already learned a lot on how to do that: cooking, cleaning, dressing up. Though it sometimes makes me a bit forgetful about what I have to do at a given moment.
But it does mean I, unlike in my chrono teenagehood, get to enjoy being my true self without too many repercussions if at all, and I take absolute full advantage of this! Some of the things I do are often found by chrono teens or kids as well, like LEGO, plushies and paper drawing. :) :) :)
What stopped me from growing beyond teenagehood
I had a Reddit post explaining this, but because of my Reddit ban, it's harder to get to. So I copied the text below.
In my earliest years, I just looked like every other baby/toddler, and acted that way as well. This story actually started when I was ~3 years old. I first got my upstairs bedroom with a proper bed (the one I mostly sleep on to this day) and something inside of me flipped, causing me to think to myself: "If I got a big bed, I had to act like a grown-up" or something of that regard. This led me across an infinite path of curiosity. I learnt to read at this age, had to be homeschooled due to being unable to attend classes at local schools for a couple years (though we did a lot of extra-school classes on art, music and yoga), and at certain points I knew more than some of my classmates about a subject.
However, in secondary school, things took a turn for the worse thanks to stressful classes, worse bullies than before and mean teachers compared to the sweets I remembered from primary school. In the end, the combination of a loving parent and a terrible time in school left me kind-of confused and curious about who I was. In 5th grade secondary, this led to me discovering my feminine side and adopting a non-binary gender identity. Despite this, I never truly developed a 'rebellious spirit' like one could expect from teens, instead retaining a childlike mindset and with it, the curiosity and creativity I always had. Though I am now chrono
[insert difference between this year and 2004]
, this childlike mind never really disappears and neither do many interests I had as a kid.
Being a little 'secret'
Because not many people know about permanent ages and the experience of not growing up in general, I cannot out this IRL or make a video about it. It would simply lead to way too long of a conversation that could haunt me, or an absolute flame bait in the comments of my video.
EMERGENCY RETURN