As a child, I didn't understand why, because of my age, I wasn't allowed to do anything. It was 16 for a license, 18 to buy porn, ciggaretts, and gamble (maybe get married, ect), 21 to legally drink. It seemed each next age was a milestone. Age was concidered a number. Not a frame of mind.
And my parents, they set there own limits. As a child, a person didn't associate themselves with "adults". They were the ones who assumed power. Even as in college, living on my own, I never felt grown up. I shouldn't do things, because I didn't know how, or you don't want to be one of them, or your not old enough.
Even concidered an adult, I never felt like one. I never did. I do now.