--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They also create wormholes in time…" description: "\"“They also create wormholes in time, transporting their mothers and fathers back to feelings and sensations they haven't had since they themselves were..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/jennifer-senior-12574_adulthood_they-also-create-wormholes-in-time-trans_2318676.jpg" --- # They also create wormholes in time, transporting their… ![“They also create wormholes in time, transporting their mothers and fathers back to feelings and sensations they haven't had since they themselves were young. The dirty secret about adulthood is the sameness of it, its tireless adherence to routines and customs and norms. Small children may…” quote by Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/jennifer-senior-12574_adulthood_they-also-create-wormholes-in-time-trans_2318676.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/jennifer-senior-12574_adulthood_they-also-create-wormholes-in-time-trans_2318676.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/jennifer-senior-12574_adulthood_they-also-create-wormholes-in-time-trans_2318676.jpg) > ““They also create wormholes in time, transporting their mothers and fathers back to feelings and sensations they haven't had since they themselves were young. The dirty secret about adulthood is the sameness of it, its tireless adherence to routines and customs and norms. Small children may intensify this sense of repetition and rigidity by virtue of the new routines they establish. But they liberate their parents from their ruts too.”” [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adults feel trapped in repetitive routines, while children can both reinforce and break those patterns, offering parents a chance to escape monotony. **In simple terms:** Adults stuck in routine; kids can help break it. Key Takeaway Allow children to create new habits that free you. Themes routine family dynamics generational influence change freedom Mood reflective hopeful Type advice observational When to use this quote - parenting - career planning - personal growth - family therapy Key Concepts psychology habit formation intergenerational learning Questions to Reflect On - How can you use your child’s new routines to reshape your own? - What boundaries protect healthy change? A Different Perspective Children may also reinforce old habits unintentionally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) [Adulthood Sameness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood-sameness-5534249/) [Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Liberate Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberate-parents-5534247/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents Ruts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents-ruts-5534248/) [Secret Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-adulthood-641909/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The secret to adulthood is that 99% of the time, you actually know the right thing to do. 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Could I tell him that one Secret of Adulthood is "Never start a sentence with the words 'No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/i-wasn-t-sure-how-to-answer-could-i-tell-him-that-one-secret-of/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [“Sometimes your kids will say the nastiest things, won't they, Rose? You want to ask,'Whose child is this?'" Rose chuckled. 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More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [You can only pretend for so long before reality hits and you realize he/she is not who you thought or what you truly want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/you-can-only-pretend-for-so-long-before-reality-hits-and-you-realize/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [In their youth, mortals behave more like nymphs. Adulthood seems impossibly distant, let alone the enfeeblement of old age. But ponderously, inevitably, it overtakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-mull/in-their-youth-mortals-behave-more-like-nymphs-adulthood-seems/) [Brandon Mull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-mull/) > [Two things suck about becoming an adult male - paying taxes and getting a finger in your butt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-code/two-things-suck-about-becoming-an-adult-male-paying-taxes-and-getting/) [Guy Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-code/) > [People often say that you should never work with child actors. I think that's all wrong. Children have not had the imagination kicked out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/people-often-say-that-you-should-never-work-with-child-actors-i-think/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## More by Jennifer Senior > [“SOME OF THE HARDEST parts of parenting never change—like sleep deprivation, which, according to researchers at Queen’s University in Ontario, can in some respects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/some-of-the-hardest-parts-of-parenting-never-change-like-sleep/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“Dying, in other words — like combat, like becoming a parent, like any transformative life event — doesn’t always reveal or intensify aspects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/dying-in-other-words-like-combat-like-becoming-a-parent-like-any/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“Our stories may not always be pleasant as they’re being lived. 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The most curious, however, may be that children have acquired more and more stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/the-sentimentalization-of-childhood-has-produced-a-great-many/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“In that same lecture, Kahneman confessed that the outsize power of the remembering self mystified him. “Why do we put so much weight on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/in-that-same-lecture-kahneman-confessed-that-the-outsize-power-of-the/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“But these gains in freedom for both men and women often seem like a triumph of subtraction rather than addition. Over time, writes Coontz,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/but-these-gains-in-freedom-for-both-men-and-women-often-seem-like-a/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“He just has to step away from the moment to see it. Which isn’t surprising. Lots of parents will tell you that when they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/he-just-has-to-step-away-from-the-moment-to-see-it-which-isn-t/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“One could simply say it’s a legitimate fear-response, a reasonable and deeply internalized reaction to a shrinking economic pie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/one-could-simply-say-it-s-a-legitimate-fear-response-a-reasonable-and/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“If one takes meaning into consideration, happiness might best be described as “a zest for life in all its complexity,” as Sissela Bok writes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/if-one-takes-meaning-into-consideration-happiness-might-best-be/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“Having worked so hard to have children, parents may feel it's only natural to expect happiness from the experience. 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They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/and-if-that-s-the-case-if-we-are-our-remembering-selves-then-it/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) [Explore all 54 Jennifer Senior quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) ## More Adulthood quotes > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [People often say that you should never work with child actors. I think that's all wrong. 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Česky: „Být dospělým neznamená zabít…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebasti-n-wortys/english-being-an-adult-doesn-t-mean-killing-the-child-we-once-were-it/) [Sebastián Wortys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebasti-n-wortys/) > [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/) [Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/) > [“Sometimes your kids will say the nastiest things, won't they, Rose? You want to ask,'Whose child is this?'" Rose chuckled. "But usually, they're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/sometimes-your-kids-will-say-the-nastiest-things-won-t-they-rose-you/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [“one Secret of Adulthood is “Never start a sentence with the words ‘No offense’”? “And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/one-secret-of-adulthood-is-never-start-a-sentence-with-the-words-no/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [In their youth, mortals behave more like nymphs. Adulthood seems impossibly distant, let alone the enfeeblement of old age. 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Their tailored clothes and unbending hairdos, their clipboards and laser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-baume/the-entrepreneurs-are-only-about-my-age-probably-younger-but-they-don/) [Sara Baume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-baume/) [Browse all 651 Adulthood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They also create wormholes in time, transporting their mothers and fathers back to feelings and sensations they haven't had since they themselves were young. The dirty secret about adulthood is the sameness of it, its tireless adherence to routines and customs and norms. Small children may intensify this sense of repetition and rigidity by virtue of the new routines they establish. 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