The first time I came across the concept of vuxenpoäng was when a friend of mine bought new plates and since then the idea has been developing. I am not sure if it is a real concept but it is something that my friends and I tend to use. The basis of the concept comes from the realization that we are getting older but not necessarily growing up.
Vuxenpoäng is translated inelegantly as adult points and there are certain actions in life which give a large amount of adult points. These are not the typical, semi-inevitable, moments in life like getting a real job, having children or buying a car but the more subtle actions which could be avoided and were, earlier in life, seen as unnecessary acts of adulthood.
Here are some examples of what the concept of vuxenpoäng entails. It is however important to note that all of these acts must be carried out voluntarily. Being forced into an act by partner, friends, parents, family pet greatly diminishes the whole value of the act. Adulthood comes from within.
Buying a large new sofa, but not from Ikea (or similar discount store) is an action which will earn you a mass of adult points. As trivial as it may sound many of us go through a large part of our lives without buying a new sofa and are not stigmatized by this. Therefore the act of buying the new sofa is not social pressure or basic necessity, but is, in a word, adult.
Spending money on certain objects is very adult. Deciding that hard earned cash should be used to invest in new plates and/or cutlery is adult. You have plates to eat off. You don’t need new plates and yet you decide to invest money in this instead of new technical stuff, clothes or vacation.
Moving house/apartment within the same region and still using professional movers. The realm of friends helping in the move and rewarding them with beer and pizza afterwards is one of the bastions of anti-adulthood.
Curtains. Curtains are generally a vaguely adult concept but there are two areas which make curtains particularly adult. The first is spending more than 15 minutes on deciding which curtain rails you would like to have. Curtains exist. Even the immature have them. But spending a large amount of time deciding upon the style in which they should defy gravity is an act filled with adult points.
Curtains: The Sequel. Having and using extra curtains. Lots of vuxenpoäng in this activity. Actually any activity besides drawing and opening the curtains once they have been installed will probably entail vuxenpoäng.
This reminds me, have you seen this one from XKCD?
So do you get the concept? What about you? How adult are you?