When I was talking about the law above, it was more that her perception of adulthood is that the world is pretty open as a general rule in that you don't have a ton of restrictions on you outside of not breaking the law and providing for basic physical needs of living.
But isn't your experience of adulthood one with tons of restrictions? Think about all the things you'd like to be doing, and then think of all the things that keep getting in the way of that... work, household chores, errands, child care, etc. All of those things you're responsible for restrict your choices, just as you restrict hers.
Sure, nobody is absolutely forcing you to do anything beyond the minimum, but I'm sure you accept certain responsibilities anyway. For example, it's perfectly possible for a family to ignore dirty dishes and overflowing garbage for months at a time, but I'm assuming that's a lifestyle you haven't chosen to experience.
