What I’m about to say is no lie I assure you; I love my parents. Sure they get me on edge every now and then. Sure they can make things a lot more difficult or stressful than they need to be. But they’re your parents! What do you expect?

When it comes down to it, I honestly love them to death. They toughened up my skin and taught me how to laugh at everything including myself. They’re great people all around. I wouldn’t be here without them (literally).

That being said, every now and then things will occur in your life that—well– your parents aren’t ready to hear. Whether you have to sneak out to see that person they disapprove of, change in odd places to get to that party they told you not to go to, or maybe acquire a tattoo they don’t exactly know about, every now and then information must be concealed!

Despite what I’m told about hiding things from my parents, I’ve actually realized how many amazing skills I acquired just by having to do so:

1. High levels of creativity.

Let’s be honest here. For the amounts of times I’ve heard the “where are you going” question I’ve gotten pretty good at turning around and spilling a ridiculous story about how my friend needs me because her car broke down and I’m being a good friend and bye parents!

Over the years the stories have gotten better and more full of detail. Truthfully I could probably write a novel by now in complete detail about my false life. I’d say I’m not proud of it, but c’mon, that’s a pretty impressive skills.

2. Controlling my reactions.

Learning to contain reactions is harder than you’d think. Maybe you get outraging news on your phone or maybe you suddenly have plans tonight that your parents likely won’t approve of. No matter what the occasion, muffling the instinctual response when your parents are around is difficult and absolutely takes practice. Often times scenarios will require you to keep a certain composure and that can only be done through practice at hiding how you really feel! Thanks mom and Dad.

3. The ability to read people.

This is key in about every relationship of every kind; romantic, platonic, family, everything. Being able to read a person, (especially when they’re upset for some unknown reason), could save any of these relationships. How did I learn how to read people decently well? I had to be able to figure out when my parents were on to me. Deciphering when they were upset or completely ignorant to the situation at hand was how I ended up knowing how to act to get out clean. So basically, now thanks to hiding things, I’ve become a great friend counselor. Hit me up.

4. Keeping track of what people know.

THIS IS SO USEFUL. It’s also probably what I’m the worst at. It can be difficult to remember what you told your parents and what you didn’t. In my case, my parents are currently aware of one out of my two tattoos. Don’t ask me to explain how that came to occur.

Every now and then I forget which tattoo I’ve told them about… So when my Mom will ask me to see how it’s doing I always have this slight hesitation. This is great for the adult world in all honesty. White lies will come up in everything you do, not necessarily a bad thing at all! However, if you’re going to lie, you never want to be caught in a lie, so remembering what you told to whom is essential.

5. The ability to always expect the unexpected.

This skill is perfect in my insanely unorganized college life. Since I’m always expecting the oddest of possible scenarios, I seem to always be prepared for what comes my way. Essential to keeping myself appearing as if I have everything together! I acquired this skill because I had to always prepare for my mothers’ spontaneous urge to check out my room or because of last minute vacations to places where tattoos could be seen. All in all, I feel a lot more prepared for life so, I suppose, go me.

6. Appreciation

To be frank, this is a skill not enough people are taught. My parents have made me so appreciative of my life. Yes, I partially learned this through hiding things from my parents because they made me realize all the things I don’t have to hide from them. This made me understand how lenient and kind they actually are with me and my actions and so yes, they’ve taught me much appreciation just by being wonderful parents. I’m very thankful for having the parents I have.

7. The art of changing in the car

Truthfully, this has little to no application to the real world. However, it’s a pretty admirable skill. Being able to change an entire outfit in the car is an acquired skill learned from years of hiding my actual destination from my parents. The hardest part is likely getting these new clothes to your car without them asking any questions! Second hardest part is definitely finding a place to change where you won’t be seen and you’ll have to be quick. I don’t really know what else to say about this skill other than it’s not as easy as it might sound.

8. Being able to hide nearly any object in my home.

This skill has probably saved my life. At this point I have successfully discovered where my parents check and where they would never think to. Thanks to that I can probably hide nearly anything in my house. I don’t exactly have many possessions to hide from them but I feel like this makes for a useful skill in potential future scenarios. In case I ever decide to become a hoarder I can keep the stuff I really care about safe!

9. Being mindful of what I say.

Essentially learning to put a filter on myself. This skill is immensely important if you ever want to land any job ever. This skill goes hand in hand with number four above: being able to keep track of what people know. When hiding things, you have to be mindful of how much you let on and how much your parents really know. In fact, not only do you learn to speak vaguely, you learn to say exactly what people want to hear! You’ll find that the sooner you learn what that is, the better.

10. Being able to discover emergency exits everywhere I go.

When hiding your leaving the house from your parents it’s actually quite simple: Doors are only capable of being used if they aren’t too heavy and won’t make too much noise. First floor level windows are ideal but if you plan on returning, make sure you leave a slight crack big enough for your fingers to fit in. Basement exits are even more ideal because they are likely to be the least noisy. Second floor windows are never a good idea if you plan on returning. How on Earth are you going to get back in? Think of that stuff. If you have dogs. Don’t plan on returning without waking up the house.Sure this just sounds like a really good guide of how to sneak out but honestly, I now see most buildings this way and if I was ever in a situation where I needed to escape for some reason, such as escaping from my responsibilities, I’d be out in a flash.

11. Money management

When you don’t tell your parents about things, they obviously can’t see your credit card charged for said things. In this case you’re sort of forced to learn to manage your money. A couple things I’ve had to pay for completely in cash and there’s something about handing that cash over rather than swiping a credit card that just makes you so much more aware and conscious of what you’re spending and on what. Truthfully, because of this I’ve become so much more conservative with my money.

So in conclusion, in case you completely missed my message, my parents are awesome.