I’ve tried my hand at living on my own. I got a cozy one-bedroom apartment, took my parent’s old furniture and my cat and made myself at home. It was mostly wonderful. I loved the freedom of coming and going when I pleased, of eating Oreo's in bed, and of doing my laundry… some other time (I swear this is what freedom is to a 20-year-old). But the monthly fees just kept piling up, and at the end of my 12-month lease I was too broke to continue on and moved back home. Here are some things all too familiar to the 20-something-year-old living at home.
- “Clean your room,” is still very much a reality for those of us living with our parents. Occasionally (or… ok… all of the time) in the process of waking up, I’ll hit the snooze button about five times before I actually have my feet meet the floor. This inevitably means that I’ll be throwing on whatever clothes are closest, and leaving the ones I’ve slept in on the ground. Sometimes, I think yeah, I’m an adult – I can leave my clothes on the floor if I want to! But I always get that text…
- You might still have a curfew. A seemingly unreasonable curfew at that! Unless I’m staying the night out, I have to be home at a decent hour. I have friends who are younger than me, but because they live on campus they are curfew-free and seem to automatically expect the same of me. I guess they just don’t understand what it’s like to have your car turn into a pumpkin at midnight.
- You’re spoiled to home cooking. My friends are living off ramen noodles and frozen pizza (and I remember those days myself) but on any given night I can come home to a bacon-wrapped filet and grilled asparagus. I’m so spoiled to my mom’s professional cooking, that I don’t actually know how to cook myself. I know I’ll have to move out again one day, and I foresee many grilled cheeses in my future…
- You usually get the blame for…everything. When something goes missing, or something stops working, my parents are absolutely certain that it had to be me. They are the two responsible adults, so who else could it have possibly been?
- Knowing that when you do move out… you’ll still miss all these things. Sometimes I’m annoyed living at home. I find myself perpetually saying, “I’m 23! I can (your choice of what you want to do here) if I want to!” But ultimately, I know my parents have been showering me with love and support. When I’ve had a bad day, my mom is always there to listen. When my car is making a noise, my step-dad is there to fix it.
Sometimes I’m in such a rush to be a full-fledged adult, but if my mom wants to think I’m a teen for a little while longer, I think I’ll manage.
