For me, moving away from home for college was terrifying at first.
I couldn’t run to my parents’ room whenever I heard something go bump in the night, I had to survive on Lunchables and microwavable ravioli, and my only sense of protection was my pink pepper spray keychain. Of course, I grew to love the independence of living on my own and hated having to leave that behind for a few months.
Ever since moving back home for the summer, I’ve noticed the perks of living with mom and dad… and the pitfalls.
Whenever you first move home, you expect a huge surprise party complete with a cake and tears of joy from your entire family.
Until you realize that there’s no cake and they transformed your bedroom into an office/gym hybrid.
On the bright side, no more cafeteria food! Balling on a budget no longer, living at home means all of the free (good) food you could ever want.
You do have to deal with annoying siblings, though. You’d think that after two semesters apart you’d grow to get along a little better.
Also, it is a little hard getting used to being told to actually do stuff. Can’t a girl lay around with no pants, watch Netflix for 10 hours straight, and eat three boxes of Zebra Cakes without being asked to do the dishes?
I’d much rather do dishes than go to my 8 a.m. class, though. No class is the best kind of class.
However, you can't really just leave the house unannounced. I know we’re all used to coming and going as we please, but don’t be surprised when mom stops you from walking out the door on Saturday night.
Moving home is kind of awesome because you get to reunite with your hometown best friends. Good old fashioned all-nighters? Doing hoodrat stuff around the neighborhood? Sign me up!
Overall, living at home isn’t too bad. Even though you can’t run around pants-less and eat ice cream for every meal, it’s nice having someone taking care of you, and summer is the greatest time of year. No matter how ready we are to go back to school and be independent again, it’s time to take advantage of what’s truly important: free food, family, old friends, and someone to do your laundry.
