As my sister and I have grown up and moved out of the house, my parents have become slightly "empty nesters." I still regularly come home and do my laundry, because you know, free laundry. But, even before we left home I noticed something about my parents. They are WAY cooler than me and here is how.

1. They stay up way later than me

I'm lucky if I can stay awake until 10 o'clock on a weekend and they are up until the crack dawn it seems.

2. They go out more than me

Whether they are at the bar or just visiting friends they seem to have a better social life than me.

3. They can party harder than me

They definitely have more experience in this department than me, which is hard to believe.

4. They ride motorcycles

They and their fellow biker friends are out almost every weekend during the summer.

5. They vacation more than me

6. They shop way more than me

My mom is a regular in Buckle and I can barely get myself to pay $9.99 on new socks.

7. My friends always called them "the cool parents"

They were pretty lenient on my sister and I and when we had friends over we were always told "wow your parents are so cool!"

8. They have newer phones than me

Well due to me destroying phones left and right it is no wonder they do...

9. They listen to better music than me

My mom can go from hard core rap to head banging metal to country unlike to myself.

10. They go to more concerts than me

I have only been to three in my whole entire life and they went to three last year alone.

Sometimes they make me feel like I'm actually an alien from another planet comparing our "coolness." But, I do feel like I was given a privilege to have parents that gave me freedom, showed me how to be independent and taught me how to have fun. Like my parents, I hope to be the "cool parents" to my kids' friends someday.