So last summer was my first summer in college. I was excited and empowered. I had just completed my first year of college and successfully survived on my own. I mean, I had some help from my amazing parents, but my family moved last year and I wanted to go back to my home town, so I took a summer internship away from home. I had an amazing time, but half way through the school year I was so homesick. I decided that this summer I would live at home with my family again. It's only three months, so I couldn't see any issues with it.
Well, I didn't realize that although I see myself as a fully capable adult, my parents see me as an "adult." Let me explain this. I have lived on my own for the most part for over a year and a half. Last summer I was in charge of children. My parents always tell me how proud they are that I really have grown into an amazing "adult." There are quotations! You can hear it in their voices. They know that I am twenty years old, I have a job and pay for most of my own stuff and I can vote—just saying!—but they still say it like I'm not a real adult.
Here's an example: I start to walk out of the house at about 9:30 p.m. and my dad asks where I'm going. I explain I haven't eaten yet and I am going to get food. He then asks where. I say I don't know and that I haven't decided yet. He then tells me that I need to eat earlier because now my options are limited. Well father, I was babysitting and putting children in bed because I need money to pay for the gas to take me to the fast food restaurant that will provide me with sustenance tonight. He then tells me that I need to eat healthier and plan ahead because that fast food is terrible. Okay overlord, I'll do that, but right now I need food. Then he says I need to be sure my lights are on and that I am using my gas efficiently. Does he realize that I feed myself like this everyday and I have been surviving just fine without question until this moment right now? But most of the time I just say thanks because it pleases him and gets me out of the house quicker.
Okay so I'm used to my parents wanting to know where I am and what I'm doing and I will generally let them know so they don't freak out. It would be nice in case I was suddenly abducted, and me sharing my location with my mother so she wouldn't ask me thirty times where I was suddenly saved my life, but lately its been more like a game of 185 questions with an added "Can I come?" So yesterday, dad wanted to give me a speech on eating better and time management. Today mom wants to come with me every where I go. I mean, it's okay sometimes. My parents are chill people and are not extremely embarrassing. Now that I'm older, I can talk with them and their friends without being the awkward kid in the room they needed to filter conversations for. But this does not mean I want to hang out with them all of the time. I think they let it go to their heads and now they think they are really cool or something.
In the end, I know I will always need my parents and I am so thankful to have them in my life. They sacrifice so much for me and my sister and I will never be able to thank them properly.
