Back at home means back to old rules.

Moving back home can be a great thing, but it can be quite the adjustment as well! You go from being your own independent person, to living under your parent’s roof again which means that you follow their rules. It’s quite a culture shock to change your ways once you’ve had complete freedom.

Back at home means awkward “bed times.”

Once your back at home, you have to readjust to the fact that your parents and siblings don’t carry the same “1am bedtime” mentality that you may have developed at college. Tip toeing, whispering and the lack of acceptance from your parental units that ordering a pizza at midnight is not “okay.”

Back at home means people to judge you for how long you choose to stay in your bed.

I’m all for “seize the day”, but sometimes mornings are hard to see eye to eye with. Heck, if I don’t have anything going on in the morning, I find it perfectly acceptable to be in bed until 10 am – but that hinges on the fact that there is nothing that needs to be done or it’s your day off of work. But, this is a challenge because you are more than likely used to being surrounded by roommates or friends who saw this “sleeping in” phenomenon as something like a treasure chest, the one you get to find after all of the homework, studying, reading, working and procrastinating is done. This is often seen by parents in a different light, making one feel the need to get one’s butt out of bed – even though it may not have been outwardly spoken.

Back at home means the feeling of obligation to ask if you can go somewhere.

Since you are in your parents’ home once again, it is challenging to find the middle ground of the amount of information that your parents need in regards to your whereabouts or shenanigans. You may often feel the need to ask if you can go somewhere, since you are under their roof, all while you lived in complete freedom to go wherever you’d like when you were at college. This often feels uncomfortable and strange to revert back to your “under age 18” days, in order to maintain peace and harmony in the house.

Back at home means the feeling of obligation to ask if certain people can come over to your house.

This is very similar to #4, except for the fact that you are wanting an individual to come to the place of residence in which you share with your parents, siblings, extended family members etc. Yet again, as this is an act of respect or common courtesy, it is a HUGE change from the way things were for you at college. AKA: Having friends come over at all hours of the day (or night) at not batting an eye at it.

Back at home means your friends are hours away.

It’s such a challenge to go from walking across campus to see your nearest and dearest friends, to being separated from them by hour + drives and many many miles. Sometimes this leads to feeling alone or wishing that there was such a thing as teleportation — hey, it’d make this whole distance thing so much easier.

Back at home means back to the “what are you doing with your life” questions.

Ohhhh the beloved “What are you doing with your life” questioning! Whether you have just finished one year of school or you have one year left, the question still remains. Questions that fall within this category include:

“How many years do you have left?”
“What are you studying?” (This one usually happens about 20+ times every summer when I come home) 
“Did you make new friends?”
“Are you dating anyone?”
“Have you been on any dates?”
“What are you going to do after graduation?”
and of course, “What are you doing with your life?”