Moving Back in With Your Parents During Quarantine

My dad’s pride and joy is a gun that sprays salt to kill flies. When my family eats dinner on the back porch, he eats his meal with his Bug-A-Salt Gun in his lap, locked, loaded, and ready every time a fly lands on our food.

He ends up ruining the food more than killing the bugs.

Meanwhile, my mother has discovered TikTok. She, of course, doesn’t really understand how the app works (having grown up in the olden days of the 1970s), so I spend a lot of the day teaching her how to use it.

That’s my life right now: dodging salt guns and showing my mother the how-to’s of hashtag videos.

Five months ago, I was living in my college dorm and living the ideal life of a nineteen-year-old. Coronavirus sent me home and locked me inside with my family. No more classes. No more parties. No more feeling of independence.

It’s hard not to be angry– this is a major derailment from my life plan and that’s a frustrating thing to deal with. Sometimes, I accidentally project that anger onto my parents. They have done nothing but accept me into their house and kept me safe during a scary time; but, sometimes I get angry that I am living with them instead of among peers and friends, and I take it out on whomever’s near.

Needless to say, I’ve been having a hard time moving home after living alone for the first time ever.

 A friend gave me the best advice on how to come to terms with my unexpected situation; she said, “Isn’t it amazing to know that there’s always a place for you? A place with love for you. A place with people who can feed you. A place with a warm bed at night. No matter what goes wrong in your life, you now know that this place will always exist for you.” 

I urge other young people who have moved back in with their parents to think about this as well. Even if your parents are weird AF, they are doing a lot for you; you can turn this time into a reminder that when the world turns upside down, there will always be a place you can go.

Now I know when the apocalypse hits (hey, 2020 ain’t over yet), I can move in with my parents. My dad will stand guard at the door with his salt rifle, and my mom will keep us entertained by teaching TikTok dances. Hopefully both will come in handy when fighting zombies.

Thank you Mom and Dad for taking me in and dealing with my shenanigans. I’m sorry that I complain thirty-three times a day about being away from college. Even though I don’t quite feel independent right now, it will be easier for me to be independent in the future knowing that I always have you guys here to help me through it.

I love you guys. Thank you.