A Gift and A Curse: The Pros and Cons of Living Back Home

Written By Jason Kent

Your twenties to thirties are an amazing time.  People start out their careers, start families and make a lot of horrible decisions.  It’s great!  It’s really when you find out who you will be for the rest of your life.  During these years, you can make decisions which backfire.  I for instance decided to sell my house & move in with family while the whole process goes on.    It’s taught me the important  lesson of  “make sure to see if there are other options” & “You can love someone but it doesn’t mean you have to like them!”  Here are the pros and cons of staying with family for an extended stay.

Pros:

1. Less Traveling During the Holidays.

Most of my family is in the general area of where I used to live but just far enough to take up all day to drive in between houses.  It has been nice spending more time with family on the holidays than inside of my car.  I dislike driving quite a bit so this was a big improvement.  Last Christmas (I gave you my heart), I only had to drive to one house instead of 3!  I was very impressed as was my gas card.

2. Helps with Grieving.

Last year I lost my Mom after a long battle with cancer.  Moving in with family really did help with the grieving process, instead of just sitting & dwelling on what was the worst day in my life.   Plus the house I was in, was my childhood home!  With out my mom there, it was just a house & not a home. Being around family, sharing laughs, stories & good times has helped put me on the right track in life.

3. Friendly Faces.

We all have bad days that are caused by a number of things, i.e. work, school, love life, ninja attack.  The best medicine is laughter.  Being around people with who you share so much history can be entertaining.  A few childhood stories can be a real pick me up.

Cons:
1. Everyone clean up?  Yeah right ya communist.

Living in a house with family can make for tight quarters.  Sadly not every person has the same value of cleanliness.  I’m not OCD by any means, but living with messy folks is something that I hope I never have to do again.  It makes me wonder at what age do people learn to do such things as: flushing toilets, putting trash in the trash can, not leaving food out on the counters.  I thought those ideas were basic knowledge but I am apparently wrong.  I’m not saying people don’t forget sometimes to pick up after themselves, but there is a line between being forgetful & disgusting.

2. Hot showers are a rarity.

This is a first world problem like much of the other stuff in the cons section. Not having hot water whenever you want to take a shower is tough.  What doubles the irritation is when others complain about no hot water but spend a long time in the shower.  I try to be nice & take quick showers but not everyone feels the same way, even when asked.  So when I hit the road to my next place, I might just take a long hot shower.  A week long shower.

3. That special snack you got? It got eaten.

Usually if I run to the store, I’ll pick up some sort of juice to have.  The problem is, even a half gallon of juice won’t last in the house for more than a day.  More often than not, I’ll never even get to taste any juice.  It’s not life changing but man, I really wanted OJ this morning with my cereal. 🙁

Those are some of the pros & cons of living with family.  It’s not as bad as some situations but it doesn’t mean they are the best of times either.  Luckily us quarter-lifers have the ability to rebound, deal with sleepless nights & are stubborn enough to keep plowing forward. So for all of you others who are in this situation, it’s just temporary & don’t drink all of the juice… Seriously.