It's All Decided For Me

So, as you probably know if you actually read this blog regularly, I'm home on break right now. That means leaving the beautifully solitudinous lifestyle that is living alone at college without my parents. Now I'm at the age where I would like to believe that I can make most of my life decisions on my own without my parents' inputs or supervision. And yet, very often, my parents tend to still make decisions for me. Not necessarily major decisions, but decisions none the less that I feel affect myself alone and require no external input from my parents or other sources. In this post, I would like to share with you a few of the interesting and unique exchanges I've had with both my parents over the past week in order to highlight their ability to make decisions for me...

Mom: Let's go to the gym tomorrow.
Me: What time?
Mom: 9 AM.
Me: uh...I don't really wanna wake up that early...
Mom: oh it's ok, I'll wake you up.
Me: ...

Dad: When are you going to clean your car?
Me: I'll do it sometime this week.
Dad: No you should do it today.
Me: Why? I want to hang out with my friends today, I'll clean it tomorrow.
Dad: NO! (in his loud angry voice), you have to do it today.
Me: uh...why?
Dad: Because it's better that way.
Me: why?
Dad: Because it is.
Me: ...

Mom: It's Good Friday today, so you can't eat meat.
Me: Uh Mom, why can't I eat meat, I don't even go to church anymore.
Mom: You just can't.
Me: Mom, that sort of thing doesn't really mean anything to me.
Mom: Well you're not going to eat meat if you're going to eat with us tomorrow.
Me: That's ok, I'll just go and get some food myself, like that Beefy Cheesy Melt from Taco Bell.
Mom: No you can't eat meat!
Me: Why not?
Mom: Because it's Good Friday.
Me: But you already said I could if I didn't eat with you.
Mom: Well you can't eat meat, and that's it.
Me: ...

Dad: You better make sure you email back your Uncle David quick (to thank him for his support during my job search).
Me: I'll email him tomorrow.
Dad: No you have to do it now.
Me: What difference does it make if I do it today or tomorrow? It's not as if he's waiting for it.
Dad: What's wrong with you? It makes a huge difference.
Me: How so?
Dad: It just does, that's just how things are.
Me: ... (so you really have no explanation...)

Mom: You have to check out housing for next year now.
Me: Mom, I already did this last year, I can't do anything until I'm back on campus and I can actually go visit the places.
Mom: But you should still get them all lined up so you can visit the places over the weekend.
Me: Mom, a lot of the people who live there won't be back until Sunday night.
Mom: Not everyone leaves for spring break!
Me: Yea not everyone, but most people do.
Mom: So, you should still get them all lined up.
Me: It's ok Mom, I'll just do it right when I get back before things get too busy.
Mom: No you have to do it now during break when you have time.
Me: Mom, I have to go visit the places, so I can't really do anything until I'm back on campus.
Mom: Well you have to do something before you go back or else you'll get beat out for all the good houses.
Me: ... (not really)

These are just a small sampling of my daily life at home with my parents. Naturally they mean well, but I believe that a lot times they have a hard time letting go. They're so used to making every decision for me that it's tough for them to adjust to my new level of independence. But I'm ok with that. It comes with its negatives (them being extremely annoying) and it's positives (my mom still doing my laundry and my dad still giving me money whenever I come home). Back to school on Monday. Back to living by myself. And in a lot of ways, I'll both relish leaving home and yet still manage to miss it.

As a tribute to my parents, I was trying to find a good video to properly fit today's theme. But instead, I choose to present a song that is an old favorite of both my parents, and me..."Hotel California," by the Eagles. Enjoy, and try not to be so hard on your parents when they act dumb. God knows they do it a lot.