My family's thoughts on me being back at home

Photo/drawing by Alaina Burris

Like me, a bunch of college students have gone back home to live with their families during this time of crisis. I’m sure that other families have different reactions to their kids being home but here’s my family’s response to me being back home for an extended period of time. 

Back home, it’s only my mom, my brother, Gannon, my mom’s boyfriend Lee (when he isn’t at work out of state) and me. For my mom, she said life hasn’t changed much. She’s glad that I’m home and able to help out around the house. One thing she noticed is that we cook a lot more as a family as opposed to my brother already making dinner before she gets home from work (my mom is a nurse and gets home late most nights). With me being home, I try to make sure that dinner is ready when she gets home. She also mentioned that we hang out more now that it’s getting nicer outside. 

My brother’s life has changed a little bit as well. He just got his license a couple of months ago so he likes to take my car as he pleases, which irritates the hell out of me, since he doesn’t put gas in it. He also feels like he can take over my Xbox at any given moment, his reasoning being “you’re never home so I never play, so I’m catching up on missed time.” He also jokes around saying that we go through three times the amount of food when I’m home. 

For Lee, he gives me the most crap. When we were home for spring break and got the news that we were switching over, he was like “oh God no, this is gonna be terrible.” He spelled out J-O-B, meaning that I need to get one right away and now that I’m home, I agree with that, but I’m more worried about school at the moment. 

That’s my family's thoughts on me being home! I know that it’s different for students all across the nation and that households may not be as welcoming as mine, and even toxic in some cases. If that’s the case, reach out to someone. These are tough times for everyone right now. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy during this time.