You’ve cut the cord and fled the nest in pursuit of freedom and independence, yet leaving your parents and their eye roll-inducing home habits behind is proving harder than you think.
Why? Because surprisingly, you’ve started following the same patterns.
You discover a lot about yourself when you move out of home, more so when moving into your first home.
You come to discover that not everybody lines their bins (ew) or irons their bedsheets (just you?).
What is most shocking – and gives us the real Freaky Friday vibes – is that among all this self-discovery and growth, you begin to realise that you’ve actually started to adapt your parents’ habits. Yep, the same ones you deemed so pointless just a few years back.
And before you know it, you’re passively-aggressively turning off lights to save precious electricity.
After moving out of home for the first time only recently, these are signs I’ve noticed that indicate that the apple truly does not fall far from the tree. I am my dad, you guys.
‘Best before’ dates are simply a guideline
‘It’s still good… right?’ has become my mantra since I began paying for my own groceries.
Sure, that leftover pasta sauce from last week technically went off in 2017, but that doesn’t mean it’s destined to end up in the bin.
I used to turn my nose up at a long-expired jar of mustard while my parents used to say, “best before are simply a guideline”. Guess who says that now, too?
Folding your spare plastic bags
We all want to make the most out of the remaining plastic bag and do our bit for the environment, but storing these bad boys into a drawer is almost impossible.
By folding them into little triangles you can wave goodbye to explosive cupboards and hello to organisation – thanks, mum!
Read more: 9 new ways to reduce plastic waste
Washing your driveway
Nothing about this act made any sense until I met the power hose. Not only is it super satisfying to watch, but it also increases the life of your driveway and removes all that gross moss that grows on the surface. I’m not proud of using water to wash concrete, although my parents would be.
Becoming the light police
Let’s be real, you never really understood why leaving the lights on bothered your parents so much.
But when you realise electricity equals bills and bills equal money, you instantly switch behaviours. You also discover that switching to energy-saving light bulbs never hurts nobody (especially your bank account).
Read more: 6 ways to brighten your apartment with natural light
The stress of a pop-in visitor
That instant panic you experience when you find out someone is popping in for a visit really is a thing.
‘Be there in five’ is a text that immediately causes me to perform weird and seemingly irrelevant jobs such as clearing out the sink, pulling the weeds and lining up the tea towels.
Sorry for ever questioning you, mum. I get it now.
This article was originally published as Signs you’re becoming your parents at home by realestate.com.au written by Isabel Barrera