Moving home after college? Don’t.

Kidding.

Sort of.

Here’s my take on moving home after college and what people don’t tell you about it:

1. The Honeymoon Phase

You are going to love being at home because of all the things you missed– your parents, your pets, that mom and pop donut shop down the street. This nostalgic driven love for your home will last approximately one week. Then you are hit with the fact that you may or may not know when you are moving out, but it is not soon enough.

2. Back in Time

All of sudden you go from no curfews, no rules, no supervision in college to asking your parents if you can borrow the car or them asking you who you are hanging out with. Telling your parents that you are about to go meet up with a stranger you met off Tinder for drinks who you will most likely never see again can be a bit awkward, depending on your relationship with your parents. So you lie, or you don’t. I still haven’t figured out which is the better option. And just like that, living at home sends you back five years to when you were a little high school girl with more rules than colored pens.

3. Your parents become your best friends

This one rocks. I honestly don’t know who is more excited for me to move out, me or my parents. As much as they love me, I’m sure spending every waking moment with me talking to them, wanting something from them, or interrupting them has gotten old. But at the same time, I have never been closer to my parents, which makes moving out that much harder.

4. Your pet also becomes your best friend.

Don’t get me wrong, I have real live friends, but they live thousands of miles away or are working a full time job in the city. Once you leave college have 24/7 friends becomes have 1 hour every month friends. This is why your pet becomes your best friend. They love you unconditionally, are always happy to see you, and can’t get rid of you no matter how many times they get up and move across the couch from you. Leaving my little pup in the fall is going to suck, too bad I can’t bring her to grad school in England but the rest of my family might hurt me if I tried.

5. You will be sad.

Maybe not all of the time, or right away, but it will hit you. Your friends are miles away, your life is on temporary hold, and your family members have lives of their own. Fast forward to me scheduling time to see my sister because her days were already booked with fun girl trips, boyfriend time, Bachelor in Paradise girls night, etc. One time I picked her up from a friends house and we got ice cream, it was awesome. Another time, she cut our girls night short because she was “tired”, which I found out later was code for “my boyfriend texted me and wants to go get ice cream so how do I get rid of Dana.”

6. You will grow, a lot.

Due to this loneliness that my puppy could cure only so much of, I grew even more independent than I already was. I became a morning person, mostly because Bailey wakes up at 6:30 and someone has to feed her. I read more than when I was in school. I got really tan (even my sister’s friends noticed something different about me). I became a Starbucks Gold Member (my addiction for chocolate croissants knows no bounds). I ate healthier and exercised more because there’s no excuse not to when all that you can think is “I’m bored” (which I thought a lot this summer). I became a blog reader because why not I have the time. And I actually began to accept a lot of parts about myself that I didn’t like very much. This summer I had the epiphany that I actually really like my small boobs, even though for the past decade I have been at war with them, that was liberating.

So, give yourself the space to grow and be happy and sad and stressed and confused. Be kind to yourself, it’s not every summer you go through one of the biggest transitions of your life. You are lucky to be home, surrounded by people who have to love and support you (hopefully). Use this time to truly assess who you are and where you want to be, then get going- life waits for no one.