Dear Queenie,
When I graduated high school I moved out of my parents’ house because I wanted to live on my own while I was going to college. I work 2 part-time jobs to pay my expenses and tuition at University of St. Martin, but it’s just not enough money and I’m tired all the time and it’s affecting my grades.
I asked my parents if I could move back in with them and they said okay, but they would expect me to obey the same rules as before I moved out, when I was still in high school, like I have do chores and I have to tell them when I’m going out and I have to be in by a certain hour and I have to tell them where I’m going and who I’m going with.
Queenie, this isn’t fair. I’m grown up now and I shouldn’t be expected to live by rules for kids! How can I make them understand this?—Independent
Dear Independent,
You claim to be an independent adult, but you want your parents to provide you with food and shelter as they did when you were a child? I think you still have some growing up to do!
“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” honey. If you can’t pay your own way, you will have to abide by the rules of the people who pay it for you. It’s their house and their money; they have the right to expect you to help with the work around the house and to set the conditions of your living there, especially as you are no longer a child.
