Settling Back In: My First Month Living at Home Again

 As I write this from my childhood bedroom, I can’t help but feel reflective about how moving home from university has been. Even though I knew that this was coming for a while, it still has caught me a bit off guard of how different life can be. The shift from living with my best friends to now with my parents is definitely an adjustment. 

One thing I did (unfortunately) expect was how much stuff I would have to sort out. Having been abroad for a semester, I’d already gone through the hassle of moving out of my uni room once and knew that returning to it all a year later wasn't going to be pretty. Now everything I own is sprawled out in my parents house waiting to be tidied away with nowhere to put it. I have already made a few attempts at clearing my room of clothes I don’t wear anymore, but my unsold Vinted pile is threatening to become a permanent feature of the house. 


So not only am I feeling quite frankly a bit overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I have, I am also feeling the change in my social life. At uni, as anyone who has been knows, you can see your friends at the drop of a hat. You will most likely see them pretty much everyday. Fast forward to moving home, and most of my school friends are in proper 9-5 jobs with busy lives with schedules that do not line up with mine. I am lucky enough to have a pretty big friendship group from home that have been there for me for years, but this group is often only free at weekends, leaving the weekdays pretty quiet in comparison to my university life.


Now this is not me complaining, I love seeing my friends nailing it in their big girl jobs and I love hearing about it at the weekend. It is more so the drastic change in my life from university which revolved around seeing my friends. Nowadays there is a lot of time I spend by myself which is fine but can be difficult after rarely being alone at uni. I am trying to see this time as a period of growth, a chance to learn how to be happy in my own company but it seems it is taking some time to adjust to the new norm. 


Now you may be saying, Rosie, why haven't you gotten a job to fill the time ? and I would respond - I have tried and even with a degree no cafe nor restaurant want me. Yep, even Tesco rejected me… Ego aside, I am hoping that something will come soon, with a few interviews this week it may be sooner than we think (edit* she got a cafe job yay !)  Meanwhile it is still summer and my friends are still keen to catch up on the weekend and I am grateful for that. 


Another thing that comes with moving home, something which I have felt over returning home for summers from uni is the shift in independence. Now my parents are great, they literally have a better social life than me and aren’t often sat at home on the weekends. However when they are, they want to know everything about what I am doing - where I am going, who I am seeing etc. Which yes is completely fair and nice to know they are interested. But it is a big change from university. You only really had to tell someone you were going out if you wanted to. Now my parents can’t get enough of all the info on where I have been, even if it is just to the gym. Whichever way you cut it, this is a change and it has taken some adjustment for sure. 


All that being said, I am so lucky to have a home and parents that will welcome me back in. They have done so much for me and I am so grateful that they are who they are. The move back home is never easy but having been home for about a month already I am hopeful I will settle into a routine that works for me. 


Sending love to those living at home too - we are in it together :) 


Rosie x 

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