"You're pathetic, you live with your parents!"

[Cat]

I lived at home til 27......not enough $$$ to get my own apartment and noone to be roomies with.

Hell, technically my parents own my condo, and I pay 'em rent. I do feel like a failure at life for that, but I'm hopefully will change that within a year.

[Boozy]

There's nothing wrong with living with your parents. Nothing wrong with living there rent-free either, as long as your folks can afford it and don't mind.

But it's important to stay busy and focussed. I strongly believe that everyone should do something full-time, or have several part-time pursuits.

You shouldn't feel badly about it, because there's no point. Feeling bad doesn't make anyone else's situation better. But if your schooling takes only part-time hours and you're doing nothing else, you should probably be pushing yourself a bit more. You're only 22 years-old! "Taking it easy" is for retirement.

If you can't handle more classes, and can't get a job you like, do some volunteer work. It looks great on a resume, and at your age, you need to be concerned about building some sort of solid work history.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I lived with my parents til my mid twenties. I couldn't find a flat cuz I didn't want a flatshare, I wanted to live by myself and it took me ages to find one. I paid rent, did all my washing and some of the cooking, plus I pitched in on housework. I was hardly being kept and waited on hand and foot.

[DrFaroohk]

My best friend is like that now, although he's 29. Still, he's just gotten his masters in something or other and is looking for work. He doesn't spend alllllll day at it, and he takes it easy too, plays wow most of the time. Some people give him shit for it, and even people who have no business judging him at all. It's not like the money spent on him was going to be theirs if he had a tough life.

[Fashion Lad!]

I moved back home after getting into a huge fight with one of my roomies. I needed to be out of that house ASAP. My parents let me move back in. I pay $150 for rent. I help out around the house. Take care of all the animals. Work full-time, go to school full-time. I get awesome grades (Dean's list every quarter). I'm getting ready to graduate this June.

I think in a long run, your parents are doing you more harm than good. Life doesn't go at your pace... I learned that a long time ago.

But, I'm glad you have a good arrangement with your parents and you're all happy. I just hope life doesn't kick you in the face when you get into it.

[Sableonblonde]

I lived at home until I was 26. I paid like $100 a month in rent, and that pretty much got cancelled out by the fact that my mom bought all of the groceries. She also did my laundry. In my case, my mom was pretty co-dependent and didn't want to lose her children or have them go anywhere...she is depressive and doesn't have ANY friends, and so didn't want to be alone.

Admittedly, I turned out to be a pretty spoiled, bratty adult. I couldn't hang on to a job for longer than four or five months, I had this entitlement attitude, I was lazy. At 27, I'm still in the process of sloooowly becoming an adult LoL On the one hand I think that if you have parents who want to take care of you, then hey, take advantage of your luck! But on the other hand, just make sure that it's not making you soft or impeding the process of growing up

[Rageaholic]

This is a rant mostly directed at some hypocritical relatives of mine, but it could also apply to an attitude I see online, even on here and CS at times. In fact, it was a thread on CS that really brought home this rant of mine.

I'm 22 years old, I've never worked in a job (looking though), I still live with my well off family, they pay for my expenses, including my college education, and I don't have to pay rent to live in my parents house. Oh and speaking of college, I'm not a full time student. In other words, I'm taking it easy, I'm not stressing myself out, I'm going at my own pace, and I don't get flak from my parents over it. In fact, I rarely fight with my parents and get along perfectly fine with them. They are not going to kick me out because they feel I should be on my own and I feel perfectly secure with them.

Look, I get it, not everyone has easy going parents nor are they on good terms. Some parents are more strict than others, some people come from less well off backrounds, and I'm sure that a good percentage of people have bigger problems to deal with than me. There are probably a lot of things I have that others don't that I take for granted. It honestly pains me to see others being stressed out over strict parents or what not. It also impresses me to see how they come through, so this isn't me trying to play the "I'm better" card.

My problem is this attitude that I shouldn't complain about anything because I live with my parents. Or even worse, being down right insulted because of it. I got this from relatives who would talk about how when they were growing up they would have been out of the house by 18, or how they would have had to work to get money, and how they would have never gotten away with saying that in front of their parents! With some relatives, I'm afraid to even ask my parents for anything for fear that they will make some smart ass comment. Even though my parents don't mind being there for me, they too are getting crapped on for being "too easy" on me.

As a result, *I* feel like crap like maybe I've had it too easy or am asking my parents for too much, or that I should have it harder. You know what? Fuck that shit. I'm not going to feel bad for having some things (okay maybe a lot) handed to me, nor am I going to feel like the spoiled kid who doesn't know how good he has it. I offer to help around the house, I don't ask my parents for anything unreasonable, I don't throw fits when they don't give me what I want. I am very grateful for having parents who I know will be there for me. And damn it, I'm going to stay grateful for it, not live in shame, feeling like an EW who "never has to work for anything". Bull shit. I'm not without my struggles and even if I wasn't it's nobody's goddamn business but my parents and I!