REL ATIONSHIPS
Getting Along in Quarantine How to survive being stuck at home with your parents or roommate
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any students have found themselves displaced during this era of COVID-19, and that comes with its own set of issues. Many of them are having to return home to their parent’s house, moving back in with their families, or needing to get apartments with roommates. Either way, many students right now are having to deal with living with others again and maybe not being in complete control of their day-to-day life anymore because of being stuck at home nonstop. If you find yourself in a situation like this, some of these tips may help you to better coexist peacefully with those you now have to share your life with 24/7.
parents /family Family is precious to a lot of people, but can sometimes be difficult to be around, and everyone’s home situation is different in this realm. It can especially be tough if you are used to being away at college and not under your parent’s roof anymore. If you find yourself having tension at home around your family, try some of these things to ease it. 14 | The Saber | SPRING 2020
Get to Know Your Parents As you get older, often you can start to find more middle ground with your parents, and they’ll become more like friends than authority figures. Spending time with your parents and communicating with them can transform your relationship. It is hard to understand or appreciate them if you always see them as that authority figure you grew up with, so take this time to have some honest conversations and get to know the real them. Take this chance to learn to see things from their perspective. This often helps to understand why people act the way they do. Maybe your mother isn’t very warm with you because she was never close with her mother, or your dad is hard on you because his dad was hard on him. It may make it easier to see where they are coming from and help you to respect them a bit more. Unfortunately, some people are just toxic though, so if this is the case, see the next tip and be sure you set strong boundaries.
Take Responsibility for Your Part in Your Family It may be weird to be back at home after being gone for a while, but part of that means that you are now part of the household again, and this time as an older, wiser person. This means that you will have to fall into your responsibilities, doing chores as you once did, doing your part in cooking, cleaning, or whatever else may be done. You may have forgotten for a while what it is like to be part of a family system, but as long as you do your logical part in the workload of running a household, tensions should stay low. Remember, your parents also have gotten used to not having you around! So they will have to readjust too. If they ask too much, maybe something like asking you to clean the kitchen when you have an exam the next day, just take a breath and calmly explain that you have to study. They will probably need the gentle reminder that just because you are home, you still have responsibilities of your own. Learn to negotiate – think about what you need and what the other person needs. Try to meet in the middle, so both people are happy with the outcome. VIVIAN DUNCAN
