You’ve traded in your dorm key for your childhood bedroom and suddenly your “independent adult” badge doesn’t work at home. 

One day you’re out till 3 a.m. at Ivy Rose and then sobering up at Waffle House. 

The next thing you know your mom’s blowing up your phone at 10:31 p.m. asking where you are like you didn’t survive nine months without her supervision. 

Welcome home.

It can be hard to readjust to living with your parents again after life on campus. But moving back home doesn’t have to feel like a slow descent into an everlasting hell. 

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With the right mindset, you can survive summer under your parents’ roof.

Here’s some advice for those who are not excited to move back in with their parents this summer.

This one might suck but it is underrated and it’s a great excuse to get out of the house. Get a summer job. 

Not only do you get paid, but a job is also the perfect alibi to get you out of boredom – or reorganizing the garage as your mom asked. 

Never let your parents see the slightest amount of boredom or laziness, because they will assign you a menial task.

For this reason, it’s important to establish an everyday routine.

Related: Demand for USF housing grew. Here’s how it’s affecting students.

It can be easy to feel lost without the structure of the school day, but that’s why you should start building a routine: wake up at a certain time, exercise, dedicate time to job-hunting. 

It will show your parents that you can make the best use of your time.

It’s also key to offer to help before it is asked of you – whether that be mowing the lawn, cleaning out the fridge, wiping down windows. If you do small helpful tasks occasionally, you will get a first-pick of chores to help out with.

Now, brace yourself for conflict because it’s coming. Get rid of any expectations of a perfect family reunion.

It is likely your parents have missed the live-in servant energy you used to bring to the house and your little brother, who now refers to your room as his game room, acts like you’re the guest in your own house.

And don’t even try coming home at midnight, or your dad will peek through the blinds like he’s in “Law & Order.”

If you can’t take living at home anymore and as a last resort, look into a sublease back near campus. It’s not always easy to find, but it can be worth the hustle.

Home might feel like you’re sitting in a jail cell, but this isn’t forever. It’s just a reset. 

Treat this stay at home like an extended layover, you’re grounded for now, but you’re on your way somewhere. 

Try to reconnect with some hometown friends or revisit the places you used to frequent. More importantly, enjoy the free rent while it lasts.