My parents are coming up this weekend. I will admit that I’m a bit nervous. Not because they’re my parents, like I’m scared of them. It’s just the first time they’ve been up here since my sister moved out.

  There is also some family drama going on with my sister right now. I won’t go into extreme detail, but the main problem is the fact that my mom and dad don’t get along with her boyfriend. Mostly b/c the boyfriend wants her to move-in with him. Apparently, to both my sister and my surprise, our dad has this thing against couples moving in before they get married. The term “shacking up” has been thrown around my household down South far too many times.

  In this day in age, it’s not referred to as “shacking up.” It’s called “moving-in together.” Most movies or TV series portray “moving-in together” it as the norm, so therefore we’ve grown up with it. However, that is not the case in our household. Our parents have tried to enforce the importance of living separately until marriage. They did it; our uncles did it; their kids, and so on…

  It is unfair, though, to force that lifestyle on us. Sure, I would agree that it is the best thing. My boyfriend and I have already talked about it. It is understood that for me to gain my own independence as a self-supported adult, I’m insisting that I live by myself for at least two years before we start seriously talking about marriage.

  It may sound kind of harsh or foolish to some, but it is what I need. Sure, my boyfriend can support me, but I don’t want him to have to. I need to prove to myself that I can make it on my own. That and I really want to decorate my apartment all crazy Kera-ish. I want a hammock in the living room next to a window so I can take naps in the afternoon. I also want purple or yellow walls, depending on where the sun rises and sets. Shut up- that’s what I want…

  Anyway, while that is my plan, it seems my sister does not feel the same way. Yes, financially it does make sense to move-in together, but I still don’t think that makes it right. It’s the easy way out.

  My parents have a BIG deal with it because it’s just not how it’s done in our family. No one in our family has “shacked up,” as my parents so eloquently put it. Also, my dad has a problem walking his daughter down the aisle and handing her over to a many she’s been living with. He finds it hypocritical. My mom finds it poo-doo.

  Now my sister has been living at my parents’ house and her boyfriends’ house back and forth. The problem is my parents bitch when she stays too many nights at the boyfriend’s, and the boyfriend bitches when she’s at my parents’ house for too long. So she’s fucked at both ends.

  There is a lot of tension, from what I understand it, in my family right now. I will admit that I am thankful I am 2 ½ hours away from that mess; however, that mess is coming to meet me this weekend. I think the boyfriend is not coming, but it still should be interesting without him. I just hope things go easy.

  But before all that happens, I will be cleaning my house like crazy before they get here. Wish me luck!