I Moved Back Home to Social Distance With My Parents, and They're My New Favorite Drinking Buddies

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has sent many of us back home to our parents' houses to social distance in our childhood bedrooms with awards from middle school still hanging on the walls (my parents won't let me take them down because they're still proud of my 14-year-old self). Despite being grown-up (still TBD on figuring out this whole adulting thing), we're trying to continue to live our lives while constantly being around our parents.

Over the course of my months at home, my family and I have developed a rhythm of sorts that makes living together again a little easier, and one thing we've done more times than I can count is given each other "the look." You know, that very distinct look that means we could really use a drink. Because I'm in my late 20s, I now see my parents more as friends than guardians, so getting tipsy to heavily buzzed on a Friday night with my mom and dad isn't weird at all (don't worry, we drink responsibly). In fact, it's been so much fun.

When you can't leave your house and go to a bar for libations and entertainment, you have to work with what you've got, and I learned that what I've had all along is two really awesome drinking buddies. Missing the bars a little less these days, here are four reasons my parents are the perfect people to kick back and share a drink with.

Now that I'm older, I've been able to see different sides to my parents that I wasn't able to while growing up. They enforced rules and were my parents back then — now they're my friends. And even though they might not always show it (my dad is a programmer, and my mom is an accountant), they sure do know how to let loose and hang when they want to. (I even took my mom on a cruise in December, and despite many of my friends thinking it would be a drag, we were out until at least 1 a.m. every night. It was a blast.) And during these months at home, my dad is usually the one who suggests having a drink or two, and I'm the one that needs to keep up. We honestly only drink here and there, but oh, how times have changed.

During social distancing, my dad has happily taken the role of bartender whenever we do relax with a few at the end of a long day. And because we've been spending a lot more time together, I've been learning more and more about his past life as a bartender before he and my mom had kids. He loves Grand Marnier, knows how to make Cinnamon Toast Crunch shots (half RumChata, half Fireball), and he makes a delicious White Russian. Before the pandemic, I never really cared about what I was drinking whenever I went out, but because of my dad, I have a new appreciation for what goes into each drink (sorry, Bud Light, I have slightly higher standards now).

Think drinking games with your friends are fun? Try playing them with your parents! In addition to actual games that currently exist, my parents and I have formed a new tradition during our time at home: turning boring chores into drinking games. If we're cleaning the house on a Friday night, we mix drinks and sip on them while we work. The result? It actually makes us really productive! And the memories we've made together while doing it are priceless.

Don't tell my parents (hi, mom and dad, if you're reading this), but drinking with them is more fun than with some of my friends. I don't miss the unnecessary drama that comes with some buddies who don't know how to hold their liquor or want to leave the bar for no apparent reason. Drinking with my parents is fun, whereas going to the bars involves getting ready, shouting over loud music, and usually drinking way too much. With my mom and dad, I can relax (and even wear my robe) and learn about who they are as people beyond just my parents. And while I do look forward to life returning to normal and places opening back up again after the pandemic, I've realized that I don't need an overpriced $14 beer at a fancy bar to have a good time. All I really need is my family.