My mom woke me up at noon this morning when i could have easily slept past 1pm. I'm not upset about that part; I'm upset at the way she chose to go about waking me up.

She walked in the room, over to my window and said, "It's 12 o'clock. I want you to put your clothes away. You still have a lot to do."

No response from me whatsoever, but I was awake, just laying there letting feeling return to my body.

"Now, Eric, don't wait until your father gets home."

Well, before I was just about to turn twenty years old, the threat of having my dad come home to find me lazing around the house without having done what my mother told me to do frightened the fuck out of me; no boy wants to disappoint his father and be lectured on respect and responsibility and be docked on merit.

But today, after my mother said it, I laid back down and thought about it for a half hour. My mom has used this trick throughout my entire life but I'm surprised she used it after I've been living in a different state for two years on my own, but I suppose she forgot in that instance. Normally, after ten or so minutes, she'd come back and try and wake me up again but today she didn't. I think she realized at the same time I did that I don't need to be threatened to get my chores done around the house anymore; I've dealt with responsibility and know my role in the house and exactly what I need to do for myself. I don't need someone breathing down my back to figure out logical steps, it's just insane to think that by this point in my life I would still need that type of guidance.

Either way, dad found out a way to lecture/yell at me about something today. My friends were coming over and I hadn't done the dishes (which I wasn't aware of until he told me)...apparently I missed the one essential thing that has to be done in order for my friends to come; my friends, who come over every other night it seems when I'm home and have seen the house in much worse condition. Sometimes, I just don't understand my father and what he's trying to teach me or mold me into. I've already become so much like him that I hope there's some room left for me to be me.