There’s something people rarely talk about when it comes to millennials living at home with their parents. There are countless articles on millennial life, but none of them tell you how to survive your mother’s menopause. You can’t move back home and expect things to be the way they were before you went on your merry little way to college. You may have sensed a change in your mother that you didn’t notice when you would come home on breaks and holidays, but your mother was happy to see you and she knew your stay wasn’t permanent. Now, she doesn’t know when you’ll leave. She’s cranky, snappy, sweaty, yells all the time, and doesn’t cook. Let me just tell you it isn’t all you, it’s menopause.

This kid ↑↑↑ knows exactly what I’m talking about!

I have heard horror stories about menopause, but I have witnessed it first hand. I am a survivor of my mother’s menopause. I can’t tell when it all began, my mama is naturally a yeller, but I could tell when we were in the thick of it. Dragon Lady was in full effect. How did I survive? I kept my damn mouth shut! Don’t think for a second that your mother won’t put you out in the middle of a hot flash. She will! The best thing you can do is stay out of sight. Observe her behavior, you’ll start to figure out when she’s in a good mood and when to get the hell out of Dodge. Clean up after yourself, don’t leave a crumb on the counter. Get a job so you never have to ask for anything, and NEVER EVER EVER ask if she’s going to cook. Your feelings will get hurt. These things should keep the peace, but that menopause can be quite unpredictable. “The change” ain’t no joke. If you really want to survive, move out!

If you’re a female, keep in mind that one day menopause will hit you like a ton of bricks, so be nice to your mother. Hopefully, by the time it hits us, a pill would have been created that allows us to skip menopause lol. Wishful thinking.