It’s true that you really do appreciate your parents more once you move out and live on your own.

The responsibilities you begin to hold that you probably never even gave thought to while living under your parents’ roof start to creep up on you.

I’ve learned this more than ever since I moved into my new house this year.

I considered myself a decent daughter when I lived at home. I helped out around the house, and did the chores my mother scribbled down on a pad of paper for me to do before she got home from work, always signed, “Thanks L, xoxo, mom.”

Occasionally, I would forget and she would get mad, tell me she leaves me with hardly any obligations to accomplish for the day and the least I could do was get the few chores done she asked of me. But in the end, they would eventually get done and it wasn’t the end of the world.

The house never turned into a dirt-infested disarray or begin to smell like week old work socks.

And it most definitely was never covered in dead flies from someone spraying Raid in the house thinking it was the best solution to our bug problem. Unlike my idea to simply invest in a fly swatter or learn when to throw away old food.

But that’s because my mother wouldn’t let it, because she’s responsible and that’s what moms are best at. (Actually moms are best at a lot of things. I think growing older we all start to realize this.)

I took for granted the clean environment I grew up in. It was just the norm and anything else would have just been absurd.

It’s true that as you grow older you start to resemble your parents. From their values to their mannerisms, they show through in your personality and the way you start to develop as an adult. I can easily say I feel like my mother must have felt while my sisters and I were growing up.

It’s not uncommon to find me picking up dirty socks that have been lying on the kitchen floor for days too long. My tidiness instincts that I hardly knew I had never fail to kick in on Sunday mornings to clean up a mess I hardly made because I have become accustomed to knowing the smells that will follow if I don’t.

I have been blessed with having a friend that works at Yankee Candle who graciously lets me use her discount. Without the daily use of my half priced candles, I don’t know how I would ever be able to breathe easily.

My friend was over this weekend and agrees that a boy’s house has an unpleasant smell that a house full of girls just doesn’t hold, so if my words aren’t proof enough then I have backup.

I can honestly say I will make my candle selling friend look like the best saleswoman ever as the year progresses and my need for a large array of pleasant smelling candles continues. But really, I can’t complain since I have a deep love for the little things, like burning a pumpkin-ginger bark scented candle at midnight on the first of October.

So thanks guys, for giving me an excuse to buy more of what I love, not just for me, but for the sake of our house.