Date: April 27, 2025
Author: Jessica Harper

I’m 18, a first-year college student, and I feel like I’m stuck in this never-ending loop of expectations. My mom sees me more as her cleaner than as her daughter, and it feels suffocating. Every time I wake up, it’s the same routine — “Hey, A, go clean this, this, and this,” and if I don’t do it exactly the way she wants, she’ll start yelling. It’s like she forgets I’m not her maid.

She says things like, “Girls your age are getting married and moving out, and you’re still here.” Like I’ve done something wrong just by still being at home while I’m in college. The thing is, my parents won’t even let me leave the house.

Every time I try to talk to her, I get shut down. She complains about how tired she is, how much she cleaned, how much work she has to do, and she tells me I don’t do anything. But I do. I clean, I help with the bills when Dad doesn’t give her enough money, and I’m doing my best to keep up with school. But no one seems to notice that.

It’s hard. Really hard. I feel like I’m invisible to her, just someone who’s expected to keep everything running while everyone else gets to do what they want. I wish she saw me for who I really am — not just as a maid or someone to complain to.

Maybe one day she’ll realize that I’m just trying to figure things out, too.