9 Reasons Every Young Arab Wants to Move Out of Their Parents’ Home

By Maya Ammar On Dec 2, 2014

I’m the kind of person that has almost zero problems with my parents (except for the nine problems mentioned below). I love my parents. However, I find it extremely unnatural for a fully grown-up person, be it a girl or a guy, to still live with their parents after they start making their own money.

There’s no question that nothing will ever replace Mama’s cooking or Baba’s constant sacrifice to make his children happy. And I understand that it is not “3adatna w taqaledna“, but if something isn’t working for us, why not change it?

1. “El nas t2ool 3alena eh?”

I hate this phrase. I HATE IT. This phrase alone makes me want to move out everyday. It is used as a comeback to every logical statement the son/daughter makes to somehow guilt them into not thinking beyond our traditions.

Suffice to say that none of us really cares what people are going to say. In fact, we don’t even really like these people in question (whoever they are). P.S: You will find this phrase recurring in many following scenarios.

2. Curfew

If I’m not getting into trouble and if I’m generally back home at a reasonable hour, why set a curfew? “Omal el nas t2ool 3alena eh?” It’s a dead case from here. I’m an adult by law and I should have the right to be back home whenever I want. The fact that a 27-year-old friend of mine has to be back at home everyday at 10 pm is kind of ridiculous.

3. “Howa walad ye3mel elly howa 3ayzo”

Deep breaths, girls. Don’t kill anything in sight just yet. Why guys are allowed to do things girls are not in this day and age, I will never understand.

4. Having to share rooms

Sharing a room with one of my siblings stopped being cool when I became 15. I need my own space. Period.

5. I don’t wanna tidy up my room

“Waddaby ottek” “Mahy mesh meday2any awadbha leh?” “Y3ni da manzar? Waddaby sreerek” “Mana hanam 3aleh tany ba3d kam sa3a, WHAT’S THE POINT?” This argument is older than the pyramids. And honestly, I don’t have anymore energy to even pretend that I can have this conversation. I wanna move out now.

6. The noise!

A lot of times, it’s fun to burst the door open, go into full story mode and tell your mom/sister/brother everything that happened in your day. However, other times, you just want silence. You want peace and quiet.

God help anyone who has to study for exams or concentrate on work in an Arab home. It’s more impossible than walking out of Interstellar actually understating what happened.

7. Every discussion turns into an argument or fight

Parents stop accepting some, or most, of the things we say when you cross a certain age. They stop accepting the fact that now you’re shaping strong opinions (which are different from theirs, of course) about everything in life. Your political opinions bug them. Your desire to have a career shift bugs them. Your not-giving-two-hoots attitude about “el nas hat2ool 3alena eh” bugs them. Your existence pretty much gets on their nerves, now.