Lifestyle

7 Reasons Your Mom Becomes Your Ultimate BFF Once You Grow Up

by Matthew Hawley
Warner Bros. Television Distribution

When you're a young adult, Mother's Day takes on two new meanings. First, you are now officially responsible for celebrating your mom. There's no longer that business of your dad buying a card that you sign.

You now have a pay check. You know it, and more importantly, she knows it. You have to get her something yourself, and you have to give props to the woman who has dedicated her life to your existence.

Second, you get to celebrate the best stage in your relationship with your mom: your young adulthood. Seriously, once you graduate from college, your relationship with your mom becomes the most valuable thing in the world.

Sure, you've always loved your mom. How could you not? She's the best. But, you haven't always been the best. You went from having no control over your bowels or tear ducts as a baby to throwing tantrums in stores because you didn't get the toy you wanted as a child.

Then, in your preteen years, you had her drop you off around the corner in order to hide her from your friends. In high school, you fought. It was mostly over dumb things, and mostly because of your poor attitude. In college, things started to get better as you matured. But, you were so focused on having a good time with your friends that you didn't prioritize appropriately.

Now, you're an adult. You're at the stage where you love your mom, and you want the whole world to know it.

Here are the best parts of the young adult-mother relationship:

1. Brunch

Honestly, brunch is the greatest gift for every 20-something. But, this is particularly true when it comes to your mom. You get to gossip about everyone else in the family who didn't show up to the 11:30 am Sunday reservation. You can share a bucket of mimosas together.

2. Wine

As a young adult, you're of legal age. (It's not like she ever cared because your mom is a “cool mom.” She let you drink in the house as soon as you turned 16.) But now, a wine and movie night on a Friday sounds like an absolute delight.

Guess what? In practice, it is also an absolute delight. You can each bring a bottle. There's no shame because as bad as that work week was, she's seen you look worse.

3. Absolute Honesty

Your mom now treats you like an adult. She raised you. She lectured you. She's given you life advice.

Now, you've grown. She's hit the age where she's just like, "F*ck it. Make your own mistakes." This means it's perfectly acceptable to tell her when you need to push brunch back an hour because you're too hungover. She'll understand.

4. Grandkids

Now that you've flown the coop, she wants new babies. This may seem like a negative for you, but in fact, it really means she's open to hearing any and all dating stories you have.

She will give you unfiltered advice without judgement. She wants babies, and she wants them raised by a suitable partner. Her advice will feel like she's Simon Cowell: harsh, but accurate. Feel free to read her every message you get on OkCupid.

5. Social Media Validation

Now that the whole world knows how much you love your mom and how great your relationship is, any tweet or Facebook picture that includes her gets a ton of validation. It's a slam dunk. (Not that that's a goal, but it's an added bonus.)

6. Neediness

In college, you could pretend like things were fine. You were an adult, and you understood everything. But once you graduate, you realize that's all a facade. You realize you have no idea what you're doing with regard to any facet of your life.

On Monday, you can call to ask her how long bacon can be in your fridge before it goes bad. On Tuesday, you can call her and ask her if you need to change your life path. Either way, she won't care.

She gets you. In high school and college, you saw your friends every day. As a result, your true friends know you very well.

After college, you'll likely be stuck with co-workers who are your career rivals. The new friends you meet sporadically may be questionable. You'll long to just hang out with people who know you, and with whom you don't have to make small talk.

You'll never have to make small talk with your mom. You'll walk in the door, and she'll want to know exactly how much progress you've made with your therapist regarding your intimacy issues.

7. She's your friend.

Brace yourself for the sap factor, but it's so true. Once you become an adult and your mom acknowledges that, you go from mother-child to best friends.

You get to learn about who she was before she popped kids out. You'll learn about how wild her youth was, and what issues she had with your father. You honestly wonder how you ever let any of your best friends compete with her because they can't.