Mom says she's selling college freshman's furniture and turning their room into a gym, tells them to sleep on the floor during school breaks

JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor

Jul 20, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Should your parents keep a room for you while you're still young?

We all have different speeds of independence. Some of us grow up at different rates than others. Some people are fully ready to move out of the house by the time they're able to. Others need a little more cushion while they get their sea legs as an adult. One is not more valid than the other, and we shouldn't shame anybody for still needing a little bit of support from home. If your parents are willing to give it, then who are you to turn it down? As long as you're making an effort towards your own independence, there's nothing wrong with wanting to stay at home every now and again. This is especially true when you're in college. You're not quite independent, but you're not quite living at home. You're in a strange in-between where you're both your parents' child and your own adult. And the thing about college is that there are often long breaks from school where you're expected to leave campus. Most people go back home to their parents' house. But what if your parents turned your room into an exercise room? Would you feel welcome there, or would you make other plans?

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*A college-aged woman sits on the couch with a backpack*

Am I in the wrong for refusing to come home from college over breaks?

Okay so basically I'm an incoming freshman in college and I've been preparing to move out soon, and I had my mom come in my room the other day to help me put some stuff in boxes. She started to talk about her plans to turn my room into a fitness room, and so I was like okay cool your just gonna stick like a treadmill in here or what because my rooms pretty big theres like space for it.

She tells me no, shes actually selling all my furniture and completely redoing my room. So obviously Im like um where am I supposed to stay when I come home for breaks? And she says oh don't worry you can sleep on the couch in the office! My schools breaks are very long, and I would not enjoy sleeping on the sofa in my dads office for a month.

So I told her if that's the case I would use my breaks to visit friends at other schools or travel or just stay on campus, and she got so mad. I felt a little bad and I was like okay maybe I'd stay for a few days for like big holidays but thats it but she says Im being extreme and taking my anger towards her out on my family. I feel like its fair to not want to come home every break when I won't even have a room to come back to. aitah?

edit: sorry i should have clarified she is not kicking me out or selling my bed and stuff while im here, but once ive moved out and am in college shes planning to redo it all. she really likes to workout so i totally get why she would want to move from the living room into an actual room i would just love that room to also have a bed i guess Imfao

That's the situation that this young person was in when they were about to leave home for the first time. Their mom was a little bit too gung-ho about getting them out of the house, and failed to realize that they would be back from time to time. Sleeping on your dad's office floor in your own home is hardly a warm welcome. During school breaks, you probably want to rest and recharge. College can be exhausting and stressful, so it's nice to have a soft place to land. The parents in this story weren't quite willing to do that for their kid. The student in question was understandably stressed about this decision and wondered if it was a normal one to make. Keep scrolling to see what commenters had to say about this story.