I’ve recently moved into a new house with my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I love my housemates. There is nothing like living with a group of your best friends (even when you sometimes want to kill them). However, some of my living habits have suddenly become an issue. What I once thought was normal has turned out to be me being ‘weird’. And its not just me; we have all begun to notice that we each have our own way of doing things, some of which clash. My house – like many other new houses – is having a ‘living habits adjustment period’.

Of course, some of these things are little annoying habits that can easily be sorted out. One of my housemates likes to place glasses upside down because this is what her family does. We soon showed her the error of her ways. I’ve been told off for not rinsing things after washing up, (a social faux pas equivalent to farting, apparently).

Annoying habits I can deal with. What is much more frustrating is when people do irritating stuff by just not thinking and being lazy. Luckily, by the end of our ‘living habits adjustment period’ I’m pretty sure most of these issues will be solved too. Prime examples of this are people forgetting to recycle stuff (SO EASY TO DO – why do some mentalists not do this?), and people ‘forgetting’ (or deciding that they can’t be bothered) to wash up. A couple of my housemates have even decided that the living room is now a laundry room, which is aggravating when your pre-drinks are tainted by a pair of someone’s pants falling on you. We have now democratically decided that this is against house rules.

Now, I do have a confession. I am pretty sure I’m the one who broke the washing machine by cramming it with too much laundry.  A massive apology to my housemates who subsequently mopped the kitchen for hours after it flooded when they tried to do their washing – slightly awkward.

Nonetheless, I cannot deal with people leaving the front door open. That is a simply not OK. No, this has to stop now, because surprisingly, I don’t want my stuff stolen or some weirdo trying to get into our house. So I use this as a plea:  whomever it is that does this, I love you, but just lock the bloody door.

I may sound like a moody bitch. Some of my housemates might say that I am, but I’m not trying to be. I understand that we all have our own irritating quirks. I actually think its good for us to have people question our beliefs (even if it is about how much laundry it is acceptable to do – or not). You live and you learn, and I’ve definitely already learnt a lot from living in a student house.