Your Parents Did A Good Job Raising You If You Have These 11 Things In Your Kitchen As An Adult
A well-stocked kitchen is a sign of a childhood well-spent.
Olha Povozniuk / Shutterstock Being a successful adult involves a lot of trial and error, like learning to separate laundry by color so your whites don’t turn into darks. Living on your own is a humbling experience, especially once you realize how much your parents did for you. They did laundry correctly, did the dishes, and made sure you were well-fed. And if your parents did an especially good job raising you, you'll have some particular things in your kitchen as an adult.
You probably learned more from your parents than you realize, like how to chop an onion without crying and how to make perfect scrambled eggs. They taught you that taking care of yourself is about more than eating three meals a day. True nourishment comes from comfort and warmth. It comes from dinner parties and dessert and listening to your friends laugh. If you have these things in your kitchen as an adult, you learned what home really means.
Your parents did a good job raising you if you have these 11 things in your kitchen as an adult
1. Reusable containers
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Your parents raised you to be mindful of your impact on the environment. Their eco-conscious mentality went beyond recycling and composting. They made the kitchen a sustainable space and you followed in their footsteps.
You avoid single-use plastic whenever possible, which means you have an extensive collection of reusable containers. It was slightly more expensive to stock up on glass containers instead of clingwrap and sandwich bags, but you see them as an investment piece, something made to last.
Glass containers leveled up your kitchen game. They make reheating leftovers a one-step process. They’re perfect for storing flour, sugar, and other bulk ingredients, plus your pantry is so much cuter now. By moving away from disposable kitchen products, you’re doing your part to go green, which shows that your parents did a good job raising you.
2. An organized spice rack
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Spice racks are a hot button kitchen issue. Some people store their spices with convenience in mind, keeping them out on the counter or in a drawer by the stove for easy access. Other people go for the wall-mounted rack look. The luckiest people have a special cupboard, designed only to hold spices, streamlining the entire seasoning process.
The real spice rack controversy comes down to how it’s organized. There are people who swear that an alphabetical approach is the easiest way to find what you need. Other techniques include grouping spices by taste profile or choosing chaos and moving them around every time you cook.
However you choose to go about it, if you have an organized spice rack in your kitchen as an adult, your parents did a good job raising you. Looking through your spice rack is like taking a trip around the world. You have saffron threads and star anise, cardamom seeds and aleppo pepper. Your parents taught you to see cooking as so much more than just a means to an end, it’s an adventure.
3. A full set of dishes
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Keeping a well-stocked kitchen is about more than food, it’s also about having what you need to cook a meal and serve it. Some kitchen items are non-negotiable, like pots and pans and at least one good knife. Other things are unnecessary. You don’t really need a special tool for slicing avocados, even though it’s fun.
If you have a full set of dishes in your kitchen as an adult, your parents did a good job raising you. Living on your own means that most of the time, you’re cooking for one. You could have kept it low-key and bought three plates, three bowls, and a few pieces of silverware, just enough to get you through a day. But you’re leaning into this whole adulting thing, so you went for the four-piece place setting, complete with a dinner plate and a salad plate, a cup and a saucer. You splurged and bought twelve place settings, so you can invite more than one other person over at a time.
Owning a full set of dishes might seem insignificant, but it’s actually really meaningful. It shows your parents taught you to open your home and invite people in. Gathering your friends together and sharing a meal is one of life’s greatest joys. You know how to make a house feel like a home because your parents did a good job raising you.
4. High-quality coffee
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If you have high-quality coffee in your kitchen, your parents did a good job raising you. They taught you that a happy life is made up of the littlest moments, like drinking a hot cup of coffee every morning. When you were younger, you watched your parents smile as they took that first sip, and now that you’re an adult, you understand why.
For some groceries, you’re willing to go generic, but when it comes to coffee, you spend money on the good stuff. You buy whole beans and grind them every morning. The quiet rhythm of your routine sets the tone for the rest of your day.
For you, coffee isn’t just coffee. It’s a small comfort. It’s a grounding exercise. It’s a ritual you learned from your parents, one you truly treasure.
5. A weekly meal plan
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One of the challenges of being an adult is summoning the inner strength to actually make three meals a day instead of eating cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When you were a kid, your parents insisted on setting a meal schedule, to make their busy lives a little easier. If you still plan meals as an adult, your parents did a good job raising you.
According to Harvard University’s School of Public Health, meal planning can save you time and money and cut down on dinnertime stress. While it seems like a lot of work, mapping out a week of meals is easy, especially if you break big tasks down. Harvard's nutrition experts recommend choosing one a day a week to plan your menu and write a grocery list. You can do your shopping, meal prepping, and cooking on the same day, or you can spread everything out.
Making a consistent meal plan shows that you know how to manage your time well and make healthy decisions around food, so you can thank your parents for doing such a good job raising you.
6. Canned goods
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If your shelves are filled with canned goods, your parents did a good job raising you. They passed down essential kitchen wisdom, teaching you that having a well-stocked pantry makes cooking a lot easier. Keeping a wide array of food that’s always ready takes some of the guesswork out of mealtime, since you can use what you already have, instead of rushing to the store every time you cook.
According to Julia Moskin, every home chef has their own approach for stocking a pantry, but some items are true necessities. You can build the foundation layer of your pantry with oils and vinegars, cans of tomatoes, stock, and beans, various nut butters, and other long-lasting ingredients.
She noted that best way to stock a pantry is to listen to your gut — literally — pointing out that, “The rule here is stock your pantry mostly with what you’re confident using, and what you love to eat. You’ll turn to it again and again.”
7. Family recipes
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Your parents did a great job raising you if you have family recipes in your kitchen as an adult. Maybe you go for vintage vibes and keep a recipe box full of index cards. Maybe you channel your inner Martha Stewart by compiling a family cookbook, or maybe you stay chronically online and store your family recipes in the cloud, wherever that may be.
Saving family recipes is a sign of your sentimental side. You might live far away from your parents, but you can channel them by cooking the special meals they made you as a kid. Passing recipes across generations is a way of keeping family history alive. Every family recipe is a memory, made with love.
8. Fresh flowers
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Your kitchen isn’t only a functional room, it’s your personal sanctuary, which is why you put in the effort to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. You keep the counters clean, the stovetop sparkling, and you always have a bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table.
Your parents did a good job raising you to believe that you are deserving and worthy of beautiful things. This doesn’t mean you spend money you don’t have on fancy things you don’t need. It means you invest in small luxuries, like fresh flowers.
9. A full fruit bowl
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If you have a bowl full of fruit in your kitchen as an adult, your parents did a good job raising you. They modeled healthy habits by making sure they always had fresh fruits and vegetables on hand. As a kid, you ate apples and peanut butter for your afternoon snack. You had carrot sticks and cucumbers if you got hungry before dinner.
Now that you’re an adult, you still reach for fruit when you snack. Fruit is a vital source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. You eat bananas for potassium, oranges for Vitamin C. Eating fruit can reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. If you think about it, fruit is nature’s candy: a sweet treat in a brightly-colored wrapper.
10. A cast iron skillet
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Of all the things you have in your kitchen, your cast iron skillet is the definitive sign that your parents did a good job raising you. A well-seasoned cast iron skillet is a kitchen classic that gets better with age, as long as you take good care of it, which you absolutely do.
As a devoted home chef, you treat your cast iron skillet with love, oiling it after every use to maintain its seasoning. Lodge Cast Iron Company pointed out that “Seasoning is just oil baked onto cast iron.”
“Seasoning forms a natural, easy-release cooking surface and helps prevent your pan from rusting,” they explained. “It may take a little extra care, but a well-seasoned cast iron pan will last for generations.”
Your parents raised you to be responsible, which involves taking care of your material possessions. They knew that you would treasure the cast iron skillet, which is why they trusted you with their precious family heirloom.
11. A favorite mug
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If you have a favorite mug in your kitchen as an adult, your parents did a good job raising you. It might seem insignificant, but drinking your morning coffee out of a mug you adore makes the experience even more peaceful.
Your favorite mug fits your hands perfectly and it keeps your coffee just hot enough. It’s decorated with an intricate pattern you love looking at. Using the same mug every morning makes you feel grounded and content.
The fact that you have a favorite mug is a reflection of the values your parents instilled in you. You believe there’s beauty everywhere, especially in the simplest details. All you have to do is open your eyes.
Alexandra Blogier, MFA, is a staff writer who covers psychology, social issues, relationships, self-help topics, and human interest stories.