You're talking to a new friend about your relationship with your parents. They are both very successful people professionally: your father is a doctor, and your mother is a judge. You tell your friend:
They set a pretty high bar for me.
You don't get along well with your father. When you were a child, he was a busy executive. You're talking to a therapist about the problems that you have with him. You tell the therapist:
My father was always too absorbed in his work to pay much attention to me.
attention, busy, parents, relationships, therapy, work (topic) 
You recently quit your job. You're talking to a friend about it. You told him that you could move back in with your parents if you can't find a new job soon. But you don't want to do that, so you say:
Hopefully it won't come to that.
adverb, job, parents, phrasal verb, worst case 
You've quit your job. You're talking about it with a friend, who's worried about you. But you're not worried. You explain why:
Worst case scenario, I can always move back in with my folks.
The "worst case scenario" is the worst result that could happen in a situation. Use this phrase for talking about the possible negative consequences of something.
In spoken English, people often use "worst case scenario" like it's used in the example above:
Worst case scenario, we'll borrow some money from our savings account.
Worst case scenario, we'll lose maybe 5 or 6 hours of productive time.
But the more formally correct way to use it is this:
The worst case scenario is that we may lose five or six hours of productive time.
People actually often talk about the "worst case scenario" to make something seem safe. If you say that the "worst case scenario" is something that isn't really that bad, then it makes your decisions or actions seem OK. For example, moving back in with your parents isn't too bad, so it makes it seem OK that the speaker lost his job.
When you're talking about a decision or a suggestion, the phrase "you can always ___" describes one possible choice. It's usually a choice that you're trying to avoid, but that you can take if you need to:
If we can't find one here, we can always order one online.
After children grow up, they move out of their parents' house and live with roommates or on their own. If a person starts living with his or her parents again after moving out, it's called "moving back in with your parents".
"My folks" can mean your parents (although it can also mean a larger group of family members or even friends). This is a more casual way to talk about your parents.
house, job, parents, worst case 
Your son notices that there's water dripping into the sink in the kitchen. He tells you:
Mom, the faucet's dripping.
"Mom" is the most common title for people to call their mothers.
There are other titles that are not quite as popular but used in different situations:
Some people call their parents by their first names, but that's usually only after the children have grown up. It's also usually just for untraditional families.
The "faucet" is the thing that hangs over a sink, which water comes out of. The part that you turn is called a "handle" or "faucet handle".
A tiny ball of falling liquid is a "drop". When drops of liquid are falling out of something, you say that it is "dripping".
The words that appear most often with "drip" or "dripping" are:
You're telling a story about a situation you had in the past: you lost your job and didn't have enough money to pay for your rent. You tried to find money to pay for it yourself, but you couldn't. So you asked your parents for money. You say:
I finally had to swallow my pride and beg my parents to lend me some money.
Use this phrase when you're telling a story. It's useful to tell a story about this kind of situation:
In the example above, the speaker tried to get money in a few other ways. Asking his parents was the last thing that he tried.
Here's another example:
Here are some examples of "swallowing your pride":
Having to ask your older brother for a job, after you refused his help and tried to find a job on your own for 6 months.
Admitting that you were wrong after you had an argument with your sister.
"Swallowing your pride" means asking people for help, even though it makes you feel embarrassed or lowers your status.
"Begging" for something is like "asking" for it. But it also includes lowering your social status. Sometimes when people "beg", they bow down or get on their knees in front of the other person. "Begging" for something shows that you really want and need it.
Your friend recently had a baby, and she's showing you pictures of him. You think the baby looks like his father, so you tell your friend:
He really resembles George.
appearance, baby, parents, photos 
You're talking to a friend about your teenage son. In the past few months, your son has been starting to listen to loud and aggressive music. He wears dark clothes and acts angry a lot. But you're not too worried because you think it's normal for his age. You tell your friend:
He's going through a little rebellious phase.
When someone's behavior changes for a few years, you say that they are "going through a ___ phase".
To understand "phases", you can think of the moon. Sometimes the moon is full, sometimes it's half full, and sometimes it's completely dark. But you don't worry when the moon is dark because you know that it's a normal and natural event which will change again soon. We call the moon's appearance at different times "phases".
In the same way, people naturally change as they get older. When children are between 3 and 4, they enter an "inquisitive phase" (a time when they like to ask a lot of questions). Most kids between 11 and 14 go through an "awkward phase" in which they don't seem comfortable because they're not children anymore but not yet teenagers either. And a lot of people between age 15 and 25 go through a "wild phase" when they like to drink, party, and date lots of different people.
If you say that someone is "going through a phase", it sounds like you think that they will soon stop acting the way that they're acting:
Don't worry about it. He's just going through a phase. He'll grow out of it.
People call things "little" that they don't respect very much. For example, if someone who you go to school with threw a party but didn't invite you, you might angrily say:
I guess I wasn't invited to her little party.
Here's an example from a previous PhraseMix lesson:
Teenagers often try to do the opposite of what their parents want. This is called "being rebellious".
Your teenage son is listening to music on his earphones with the volume really high. You can hear it from across the room. You want him to turn the music down because you're worried it will hurt his ears. You tell him:
You could cause permanent damage to your ears, you know.
You're having a deep talk with a close friend about your parents. You told your friend that your parents set high standards for you, but you didn't meet them. You think your parents are probably sad that you haven't been more successful in life. You tell your friend:
They're probably disappointed in me.
parents, sentence modifier 