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“Punishment Food”: 50 People Share The Strangest Rules Their Parents Ever Made Them Follow
It’s natural for parents to set rules for their kids—some to keep them safe, others to teach discipline. Most of these are the usual suspects: no wandering around after dark, no living in a pigsty of a bedroom, and definitely no cartoons until your math homework is finished. Pretty standard stuff.
But not everyone had it that simple. One Redditor asked people to share the bizarre rules they grew up with, and the replies did not disappoint. Some are downright hilarious, others so strange they feel like fever dreams, and a few practically beg to be unpacked in therapy. Keep scrolling to see for yourself.
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#1
I had to drink a huge glass of milk every morning as a kid, because my parents believed it would make me grow tall. But I was lactose intolerant, so it just ended up making me feel really nauseous and it wrecked my digestion. Yet, they still forced me and my little brother to drink it.
Sometimes it would take us an hour to finish it, because of how miserable we felt... And we weren't allowed to do anything unless we had finished the milk.I think one time my brother even puked all the milk out😅
To this day my mom says I am not tall enough because I never drank milk? Even tho I was forced to drink it daily😂 Very revisionist memory...
StrangeOne 1 month ago
I thought I was just prone to excruciating stomachaches in the morning. I would wake up very hungry, stomach feeling a bit tight. If I had cereal with milk, I was crawling to school, screaming and crying down the street. (The secretary didn't allow it to be an excuse to be late or stay home.) I avoided eating before lunch for years. The stomachaches stopped in the morning but I noticed they were coming on later in the day with indigestion. It wasn't until my own daughter was having problems with regular milk and switching her to an alternative that I found out I'm lactose intolerant, too. Despite that, I can attest that no one loves dairy more than someone lactose intolerant. It's not something to be avoided. It's a challenge. A challenge to see how much is too much, and what forms are good and bad. I can eat cheese and creams. Absolutely no chocolate milk and regular milk. Sometimes I'll eat yogurt, but since I found coconut milk kefirs and yogurts are nice, I'm sticking to those.
RELATED:
#2
My mom would say no to me having fun multiple times a week. Let’s say I went to Tiffany’s house on Friday. Then Chelsea invited me to her house Saturday. Nope can’t go because I went to Tiffany’s yesterday. Would all my homework and chores be done before I asked? Yes. Was there some sort of family plans or literally anything else that I had to do? Nope. Just had to stay home because I had fun the day before, and I’m not allowed to have fun more than one day a week.
Then my parents wondered why I started sneaking out as a teen.
Clanker Detector 3 weeks ago
Hi, the people below me are not clankers but are just people who contracted a severe case of stupid
#3
I wasn't allowed in the house when nobody was home which means in Minnesota winter I'd have to sit outside for a few hours until someone got home.
I had to pick by hand any of the things in the carpet out by hand (think white sock link, etc.). Why not use a vacuum? Well because it would get in the way of the TV. And I had to do it while my father would sit there drinking and watching TV because he kept the vacuum locked up and wanted to make sure I was actually doing it.
I would have to dig up the septic tank every year and then mix it for hours with a long stick. If once piece of toilet paper was pulled up by him I'd have to spend a hours/days just sitting there mixing with a stick because he was too cheap to have the septic tank pumped.
I was allowed 2 minutes to shower twice a week. Not 2 minutes of water, 2 minutes total time. I could only do it when he was home and he was willing to time it. I just took baths in the lake near by.
Only allowed to eat dinner, so I stole food or ate out of dumpsters.
After all that and about 6 years went by after being homeless or living with friends I moved back to try and reconnect and I was allowed to stay in a shack with no heat/ac/water or bathroom. I wasn't allowed in the house, or to use the shower ever and then they randomly decided I wasn't allowed any of their food (30 minute drive with no car) so I just left and never talked with them again.
#4
We weren’t allowed to cry when we were hurt unless we were bleeding.
As an adult it’s almost impossible for me to cry now.
#5
I wasn't allowed to watch anything that depicted a dysfunctional family in case I started to realize that was us.
#6
My mom allowed me to watch incredibly violent movies from a very early age but godFORBID there was a kissing scene. I couldn’t watch anyone kissing or lightly touching each other with her until I was at least 17.
Beak Hookage 1 month ago
"Horrific deplorable violence is okay as long as there's no naughty language!"
#7
My sister and I were only allowed to use two squares of TP for #1 and three squares for #2. We cried for extra TP when we started getting our periods.
#8
I wasn't allowed to wear pink pants because my mom said they made boys think of flesh. Even as a kid I knew that was weird as hell.
#9
My mom who had multiple untreated mental health conditions and childhood trauma couldn't deal with my being a severely underweight 6 year old when I started grade school in 1963.
I think she had some sort of breakdown and became irrationally obsessed with fattening me as much as possible.
She actually obtained adult strength / dose appetite stimulants in order for my appetite to become insatiable and mom took full advantage of it.
We had to be excused from the dinner table and while my toddler brother and dad were in the living room watching TV the rule for me is that I had to remain at the table while my mom did the dishes and consume EVERYTHING left over - which meant I was given plate after plate after plate (usually five helpings) before I was allowed to leave the table.
By the time I was allowed to go into the living room and lay down on my side on a blanket to watch TV I could barely take shallow breaths and was afraid that I was going to burst.
As a result of this forced gluttony my weight went from 45 pounds to 195 pounds during my second grade and for the remainder of my grade school I was the fattest kid in the entire school eventually gaining 200 more pounds before the end of the sixth grade.
#10
My parents were really religious when I was growing up (strangely enough, they aren’t anymore) & my dad had a rule that we could only listen to Christian music. It was fine by me because I didn’t have an iPod or a CD player anyway. One day I was in the kitchen though and my dad started singing “I’m like a bird” lol while he was cooking breakfast. I was like um daddy that isn’t a Christian song. And he said “Yeah, but it’s Nelly. Of course you can listen to Nelly. She’s a classic!” 😂 That story is so random & it makes me laugh whenever I remember it.
Pyla 1 month ago
I had to ride from Poulsbo to Old's Alberta with people who only listened to christian music. I think by the time I got up there I was ready to just tie myself to the roof rack, or ride in the empty horse trailor behind us. The trip back was better because even they were sick of it.
#11
My parents absolutely forbade me from getting my hair cut. Not even a little bit. I was 16 when I was finally allowed to get a trim. I remember telling the hairdresser to cut it below my shoulders, and my mom stood behind me and pointed to my lower back instead. (Yes, the hairdresser listened to my mom instead of me).
It wasn't a weird religious thing, or anything. They just insisted my hair was "so pretty" and it would absolutely *break their hearts* to get it cut.
Sahitya Madhavan 1 month ago
I went through something similar, and now I have a pixie haircut. 🤭 I have frizzy hair and my dad just wouldn't let me get it cut. I had hair till my waist, I hated it. After I moved out of my parents', I tried different things, straightening, smoothening, curl creams, and I kept it till my shoulder. Sometimes, I was so frustrated with my hair, I'd think of going bald. And 4.5 years ago, a stylist suggested a pixie and I am finally comfortable.
#12
Growing up as the only person in my immediate family with blue eyes (everybody else had brown eyes) I was not allowed to ever wear green because my mom had decided that blue and green were bad together.
When I was old enough to choose my own clothes, I had a green period: green jacket, sweaters, tops, even green socks lol.
Plot twist: my eyes are blue BUT right around the iris, they’re actually green, so wearing green brings out the green in my eyes. Jokes on you mom.
#13
Beds had to be made each morning and had to remain perfect until bed time. If I wanted to have an afternoon nap on the weekends then I was allowed to take the pillow from the bed to sleep on the floor but the pillow had to go back perfectly afterwards.
#14
When my sister had a friend over after school or something, and it was time for dinner, our mom would make her friend sit in the other room while we ate. Would not ever offer to let her friend join us or allow the TV on or anything. Just made the friend sit there and be quiet while we ate.
Apparently it was family time only.
agermanhome 1 month ago
That was pretty common until maybe 25 years ago: When the family was about to have a meal, a visiting kid absolutely had to leave (unless an invitation to the meal had been spoken beforehand, usually this was something the parents on both sides decided before you went over to your friends house, and if that was not the case, you had to go home. Well, time for dinner wa s a way of saying "please leave now"). So if you weren't perceptive enough to leave while the meal was being prepared, you had to wait quietly in a separate room and both sides were uncomfortable with the situation 😂
#15
No early bedtimes (unless for punishments), no sleeping in at all, and no naps.
Took a three hour nap on the first day I moved into my apartment, and slept in until 8 the next day. It was fabulous.
Also:
Not allowed to be in your room during the day. I purposely would get into trouble so I could sit in my room and read.
#16
If we stayed home sick from school we were not allowed to use the computer. It was like being punished for being sick. Guess what my dad did when he stayed home sick from work? Spent the entire day on the computer.
#17
I wasn’t allowed to sit on the couch until I was 16. Mom wanted to keep it nice and didn’t want any kids “rootin’” on it. I used to go sit on it when she wasn’t home. Yeah … I lived dangerously.
#18
My parents gave me a ridiculously early bedtime for a pre-teen. It would still be daylight, in the summer and I’d have to go to bed at 7pm. The sun wasn’t going to set for a long time yet. Wide awake, I’d sit at my window for the next few hours watching my brother and the neighbor kids playing outside. It took forever for me to get tired. It really sucked.
#19
I had to call my mom every 15-30 minutes to check in while I was out with friends.
The problem was I had a 2nd hand iPhone whose battery would die after being off the charger for 20 minutes. My mom knew this and didn’t care, so I saved her cell and the house phone numbers in all my friend’s phones. It also didn’t help that she rarely answered the house phone so I always had to leave a message because trying her cell would not work as the service was so [bad] where I lived.
When I turned 17, and called to check in like usual she started asking why I was calling. I guess 17 was the randomly picked age where I didn’t have to check in anymore.
#20
Not being allowed to meet friends especially going to their homes.
Later I realised that our family wasn't normal, but I always thought that's life because by not allowing me to visit other family dynamics I never had something to compare.
#21
Rock and Roll music was going to make me stupid and unemployable for life.
DC 1 month ago
Oh dearest Hugo of Hugos, what is, in your most sacred opinion, to be considered rigtfully called "music"? Educate me. I wanna know, if you decide to be a snob about something, to look down on stuff based on taste, what is to be exempt from this judgement of yours, and what principle is at work here to decide the qualification of intentfully ordered sounds as music, or as non-music. So...?
#22
We basically were expected to wash our hand every time we pet our cats. My mom was convinced the cats were covered with disease and worms and we would get those things too if we didn't wash our hand right after petting the cats (Pretty sure my Mom has some diagnosed OCD). Our cats ended up loving being pet by our feet since we didn't want to wash our hands every time we were affectionate to your cats.
Now that I'm an adult with my own cats I can confidently say I never got a disease from them even though I don't wash my hands every time I touch them.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 1 month ago
Dogs are so much filthier than cats. I'm 45, and haven't been without a cat since I was 4. I have never once ''caught'' anything from a cat.
#23
Understand that my dad is a control freak and my mom was weirdly into healthy living. So, the number of bizarre rules we had was LONG. Here are some:
- We couldn't listen to anything other than classical music because rock and roll would somehow stunt our minds. I remember my mom would sometimes listen to forbidden music in the afternoons, but as soon as she heard my dad's car in the driveway, she would change the channel. In high school, my granny got us all boom boxes and that rule went straight out the window.
- We didn't have a TV. When I was 9, we were watching a documentary about King Tut and our TV died. Before that, we were only allowed to watch PBS. My parents decided not to replace the TV, and we weren't allowed to watch TV at our friend's houses either. When they got divorced, the first thing both of them did was get a TV and then fight a war of who had the better cable package to lure their children to visit.
- No sleeping in on weekends. In fact, my dad would drag us out of bed at 6 am to do chores around the yard and house. I had severe insomnia from stress starting at 9. I began to sleep in school.
- I wasn't allowed to cut my hair. My dad's rule. When I was in 6th grade, my mom gave in and let me cut my hair. It was below shoulder length. My dad refused to talk to us for months.
- I wasn't allowed to get a driver's license until my sophomore year at college. I had to walk everywhere, including to work. My college was in the middle of nowhere. I *lost* the freshman 15. I used to walk 2 hours each way once a week to get my comics. Dedication.
- We had to eat healthy, cheap breakfast cereal. Think Cheerios but generic ones that tasted like cardboard. With no sugar. And we could only eat whole wheat bread. My brother is allergic to milk so the only brand we could eat tasted like a*s.
- You had to finish everything on your plate and you didn't get to serve yourself. My parents once tried force feeding me creamed corn. I projectile vomited it all over them. Karma!
- We didn't get to pick our clothes. My mom had the worst taste in clothes, and we're talking about the 70s and 80s. There was a lot of bad taste going around. I hate pink. My mom knew that. One Christmas, she and my aunt got me an entire wardrobe in bubblegum pink. Those were the only gifts I got. I was forced to wear them. I cried on Christmas and practically every day for a year.
That's all I can think of now, but childhood was a stressful time for me. Thank the gods I grew up and got out.
camomooey 1 month ago
My parents bought my school clothes from the thrift shop, in seventh grade. This was before thrift shop clothes were cool, and the dresses she bought were also ridiculously ugly. There was a reason they had been gotten rid of by the original owners! I was so embarrassed. I wore my coat in class all day to cover them up. My mom was always afraid of being broke, and I think when she found out she could buy me a whole wardrobe for practically nothing, she did it.
#24
Not being able to go out in high school because they were going out and I had to babysit my siblings.
Laserleader 1 month ago
This is a normal activity for multiple children families. Oldest babysits so parents can have a night together.
#25
“If you don’t eat it, you’ll wear it” - enforced by our father when we (my twin and I) were about 4-5 (and therefore, not choosing the type/amount of food on our plates), ended when we were like 6-8 and our mother got sick of cleaning up the food that would fall on the floor when he would dump our plates over our heads as punishment. Combined with his ”don’t spill anything ever” rule, it led to some good times.
On one occasion, I spilled some lemonade at dinner, which ended up on my plate. Since the food then had the juice on it, I didn’t want to eat it. Enraged, he poured what was left in the lemonade jug (maybe a few cups’ worth) over my head, followed by the plate of food I was refusing to eat, then made me pick up the food off the floor with my hands. Good times.
#26
No one is allowed to close a door all the way. Ever. Not even the bathroom door.
#27
My dad told me that when he was done eating, I was also done eating. So if i wanted to eat what I wanted (was always very very hungry despite being well fed), I had to scarf it down fast. In recent years I've managed to train myself to eat slower, but it's still a conscious thing I have to focus on.
#28
My stepmother had a rule that unmarried people couldn't share a bed in her house. My long term girlfriend whom I shared a bed and an apartment had to sleep in a separate room. One Christmas her brother stayed over with his new girlfriend and she tried it on him. He just said "Ha, no, that's not happening", and they went to the guest bedroom.
Then I got married, and we went to visit my parents for Christmas. She tried to get us to sleep in separate rooms and I stared at her for a moment before I said "No, I'm going to sleep in the same bed as my wife, thank you very much."
She was fuming as her brain tried to come up with some reason why this couldn't happen, I could see her clenching her jaw before she finally gritted out "Right. Yes. Of course". She looked like she swallowed a bug.
#29
I wasn't allowed to use the internet in any way shape or form before 1pm on Sundays.
I realized in my teenage years that this was because we had stopped going to church, but my parents didn't want my friends to know (and by extension, my friends' parents) we weren't in church on Sunday morning.
#30
Not me, my husband:
We were all talking about our parents at my sister's house one evening and he said they had punishment food. When he said it, it was something like "Yeah, the punishment food was always so terrible!" like everyone had punishment food, like, surely we all had that and it was a totally normal thing. He was surprised when we all said "uh, punishment food?"
"Yeah, you know, when you were grounded and every night that you were grounded you had to have only the punishment food for dinner."
For him and his siblings it was always liver and onions. His sister was grounded for a month and that was all she was allowed to eat that whole month. She refused, so, he and his brother would sneak her food from their plates so she wouldn't starve. They all three lost weight and were playing a constant game of "how many bites of this food can I smuggle into my lap napkin before Mom notices".
I mean, I'd rather have had that than the physical and emotional [harm] my sister and I went through but it's totally not normal.
#31
Wouldn't call it bizarre really, but I wasn't allowed to play outside with my friends as a kid if it was a school night, even if I had already done all my homework. At the time I just accepted it, even though I used to see my friends out riding their bikes, playing basketball, etc. through my window.
Didn't really think much of it until I got older and looked back on it. Still don't know why that was a rule. I always did well in school and never got into any real trouble. In my opinion, there was no good reason for it.
#32
I wasn't allowed to sleep inside the house. I could be inside until like 8 or 9pm then my dad and stepmom would lock me out. I slept in a camper in the yard. On weekends and days I wasn't at school, I was working outside from 6am to 6pm digging trenches or pulling weeds. At noon I would have a sandwich and water. This was during high school. Before that I was allowed to sleep inside but only on the floor. I was the oldest of four so I didn't know. It was always brushed off as "strict parents" whenever I mentioned it to anyone. But my siblings never had to do it.
#33
No turning on the lights during thunderstorms. Apparently the lightning would ‘see us.’ 😭.
Sam Trudeau 1 month ago
Not exactly a bad thing to be wary of lights in thunderstorms. In our house we don't use the TV during thunderstorms in case a surge fries it.
#34
No sleeping in during weekends.
At the time it felt unfair, but now I see how strange it was to never let kids rest.
#35
I could go out at 7:00pm and be out for 5 hours until midnight, but I couldn’t go out at 10:00pm and only be out for 2 hours. Going out at 10:00pm was too late. Yeah, something dangerous happens between our house and my destination at 10:00pm, but if I’m already galavanting all over town at 10:00pm it’s much safer.
#36
While visiting a friend's house, I used their restroom and the TP roll was empty. On the back of the commode was a crocheted duck with roll of toilet paper underneath. I took the toilet paper from that duck and added it to the TP spindle and propped up the empty duck as well as possible.
Later my friend got me and asked whether I was the one who took the toilet paper from the duck, and I said yes, wondering why this was a deal because it apparently was. According to my friend, you should *never* do that. You always go into the linen cupboard and take a duckless roll of toilet paper from the shelves there. The TP duck is off limits.
#37
My dad made me have a curfew of 6pm, my brother could stay out however long. Even during prom he tried arguing that I had a curfew even when I reminded him prom started at 630. He also didnt like me chosing my prom dress, he posted a photo on Facebook of this white prom dress that he thought was cute. All his friends called him and asked if they needed to take me prom dress shopping, they even asked if it was supposed to come with a chasity belt. Only reason I found out is one of his friends asked me about my dress and made sure my dad didnt chose it.
I did ended up picking my own dress.
Ariadne Toms 1 month ago
He is a very scared man who is letting his demons damage his daughter
#38
Adventure time is banned because it’s “too satanic”.
Lucifer and supernatural? that’s fine tho.
If you’re curious, yes my mom was one of the people who thought pokémon was satanic when pokemania happened.
Luke Branwen 1 month ago
Always makes me remember the time when people tried to ban DOOM for being "satanic" and one of its creators was like "But you play as a guy who kills demons from hell with a chainsaw, that sounds pretty anti-satanic to me."
#39
To this day my mother has at least four chairs around the house you are not allowed to sit on.
They are neither beautiful nor special in any way. They just exist and eat space. You can't even put your jacket there as I learned last visit.
#40
I was not allowed to listen to any music that you could hear any sort of percussion or what my parents would call a “beat”.
That doesn’t really make sense though because every song has a beat. But like no drums and any sort of rock, pop, ccm, rap, jazz… well basically majority of music genres were off the table.
There also wasn’t allowed to be any “slurring”, as they called it. No rifts were allowed. No singing unless it almost sounded operatic.
I love to sing, but as a kid I was constantly being yelled at for not singing “right”.
I was basically only allowed to listen to certain instrumental artist and like 10 vocal music artist. Who by the way also believed in the same rules. Although even a few of those started “going off the deep end”, and we had to monitor what music if theirs we were allowed to listen to.
#42
My mum used to make my brother and I wash every wall in the house, over and over. Even when they were spotlessly clean. When we bring this up now she gets immediately and extremely angry and refuses to say anything about it.
#43
My grandmother had this beautiful living room with white wool carpet that we were never allowed in. Right in the middle was a piano, which was never played. It was a trap.
After my grandfather passed and the family had gone to the funeral, my grandmother lead everyone into the living room where they had coffee. I have an uncle who was in his 40s at the time. He had grown up in that house, and this was the first time he had ever been allowed in the living room.
The house was sold shortly after.
Laserleader 1 month ago
I've seen those living rooms before, and every time the homeowners has serious mental issues, or severe social anxiety and damage.
#44
We were strongly encouraged not to say words like “fart” or “booger”. Note my family was not unwilling to talk about bodies/bodily functions.
Similarly we didn’t call our parents “mommy” or “daddy” even when we were very young. Mom and Dad.
I think my parents just believed so firmly in helping develop literacy by talking to kids as if they’re just short adults, that they had an almost pathological avoidance of any word that could be construed as childish.
#45
I wasn't allowed to bleach my hair, but I was allowed to color it darker if I wanted to. My IDENTICAL TWIN SISTER wasn't allowed to color her hair darker, but was allowed to bleach it. I desperately wanted to be bottle blonde and my twin wanted black hair, we got neither and stayed identically brunettes.
Also not really a rule, but my mom would act like it was the best day ever whenever we got ourselves hurt as kids. Not really in a suspect way or anything, I think she just decided to go hard on the Pavlovian conditioning so she wouldn't have to do anything whenever we got scrapes or cuts. Going all out on the cheer and commenting how cool it looked, how lucky we were to get such a cool scrape/burn/bruise etc. and getting us candy. Worked like a dream too if memory serves me correctly, remember getting so excited to show my mom the scrapes on my cheek after faceplanting off my bike.
Probably not that bizarre, but some old friends found the enthusiasm unsettling, so.
#46
My mom was and still is a massive health nut. The main thing I remember about childhood was that she never allowed us to eat white bread. She said it had so much sugar it was basically cake and that only wheat bread was really bread.
I hate wheat bread now though and never eat it, so I guess that backfired on her.
Child of the Stars 1 month ago
She's not really wrong about white bread, at least not the stuff I grew up with in the 80s and 90s. I refuse to buy Kraft cheese slices for similar reasons. But my mom loves the stuff; I call it fake cheese because there's so little actual dairy in it, the FDA requires it to be marketed as a cheese-like product.
#47
Not my parents but my aunt.. no drinks allowed during a meal, otherwise you get full too early. Yep, we were not even allowed to drink water. Only after the meal you were allowed to drink water or whatever.
Ariadne Toms 1 month ago
This is pretty standard for that generation. My parents were rebels….we were allowed drinks!
#48
Not talking to strangers. How else am I supposed to make friends?! Isn’t everyone a stranger at first lol.
#49
Not a rule exactly but we always only ate one meal a day (dinner) and I didn't realise it was unusual until I was in high school and we had an assembly about how we needed to be considerate towards students who were fasting during Ramadan. I obviously knew that breakfast and lunch existed but I always thought of them as being more optional, like snacks for greedy bastards or people who were a bit peckish. The fact that people literally eat three square meals a day was mind blowing to me.
#50
Not being allowed to have a boyfriend ‘until I get married’🧍♀️they’ll never truly know how bad they messed me up.
Laserleader 1 month ago
My parents didn't kiss before their wedding day. They married because my dad wanted to prove he wasn't gay (he was) and my mom because he was the first guy to give her attention as an adult since she wasnt allowed to date as an extreme Catholic. 20 years and 7 children later, the divorce was over the same issues. He turned gay and she always expected him to come back.
#51
We weren't allowed to read Newsweek before she examined it first - in case Newsweek contained something objectionable like a woman in a bikini.
Laserleader 1 month ago
This is prudent, any parent should be checking the material they let their children read.
#52
“Don’t use the decorative towel rack - it’s for company!” There was one decorative towel on it with an embroidered cardinal. We had ONE bath towel rack, but a family of five had to use that one bathroom.
#54
I wasn't allowed to act like...a kid.
You know kids, they play, run jump, screen, laugh, cry....that got you the belt in my house.
Acting up in public? You got smacked in the store, whooped in the parking lot, and the belt at home.
Table manners were paramount. For a blue collar guy, from a blue collar family, I have shockingly in depth knowledge of table manners, proper use of silverware and the different types. Also, if you spoke out of turn at the table, you had to get up and walk over to my father so he could slap you across the face full force, return to your seat and find your meal. No reaction was permitted.
As an adult I struggle to attend things like kids birthday parties, or a family friendly restaurant with rowdy or misbehaving kids. The overwhelming urge comes to start swinging, and teach these kids discipline. Also, I struggle with not reacting to other adults with no table manners.
#55
We weren’t allowed to walk from the bathroom to our bedrooms after a shower in just a towel. Even if no one else was there besides family. And our houses were always small so it may have only been one door over, still no. My family was really modest I guess that’s where it came from. As an adult I definitely am not and have no problem with nudity but I still take my clothes into the bathroom to change out of habit.
Upstaged75 1 month ago
There are really no rules I had as a kid that impact me as an adult. Well, except reading at meals. 😂 But then again my parents never shamed me about anything.
#56
My dad has borderline personality disorder and is a clinically diagnosed narcissist. There were SO MANY bizarre rules growing up I can't even remember half of them, and they changed according to his moods. It wasn't fun.
The tv was a big one, we absolutely had to have the volume on 10. He would walk past and check often, and if it wasn't we got yelled at or he turned it down so low we couldn't hear it.
Also would just randomly declare tonight is tv free for no reason.
#58
My mom forbade me from having a Jean jacket in 9th grade in 1983. I now own several. I’m sure each time I buy one it’s because my mom didn’t let me have one.
#59
You were morally bankrupt if you slept in for any reason. And by “sleeping in”, I mean sleeping past 7:00 AM on a Sunday. Didn’t matter how late you were doing homework or working the night before. Didn’t matter if you were sick. If you slept in, you were a reprehensible, disgusting human being who was wasting your whole life laying around in bed.
One, it turns out I have POTS. I was so exhausted all the time. Two, my mother had the audacity to wake me up early at half past seven on a Saturday *after I’d moved out.* She called me at 7:30 AM to ask me if I’d seen a minor text that applied to an event that was being held the next day (I had and she knew I had, I had Read receipts on). I knew she was just doing it to be a [jerk] about my parents’ particular beliefs on sleeping, so I cut her a new one over the phone. To her credit, she hasn’t done it since.
#60
Couldn't go on dates bc "what if a boy tries something" but hanging out at their houses was perfectly fine.
#61
I couldn't paint or decorate my bedroom because of "resale value." My parents acted like we were going to move at any given time. They moved into their third house on my 21st birthday, we were NOT housing insecure. They're still in that house 23 years later.
#62
The family rule was that you were not allowed to lick an ice cream cone, only bite it.
#63
The most absurd rule at my house was no making noise with the silverware or plates. It was annoying, for sure, but I appreciate it now. I see people in restaurants eating like they're in a mine, and I think: Thanks, Mom and Dad.
#64
Grew up in a middle class neighborhood. Our house had a one car garage full of my dad’s stuff so no one parked in there.
I had a car that I bought with my own money when I was old enough to drive (earned the money at my PT job). Both my parents had their own car.
My Dad insisted that he was the ONLY one that was allowed to park in the driveway. Not me. Not my mother. (Yes he was a HUGE a*****e). We were to park in the street. I parked in the driveway and one day he parked me in and refused to move his car when I had to go to work. I grabbed my car keys and drove across the lawn to get out. I was 16 at the time, and 45 now. I still remind that old a*****e of that and laugh my head off.
#65
Garbage night is Wednesday night. If dad takes out the garbage no more garbage for the night. Hold onto your garbage until morning and then throw it in the trash can.
My paternal grandfather: kitchen garbage can is only for wrapping and tissues. All food scraps must go in the plastic grocery store sack by the sink. DONT YOU DARE NOT PUT THE RECYCLING IN THE BOX BY THE DOOR. He would also rummage the garbage can and make sure his garbage rules were followed.
#66
Don't keep the refrigerator door open while you're looking for something, you're letting out all the cold!
Now I know that the thermal mass of the air is dwarfed by the thermal mass of the food, and spending an extra minute looking isn't doing any real harm at all.
#67
Story #1: No nail polish, no ice cream and no singing on the stairs during lent. I quoted Matthew 6.16 at my mom one year and she lost it (note: step one, get your kids to be Bible literate. Step two, complain about your kids holding you to your own religion's standard, lol). My parents ate, drank and did whatever they liked during lent but my Mom took it as an opportunity to shame us whenever she felt we were too happy or lively. I always knew it was dumb but only when I was around 21 I realised how messed up it was. I'm still Catholic but she taught me an excellent lesson on bigotry and I try my best to check myself.
Story #2: Not an explicit rule per se but my dad hated and ridiculed jogging to the point that I didn't dare to admit to him that I had taken up running as a hobby. So you could say it was a rule that members of our family didn't "run". On the other hand, he often bragged about how good he was at track and field long distance runs in his youth and admired the professional athletes in these categories. I ran my first organised 5k this year and finally came clean to him about my hobby and told him I beat my pb at 8 months pp which he congratulated me for. I asked him about his contempt for runners and he said he didn't "mean it like that". So bottom line: super Catholic family accepted in a heartbeat I married a Jew but running? Still iffy.
#69
Not really a rule, but my mom was super strict about our curfews in high school. The problem was the curfew was 9pm, and my sister and i didn't have a car. In order to be home before curfew, we had to depend on a friend to leave early to take us home, since my mom refused to pick us up. She finally agreed to raise the curfew to midnight. The first time out after that, my sister and i got home at 11:45 pm, and we got in trouble for "pushing it too close to curfew". We literally couldn't win lmao.
#70
Whenever my dad filled up the car, he'd always note down the quantity of fuel bought, the price, and the milage on the odometer. And then enter it into a spreadsheet, so he could keep track of the car's fuel efficiency.
And he always insisted I did the same.
It took me years to finally stop doing it (and to stop feeling guilty for not doing it).
#71
I was never ever allowed to shower if I was home alone. Even when I was 18-19 and living there. I had to keep the bathroom door unlocked and my mom would knock on the door every 5 minutes and if I didn't answer she would barge in thinking I had slipped or something.
#72
Can't have the same food twice in one day. "Can we have roast chicken for dinner?" "You had a chicken sandwich for lunch!" As if the world would end.
HeavyMetalHeart 1 month ago
I always feel weirdly guilty if I eat something similar for dinner as I had for lunch. Or eat the same type of snack twice in one day. I don’t know why! It just feels vaguely transgressive.
#73
Don’t blow your nose with a servilleta/napkin they cost over $100 pesos (Mind you this would be equivalent to an icy pole)
We don’t have a phone in the house (it was locked in their bedroom- my little brother fell and spilt his chin I ran 3 blocks to call my mum at work it wouldn’t stop bleeding - the phone was then put in the lounge but only for emergencies)
Clean the bathroom everyday floor to ceiling.
#74
My brother & I could not go swimming if we drank water & milk too close together. Our mother said that combination would give us cramps & we’d drown. I can’t remember how long we had to wait, whether it was 20 min or 2 hours. I remember telling my friends because I was really worried they would drown.
#75
My mom put a lock on the pantry during summer bc me and my brother (that she had drugged up on Ritalin all school year) would “eat all the groceries”…. She still laughs about the thought of it and I just don’t see how she hasn’t figured out it was a***e. Right??
Ace 1 month ago
Not sure it's abúse in itself, no. As long as you were getting enough food. It's not very long ago that kids would not routinely have access to food at all outside of mealtimes, the idea that they would just be allowed to help themselves to food from the pantry would have been alien to my parents, for example (we did, though, illicitly, mostly dried fruit and stuff, as that's what there was).
#76
Don’t touch the decorative towels. Don’t sit on/use the furniture in xyz room. We don’t eat with the dishes at the fully-set 24/7 table.
At Christmastime, do not touch the presents. If you touch the gifts under the tree, you are a spoiled little brat who doesn’t deserve anything. If you count your presents, sort them into piles, or shake them on Christmas morning, you’re a spoiled little brat. Anything I buy for you belongs to me. If I don’t like what you asked for, you’re not getting it. As soon as we finish opening presents each year, we’re getting into the car to drive five hours to grandma’s without your dad. You can pick one small thing to take but have to leave all your other new toys behind for a week.
Upstaged75 1 month ago
Last year my nephew snuck down and looked in all the gift bags before anyone got up. Little sh!thead. This year gift bags are banned so he can't cheat.
#77
Bring home the paper bag and/or plastic sandwich bags from school lunch to be used again the next day (plastic ones were washed and dried overnight).
#78
An unspoken rule but no inserting/taking out plugs if dad was in bed or relaxing. Apparently he could hear them going in/out and it INFURIATED him. No one else could hear them from another room and sometimes he'd randomly accuse us. Idk if he was hearing something else and mistaking it for plugs but yeah, none of us speak to him anymore.
#79
My Mom didn't want to teach me how to care for my hair, so she insisted that I wear it short. So I did, until I was in my 20s. Like, we went to a Barber and I was called butch before I understood the word.
#80
My parents never let me go out because “i can see my friends at school” then they wondered why i had no friends lol.
Huddo's sister 1 month ago
My mum was the opposite. She always wanted me to be out socialising, but I was shy and didn't have many close friends until high school. Even then, she encouraged me to go out every weekend and I just couldn't be bothered. She signed me up for so many activities in primary school that I would only do for about a term before giving up because I didn't make friends and I just wanted to be at home watching tv or reading.
#81
No salting pasta water. They seemed to think it would destroy their pots and pans over time?
#82
Spend all money you want during a school trip, but you have to give the rest back.
Broke my and my sister's relationship with money for life, almost. I started saving and investing at 38. Why save if it can disappear any moment?
I understand today that it stemmed from my mother's control tendencies. She really did not want us to have our own money we don't have to beg for.
#83
"No singing at the table".
I have 3 siblings, and apparently we had a habit of singing at the dinner table. Then, when one of us got a lyric wrong, someone else would try to correct it, leading to a fight.
#84
Lived with a Muslim father. Every time I went to a friend's birthday party or whenever I'd go somewhere with friends I had to go through my father's interrogation... This continued until I left home to be in student dorms (and still had to be home for the weekends). It'd be like:
"With who? What time? Where? What will you be doing?" And I was absolutely sick of it. Instead of being like: "Cool, have fun!" This man wanted me to be home whenever I wasn't on campus. Oh, and in most cases I had to be dropped off and picked up by my mom (who was supportive of me having friends, so I'd often get her help with creating little white lies regarding boyfriends and stuff - I wasn't allowed to be in relationships).
Needless to say, I became an excellent liar.
#85
No video games at home. This was an era when everyone had Gameboys except my sister and I. We could get computer games (on a shared desktop pc), we could play video games at friends' houses, but we didn't have any consoles or handhelds.
Like, even in hindsight it doesn't seem bizzare the way a lot of these stories are, but man was it ostracizing as a kid.
#86
I'm not sure if this counts as bizarre, but my dad and his family would only ever let my sister and I have water at meals, because otherwise we'd "fill up on the drink" and not eat our food, according to them. I remember not even touching the water some nights because I was so scared of filling up on it and not clearing my plate like they expected us to do.
#87
You had to go to church on Sunday. We went to church 5 days a week before school. On Sunday, you have to stay home for family day. I don't know why, she didn't even like us.
#88
Not my parents per se but more of a family tradition that they make sure the rest of us follow.
My dad's side of the family are originally from Boston and live mostly around the New England and New York area.
They have this weird rule where all family-by-blood women in my dad's side of the family must be born or give birth in Boston.
This rule was so strictly enforced that while I was pregnant with my daughter and just a week or so from my due date, after work, a car showed up outside the museum, waiting for me. The driver told me get in the car so I did.
While on the freeway, it then dawned on me to maybe ask where we were going and who sent him. He told me we were going to Boston and that it was my grandpa who organized for him to pick me up and take me there.
Yeah, I then stayed at our family's vacation home in Boston until I gave birth, at a hospital of course.
We have no idea why this family tradition exists as the last member of our family who knew why this family tradition existed was my grandpa's grandpa but he neglected to explain the story of the tradition before his untimely passing.
Upstaged75 1 month ago (edited)
This is insane. And this woman allowed herself to be kidnapped basically? Why would you get in to a car without asking? She's an idiot.
#89
No TV channels other than PBS Kids. We had other channels, just weren't allowed to watch them. We also weren't allowed to watch Disney movies.
#90
On Christmas morning, we had to get dressed, have breakfast, clean up and do the dishes before we could open presents. But… only one present at a time. Let’s say I go get a present for someone, they open it. Then they pick a present for someone else and they’d get to open their present. And so on. Btw, I was the youngest of 4 kids, plus Grandma was often staying with us for the holiday. As you can imagine note, opening presents takes a long time. My anxiety was through the roof. Although, we each only had a few presents, 2 or 3, besides the socks and underwear “presents”! But, there were a lot of us. Then, before we could open up the toy or game to play it, we had to clean up the wrapping paper, etc. Then any of us 3 girls might be recruited to help out in the kitchen, making food for later. My two sisters were a lot older than me; 5.5 & 7 yrs older. My brother would be excused because he was a boy. It’s really a wonder that I actually looked forward to Christmas. And no, I didn’t carry on that tradition with my kids. I actually like my kids being kids (at that age oc).
HeavyMetalHeart 1 month ago
We always opened presents one at a time in my family - you would see everyone’s reaction to each one, it was nice.
#92
I was only allowed to wear clear nail polish growing up. It made me so mad!
Of course, the idiots didn’t tell me that it was a rule from the acting/modeling school that they forced me to go to.
“The other girls at (elementary school) are allowed to paint their nails!”
“You’re not. We’re the bosses. End of story.”.
#93
Only 2 phone calls a night of 15 minutes each.
Could only go out one night a weekend, not both (insanely early curfew, too).
No new friends allowed to visit the house.
#94
Kids should be seen but not heard.
Geobugi🇰🇷🇰🇭 1 month ago
I think that is pretty normal for most people who grew up in the 80s or before
#95
My Dad always muted the tv during commercials, and that was the only time anyone could talk while we were watching any program, but especially the news.
Little Bit 1 month ago
I wasn't allowed to talk or make any kind of noise while my mum was watching her soaps.
#97
When I got my license at 16 my mother told me that just cause I had my license didn’t mean I would be driving every day. I could drive to school 3 days a week and then had to ride the bus the other 2 because she paid for the bus through her taxes. I could pick the days I could drive though. I was so embarrassed because none of my other friends had this rule so they always asked why the hell I was still riding the bus when I had a car and could drive.
When my oldest son got his license she thought I was going to follow in her footsteps and enforce the rule she imposed on me. I asked her that why would I not let him drive, he earned the right to drive, he was a good kid, he hasn’t done anything wrong to prove to me otherwise. She told me he doesn’t need to be driving everyday and the bus is perfectly good transportation.
This is just one of hundreds of rules my controlling mother imposed on me. Give me a little freedom but still let me know she was in full control of me. She Never likes to see someone with too much independence. Ugh.
Michael Largey 1 month ago
When I was a kid, my parents told me that would get a driver's license only when I could afford to buy my own car and pay for the insurance. By the time I was getting near 16, my dad had died, my mom was working, and I was the oldest of five kids who needed to be taken all sorts of places. Then my mom's constant question was "When is it when I can take you to get you your license?"
#98
Could never go to a friend’s house unless my mom knew the parents, but refused to meet the parents.
Auryn Shadowfaerie 1 month ago
This is how it was with me. Not my older sister, just me. Needless to say I didn't have many friends until high school, & even then I had 5 or 6.
#99
My dad didn't like it whenever i whistled inside the house. He always used to say that it was bad luck.
SaraCapybara 1 month ago
My grandmother had the same rule. She also told me humming or whistling was a sign that a girl was "easy."
#100
That you have to wait a half hour before you get into the swimming pool or you’ll have cramps and drown after eating.
#101
I was successful at defeating a really bizarre rule once. My mom came up with a chore rota.
* I would vacuum the kitchen on Monday,
* my brother would vacuum the kids's room on Tuesday,
* she would vacuum her bedroom on Wednesday,
* Dad would vacuum the parental bedroom on Thursday,
* and there would be a rotating responsibility for vacuuming the bathroom on Friday.
I pointed out that would mean that someone would be vacuuming every day of the week, mostly when we were trying to relax and watch TV before or after dinner. Dad stepped in at that point and gently quashed it.
This would have been when I was five or six. It's puzzling how she didn't see how odd this would have been.
#103
Every single day, our suburban backyard vegetable garden had to be watered. It didn't matter the weather. Storming, downpours, and there I'd be, outside with an umbrella and a bucket of water to water the tomatoes. Make it make sense.
#105
Under no circumstances were we allowed to connect our games console up to the living room TV. Even if we did it whilst my mum was out and it was back in my brother's bed room by the time she was home. If she found out, she freaked out.
#106
Picking me up from sleepovers at like 8am. Like what?? I had two best friends for years that they SOMETIMES allowed me to stay with longer because if nothing was happening at home I'd stay at their places for the whole weekend, but group sleepovers or anyone else it was always early.
ALSO my mom always flipped out when she came home from work and I was taking a nap. To her credit I did stay up way too late and sucked at functioning in the morning, but I was always so tired no matter what. Turns out I'm anemic but, lol.
#107
We had one drink cup by the kitchen sink. Thirsty, use that cup and put it back for other family members. Would wash it in the dishwasher every 2 days or so.
#108
No hanging out cloths on Federal holidays.
#109
I was explicitly not allowed to bring books to the dinner table or into the shower. In my mother’s defense, I would read constantly if allowed. The shower rule was instituted after I started bringing a small book inside a page protector into the shower and then taking ridiculously long showers because I was reading.
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Tricia Neville 1 month ago
My father worked for a French family in England. I played with their two children, and was astounded when they told me that they were not allowed coffee, but were forced to drink wine (albeit watered down) at the table with their dinner. So, I took them to our kitchen and gave them a cup of coffee, and they took me to their kitchen and poured me a glass of wine. There was trouble from both sets of parents when we were caught in the act.
SaraCapybara 1 month ago
Coffee was an "adult beverage," and not allowed until you were 21. Even when I went away to university where coffee became a pleasant morning ritual, I was not allowed to have coffee at home because I was only 19.
Ashleelynda 1 month ago
my classmate's half-sister gets $80 an hour on the internet. she has been fired from work for eleven months... the previous month her payment was $18872 only working at home a couple of hours every day, check out... LIVEJOB1.COM
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hannahbahngswife 1 month ago (edited)
My case: • No door in my room • Not allowed to cut hair/color nails • Not allowed to go out with my friends. Not even my best friend since I was 3, whose parents they are themselves best friends with. • The ONE time they did let me go out, it was in my small town, and my dad was literally following us around. • Not allowed to talk with boys, not even just as friends (but complains when I say that I want to remain single as long as possible, and childless). Sent me to an all-girls school to prevent that. (Jokes on them. All-girls school was how I found out that I am queer). • Not allowed to swear. When they are argue almost everyday. With a very "swear-y" language. • Where I come from, French is a secondary language, but it's not surprising if kids spoke French as their first language. I was one of those kids. Bragged to other parents about it, but at home I was not allowed to speak French. And when I eventually lost the French, they were surprised.
hannahbahngswife 1 month ago (edited)
• Every single time my mom scolds me, I was supposed to stay silent and let it happen. Not even try to defend myself or say my point of view. Mother is shooked that I turned out I person who never speak up for myself. • Not allowed to be a kid. Dolls were too childish. Cars were too boyish. Cooking sets were "stupid" to play with. Every single time I did something any kid would do in public? Smack in my face. Took me long to realize how much I would get slapped over nothing. I think it stopped when I first attempted, but the comments stayed. Every thing I do that isn't right to her, I am a "sl ut" for it (forgot to wash a dish? S**t. Didn't get enough marks on a test? S**t. Didn't clean a corner of a room correctly? You guessed it). I think she doesn't realize how being called that affected me. To a point where I can handle being slapped, but I cannot handle these kind of words.
Load More Replies...
Jackie Lulu 1 month ago
Lists like this Bring back memories of some of the nuttier ideas that my parents had. They were strict, and did not , in many ways, prepare my sister and I for adulthood. Here's a couple of examples: I got my learner's permit at 16, and arranged to take the driver's test. My mom said she would take me, but at the last minute said she was busy. My friend took me and I passed the test in her car. My parents wouldn't let me drive their car until I was 18, and then complained if I needed it. They wouldn't let me buy a car unless it was brand new, but wouldn't help me buy one. At age 19, I was not allowed to take an overnight trip for any reason without a "chaperone ". Of course kids need rules, but I believe they should be made with the child's abilities in mind. I was a serious kid who could have handled more responsibility. No wonder I ran away from home and eloped at age 19.
Gerry Higgins 1 month ago
My dad's rule was we had to eat Corn-on-the-Cob across the cob, not turning the cop with every bite.
Tricia Neville 1 month ago
My father worked for a French family in England. I played with their two children, and was astounded when they told me that they were not allowed coffee, but were forced to drink wine (albeit watered down) at the table with their dinner. So, I took them to our kitchen and gave them a cup of coffee, and they took me to their kitchen and poured me a glass of wine. There was trouble from both sets of parents when we were caught in the act.
SaraCapybara 1 month ago
Coffee was an "adult beverage," and not allowed until you were 21. Even when I went away to university where coffee became a pleasant morning ritual, I was not allowed to have coffee at home because I was only 19.
Ashleelynda 1 month ago
my classmate's half-sister gets $80 an hour on the internet. she has been fired from work for eleven months... the previous month her payment was $18872 only working at home a couple of hours every day, check out... LIVEJOB1.COM
Load More Replies... hannahbahngswife 1 month ago (edited)
My case: • No door in my room • Not allowed to cut hair/color nails • Not allowed to go out with my friends. Not even my best friend since I was 3, whose parents they are themselves best friends with. • The ONE time they did let me go out, it was in my small town, and my dad was literally following us around. • Not allowed to talk with boys, not even just as friends (but complains when I say that I want to remain single as long as possible, and childless). Sent me to an all-girls school to prevent that. (Jokes on them. All-girls school was how I found out that I am queer). • Not allowed to swear. When they are argue almost everyday. With a very "swear-y" language. • Where I come from, French is a secondary language, but it's not surprising if kids spoke French as their first language. I was one of those kids. Bragged to other parents about it, but at home I was not allowed to speak French. And when I eventually lost the French, they were surprised.
hannahbahngswife 1 month ago (edited)
• Every single time my mom scolds me, I was supposed to stay silent and let it happen. Not even try to defend myself or say my point of view. Mother is shooked that I turned out I person who never speak up for myself. • Not allowed to be a kid. Dolls were too childish. Cars were too boyish. Cooking sets were "stupid" to play with. Every single time I did something any kid would do in public? Smack in my face. Took me long to realize how much I would get slapped over nothing. I think it stopped when I first attempted, but the comments stayed. Every thing I do that isn't right to her, I am a "sl ut" for it (forgot to wash a dish? S**t. Didn't get enough marks on a test? S**t. Didn't clean a corner of a room correctly? You guessed it). I think she doesn't realize how being called that affected me. To a point where I can handle being slapped, but I cannot handle these kind of words.
Load More Replies... Jackie Lulu 1 month ago
Lists like this Bring back memories of some of the nuttier ideas that my parents had. They were strict, and did not , in many ways, prepare my sister and I for adulthood. Here's a couple of examples: I got my learner's permit at 16, and arranged to take the driver's test. My mom said she would take me, but at the last minute said she was busy. My friend took me and I passed the test in her car. My parents wouldn't let me drive their car until I was 18, and then complained if I needed it. They wouldn't let me buy a car unless it was brand new, but wouldn't help me buy one. At age 19, I was not allowed to take an overnight trip for any reason without a "chaperone ". Of course kids need rules, but I believe they should be made with the child's abilities in mind. I was a serious kid who could have handled more responsibility. No wonder I ran away from home and eloped at age 19.
Gerry Higgins 1 month ago
My dad's rule was we had to eat Corn-on-the-Cob across the cob, not turning the cop with every bite.
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