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31 Childhood Rules That Would Make Any Therapist Lean Forward In Their Chair
Article created by: Mantas Kačerauskas
Every family has its quirks and peculiar moments, sure. But it’s only when you take a step back, get some distance, and look at things from a different perspective that you realize just how bizarre some of those rules and regulations really were.
Recently, some members of AskReddit spilled the tea about the weirdest rules that their parents had at home. It was only after they grew up that they realized just how odd they really were. We’ve collected some of their most intriguing and peculiar childhood stories, and you can check them out as you scroll down.
Bored Panda reached out to u/Main_Masterpiece_793, who sparked the intriguing discussion, and they were kind enough to share their perspective. Check out their thoughts below!
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#1
The Interrupt Rule. If we wanted to talk to our parents but they were talking to someone else, we would place our hand on their arm, they would acknowledge it by placing their hand on ours, and then we would keep our hands there until they turned to ask us what we needed. I did it to a teacher and I'll never forget how confused (and frankly a little freaked out) she looked seeing a child just touching her arm and staring at her while she was talking to another teacher.
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#2
Always talk to the cat in a normal voice and not in the "baby talk" voice people do with pets, because he will think you're stupid.
He probably does, anyway.
#4
I have two i havent seen mentioned:
1. You must wake up at 6am, regardless of day, and would be punished if you failed. I often did fail as i had undiagnosed adhd at the time, and it led to frequent arguments. They said it was to 'prepare me for the adult world'. I now dont wake up even close to that early for my actual adult job.
2. I was not allowed to interact with males, as they were worried about me getting into a relationship while i was still in school. As a result, my closest relationships growing up were with other women, and now i am gay.
#5
When we were little and the Avon Lady would come knocking on our door, my mom would tell us to be very quiet and to not make a noise because it's the mean Avon Lady and she has a gun. Lol.
We totally believed her, and it wasn't until I was in the 8th grade that we moved, and my little sister's friend's dad would sell Avon at swap meets. We asked if he had a gun, and her friend looked so confused. Lol. We figured then that my mom was just telling us a story to make sure we were quiet so she didn't have to open the door and deal with the Avon Lady.
It is still one of the silliest memories of my childhood, and up until my mom passed away 4 years ago, we would give her such a hard time for it. Her response was always "well it got uou to be quiet, and she always went away."
I don't know if it's really a rule, but maybe it was. We were never to answer the door to those women.
I miss my mom so much.
Edit: spelling.
#7
No one allowed in or out of the house on New Years day until my red headed uncle came to visit. It's good luck if the first person in the door on New Years is a redhead. There were 10 kids in my mom's family. Poor Uncle Bill was run ragged by 2 pm!
#9
Soft drinks are adult drinks.
Imagine my horror when I went to a birthday party in kindergarten and the Mom started to serve soft drinks to us - 5 year olds! Being the rule follower that I was, I said that I wasn’t allowed to drink it because it was an adult drink. The mom convinced me that my parents would be okay if I had a glass. I remember being very upset with my parents after the party because I was so embarrassed.
#10
All steak had to be WELL DONE. I didn’t know anything less than well done existed until I went to college. Now, I take my steak medium.
#11
Not being able to use the couch cushions/pillows and blankets because those were only to decorate when we had guests over.
Ends up my mom has untreated OCD and only told us years later LOL explains a lot of her behavior.
#12
If I had a friend over, went to a friend's house, went to the mall with a friend or even went outside and played with any other kids one weekend, I better not even ask to do anything the following weekend. Many weekends I spent alone in my room. I was a straight A kid too. And at 17, I had a 9pm curfew on Saturday nights.
#13
My dad used to tell us that we weren't allowed to touch the painted parts of the car because it would mess it up. Only touch the handles. This was so completely engrained in me that even as an adult I thought that car paint was somehow easily ruined. It wasn't until working in the automotive industry that I realized that, in fact, it's quite durable and, you know, made to be on the road.
#14
We weren’t necessarily allowed to get hurt. At least I wasn’t. My dad deemed it unsightly and unladylike at first. I liked to climb trees and such as a kid and he noticed I had a scab on my arm when I was in the fifth grade. Snatched me up by my arm and yelled at me telling me it made me ugly and no boy would ever love or want to be with me if I had a bunch of scars. Then got mad at me when I said “I’d hope a boy wouldn’t not want to be with me over some scars on my skin, that’s shallow.” Turns out he was right, but it wasn’t about physical scars, nobody wants to be with someone covered in the emotional scars he left 🥴 also the same man who told me I was fat that same summer and wouldn’t allow me to eat past 5pm because I’d get fat and nobody likes fat women. I also had to ask permission for food and/or eat within his restricted times and regulations until I was like 17. If I ate outside of his restrictions, he tore me a new one. I have a very complicated relationship with food and my body now. There’s plenty more, but yeah, my dad sucked.
#15
My dad never allowed me to watch the Simpsons growing up. When I turned 18 I watched it and loved it hahaha.
#16
When our father got home from work, we'd be sent to our rooms, sometimes until the time he left the next morning. He'd get home and not want to interact with us so we'd be sent off across the house, checked on occasionally, spanked or yelled at if we got too loud. Luckily I had my older brother, but it got lonely. And it was better than being around him because he was mean and aggressive. He once left black and blue belt stripes across my brother's back, because he was caught jumping on the bed again. When I was 2 or 3 he put me in time out, facing the corner. Then he fell asleep and hours later I wandered off to go play. He woke up and got angry I left, so he busted into my room, grabbed me by the ankle and lifted me upside down to administer a (thankfully brief) beating. When he'd call us out of our room, he'd scream our names and we were so scared he was going to yell at us or hit us. So. The rule was, when Dad gets home, go to your room.
#17
My parents would check my and my brother’s teeth for 'sugar bugs' every night after we brushed our teeth, before we got in bed. If they thought we were trying to skip brushing our teeth, they would tell us they could see the sugar bugs and would make us go brush again.
My brother and I were so convinced these sugar bugs were real, we would constantly ask when we’d be able to see them. My parents always told us only people 13 and older could see them, but by the time we got to be 13, we had completely forgotten about the sugar bugs in our teeth.
#20
Not mine but my mom says my grandma used to make them take off all their clothes except the underwear at the corridor as soon as they got home. We suspect she had untreated OCD lol.
#21
Having to change clothes (ex: shorts or tank tops) when relatives or family friends came over, so that the men/boys "wouldn't look".
#23
We weren't allowed to refer to either parent as "he" or "she." Had to be "Mom" or "Dad" or acceptable variations.
#24
Shut up was a swear word in our house.
If we asked our parents if our friends could hang out in front of said friend, answer was immediately no.
I had to ask to have a sleepover with a friend 7 days in advance. Anything less than that was immediately no.
Doors were locked at 830pm. If we tried to come home after that, it was sleeping on the porch. We had a box on the porch that had pillows and blankets for this reason.
Was not allowed to sleep in later than 915 am on the weekends.
#26
I had to share any food I brought home even if purchased with my own money. My mom didn't cook or keep food at home but ate out every morning.
#27
We were never ever allowed in their bedroom not even if we were sick or scared. We would stand at the open door and yell for them.
#28
You have to “say hello” to the plants. Every morning, greet the houseplants. Respect the greenery। Spend time there,will i love that now. I am gonna follow it always.
#29
Not me, but a girlfriends family rule, was you got one drink with dinner and couldn’t have a refill.
#30
Meals would be done in order of age, my parents ate first, then my older brother and sister then me. We never ate together.
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