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“She Thought Our Home Life Was Insane”: 30 People Share Their Weirdest Childhood Home Rules
Interview
All families have their own habits and quirks that can seem strange to outsiders. But after reading this Reddit thread, you might find yours are actually pretty tame.
User poothhippers asked people to share the weirdest house rules they had to follow growing up, and the responses did not disappoint.
From outlawing naps to banning mice-themed movies (yes, seriously), here are some of the best ones!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
When I was about 14, I asked my mother (who I was made to live with when I was around 11) to put on a shirt and stop walking around without clothes. My punishment was to immediately remove my shirt and bra when I got home from school and walk around topless. If I covered myself, another week was added. It was her husband's idea, but she totally...didn't give a f**k and made me comply.
Not so much "weird" as it is full on SA. Sorry to ruin the vibe.
Child of the Stars 1 year ago
Good lord. I have a "clothing optional" rule for my kids at home (provided we don't have any company), but it's really just because I didn't want to argue with toddlers. This is just disturbing.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
The general vibe of this thread is childhood abuse so I’d say this fits perfectly
RELATED:
#2
Not allowed in the house after school. Change clothes, do your homework on the backporch, then do your chores. After that you could do anything you wanted but couldn't go in the house until mom called us for supper. After everyone had eaten everything mom had put on our plate, dad would go set and watch TV. He picked the show and no one could speak. We were sent to bed at random times.
We were afraid of dad, his punishment was illegal to say the least. We were never touched for a hug or bedtime thing.
Otto Katz 1 year ago
Birth control was illegal. Will be again soon in the US.
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Linda van A. 1 year ago
Your parents were probably raised the same way. Time to break the circle.
Veronica Jean 1 year ago
Friend of mine had that. Parents were immigrants, and children were not allowed to speak from the moment his father got home because he needed all the peace he could get after work and kids should be seen and not heard. He's super messed up because of it.
BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
Not sure what that has to do with being an immigrant. I am an immigrant, and that's not a rule in my house. Nor in my parent's home. Although when I was growing up, we absolutely would stay outside until it got too dark to see. But we had to do our homework first. My parents were very kind and affectionate. My grandparents lived with us too, and my grandmother would sing us to sleep. My grandfather would listen to his radio shows (we didn't own a TV until I was a teenager). My mother was a doctor, and worked late. My grandmother was an angel. I had an excellent childhood.
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Gayle Owens 6 months ago
Ghost hug for you. You cant feel it but its there. I never received hugs from either parent.
#3
I wasn't allowed to put sugar in my tea because my mum told me that when you go to prison they don't let you have sugar, so it will makes prison that much harder.
1) Thanks for having so much faith in me mum.
2) I'm pretty sure you are allowed sugar for your tea in prison.
Pandaroo 1 year ago
Sugar is allowed. But why did the mom assume you were going to prison? Family history or smthn?
Nicole Weymann 1 year ago
You work in correction management, right? RIGHT?
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XanthippeⓐWulf🇨🇦️️🇬🇧 1 year ago
We weren't allowed much sugar or sweets growing up, but definitely not for prison reasons 😳
Kare Deter 1 year ago
My dad was brilliant. He'd buy a bag of mixed candy (when you could pick and choose your own) they were HIS. He "hid" them in a cabinet and made sure we knew where they were. We'd occasionally "steal" a bit, but because we were doing the wrong thing we'd only take a piece or two thinking he wouldn't notice. Took YEARS for us to figure out that he knew and was just circumventing our mother's rule without fighting about it.
Load More Replies... Jaya 1 year ago
I thought I was extremely neurotic because I always totally overprepare for fictional bad situations that never happen, but this mum really takes the cake. Well, the sugar-free cake I guess.
Jill Cramp 1 year ago
This sounds like something my mum would’ve said - not to be taken seriously, just classic self-depreciating British humour!
Some of the rules shared were downright disturbing, others simply bizarre, and a few just plain funny. But as we at Bored Panda scrolled through the responses, we couldn’t help but wonder how these habits found their way into Redditors’ households. So, we reached out to one of the users, u/Inevitable_Spell5775, who had one of the more memorable stories in the thread. He shared that his family wasn’t allowed to use the front door.
“My mother was petrified about people breaking in, even though we lived in a good neighborhood,” he explained. “As soon as anyone would leave through the front door, it would be instantly locked behind us. The key would always stay in the lock, so we couldn’t get back in that way even if we tried.”
#4
I wasn’t allowed to watch mice-centric movies (The Rescuers, American Tail) because my mom said 'our cat finds them offensive.'
martin734 1 year ago
How did she know the cat found them offensive? Did she ask the cat for their opinion?
MyNameIsNotAPortent 1 year ago
I have a cat that finds every film without mice offensive. Actually it finds absolutely everything offensive.
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Greenmantle 1 year ago
My old boy used to sit with rapt attention when there were mice and birds on tv.
Cathy Roberts 1 year ago
LOL That one sounds like the kind of thing moms make up when they just dislike something.
Melissa Harris 1 year ago
An American Tail and the Rescuers Down Under were two of mu favorite movies as a kid.
#5
Not allowed to walk around in socks with no shoes. I got my revenge when I moved into my first when I moved into my first nice apartment alone. They came to visit and I made them take their shoes off at the door.
Bay Bo 1 year ago
Um, shouldn't shoes get took off at the door? Or am I the only one who vacuums n mops their floors...
Jaya 1 year ago
It really depends on the country. In some countries it is totally weird to take them off, in some countries it is totally weird to keep them on.
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Mabelbabel 1 year ago
My parents were both chain smokers and the house stank. I was told that when I had a house of my own, then I could set the rules, but until then, they'd smoke where they wanted. The first time my mother visited me, she lit up a cigarette and I reminded her of their rule-she stood at the open back door to the kitchen, but then deliberately exhaled the smoke back into the kitchen, giggling like she thought it was funny. I closed the door on her. She ended ended up leaving soon after and hasn't visited since (truth be told, I haven't invited her)
Tommy DePaul 1 year ago
This depends on how you were raised. Growing up everyone kept their shoes on until getting into bed. Now I'm always barefoot at home and only wear flip flops outside (Denver all year round).
Curbz81 1 year ago
My dad used to say "my house my remote" and change the tv channel. Now they stay at my place once a month for a few days and i occasionally have to remind him of his own rule when there is something i want to watch.
Sergio Bicerra 1 year ago
If they stay in a guest xoom with a tv, hide the remote or deactivate all channels and leave only the wheather channel.
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Rianna Lewis 6 months ago
Confused by this one.. I do agree with the “do not walk around in just socks” rule as they’ll get dirty and put holes in them.. but you should take your shoes off at the door in houses that have that rule
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
Your socks are on your gross sweaty feet, they're already dirty.
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Ekaterina Myers 1 year ago (edited)
In Eastern Europe it is offensive to walk inside the house wearing outside shoes. Our floors should be so clean that you could eat from it. I still sometimes wash floors in airbnbs we stay as soon as we arrive when travelling because I can feel that dusty feeling on my feet and it is just disgusting to see your socks turning black.
MojoIn Atlnta 1 year ago
Yeah that’s just a good idea - it’s the stuff from outside that you bring in with your shoes for those who don’t understand
#6
Don’t bring snakes inside.
To be fair, it was a reactionary rule.
Child of the Stars 1 year ago
I had the doors open this summer for the cross breeze, and a hummingbird flew in. He couldn't find his way out, and I finally trapped him in a mixing bowl covered in a baking sheet and got him out!
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LizzieBoredom 1 year ago (edited)
Two neighbor boys (ages 9 & 11) knocked on my door at 7:30 am, wanting me to keep a dead snake they found. With great indignation they explained the school bus driver wouldn't let them take it on the bus, and they were afraid someone would steal it.
It turns out, though, his dad also had some unusual expectations for the family. “Our father always made us—my siblings and I—clean the car every time we went on vacation,” he said. “I have no idea why we had to do this, because the car would always get dirty again pretty much straight away. We hated doing it... But in his defense, it was probably us making all the mess in the first place.”
#7
We weren't allowed to say "that's not fair" because "life isn't fair."
To this day I am preoccupied with fairness, equality, justice - to an almost obsessive extent.
Sounds like the beginning of a superhero movie but it's just crippling f*****g anxiety.
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
I heard a lot of 'it could be worse' when I was growing up, which has fúcked up my perspective and I've spent most of my life thinking I'm not allowed to be upset by the things that upset me because they could be worse or other people have it worse.
Nikole 1 year ago
Everything could always be worse. Never feel bad about feeling bad.
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Meagan Glaser 1 year ago
yep. It was common parent-code for "shut up about how people are mistreating you, I don't care and don't want to be bothered" but came across as "the world doesn't lke you and neither do I"
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ZestyBison 1 year ago
I never understood why some parents intentionally make their child's life difficult, like it won't be challenging enough.
Tommy DePaul 1 year ago
But listening to a kid whine, "that's not fair" to every instruction isn't great either.
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
A radical idea: parent your children and teach them some different expressions
Load More Replies... #8
No naps
Not in the car, the house, if you were sick, ect
My dad couldn't nap (terrible sleeper) so we couldn't either
12 hour road trip? No sleeping in the car, and no whining either
Flu? Doesn't matter
I think the only exception was when one of my migraine medications I was trying made me vomit for hours before I'd fall asleep with my head pressed onto the edge of the bathtub and he'd leave me alone
Basically, if he was awake- you had to be awake
F****n love naps as an adult.
Jallamedalla 1 year ago
Not only that. I love it when everyone else in the car falls asleep during a road trip (While I'm driving of course). Silence, except for MY music playing on an appropriate volume.
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Melissa Harris 1 year ago (edited)
Sleep deprivation Is a form of torture. Children and teens need more sleep then adults.
Cattlepiddlers 1 month ago
Sleeping when ill gives the body a chance to heal. A sleeping child is pure bliss as a parent hah
Gayle Owens 6 months ago
If you could get out of bed you were not sick. No pain killers or meds. Made life long self abuse about being worthy enough to take time off to care for yourself.
#9
Hyper-Christian parents were very worried about Satanism in the 90s and early 2000s, so no Pokémon, or anything with magic (all my friends played Runescape D&D). Also, no Halloween or anything with monsters.
As a parent now Pokémon is my favorite show to watch with my kid and Halloween is probably my favorite holiday.
Somehow, I haven't tried to summon the Devil or performed any Satanic rituals.
BookFanatic 1 year ago
I have a good friend who was raised Jehovah's Witness. We were equally shocked when I brought her a birthday present. She, because she'd never had one...and me because...well...why hasn't a sixteen year old ever had a birthday present? She left the church the second she turned 18 and went Wiccan.
detective miller's hat 1 year ago
The Satanic Panic was a wild time. And it's happening again.
Barbara Deskins 1 year ago
my daughter's friend about 20 years ago, couldn't go to a magic show that was free in our area. "That's the devil's work" But that child read every Harry Potter book.
Steve Robert 1 year ago
One of my first sexual experiences came when I was seventeen with the preacher's daughter. Her parent's strict rules only made her more rebellious. Worked for me!
Philly Bob 1 year ago
I didn't have to summon the devil, she appeared and I had to divor... er... exorcise it!
Interestingly, u/Inevitable_Spell5775 doesn’t really follow any weird rules or superstitions of his own, but he admits he can’t resist messing with other people’s. “I’m not a very superstitious person,” he told us. “I think that sort of thing is a bit crazy and like to rebel against it... But sometimes that ends up creating its own kind of ritual, so it sort of backfires.”
“Some people like to have all the pens facing the same direction in a pack—I’ll flip one backwards. My ex insisted on having all the pictures level, so I’d move one slightly off every time I passed it,” he shared. “I was walking with someone, and they were trying not to step on the cracks on the pavement, so I started trying to only step on the cracks. I can’t win!”
We really enjoyed these glimpses into u/Inevitable_Spell5775’s life. And if you have any curious rules from your childhood, pandas, we’d love to hear them in the comments!
#10
When my brother and I had a fight, we would be locked in a dog cage in the backyard. If we fought in the car, we would get "bagged" and were forced to wear pillowcases on our heads until we reached our destination. It could be 45 minutes up to 4 hours. We laughed about it telling friends and it only dawned on us how f****d up it was when we realized our friends were not laughing.
BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
Once my brother and I were fighting at the dinner table, and my grandmother poured a glass of milk over our heads and told us to clean it up. We were both in shock. But we never fought at the table again.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
The "dog cage" makes me cringe. Both for the kids and the dog. The pillowcase idea sounds comical but would've been awful for a young kid not knowing how much longer they'd be travelling for
#11
Still have to follow this now because I still live at home, even though I’m 21 (rent is insane!!)
I can’t lock my bedroom door or any bathroom doors during the day when I’m in my room or on the toilet. My dad will get pissed off and try to knock the doors down.
It’s flat up abusive imo.
Gen.Stal 1 year ago
When he is in the bathroom just burst in and say "So we taking a good s**t mate?", do this a couple of times, if he doesn't understand just beat the c**p out of him
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
As funny as that sounds I feel like op would be homeless after that
Load More Replies... BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
I have a no locks rule in my home. But only because my one daughter kept locking their sister out of their shared bedroom. My youngest is autistic, and I have a rule about her not locking the bathroom during a bath, because she turned on the water and started overflowing the tub, and I couldn't get in to turn it off, and she had a panic and couldn't get it off either. I would never actually go in though unless it were an emergency
Melissa Harris 1 year ago (edited)
Yes, but you have a legitimate reason with a young child with ASD. Your daughters aren't 21 abd their dad isn't creepily monitoring their bathroom usage.
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Sunny Day 1 year ago
I wasn't allowed to lock doors, either. Then my dad could pretend he was being funny when he opened my door suddenly while I was getting dressed. F*****g pervert. I did learn to get dressed with one foot wedging the door shut, though.
Melissa Harris 1 year ago
This is true. I have rarely felt the need to lock my bathroom door because if it's closed you knock.
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Patrick H 1 year ago
I don't particularly care if my kids lock the doors because all my doors can be unlocked with a small pin or something if necessary. If they started locking doors to be mean to each other, I might would institute a no-lock rule for that particular circumstance, but I would never put such a restriction in place for occasions that require privacy. If there was a circumstance where safety was an issue, I might institute a no-lock rule, but again, just for that particular circumstance.
ohjojo (you/your's) 1 year ago
To gain the freedom you want..... gather up a few mates and go in on a house share. Even if you have to rotate who gets the bed, who gets the sleeping bag etc. your only way out is work hard and buy your into your future.
Steve Robert 1 year ago
It's about time, especially if you're paying rent, to get your own place. You're the idiot if you put up with that c**p!
#12
Not allowed to take naps when I was a teenager because "I'm too young to be tired" even after I got a job and had to be up at 5am...
IamMe 1 year ago
I let my teenagers take a nap, because I remember being that age. Teenagers need more sleep than anyone, except babies and maybe the elderly, but have to wake up before dawn because highschool starts so early.
Gayle Owens 6 months ago
You are right! Teens bodies need much more sleep because of all the hormonal changes and rapid growth.
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CanadianDimes 1 year ago
Argh, people who say "you're too young to..." as if life had a set schedule that everyone's body followed. Sure, you can be too young under the law for certain things (which can be good, like too young to get married, etc.). But too young to have medical conditions or feel certain ways? BS
#13
I wasn't allowed to say no. I wasn't allowed to smile either.
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
Laughing and smiling in my childhood home got you a "what are you smirking about? I wish I had something to smile about, I do all the work round here, nobody thanks me, I have to take care of everybody and nobody cares for me, I may as well just kill myself" If you were upset, you'd get "what are you crying about? I'm the one who should be crying, my life is miserable, I work so hard and get no thanks" It was better just to not show any emotion at all and stay out of her way.
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Cathy Roberts 1 year ago
A lot of kids in my age group (gen x) and earlier were not allowed to say no. I remember it being sort of revolutionary when I said I WANTED my daughter to be able to say no, because it's an important life skill!
Broad Panda 1 year ago
We would get told off for laughing. Just because it was noise. Awful. My parents shouldn't have had kids.
BookFanatic 1 year ago
I'm not sure which is worse. Being told to smile more...or being told not to smile.
Gayle Owens 6 months ago
Narcissistic parent/parents think that they control other peoples/children's happiness. My mother would make sure she stomped on any enjoyment you were experiencing. She cant be happy neither can you.
#14
My dad had severe OCD. He converted our garage to a studio apartment that we were never allowed to enter. He had his own dishes and if we were ever caught using them they became family dishes. Even washing them wasn't enough they were ruined. He boiled it hell out of everything he put on the BBQ. Chicken, ribs, hamburgers, etc. All boiled first. Lots of cleaning quirks, but I'll leave it there for now. I could go on for days. I thought alot of these things were just normal stuff until I stayed the night at my first friend house. He went to the cupboard to get me a cup for a drink. I was like "you can just use any cup you want" his mom asked me why I asked. So I told her what my house was like. I remember the look she gave me and from then on she always invited me over for sleepovers. We weren't abused at all, but she thought our home life was insane.
arthbach 1 year ago
TribbleThinking, often with OCD the compulsions start out small and manageable, and they grown and develop over time. Chances are when children were being created Dad's OCD was no where near the stage it was when he was living in the studio apartment, boiling everything for bbqs, etc.
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Jaya 1 year ago
OCD can have devastating effects, it's really sad that the dad didn't get the therapy he needed. OCD is very treatable, not that you'll necessarily be completely free of it, but you can definitely get it down to a level in which your life can function well again. The dad and this whole family suffered way more than they would have needed to. But sadly people don't always reach out for help (and not everyone has access to health care of course).
Seadog 1 year ago
Sounds more like a germaphone than OCD. OCD is usually more about order and symmetry than who used or touched what.
Ravioli 1 month ago
There's a billion versions of OCD, mine didn't got s**t to do with symmetry, it was about repeating actions ad vomitum till they were done "right", right being assigned completely randomly by my brain.
Load More Replies... #15
No laughing in the house, if you want to laugh go outside.
Ghostshaper 1 year ago
Wtf?! What kind of parent doesn't want to hear their child's laughter?!
Donald 1 year ago
"There will be no semblance of joy in this house and you'll like it!"
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Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
In some ways I think this is the saddest. Laughter is one of the most theraputic and joyous things the human race is capable of.
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
No, because that would get you "what are you crying for? I'll give you something to cry about" WHACK..."I'm the one who should be crying, I have a miserable life, I work so hard and nobody is grateful for it, no one bothers about me..."
Load More Replies... #16
If the fridge door was open. With or without a child kneeling behind it. My dad would body slam it close.
We got a lot of concussions (probably mum didn't believe in hospital visits until pain was present for 3 days and head injuries were "easy to fake" according to her).
Hidalgo 1 year ago
Sounds like 1970’s football coaches. Or US Veterans Administration
Load More Replies... Glix Drap 1 year ago
I don't know. I'm the sort of person who likes to make quick quips about things (or at least I think they are), but this thread just breaks my heart. Such a bunch of weird, s****y parents.
Tom De Paul 6 months ago
Do any of these people know what CPS is? I would think the mere threat of legal involvement and public humiliation would have curbed the more egregious of these rules and behaviors.
#17
When I was young my mom made us go to bed at 6pm. I remember the sun being out and hearing kids outside playing. She got married soon after and the guy had a daughter so that rule went away but I really think she just didn’t want to deal with us. We spent all day outside playing when we weren’t at school and wasn’t allowed to come in until she called us in for dinner and then it was baths and bed. I can’t imagine just napping, never checking on my kids and having your young kids roaming the neighborhood all day. I had a friend who lived down the street. Her mom was like my second mom. I remember rollerskating and falling on my knee and scraping it pretty bad and her cleaning and bandaging it because I knew I wasn’t allowed to go home. And on school days we were in after school child care until they closed so then home, dinner, bed.
Maine 1 year ago
Why do some people insist on having children and then see them as a burden that they don't want to engage in???
LB 1 year ago
I think this is going to become a lot more common again in the US...
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Lyoness 1 year ago
Don't know when this was but in the late 70s and early 80s being tossed out in the morning and not coming home until called was the norm. Pretty much every Gen X had this. It sucked and it wasn't right, but that's what parents did. It's a stereotype for a reason.
Lyoness 1 year ago
Just to clarify, no parent should do this to their kids. It wasn't OK then and it isn't now.
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Earonn - 1 year ago
depends on the definition? Perhaps Mom 1 gave literally all she could give? If she never wanted kids but had them anyway, but then does her best, even if that is not as much as others can give, does that make her a bad mother? We allow fathers to be out of their chidlren's life and not show much love, without saying "he's not a father".
Load More Replies... Melissa Harris 1 year ago
My mom would send us to bed on school days before the sun completely set (around 7 pm) because of daylight saving time. After school ended for summer we could stay up latter. She'd hang towels or sheets over the windows to darken the room so we'd be able to sleep. She did this until I was about 11 or 12. It was to make sure we got adequate sleep and maintained a good routine.
#18
Going to the toilet.
First I had to ask permission then I had to wait until the toilet door was unlocked. My mother would then stand by the open toilet door until I sat down I would then hand her the toilet paper mother would tear off three squares and hand them to me. That's all I was allowed if I needed more my parents took it as a sign that I was eating and drinking too much.
justanotherweirdo 1 year ago
First off, that sucks, feel bad for OP. Second, the bathroom walls in the photo?
Phoenyx Moonshadow 1 year ago
I experienced something similar in a foster home I lived in a few years back.
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago (edited)
It's awesome that you weren't raised by an abusíve control freak but that does NOT give you the right to call other people liars for sharing their experiences. If this story is fake, it doesn't matter because there are thousands, millions of kids with the same kind of experiences.
Load More Replies... g6fmzpp8d7 1 year ago
This is a disgustingly, bigoted and vile comment, so here’s one back, is it because you believe that heterosexual people don’t need as much toilet paper because they don’t force their privates fingers into the a**s where you dedicate from and they then don’t tear and stretch the skin so won’t have leakages and fissures that bleed? Therefore don’t need more toilet roll.
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#19
Unless it was for school or I was with one of my parents, my sister and I were never allowed to leave the apartment. We couldn't have friends over and we couldn't go to friends' houses..probably why I'm such a homebody now with anxiety issues around people.
Sunny Day 1 year ago
I had cousins (well, mom's younger cousins); 4 boys & a girl. They weren't allowed to have friends. They could go out in the yard, but they weren't allowed to play (noise), and they weren't allowed to take any toys outside. They went to school and went home and stood around in the yard. I remember visiting them, and they were lined up against the fence, desperate for some sort of human interaction. Yes, my great-uncle was a total a*****e.
Lindsay A 1 year ago
I don't know when I'll feel it ìs safe for my children to go out unaccompanied. I was always out alone from a young age but it just doesn't seem responsible these days!
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
The world in generally a much safer place than it was 30-40 years ago. Look at the crime rates, they've almost universally gone down. Thing is, the world is much more connected now and everything gets reported on. So you hear about every single murder, child abduction, séxual assaült case and your brain makes the connection that these things must be happening more often than they did in the past. They really aren't, you just only heard about a fraction of crimes being committed back then.
Load More Replies... #20
Was actually a friend not me. Basically at his house, him and his brother were allowed in only 3 rooms. Their bedrooms and the bathroom. The kitchen, living room and conservatory were completely off limits.
If they wanted water they had to ask and a parent would bring a glass from the kitchen. The conservatory was used for family meals but apparently a lot of the time they just gave the kids food on plates to eat in their room.
It really weirded me out as a kid when I went round. I would be greeted by the parents, they would escort me to my mates bedroom, then close the door behind me. When it was time to leave my mate had to call for his parents to then escort me out.
No idea why they had this rule. The mum didn't work and literally sat at home all day every day just chain smoking in the living room.
TribbleThinking 1 year ago
She was just lazy and didn't bother with niceties like socialisation for the children.
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
A conservatory? What about the winter garden and the billiards lounge, were they allowed there?
#21
No chores.
I’m dead serious.
My mom was so overprotective she wouldn’t let me do any kind of chores. She never let me near appliances or showed me how to do the most basic of housework.
The only thing she told me to do was clean my room, but never showed me how to clean it. So my room was always messy.
Now I’m 25 and had to beg my dad to show me how to use the dishwasher, clothes washer/dryer and oven. I can wash things and make frozen things in the oven. That’s all I can do.
I’m still scared of the stove.
And now I can’t get my mom to show me anything because she’s been dead for 11 years.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
I can understand this one. I never learned how to do laundry until I was living on my own in my twenties either. My mom didn't want us to ruin her machine or do the laundry wrong and possibly damage the clothes, so we weren't taught how to do it. Which of course, doesn't set you up well when you have your own machine and your own laundry to do but you know what, that's what Google is for. I know someone who when she moved out of her parents house in her mid twenties, had no idea where to buy milk. She had to ask her mom where do you get milk? Like for your cereal? She had no idea that you went to the grocery store. I mean, that's really something isn't it? And this was around the year 2010 in america, not like 70 years ago in an extremely rural area ..
Andy Frobig 1 year ago
Back in the '70s, we lived with Mom, who worked full time. We had chores, including taking turns grocery shopping. I've never had kids and never will, but my opinion is that the objective of having and raising kids is to build productive, independent and hopefully happy adults
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mandy the capibara 1 year ago
I'm missing something here, if her mother passed away 11 years ago, and she's 25... she was 14 when her mum passed. So, how is her incapability at doing anything her mum's fault and not her dad's? Many, if not most children learn cooking after the age of 14, and many young adults teach themselves. It must be traumatic to lose a parent at that age, but I'm still a little lost why this had this outcome
Jaya 1 year ago (edited)
Your parents really failed OP, it is one of your tasks as a parent to teach your kids this stuff. But OP is an adult now, and can just ask friends or cousins or something, or read manuals, they can start fixing this problem without needing their parents to take the initiative of teaching them. What happened (or in this case didn't happen) to you in the past is not your responsibility, but as an adult it is your responsibility where you go from here.
Rosecat 1 year ago
This mom meant well. My mother in law was actually like that too, especially with my husband since he's on the spectrum. When we first lived together I was surprised and upset that he didn't know how to do basic chores. I was like "Didn't your parents teach you how to wash dishes???" And he was like "....no". I've been teaching him.
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
She didn't mean well, she just didn't want her children touching her stuff and getting in the way. You know, parenting.
Load More Replies... #22
We weren’t allowed to talk during meals. My parents said it was to teach us discipline, but it just made dinners really awkward.
BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
Right! Meals were a time to laugh and talk for us. I still enjoy meals with my kids. We tell jokes, and stories. My middle child is a born actor and they have these detailed story lines with all these different characters. My littlest one has their own ideas for the stories, and they argue about who should win. I wouldn't give that up for anything.
Load More Replies... Kare Deter 1 year ago
Same in my house growing up, plus we weren't allowed to dish for ourselves, we were served and forced to eat adult sized portions and not allowed to leave the table till we were done. I remember my brother gagging and being threatened if he threw up he'd be made to eat that too. Off to see my therapist now...
Brazen 1 year ago
Same as my family. I learned how to squirrel food away in my mouth during the week days and then go flush it down the toilet. I got away with it because my parents never ate with us during the week.
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Melanie Filmer 1 year ago
Meals are the only time I get to see all my kids together and hear what's going on in their lives. Otherwise they're a bunch of isolated teens hiding away 🙄
Kinshenewa 3 months ago
? What do you mean, dinners awkward. Dinner isn't for talking, it's for eating.
You didn’t know me 2 mins ago 1 year ago
Same with my house. No talking until you are finished eating, and your u were given adult portions and punished if you weren’t able to finish them.
Brazen 1 year ago
We were not allowed to talk at the table unless my dad was eating with us. From Monday to Friday, she would make us eat an hour earlier than my dad and herself. We were punished if we got caught talking. She once grabbed my sister and I by the hair and smashed our heads together because she caught us whispering and giggling. She always sat in the living room while we ate, but could hear us through the doorway.
Gen X Feral 1 year ago (edited)
Boy I feel this. My dad was a functioning alcoholic. He'd leave for work before the sun was up, get home and get washed up as my mom was getting dinner on the table. We only spoke when spoken to and better eat what was on our plates and not take all day. Just so my dad could go drink a 12 pack of beer in front of the tv as soon as possible. 😑 I have never used my dinning table to eat on, but my cats do lol
Midoribird Aoi 1 year ago
Ah, the good ole "children should be seen and not heard" mentality, eh?/s
Craig Reynolds 6 months ago
I have two pet peeves related to this. People who talk with food in their mouth, and people who ask me a question when I have food in mine. Of course, they get annoyed when I refuse to answer with food still in my mouth.
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
Just answer at your convenience? Like when you've swallowed the food you were chewing?
Load More Replies... #23
I wasn't allowed to do anything near windows. My mom was convinced that our neighbors were always watching us so I had to crouch down whenever I went by a window.
BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
When I was little we had to avoid windows at night because of bullets. My bedroom walls were marked by stray bullets from the favela below us. The mostly would hit the ceiling, but we'd get the occasional low flying stray. Not every night or anything crazy like that. Just every once in a while.
Glix Drap 1 year ago
I read the first line and assumed it was because she thought you might throw yourself out of it. On reflection, your mom could have just bought some curtains.
Nikole 1 year ago
But then there wouldn’t have been a reflection. (OMG I did it! I made a joke in this horribly depressing article that didn’t disrespect the people involved!)
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Papa 1 year ago
Does anyone else wonder if the mom had a habit of watching the neighbors and assumed they were doing the same thing?
CanadianDimes 1 year ago
I read it as the mum was paranoid and probably had a mental illness. I had a neighbour who covered his entire windows with cardboard because he was convinced the police were spying on him. (He also thought I was a police officer who was spying on him and thought I was bugging his flat because his baseboard heaters made a clicking sound when they came on - which all the baseboard heaters in the building did. Also spoiler alert: I'm not a cop)
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Tommy DePaul 1 year ago (edited)
We had blinds and curtains on every window. They were always closed. My mother feared people looking at/shooting us. In a small rural (13k) town on the Texas Gulf Coast.
#24
We weren’t allowed outside if an adult wasn’t home. Even into high school.
Got off the bus with a group of kids and stood outside chatting with them for a few minutes before going home. Neighbor tattled on me. Grounded for 2 weeks.
Decided okay - if I can’t stay outside for a few minutes, I’ll invite them into the house (since no one said I couldn’t)… yep. Grounded for a month.
No wonder I have problems making friends mom 😑🤦♀️.
TribbleThinking 1 year ago
What kind of collaborative abusive neighbour would find *anything* to tattle about on a group of children chatting?
Ravioli 1 month ago
Probably just said something conversationally, did not know mother of the kid was insane
Load More Replies... ShaZam 1 year ago
I wouldn't allow my boys outside, alone (without adult/ or older kid), until after 8 years old. I just was scared of injury or creepy people. Is that wrong?
veryvenasaur 1 year ago
it's the fact that the rule stayed into high school that's the problem imagine if instead of stopping at 8 years old you had the same rule for a 17 year old.
Load More Replies... #25
There were false accusations that I was taking too many of the good pieces of food shared with my sibling. For example, the buttery popcorn pieces, the nacho with the most toppings, the chunkiest puppy chow pieces, etc. So I wasn't allowed to look at the food while we ate it. I had to look straight ahead at the TV and eat without looking.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
Yeah I had to look this one up too. Cuz I'm thinking "puppy chow?" That's the name of Purina brand dog food made for young canines. Don't tell me that's what the kids were being fed? No, it's an American homemade snack treat also called "muddy buddies"... It's cereal chocolate peanut butter and powdered sugar, mixed together which (I guess) ends up resembling dog food nuggets...
Julie S 1 year ago (edited)
Thanks for that I thought they were being made to eat dog food.
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Greenmantle 1 year ago
I had to look up Puppy Chow to learn what it is... hope the kid isn't diabetic or dead from a heart attack.
whiterabbit 1 year ago
My 3 siblings and I always had separate bowls for our snacks to avoid any unfair division issues that inevitably would have happened if all of us heathens were grabbing out of the same bowl.
Mama Clare 1 year ago
I wonder does this OP have issues with food/weight in their life as an adult
#26
My parents were hoarders. We were not allowed to “mess with their stuff” (ie clean) in any capacity. It was a nightmare to live in. My dad died when I was younger but after my mom died, we had the house and it’s contents condemmed, razed, and sold the land. To this day, mess makes me anxious.
Magical StudySpace 1 year ago
Once again this is abuse if it cluttered exceedingly the living spaces
#27
We weren't allow to whistle, because my grandma and mom believe it would conjure snakes, because they saw it in a movie from their home country when they were young. Also no shadow puppets either because they would come alive, once again because of a movie they saw.
Kirsti-Tina Thompson 1 year ago (edited)
I wasn't allowed to whistle because it was uncouth, unbecoming of a lady and the domain of men. Id get full blown punched in the mouth..Meanwhile, she's whistling up a storm cause shes a sheep header.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
I hope that today, you whistle all the time if it makes you happy and brings you joy. I prefer whistling along to a song More than I prefer singing, I have a great whistling musical range, and I love it. The only thing I can't do is one of those really piercing whistles where you put two fingers at the side of your mouth, never learned how to do that.
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Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
I hope that when you are alone, that you practice whistling all the time. Whistle to your heart's content... You should be free to make any type of music you like. However, some of us live in a world where women's rights are not protected... so be safe. Even when whistling. 🎶
Load More Replies... ZestyBison 1 year ago
When little grandmas would share this with me I would laugh and they would smile. I would then continue whatever it was I was doing and they sat in rather deep but content thought.
Pandora 1 year ago
Sounds more like Eastern European to me. The older generations from that part of the world were a particularly superstitious bunch. 🤔
Load More Replies... #28
My mother was in a constant war with the deer that constantly ate her garden and was willing to try every trick she could find to keep them away from her beloved plants. One article she read was that the smell of human urine deters deer. So, for about 6 months, the 3 boys/men in the house were not allowed to pee in the toilet. We had to go outside and pee somewhere around the perimeter of her garden. At night, we had to pee in jugs next to the toilet so she could sprinkle it around her garden the next day.
It wasn't as successful as she hoped. The final solution was an 8 ft tall fence around the entire garden a few years later.
Donkey boi 1 year ago
I'm shocked!!! Amazing that a 6ft fence worked better than a sprinkling of p**s(!)
Sue Kozin 1 year ago
I learned from a person, that, deer would not jump over anything they cannot see through. They had a six-foot solid fence and no deer in the yard.
Load More Replies... Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
Yeah but I know people who think that human hair works best as a deterrent for rodents so, they cut their hair at home, save all the hair sweepings, saving in a bag, and then sprinkle it all around the garden in the summertime because they think that it'll deter squirrels / moles/mice etc. No idea if it actually works, but if you don't know any better and you're walking around near their garden, you'd swear everyone in the house must be balding to be shedding that much
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
Why would that work? Rodents generally aren't scared of humans wouldn't be deterred by something smelling like human. And even if they were, they'd still break in and steal your food if they were hungry enough.
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Debby Keir 1 year ago
We used to hang old CD's from the trees. They made a tinkling noise and acted as sun catchers which put the deer off.
detective miller's hat 1 year ago
My father uses concentrated coyote urine to keep the deer away. Not surprised it works, the stench is unbelievable.
ManuelQue 1 year ago
There's deer repellent available here that has porcupine pee in it. Weird.
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#29
During the summers when my brother and I were home alone we were only allowed to watch Andy Griffith, Leave it to Beaver, or Barney. We had to write essays everyday detailing what happened in the episodes to prove we watched it. This continued until I was SIXTEEN.
The Mediterranean Fruit 1 year ago
We only had 5 tv channels growing up so we had to watch stuff on DVD's most of the time. We would watch The Andy Griffith Show and other old sitcoms and I thought that they were great. I can recite nearly every line from any episode of the Andy Griffith Show.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago (edited)
This is awful, you missed some great programs I'm assuming during the 90s (if you had to watch Barney)... Although I have to say, Andy Griffith and leave it to Beaver were created decades before I was born and I still think they're wonderful shows! (but you probably can't stand hearing the theme song for those now!) The only good thing about this story, you probably gained a skill how to watch an episode and write a summary, which probably did help you with schooling. The ability to be able to take in a work, critically think about it, and summarize the plot in a few sentences is a good skill. But I'm really sorry you were forced to watch all that Barney. (Gorge yourself on some animaniacs, Batman the animated series, King of the Hill etc. Revel in 90s animation)
#30
We weren't allowed to chew gum after 4:30 because we wouldn't be "getting enough use out of it" before we had dinner at 6:00.
featherytoad 1 year ago (edited)
Weirdly, this makes sense to me. But, on the other hand, gum is only good for like 30 minutes.
#31
We were not allowed to cut through the flowerbed out front to get to the sidewalk.
The rule is perfectly fine, it was just that my mom convinced her young children that a family of dead people would grab your ankles and pull you into the ground for eternity if you set foot in the garden.
It absolutely terrified me until I was old enough to know better.
Mrs.C 1 year ago
neighbors told their kids there was a witch that lived in the ceiling of their living room. If the kids ever set foot out of their rooms without mom or dad home, she'd snatch them up and kill them. The kids were in high school & Jr high and still unsure if this was true or not.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
Burying people there is what makes the flowers so healthy and colorful, but they stop grabbing at your ankles once they're dead.
#32
Not allowed to do homework on the weekends. Was forced to have family tv time instead where we watched days of our lives, of all things. I would secretly do it after everyone went to bed.
Glix Drap 1 year ago
To be honest, not doing homework over the weekend is no bad thing - unless it was set on a Friday and due in the following Monday. As an adult wouldn't you cherish your weekend with no work?
Cathy Jo Baker 1 year ago
I don't give homework on Fridays. TBH I don't do hw on weekends, either.
Load More Replies... Greenmantle 1 year ago
Such brain rot that program was. Terrible shame it was used as "family time"
#33
Guests weren't allowed to use the upstairs washroom (and by guests I mean specifically if me or my siblings had friends over). We weren't allowed to offer them any food or drinks except water. I'm pretty sure my mom just wanted to make my house as inhospitable as possible so that she could destroy those friendships. She thought that friends were a distraction and that studying was all that mattered.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
I had a friend in my late teen years who also had family like this... Two boys, age 19 and 20, extremely well behaved, but the home rule was that friends could only visit outside, and on the main floor which was kitchen living room and one bathroom. Basement was considered to be the father's den/entertaining room and was off limit. Upstairs was the family bedrooms and main bathroom and was off limit. To me, growing up in a house where we didn't have a lot of friends over but everywhere in the house was fine to hang out (except of course you don't go into your siblings/parents bedrooms cuz that's an invasion of their privacy) it seemed odd to me to have such restrictions. But I suppose it made sense to them.
Rose the Cook 1 year ago
My mother wouldn't allow us to have friends because "They distract you from your duty". Duty was to wait on her like servants and keep our father from trying to even talk to her.
#34
My parents never let me look at people kissing on tv when i was a kid. Not sure what they were trying to teach me but I guess I should thank them for my adult awkwardness in PDA situations.
Strawberry Pizza 1 year ago
My old English teacher would shriek, groan and skip videos when they had any kind of physical affection, but she made us sit and watch a GRAPHIC suicide scene in a play we studied without even blinking twice. I genuinely felt awful seeing it and had to look away. Priorities.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
My MIL was disgusted by the kids, our nephews, watching Porky's ( not a great idea, true). but saw no problem with Scarface. No sex, but violence was ok.
#35
When hanging clothes on the line, the pegs needed to be colour coordinated with the clothes.
Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
I'm so old there was only wooden clothespegs! No colour coordination at all!
Jaya 1 year ago
Thank god that these parents weren't your parents, because then you'd only be allowed to have light brown clothes
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Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Not necessarily. My mum and sister don't have OCD but like this. My brother who did have OCD never had this as one of his compulsions.
Load More Replies... Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
As long as there was no punishment if a mistake was made, I guess it's harmless.
Seadog 1 year ago
I can't say I've ever seen colored clothes pins. I don't know why they would make such a thing or why anyone would even buy them with the very likelihood the color will transfer unless they're plastic and I don't know anyone who's ever used plastic clothes pins except on a bag of chips.
Distinguished Gentleman 1 year ago
tbf I do this regardless (I don't have kids and would never force anyone else to do it but it pleases some weird crow brain instinct)
#36
When my wife ( then girlfriend) and I moved in together she lit a candle that was on our coffee table
I was like “what the heck are you doing?!”
At that moment it dawned on me that some people actually burn candles…. As opposed the having them just for decoration……like my mom.
Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
It's like my 'just there to look nice' bathroom towels - if anyone actually uses one my heart sinks. I'd never say anything to them, but the offending towel goes straight in the washing machine when they leave LOL. P.S. I love having a candle burning.
Damned_Cat 1 year ago
I'm just the opposite. It makes me mad when guests don't use the guest towels because it either means that they dried their hands on my personal towels, or they didn't wash their hands at all. I've even put out fancy paper napkins for guest towels and had them sit there undisturbed. Gross!
Load More Replies... Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
My father was irrational about fire, so we couldn't use any candles. Now I wonder how he could smoke?
Kare Deter 1 year ago
My hubby and I both have a 'thing' about open flame, for different reasons. His, he had a fan malfunction and burst into flames in the middle of the night. Mine, I woke up in the middle of the night to a room filled with what I thought was fog, woke my older brother and we found my mother, drunk had set the chair she was sitting in on fire (it was smoldering, not open flame yet). We couldn't wake her... had to call the mom of my brother's friend who was staying over. It got pretty crazy. Pretty sure neither of us shared our fear with our kids so they probably think we're irrational too. I won't even burn incense.
Load More Replies... #37
No shoes were allowed on a table...ever.
If you bought new shoes, in a box, in a bag..and you put them on a table...my mom would lose her s**t. She claimed that it was bad luck and that someone you knew or loved would die as a result.
Joanna Lubas 1 year ago
My grandma believed it too! She was born in 1916 in Eastern Europe and she said the only acceptable situation with shoes on a table is when you get a deceased person dressed for funeral.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 1 year ago
Yep, my Nana believed that new shoes on a table brought bad luck too.
Jane Doe-Doe 1 month ago
Yeah even now new shoes don’t go on a table, it’s bad luck!! Why,? beats me, thanks mum 🤣
Vanessa MacKenzie 1 year ago
It's also culturally (in my country) a taboo to place feet or "seats" on the tables.
Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
Not an uncommon belief, there's even a song about it in the musical 'Blood Brothers'.
#38
My father refused to buy a weed eater or an edger. He made me edge the yard with Barber scissors. This wasn't a punishment. It was just Saturdays.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
We used to have a neighbor, about 80, who would trim the grass at the edges of his sidewalk with scissors. I can understand people wanting those edges to be neat, but that's probably listed in some manual of psychiatric disorders.
Jan Moore 1 year ago
When we were stationed in the Panama Canal Zone we had gardeners, they edged with matches. Left 1" edge on the sidewalk. Once they found a Bushmaster in one of plants that were at the drive. We also had frogs that were so toxic they'd kill a dog that bit them. We had to walk our dogs with a flashlight and once they lunged for something and it wasn't a frog it was another snake.
#39
Couldn't walk in the living room. It was vacuumed in stripe patterns so they would know if there were footprints. When I had to vacuum it, I wouldn't turn it on, just push it to draw the stripes.
#40
Not me, but my dad who grew up on a farm in Kansas, with his six other siblings. His grandmother believed in the idea of children should be seen and not heard. If Dad and his siblings were in the house while she was there, they had to quietly sit on the couch in the living room, so they usually would find a field or something and peace out to play out there.
#41
No summoning paranormal entities.
Like actually, this had to be said to my siblings and I.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
Based on some of these entries, this could be as small an act as "vacuuming after dark"
Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
my mums school banned levitation. it makes me wonder how successful they must have been
#42
Shut up, fart and hate were bad words.
Hobby Hopper 1 year ago (edited)
Same, as well as "butt", "poop", euphemisms for genitals (instead of medical terms) and any expression that might be construed as taking the Lord's name in vain (jeez, gosh, golly, etc).
Sue Gun-Ross 1 year ago
I got soap in my mouth for calling my brother a fart. And mom demanded to know where I heard that word.
MotherRobinson 1 year ago
My mom had the same rule. We also weren't allowed to say lie, we had to say untruth.
#43
Have a hot shower if you get sunburnt, to take the sting off it.
Didn't realise how horrible that advice was till I told my wife in my late twenties.
Glix Drap 1 year ago (edited)
Nope, nope, nope. I needed to take a cold shower after reading this.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
I sunburn very easily. I'm generally pretty careful, but once in a while I get burned enough that anything more than a lukewarm shower hurts.
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Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
I was brought up to have the hottest bath you could tolerate to "draw the heat out"
Distinguished Gentleman 1 year ago
It does actually work because it balances your internal and external temp like drinking hot tea on a hot day. But it stings like heck when you do it and doesn't last.
#44
No footsteps sounds (no slipper sounds, no stepping on creaky floors, and so on), I am almost 40 and people still ask me why I walk so quietly and freak them out.
Jocelyn Webster 1 year ago
I too walk very quietly.. but not out of this necessity. My father worked shift work. So sometimes slept during day, or we as children had to wake up early for school someday.. so just trained myself to be quiet.
#45
My mom always cooked at home. There were 7 of us and eating out was always too expensive. If we said we didn’t like something without trying it first, my mom would make us eat two helpings of it.
It was ok to say you didn’t like something after you tried it, and she wouldn’t make you eat it. Only if you hadn’t tried it. I thought it was a fair rule.
It sucked, but it made our tastebuds more adventurous.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 1 year ago
My mom always gave us 3 spoonfuls of any food to try. We were allowed 2 foods we never had to eat (liver & onions and sweet potatoes were mine.) Still hate liver and onions (cooked, like them raw).
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
My mother insisted on cooking liver and onions once a week because it was "full of goodness." She would chop onions in half, put them cut side down in an oven tray, balance slabs of cow liver on top, pour some water over it and them bake it in the oven for an hour or so. It was like eating carpet underlay with soggy boiled onions. I haven't eaten it since I left home.
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Bored Trash Panda 1 year ago
The part about making you eat two helpings was weird, but not the other part. I always have my son try something if he says he doesn't like it if he's never had it. More often then not he has actually liked it. There are a few things he really does not like and I don't force him to eat it if I make it, I will make something else as a substitute for him.
Seadog 1 year ago
There were things my dad always wanted me to at least try. I usually di because most smelled and looked great but the taste to me was absolutely horrible. Some I've even tried multiple times just in case it was just a bad batch or a poor cook. Nope. Still can't stand any soups, pineapple, macaroni salad or sub sandwiches. Friend of mine worked in a sub shop and even took time to specifically fix me a sub only with things I like on a sandwich. I ate 1/2. That was all I could force myself to eat. I love the smell but can't stand the taste. And you could hide one macaroni salad noodle in 5 pounds of slaw and I could find it blindfolded.
whiterabbit 1 year ago
This is fair. I absolutely hate people who claim they dislike food that they don't even give a chance of liking. I know that's extreme but for some reason it really annoys me. Those people just tend to be more sensitive and finicky in general.
#46
My mom would make me pee in a cup for her every so often so she could pass a d**g test.
Jan Moore 1 year ago
They did that on Mythbusters, Adam ate 1 regular poppyseed bagel and tested positive. He was shocked, didn't think it was true.
Load More Replies... Nichole Harris 1 year ago
Bwahahahaha 🤣🤣🤣 I remember those days! Got my mom a fair number of jobs
#47
Wasn't allowed to say "I don't know."
But I wasn't allowed to lie either.
But I also wasn't allowed to say I'd find the answer.
So. Yeah.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
“I am not currently in possession of the knowledge that I would require to provide an accurate answer to your question”
#48
Me and siblings and cousins were slapped (by parents) if we answered our grandparents back in their native language, which we understood but was the only one they spoke. We had to only use English for speaking.
Maciej Zajaczkowski 1 year ago
What language was that. Sound like some sort of consequence of indigenous language supression
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
It sounds like an attempt by the parents to force the grandparents to learn English. I can understand that learning the language of your new country helps with integration, but it does sound a cruel and isolating way of going about it.
Bored Sailor 1 year ago
Somewhat can relate, we were never told not to but not raised bilingual. My mom is an immigrant and my grandparents did not speak English. Only one of my cousins who lived with my grandparents spoke Italian. It wasn't until I older I realized it was my Nono that did not want us raised bilingual. I.e. there is a reason they migragted.
Binny Tutera 1 year ago
My father and his family came here from Italy. They did not speak Italian, even at home. When I was little my parents and friends would speak together, but I was forbidden from speaking anything but English. My dad didn't even want me to take a foreign language in school, but it was required.
Load More Replies... #49
My parents assumed eating food unseasoned was healthier for you, so we were forbidden to use salt, pepper and condiments in our meals for almost a decade.
Damned_Cat 1 year ago
In our house, all meat had to be cooked until it was hard and dry because I my father believed that anything less would give you parasites. My mother and I would occasionally make up an excuse to be out of the house at dinner time so we could eat a medium rare steak.
#50
The most bizarre house rule that I’ve encountered was at my friend's place, where they had a strict policy of 'no talking' during dinner, not because of any traditional reason, but because their elderly grandmother believed that a mischievous spirit living in the dining room would learn secrets and cause chaos.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
My dad just gets pissed because he misses what’s happening on tv. Works out fine when we watch live tv though cause we just talk in the ad breaks
#51
My dad built our home with his bare hands. We grew up kinda "house poor" based on how much my parents sacrificed to get 5 beautiful acres and build a home. So... my dad demanded we make things last, which included...
Walking or rather, waddling...down the carpeted hallway edges instead of the middle, like a normal person.
Because if we walked normally, the carpet nap in the middle would get worn out and look like "white trash."
#52
No boys allowed to stay overnight. Worked out well until my parents discovered I am gay when my mom walked in on me with one of my girlfriends.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Makes sense. If I had a girlfriend I wouldn’t expect my perants to allow her over unless it’s during the day and at least one of them are home
#53
We weren't allowed to look directly at the microwave when it was running.
Kirsten Kerkhof 1 year ago
That I remember. When microwave ovens were new there was quite a bit of anxiety about radiation, so we were kept away in the beginning too.
Hobby Hopper 1 year ago
There was a radio observatory that for years kept recording a blip of high energy over and over. Turns out one of the scientists was opening the microwave in the break room without turning it off first. Microwaves turn themselves off when the door opens, but it takes a few microseconds.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
Makes sense. You want them learning how to see the microwaves and unlocking the secrets of the world at such a tender age?
Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
I don't think that's entirely unreasonable. When microwaves first appeared a lot of people didn't really understand how they worked so were very cautious.
#54
I wasn’t allowed to give out my phone number or tell other kids where I lived, and I wasn’t allowed to have friends from school over. I was only allowed to hang out with the kids in my neighborhood.
My parents divorced when I was a toddler, my father initiated the divorce and my mother missed the custody hearing because she was out of the country visiting family with me and my little brother. She was supposed to hand us over when she got off the plane home. She instead took another flight to a different state and essentially kidnapped us.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
Well, then, she was being perefctly sensible. Other than the kidnapping, of course.
#55
If I stepped outside in my socks, even right outside the door for two seconds, the socks were considered dirty and I wasn't allowed back inside unless I was barefoot. Meanwhile, shoes could be worn in the house no problem.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
I once knew a woman who would put a sock right back into the hamper if she dropped it while taking it out of the dryer.
#56
We had a whole room, living room, that we couldn't enter unless we had company.
Fellfromthemoon 1 year ago
It used to be customary many-many decades ago. The family had a "clean room" that they didn't use.
Rathoren 1 year ago
Are you Moroccan? They have whole families living in 1 bedroom houses that have 2 sitting rooms, kids are all crammed into 1 of the sitting rooms to sleep and the fancy one is closed off for the maybe 4x a year visitors come and its used 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
Ace 1 year ago
That used to be very common in Britain as well - not the sleeping arrangements by the idea of having a "front room" or "parlour" kept immaculate at all times in case the vicar visited. Was considered a sign of respectability that you had 'best' tableware, furniture etc. etc. particularly in Northern England where the idea was still persisting into at least the 1980s that I know of.
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John Dilligaf 1 year ago
oh this was normal in some parts of the country back in the day. The "living room" was for company. The "den" was where family hung out daily.
Janissary35680 1 year ago
The Parlor. A mysterious realm, a sanctum whose doors parted only on the most august of occasions. Our very own Chamber of Secrets, though of course we didn't know it at the time.
Ravioli 1 month ago
Yeah, we had two living rooms, one for the family and one no one was allowed to enter. Also the master bedroom was a no-no for the kids I was told, till I came along, apparently I was very frail and also very chill so grandma let me in partly because she trusted me and partly because I was so weak and thin she was lenient with me
#57
Every weekend I had to mow and edge the front and backyard regardless of if the grass was alive or not. we lived in socal and in summer the lawn would just die for like six months of the year.
Still had to mow it. every Saturday. by September it was basically just dragging a mower over bare dirt.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
If there's a decent breeze mowing when it's really dry will guarantee it, because the dust will blow away.
Load More Replies... #58
I could dye my hair any color, cut it however I wanted, but I wasn’t allowed to use hairspray because my dad didn’t like how it felt on his girlfriend’s hair in high school.
😕.
Jacquie Carr 1 year ago
So he doesn't want his daughter to wear hairspray in case boys at school don't like it? Well that's just creepy
Andy Frobig 1 year ago
Or worse, if he wants to touch his daughter's hair that way
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#59
Us kids were not allowed to eat at the table. We had a different table to eat at.
Once we went outside, we were not allowed back in until dark thirty. We had a roll of tp that was kept in a coffee can. We took the tp with us out in the woods to do our business.
A few bologna sandwiches were handed out the door and 1 plastic cup to share.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
Reading this, I wouldn't be surprised if the sandwiches were thrown from the door
#60
We never went out through the front door. Like, ever.
featherytoad 1 year ago
I never use the front door either. I just find going through the garage more convenient.
Kirsti-Tina Thompson 1 year ago
My grandparents were they same. They believed that you should only cross the threshold three times..Women carried in all three whilst men only two. Births, marriages and deaths
SweetCheesySpaghetti 1 year ago
We used our front door so infrequently that it often rusted shut.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Our lounge and dining room for most of my life were closer to the 'back' door (technically both front and back were on the sides of house) so we used that unless walking with my brothers who had to do through front as the back door had a step the wheelchair couldn't go up.
#61
No cursing until you have a driver's license.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
I wish I had this rule. My dad curses like a sailor but my sister and I (16 and 17) still have to watch our language at home. Not really much of an inconvenience, it just gets a bit confusing having to use 2 different vocabularies, one for home and one for school
Rafael 1 year ago
I wish I'll be able to curb my cursing in front of my kid. Not necessarily because I'm clutching my pearls (they will learn it elsewhere), but because I remember the first time I saw my grampa curse during a football match. To see a kind old man turn into a sailor when I was about 16 or 17 was actually amazing, and he never did it again after that!
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
That seems a bit late. I've been watching other drivers for a very long time. You need to be good at cursing by the time you get your drivers license.
Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
This one's just funny. It must have been a real f****r if you kept f*****g failing your f*****g driving test!
#62
I wasn't allowed to be inside during the day. If the sun is up, I gotta go.
Stacy s 1 year ago
Me too, mostly. Ate meals inside, and it only applied in the summer. Raised by my grandmother in the 90s. We lived on a lake backed by a national forrest, very rural - and i am super grateful i was able to be raised like this. (Not sure why they werent concerned with bears or drowning, but a different generation i guess)
Ineke Pronk 1 year ago
Skin is waterproof. And winter time is a grant time to learn how to make an iglo. /S Some people should not be parents.
Load More Replies... #63
No making funny faces because your face will get stuck like that.
No cutting hair at night because the witches will steal it.
No drinking coffee because it will stunt your growth.
No vacuuming at night because it will suck up the spirits.
Rafael 1 year ago
While the reason for three of these is b******t, I can see the wisdom in preventing a bad haircut, caffeinated children (and the stunted growth might be true) and noise during quiet hours.
Zandy Pearce 1 year ago
Coffee doesn't stunt children's growth. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/does-coffee-stunt-growth
Load More Replies... Glix Drap 1 year ago (edited)
Grimaces at 2am whilst vacuming up hair cuttings as i have a need to clean due to drinking a coffee late in the evening. I'm f****d.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
My grandma told us the first one “the wind will change and you’ll be stuck like that forever”. I’m pretty sure the third one is an actual thing though cause of the caffeine
arthbach 1 year ago
Dumb teenager, caffeine 'stunting growth' is a myth that's been around for a long time. It isn't true. The one that does have some truth to it is cutting things at night. Before modern electric lights, night time in most families would have been a rather dark time. Cutting hair, or nails by candlelight could easily result in knicks to the skin. At this point, there were no antibiotics, and a simple cut had the potential to turn very nasty. Therefore, you didn't cut things at night for fear of the repercussions. Before people knew of bacterial, the story was witches or evil spirits would steal the clippings, and used them to work magic against you.
Load More Replies... #64
Oh where do I even begin.
1. No cuss words, not even the word “c**p”, had to be “crud”. Couldn’t say “bs” (the acronym not the actual word b******t) had to say “I don’t think so”. Couldn’t even use it when playing the game BS
2. Girls didn’t fart, they fluffed. Couldn’t say farted.
3. Had to make our beds in the morning or we were grounded for the entire rest of the day.
4. Couldn’t have an “attitude” or grounded for weeks at a time.
5. The most strict etiquette when eating, could not enjoy a meal because you were being constantly criticized.
6. Could not make any messes or leave ANY personal belongings outside of your bedroom or else they would be thrown away without consult.
7. Had to shut lights off when leaving a room even if you were coming back into the room minutes later.
I was grounded a lot. My dad was military so very strict with just about everything, and any toe out of line got you grounded. Now that he’s older he admits he was too hard on me.
Brenda Spagnola-Wilson 1 year ago
I once got grounded for saying PO'd, not pi$$Ed off, PO'd. I was 13-14. We weren't allowed to say shut up, hate, c**p
SweetCheesySpaghetti 1 year ago
My mother wouldn't let us say "fart." we had to say "cut a cloud."
Kare Deter 1 year ago
I don't disagree with most of these rules since they teach how to be an adult and get along in the world. fwiw, your room can be messy AF but if the bed is made it looks a lot better.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
#7 makes perfect sense. The lights don't need to be on if you're not in the room and you have to walk right past the witch to enter or leave. It's not individually a big deal if it's really just a minute or two but it's really easy for a minute or two to turn into 5, 10, or 100 minutes, and it's really easy to develop a habit of not turning the lights off. I guarantee that people in the US collectively leave the lights on for at least 100 billion hours per year.
Cathy Roberts 1 year ago
Why do some humans get hung op on sh*t that doesn't matter and / or, worse yet, ruins the sh*t that DOES matter, like their kids mental health or relationship with them. :(
Bob Brooce 1 year ago
Because even if they're not actually mentally ill people can still be wrapped way too tight.
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Layla Holston 1 year ago
We r not allowed to say shut up because my dad doesn't like that word.And Pi ssed
#65
Don’t ask grandpa about his grandpa. After he passed we did ancestry and there is literally no record beyond my great grandfather. Like wtf happened? No one would ever talk about it.
Mama Clare 1 year ago
OMFG!! SAME!!! He's been dead years and it BUGGGGGGS me.. Have paid someone to dig around, even went to a medium (against my better judgement).. NADA!!!
Ace 1 year ago
I don;t get why this would seem important to you? People you never knew can't have any impact on who you are now.
Load More Replies... #66
No sitting on couches.
Only one cup of water per meal.
Only one fun activity per weekend, Sunday was family day.
No using the phone, "you can talk to your friends at school."
Couldn't say 'him' or 'she' when referring to mom or dad.
Way too many weird rules. And they all depended on Mom's moods.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Number 2 is to prevent weight loss from filling up on liquids instead of food. Number five is generally considered rude for some reason (there’s a saying that’s often quoted “she’s the cats mother”)
justagirl 1 year ago
oh yeah— 'you know what she did?" "she who, the cat's mother?" that thing?
Load More Replies... #67
No morning showers allowed because apparently it cost more to shower in the morning compared to showering at night. As an adult with my own home and children, I could give less than a s**t when they bathe just as long as it happens lol. Also, there is almost zero difference in water usage between morning and night at my house 🤔.
Not-a-Clue (she/her) 1 year ago
It might be the heating costs, not the water itself. There are some schemes in the UK where people get discounted electricity if they use it 'off peak.'
Winter 1 year ago
Same here in Australia - peak, off peak, and a third option "controlled load", according to the time period.
Load More Replies... #68
Wife couldn't eat the frosting on cup cakes. They were forced to scrape them off.
CrunChewy McSandybutt 1 year ago
Why not just buy muffins? They are just cake sans frosting anyway.
Mabelbabel 1 year ago
I agree with this one-store bought cupcake frosting is revolting. Homemade is better, but having a pile of frosting bigger than the cupcake itself is just sickening.
#69
At my grandmother's house you had to point the remote control *directly* at the television. If your aim was even slightly off she would squeal like a phaser beam was about to disintegrate a hole in her wall. She would freak out if you aimed it at your head. RADIATION. ☢️☢️☢️.
#70
If we lied, we had to write out 50-100 times on paper, I will not lie.
The discipline was given at random.
So some of us had to do it more than others.
#71
If we didn’t hang up the phone properly or left off the hook we were told the phone police would come arrest us…. We were checking for dial tones religiously to make sure we weren’t going to jail lmao.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
Lived with my (near same age) nephew and his wife for a bit. We moved into this rental and the phone was still hooked up. Didn't use it for long distance calls or anything, but DID use it. One day Janet asked me "who's here?" me being a smart a^^ and remembering WKRP said "it's the phone cops"..She FREAKED! Hilarious.
Heather Murphy 1 year ago
Reminds me of an "Are you afraid of the dark?" episode where the phone police was after prank callers.
#72
My mom's boyfriend* from when I was about 5-12 wouldn't let us have breakfast after around 9-930am. Would have to wait till lunch if we were late. Us boys(3 of us plus every other year his son) were banished to the basement so he could mostly pretend we didn't exist and have my mom to himself. It was my mom's house.
*I called him dad as my biological father passed away when I was around 2-3. There was no good bye when my mom ended the relationship and he moved out. I was and am friends with his son and was around him after that on occasion. We never talked about it. He passed from covid a couple years ago.
#73
To the best of my knowledge, this is still the rule there today.
It does not matter if its 90F, 100F, or even hotter - and extremely humid out. The moment the clock hits 4 or 5 pm during the hottest part of a summer day, the AC MUST BE TURNED OFF, all windows immediately OPENED, and it is time to cook dinner. Not any old dinner mind you, no, we have to add insult to injury. We will pick the hottest July day to make the kind of dinner that requires two HUGE pans of sizzling food that takes a long time to cook and two HUGE pots of boiling stew dumping heat and humidity into the house for at least an hour, usually much longer. The house will easily hit 95F.
The reason is heat-intensive dinners that take a long time to cook cannot be made during cooler months, at night, or while the AC is on because it will ruin the food.
#74
At my babysitters house, we had to eat the meal standing in the kitchen. Then only after finishing the food, were we allowed to have a single Tupperware cup of watered down Koolaid (she used to make four pitchers out of a single packet) without sugar to wash it down. I choked down an especially dry stuffed pepper once and then threw it back up because it got stuck in my throat.
F**k you and your cheap a*s Koolaid Twila….
#75
My dad kept the TV on during dinner, but I had to sit with my back to it and was yelled at for "rubbernecking" if I tried to look at it.
#76
We weren't allowed to sing along with commercials because my mom said it proved we watched too much TV.
We would just lip sync when her back was turned (she wasn't mean, she def didn't bust us even though we were super obvious lol).
Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
Tha'ts because kids singing jingles is f*****g annoying. I don't blame her, learn some opera or something more challenging.
#77
When my dad got home from work every day he'd go into his study with a whiskey and we weren't allowed to talk to him for one hour. I have to admit I kind of wish I had this rule myself but my kids wouldn't follow it in a million years! I feel like missing an extra hour of them every day would be doing myself the disservice.
#78
During summers in Texas in the 80’s, on most days my brother and I were told to not be in the house from 9:00 AM until lunch, and immediately after lunch (usually 12:30) until dinner (usually 6:00).
If we were thirsty, we were told to drink from the garden hose.
If we wanted to roam around the very large neighborhood we could, but we were told which streets were in the boundaries (essentially the major roads that were the entrances to the neighborhood). If we wanted to go to a friend’s house in the neighborhood we had to call them if we were inside the friend’s house.
That lasted from the time I was 8 until the time I was 13. My brother and I were far enough apart in age that we didn’t really roam the neighborhood together. I am amazed I was never kidnapped.
Cathy Roberts 1 year ago (edited)
People are missing the point in that they could NOT GO BACK IN. As in, they were not allowed. I was raised int he 70's and 80's and can confirm roaming the streets was the norm but if I wanted a drink or had to pee I still had the OPTION of going inside.
#79
Before we could play ping pong - which was in the detached garage - we had to clean any oil or grease spots on the floor with kerosene and a rag.
Also, and this continued into my middle 20s, we had a code for calling the landline because my stepfather refused to get caller ID way after the time it was included free on most phone services. Ring three times, and hang up. Ring twice, and hang up. Then our mom or stepdad would pick up third time we called.
#80
Couldn't even say GOSH because it was too close to taking "the lord's name in vain".
Widdershins66 1 year ago
Mouth washed out with soap and water for saying "shine a light" lmao 🤣🤣🤣
Greenmantle 1 year ago
I must admit I snigger whenever I hear any version of "gosh, darn, dang" etc etc. Just say f**k. Not using the correct word doesn't lessen the harshness behind them
#81
We could only eat one piece of popcorn at a time. I guess they were worried about us choking.
Farnzy 1 year ago
Hahahaha. I'm picturing someone going through the whole long process of making popcorn on the stove, buttering and salting it to perfection...then picking one single piece to eat and dumping the rest. Lol
Load More Replies... #82
Wasn’t allowed to walk on the carpet after it was vacuumed for at least 2 hours. Specifically in the living room.
Jacquie Carr 1 year ago
As an adult, to see your work trashed within seconds by people who don't give it a second thought, I approve this one. 2 hours of enjoying a job well done is fine
featherytoad 1 year ago
I actually walk around the lines after I vacuum for a whole day just because I like the look.
#83
My cousins family didn’t let us listen to the offspring song “beheaded” bc it’s about decapitating your parents. We were 8.
My friends family didn’t let anyone use the word “fart” in their house. It had to be “fluff”. No idea what that was about.
Farnzy 1 year ago
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
Load More Replies... Beth Wheeler 1 year ago
ARGH. Poot or pooted. Doing this left handed while doing a blood donation.
#84
No food could be eaten on just a plate. The plate had to be on a tray (cause what if crumbs fall omg /s). Which seems so weird in a house that is way dirtier than mine is now.
Needless to say, i hate trays, don't own any, and never will. My stupid rule will be "no trays allowed". It is what it is.
Rafael 1 year ago
In 20 years time, if civilization is still around, the equivalent of Bored Panda will lift content from the equivalent of Reddit on their equivalent of the Internet, and one of the posts will be an insane "no trays inside the house" rule that people will wonder where did it came from.
#85
We weren't allowed to touch, bump, lean on any walls, interior and exterior.
Otto Katz 1 year ago
Yep No touching the paint, the grease from the handprint will attract dust, and will be visible when the light catches just right.
Load More Replies... #86
Don't ever spill a drink or my father would fly into an insane rage.
#87
I had inconsistent rules about what I couldn’t watch on TV or how I could sit based on who was watching me. Dad’s grandparents, I couldn’t watch Rugrats and Hey-Arnold! Even though I watched it a home all the time. For way too long, they forced me to watch, good, albeit, little kid shows like Madeline and Bear in the Big blue house when I was 8 or 9. When I was truly little, I could make pillow forts with couch cushions at my other grandparents, but one related great aunt, I wasn’t allowed to make a fort. Other grandparents I couldn’t watch Pokémon because it was of the devil due to evolution, but I could watch All-That!
Glix Drap 1 year ago
Now I was brought up on Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Stingray. Then my kids showed me Team America. They grew up to be normal.
Panda McPandaface 1 year ago
Even though it's just the people that are different it's kind of 'my house my rules' I guess.
#88
For you americans this might be odd - i had to eat 3 potatoa or similar for one piece of meat.
White bread was dessert at lunches.
#89
We weren't allowed to bring candy into the house. One halloween my step dad lost his s**t over candy wrappers being left around so he made this rule. Halloween was never the same.
#90
It was my dad's weird rule. We were not allowed to sit on any furniture in the house if we were wearing clothing that had been worn outside.
We had to come in and change clothes immediately.
No one was a germaphobe, he could never explain it but that was his thing. It finally stopped when I was about 12 I think.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
During the worst of Covid, there were more people than I thought acceptable that would strip at the door after going shopping and shower. No judgement, you do you, but?????
#91
The only food or drink allowed to leave the kitchen is water. This is still the rule in adulthood.
Teutonic Disaster 1 year ago
This is very likely spillage related and compared to most examples on this list actually somewhat reasonable and not outright abusive.
Cathy Roberts 1 year ago
there's no requirement that it needs to be abusive to count
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Makenzie McNeal 1 year ago
What if and hear me out on this you go around the house with food you bought and throw it in through a window. Technically if the food was never in the kitchen it never left the kitchen.
#92
My mom made me wash my hair with shampoo every night, but I wasn’t allowed to use conditioner because the extra time in the shower would make the water bill too high. My hair was like straw and had split ends halfway up the strands before I moved out.
Debby Keir 1 year ago
They hadn't invented conditioner when I was a kid - that's why it was true to say 'I can't come out tonight as I'm washing my hair'.
#93
Saying the word gay was like saying a bad word. My dad is down low of course.
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
Never have him walk around a middle school. Both daughters classmates used that word as derogatory or wrong ie: "that's gay". Started work as a custodian in 2017, YUP! some things never change.
#94
Was not allowed to watch MTV.
#95
Squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom or suffer lunatic ravings from my dad. Of course now that I'm programmed that way, my husband squeezes from the middle and it drives me insane!
martin734 1 year ago
I am with you on this, your husband is a barbarian! Always squeeze from the bottom
Cathy Roberts 1 year ago
*slowly squeezes from the middle while maintaining intense eye contact*
Load More Replies... Debby Keir 1 year ago
It's usually in plastic tubes rather than metal, these days, so it doesn't make much difference where you squeeze it.
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 1 year ago
I guarantee all the parents in these stories voted for Trump yesterday. Apart from the dead ones.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
Wasn't allowed to be off school sick or allowed to be at home in bed sick until I was literally, sick. Mum used to insist on me eating until I physically vomited as proof I was actually sick. Horrible to be pretty much forced fed when you were already sick or being taken out to dinner with a migraine until you threw up on yourself.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
As someone who has had migraines with vomiting (many times) I'm so sorry for what you went through.
Load More Replies... BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
I had a friend "D" growing up whose father was in the Navy. D had a younger brother, we'll call "A". The rule around the house was A got whatever he wanted, and D had to show respect to A at all times. D had to call his father sir and his mother ma'am. If he didn't, his dad would beat him unconscious. I really felt bad for D and didn't know how to help him, but eventually the dad got relocated to another city. It wasn't until years later that I realized that "D" was very obviously gay (back in the 80s it wasn't a thing we'd have thought about). But D's parents almost certainly knew. And from the way his father acted with his friends, and his own mannerisms, I would guess that he was also gay. I suspect that he was very much ashamed of who he was and took it out on D. I really hope he is okay.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago (edited)
I haven't gotten through the entire list of things, but I'm pretty sure this is about having at least one parent that has a significant mental illness.
DC 1 year ago
Not always, and no way as a blanket excuse. Many of them may just have been horrible people, but without any clinically relevant defect. Those of these who never learned, never looked back, never regretted anything, hopefully, are in for a round of revenge when they are old, weak, leaky and sleepy. Like their kids were, just due to disintegration of their bodies, not unfinished development.
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shankShaw deReemer 1 year ago
I wasn't allowed to cut grass or even be in the yard when it was cut. I wasn't allowed to go to a new movie theatre because there was a local airport nearby and a plane might crash on the theatre. I couldn't check the mail because it was at the end of the driveway, of course, close to a "dangerous" road. I couldn't leave the dryer running when not home, even if only for a few minutes. I couldn't do so many things that are normal for children. As an adult, however, I value some of the things my strict father wouldn't let me do because I'm much more safety conscious than I likely would have been. Thanks, Dad! Too bad you didn't live longer to give me more odd "rules!"
Misterscooter 1 year ago
Change the title on this one to: Home Rules Enacted by Abusive Parents
DC 1 year ago
Remember that you are, one day, gonna be adult and they are gonna be old. The power imbalance shifts - people who horribly abused you for 20 years will expect effort, care, mercy and your savings. No. Oh, Mum, you're tired? I was never allowed to sleep before bedtime, remember? And those soap operas you like to watch? Only invites Satan into your dreams. Had to go to school in peestained pants for a little accident? Well, bladders aren't meant to seal tight past 100 years, are they? Remember, revenge is stupid, but people who only stopped being evil, cruel, unfair because they lost their means to force their ways on you, haven't learned when they had the chance. I'm ok with revenge for this. I think that a father who spanked you for any minor deviance can totally soak in his p**s for a week. Oh, Daddy, you're not feeling comfortable? That's unfair, eh? Too bad, the world isn't fair, and it's not about your pathetic äss! - not directed at my Dad...
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
Why would you want someone you felt that much hatred against in your life? You'd seriously let a pathetic geriatric ásshole wear a soiled diaper for a week instead of just, you know, just not taking their calls?
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Fat Harry (Oi / You) 1 year ago
I guarantee all the parents in these stories voted for Trump yesterday. Apart from the dead ones.
Greenmantle 1 year ago
Wasn't allowed to be off school sick or allowed to be at home in bed sick until I was literally, sick. Mum used to insist on me eating until I physically vomited as proof I was actually sick. Horrible to be pretty much forced fed when you were already sick or being taken out to dinner with a migraine until you threw up on yourself.
Traveling Lady Railfan 1 year ago
As someone who has had migraines with vomiting (many times) I'm so sorry for what you went through.
Load More Replies... BeesEelsAndPups 1 year ago
I had a friend "D" growing up whose father was in the Navy. D had a younger brother, we'll call "A". The rule around the house was A got whatever he wanted, and D had to show respect to A at all times. D had to call his father sir and his mother ma'am. If he didn't, his dad would beat him unconscious. I really felt bad for D and didn't know how to help him, but eventually the dad got relocated to another city. It wasn't until years later that I realized that "D" was very obviously gay (back in the 80s it wasn't a thing we'd have thought about). But D's parents almost certainly knew. And from the way his father acted with his friends, and his own mannerisms, I would guess that he was also gay. I suspect that he was very much ashamed of who he was and took it out on D. I really hope he is okay.
Bob Brooce 1 year ago (edited)
I haven't gotten through the entire list of things, but I'm pretty sure this is about having at least one parent that has a significant mental illness.
DC 1 year ago
Not always, and no way as a blanket excuse. Many of them may just have been horrible people, but without any clinically relevant defect. Those of these who never learned, never looked back, never regretted anything, hopefully, are in for a round of revenge when they are old, weak, leaky and sleepy. Like their kids were, just due to disintegration of their bodies, not unfinished development.
Load More Replies... shankShaw deReemer 1 year ago
I wasn't allowed to cut grass or even be in the yard when it was cut. I wasn't allowed to go to a new movie theatre because there was a local airport nearby and a plane might crash on the theatre. I couldn't check the mail because it was at the end of the driveway, of course, close to a "dangerous" road. I couldn't leave the dryer running when not home, even if only for a few minutes. I couldn't do so many things that are normal for children. As an adult, however, I value some of the things my strict father wouldn't let me do because I'm much more safety conscious than I likely would have been. Thanks, Dad! Too bad you didn't live longer to give me more odd "rules!"
Misterscooter 1 year ago
Change the title on this one to: Home Rules Enacted by Abusive Parents
DC 1 year ago
Remember that you are, one day, gonna be adult and they are gonna be old. The power imbalance shifts - people who horribly abused you for 20 years will expect effort, care, mercy and your savings. No. Oh, Mum, you're tired? I was never allowed to sleep before bedtime, remember? And those soap operas you like to watch? Only invites Satan into your dreams. Had to go to school in peestained pants for a little accident? Well, bladders aren't meant to seal tight past 100 years, are they? Remember, revenge is stupid, but people who only stopped being evil, cruel, unfair because they lost their means to force their ways on you, haven't learned when they had the chance. I'm ok with revenge for this. I think that a father who spanked you for any minor deviance can totally soak in his p**s for a week. Oh, Daddy, you're not feeling comfortable? That's unfair, eh? Too bad, the world isn't fair, and it's not about your pathetic äss! - not directed at my Dad...
Svenne O'Lotta 6 months ago
Why would you want someone you felt that much hatred against in your life? You'd seriously let a pathetic geriatric ásshole wear a soiled diaper for a week instead of just, you know, just not taking their calls?
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