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Rules are a weird thing when you stop and think about them. They’re meant to act as guidelines to ensure that we can co-exist with each other. But make them too loose and what you get is utter chaos. Though if you make them far too strict, you might force others to rebel because they’re considering whether they’re needed at all or if someone’s simply going on a power trip. In short, rules need to be balanced and make sense. And some of them are really, really bizarre.

Redditor u/SalMinellaOnYouTube, who has a cooking channel on YouTube, recently asked the crowd on r/AskReddit about “the most ridiculous rule” that they’ve ever heard someone have for their house, family, or kids. We’ve collected some of the oddest stories that show how some parents go way too far to keep everyone in line. Scroll down to read them.

Bored Panda got in touch with u/SalMinellaOnYouTube, and we had a friendly chat about his thread, Reddit culture, parenting, and cooking videos. Check out our interview with the redditor and YouTuber below!

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My parents will swear up and down that none of these actually happened, but they:

Didn't let us watch Rugrats because the way they talk about adults is 'vile'.

Picked me up from a sleepover at 1 am and spanked me in front of my friends because they found a picture of Brittney spears hidden under my bunk bed which led to the only Christian radio stations rule.

Grounded me for a month for one episode of ren and stimpy, which led to the no Nickelodeon ever, house rule.

Power rangers was obviously straight from Satan, so that was out.

I brought home some homework about evolution in 7th grade and my dad burned it, and took the ashes to my science teacher. This was when the 'only god approved science' house rules started.

The 'Dont make a single noise after 8 pm, including the microwave beeping, ever, and tip toe so you don't get interrogated' Rule, was unspoken but very well understood.

Forced me to wear jesus shirts to middle school with all my skater friends, which got me bullied for years, which led to the very obvious follow-up rule: If you are told it isn't happening, then it can't possibly be happening.

List goes on...

Religious folks are f****n weird.

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We were curious about what had inspired u/SalMinellaOnYouTube to start the viral thread in the first place.

"If I remember correctly, it was someone else having talked about their neighbor's house having no rules when they were a child in a different thread," he told Bored Panda.

Meanwhile, the OP pointed out that he's not sure why the thread got so much attention on the site. He quipped that r/AskReddit is "something like a slot machine."

"The same (or similar) questions can get 0 to thousands of upvotes," he said that a lot depends on who's the first to spot a new question and draw inspiration from it.
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    #2

    My kid had a friend over recently (high school) and we offered him a snack. He said maybe, is that allowed? Then he mentioned getting an A on a test so we said, then you deserve am extra special after school snack. We offered several options like cereal, goldfish crackers, etc. He cried because no one had ever offered an after school snack, much less said good job on an A. So sad.

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    #3

    I went to visit a college roomate's family, and everyone had to go to bed at 8 pm because that was the youngest daughter's bedtime. The kid was 8 or 9 years old.

    I laughed because I thought they were joking, but the kid threw a tantrum that I wasn't going to bed. They weren't kidding. I did, obviously, but wtf?

    The next day the parents told me it would be best if I just head on back to college a day early. Yeah, no kidding, bye!

    My roommate thought I was the a*****e.

    I laughed at her too.

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    According to u/SalMinellaOnYouTube, if someone could unequivocally answer what lies at the core of being a good parent, they "could more or less save the world!"

    In the YouTuber's opinion, when it comes to parents figuring out whether they're being too strict or too loose with their rules, they should try to put themselves in their shoes.

    "I think one way some parents could be helped is by remembering that children judge themselves (and are judged) against their peers," he shared his thoughts.

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    "So you want to try to make sure you’re not making your children outcasts with drastically different rules from the children you have them regularly interact with."
    #4

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My friend’s parents ran a ‘tab’ for him and his brother. They added up how much they spent on food, clothes, sports, etc. and told the two boys that’s how much they would have to pay them back. I remember once we got yelled at for eating his dad’s ‘snacks’ and he added it to the tab.

    When they graduated, the parents ‘cleared the tab’ for their graduation gift, so basically they got nothing other than a reminder of how much they cost.

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    Susie Elle
    Susie Elle
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wow, so you decide to have kids and then spend their lives making the kids feel quilty for being born. Classy

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    #5

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My great uncle only allowed one bowl, one plate,one spoon, one fork, one knife, one cup, and one light bulb in his house. He was married with three kids. He ate first, then the wife, then the kids by age. When he went to another room, the light bulb followed.

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    #6

    Wasn’t necessarily a rule, but I had a good friend who’s mom had locks installed on all the kitchen cabinets to prevent her only child from eating when he wasn’t supposed to. When he got old enough to earn money, she took 50% of what ever he made. His senior year in high school when he turned 18 he came home from school and found all his belongings out in the driveway (Happy Birthday, child). My mom and dad let him live with us till he could financially get on his feet.

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    Bored Panda also wanted to find out more about the content creator's cooking channel. Redditor u/SalMinellaOnYouTube opened up to us that cooking and baking are his passions.

    "I have a cooking channel where I do some cooking and also some juvenile comedy so it's not exactly for everyone," he said that he enjoys throwing in silly jokes and Downton Abbey references.

    "I’m just sort of learning to use YouTube and everything that comes along with it, like video editing, and it's been a lot of fun," he told Bored Panda.

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    "My videos are not very polished, but I am actually making the food you see, there are no camera tricks and there is no food artistry happening. If you see it, it is edible. Sometimes it's not edible, like the chicken salad."
    #7

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced That guests have to pay for their stay... They invited me for dinner, then calculated how many minutes I was over, charged for my portion of food, drink, electricity and water usage. Yes, they counted toilet flushing and timed me on hand washing.

    I could never do this to anyone.

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    Olivia Dean
    Olivia Dean
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hmmm... it's only enforceable after being informed. They tell you, you laugh, take your bags and skedaddle

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    #8

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time at my best friend’s house. Her mom wouldn’t let us drink more than one glass of water in the afternoon because she thought it would dilute the nutrients in our body. Instead she gave us 7-up if we we were thirsty. I ended up secretly drinking water out of the bathroom faucet every time I used the bathroom when I was thirsty at her house.

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    #9

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My wife once had a friend over for a sleepover when she was little. Suddenly, their mum showed up to take them home. Apparently, the friend had seen beer in the fridge and called her mum crying because of it. They were not allowed to look at, talk about, think about, and especially drink beer. Scared her so much that she called her mum to come get her

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    Children break rules all the time because they’re, well, kids! They subconsciously test boundaries and constantly check what they can get away with. So, as a parent, you need to make the rules to be followed under your roof very clear and then enforce them when they (inevitably) get broken.

    Not finishing your homework really does mean no playing video games that evening. If you don’t mind the boundaries that you’ve set up, they’ll only get walked over. Actions have to have clear consequences so that everyone’s on the same page. Or you could do things the ‘natural consequences’ way and let your kids learn from their own mistakes. Not finishing homework would mean that you get an F the next day at school and lose some respect from your teacher and classmates. 

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    At the same time, you can’t make the rules way too strict: you’re raising kids, not entering into a multimillion-dollar business contract with them. Following your kids’ every move and limiting what they’re ‘allowed’ to do might make them completely unprepared for the adult world when they grow up.
    #10

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced Pickle time. My aunt was getting her degree in early childhood education/development and went overboard with scheduling my cousins life to the nth degree. When I would visit I wasn't allowed to go into the fridge for a pickle "unless it's pickle time. Right but isn't pickle time." We were preteens.

    I waited until she went to the bathroom and took the whole jar of pickles into my cousin's room and played Nintendo and ate all the f*****g pickles

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    #11

    I was five and at a friend’s house. We were playing in leaves outside. There was a box of leaves I wanted to move closer to his box of leaves. My box had no bottom, so the leaves spilled out into a small pile. He went and told his mother, she came out and spanked me, quite hard. I ran home crying to my Mom, partly because it hurt and partly because of the injustice. She comforted me, but didn’t do much else (or so I thought). I learned, decades later, my Mom called up the spanker and told her to never lay a hand on any of her children ever again.

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    Loverboy
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you lay a hand on any of my children you are getting much more than a call

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    #12

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced I knew a guy who, in his 20s, still had a bedtime enforced. He had to be in bed by 8pm, and if he was sleeping over at a friend's house (in this case at my house during my 21st birthday party) he had to phone his dad at 8pm to say he was going to bed (he didn't go to bed though at least).

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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My dad used to enforce no nap rule. I couldn't take a nap in the afternoon, no matter how sleepy I was, even on the weekends. But this rule didn't apply to himself, obviously.

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    Parents who smother and protect their kids far too much are known as ‘helicopter parents’ because they ‘hover’ over their kids and pay far too much attention to every single little thing that happens in their lives. In their desire not to appear neglectful, some adults end up reducing their children’s independence.

    If someone realizes that their rules might be a tad too strict (an outsider’s perspective is always helpful in these sorts of subjective situations), you could try loosening the rules bit by bit until you get rid of them altogether.

    For instance, if you continue to set a strict bedtime for your adult child (e.g. in bed by 8 PM), clearly, there are some trust, abandonment, and other issues at play here. You need to take a big step back and let them start making their own decisions. Otherwise, they’ll never feel comfortable doing anything in their lives without parental approval. In these sorts of cases, seeking the help of a family counselor might be a good move.

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    #13

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced When I was younger, a friend said that we weren't allowed to watch Spongebob. I found out later on that, allegedly, this is because the holes in SpongeBob induce lustful thoughts.

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    Sarah Turney
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    How could anyone resist squidwards nose tho. Lustful thoughts activate

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    #14

    Where I went to school there was an extremely religious family. Basically everything was a sin. Food that tasted good was a sin because it encouraged gluttony, etc. Only reason why the kids went to public school was because both parents worked.


    The daughter was so sheltered, she had a panic attack because she learned some people weren't Christian.

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    #15

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced Was dating a woman for a couple of months, nothing seemed off or anything with her but we took a vacation where we visited both of our immediate families. At her parents house, we werent allowed to sit next to eachother or stand near one another. Also, we couldn’t sleep in the same bed…I had to sleep on the couch and she got the spare room. Their reason was that they didn’t want any “funny business” happening in front of them.

    We were both 32 at the time…

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    That emo Girl
    That emo Girl
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    1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Really? This is very weird and resembles a puritan couple dating. (When being a puritan was common in England)

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    According to Very Well Family, there are some signs that can help people tell if they’re enforcing rules that are too strict. One of these is that the parent has a zero-tolerance policy for any mistakes. Instead of being overly authoritarian, add a bit of flexibility. Meanwhile, another sign that the rules might be too strict is if the child lies a lot. If they’re disciplined too harshly, they’ll simply learn to lie well to avoid punishment. In short, they become secretive, not necessarily more rule-abiding.

    It also helps to take a look at how your friends and neighbors raise their kids. If you realize that you’re far stricter than everyone in your social circle, it might be a sign that you may need to scale things back a bit. Remember that everyone wants to be a great parent, but there’s no such thing as being ‘perfect.’ Take a more realistic, grounded approach to parenting. One that allows for mistakes.
    #16

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced when my sister was expecting her first boy, I got the baby a little stuffed bunny. its ears happened to have a floral pattern. she got rid of it because "there's no way my boy is playing with flowers."

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    Svenne O'Lotta
    Svenne O'Lotta
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It saddens me to inform you that your sister is a complete lunatic

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    #17

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced A friend’s mom had gone to Woodstock and never quite recovered.

    Her magazines said that processed food was bad, so she wouldn’t let my friend use the food processor they got for Christmas. (I swear I’m not making that up.)

    Having once heard “using the microwave” described as “nuking the food”, no one was allowed into the kitchen while the microwave was running. You had to set the timer, hit start, then run to the living room until it beeped.

    She read that more people died of lightning strikes than bee stings. (I don’t know if that’s actually true; she read all sorts of b******t so who knows.) She knew lots of beekeepers, and a couple of them died from bee stings, so she inferred that death from lightning was somewhat common. When a thunderstorm was blowing in — and in southwest Missouri, that was all the damn time — she made everyone sit in the middle of the living room. It wasn’t enough to be indoors. You had to be many feet away from any closed window.

    My buddy practically lived at my house.

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    Olivia Dean
    Olivia Dean
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's so frustrating the c**p that people espouse and believe about radiation etc.. and yet not know that we experience radiation from the earth just by existing (yes, I know I'm being simplistic). Like- do research, be informed, then create informed crazy rules

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    #18

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced There was a kid in my neighborhood growing up that was not allowed to chew gum. He soaked a piece of leather in sugar water and chomped on that. His parents were some strange religious nuts. They would scream about the devil if you knocked on their door Halloween night.

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    Russell Rieckenberg
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Why would you knock on their door on Halloween if all they had was sugary leather?

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    #19

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My sister gave away a Spider-Man toy that I gave my nephew as a birthday present. His older sister told me “mum says that we’re not allowed false idols in the house” they’re really fundamentalist Christians.

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    #20

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced We weren't allowed to interact with anyone outside the family. Mom and dad were afraid of liberals, communists, atheists, satanists, demons, gay people, and most other religions so they didn't want to risk us being exposed to the notion of tolerance.

    In theory, there was an approval process to get around that rule. Basically, my parents had to talk to that person and ensure that they believed all the same things my parents did.

    In practice, almost no one got through the process, and the few that did disqualified themselves almost immediately once the actual interaction began.

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    censorshipsucks
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    wow, have you managed to escape from your cult yet or are you still trapped?

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    #21

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My best friend growing up, had to walk around her house on her tippy toes, because her parents couldn't stand hearing her footsteps.

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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ahh yes, let’s have a child BUT I DONT WANT TO HEAR IT WALK

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    #22

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced In college I worked on a project with a girl who had to call her mother every time she relocated on campus. Like, when she left a location and then again when she arrived at the next location. So when she moved from the cafeteria to the library, or when we took a break to go get a coffee and when we left to go back to our dorms, when class started, when she left class, Had to call her mom. I avoided her for the rest of college.

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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Poor girl. I get that’s annoying to be around, but still: poor girl.

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    #23

    Growing up, my wife’s family was incredible close with a family with 5 siblings and they did everything together, including holidays. Their father died, and wife’s family helped raise the kids. Over time, the siblings each moved away, then the mother, until there was only one left (M). M is family and still came over for all holidays. He is a vegetarian/vegan, and always brought a tofurkey and side dish, so just the easiest guest to accommodate.

    My brother in law and his wife had 2 kids and bought their own big house so they invite us over for their first time hosting Thanksgiving. The rule? M was not invited because he was “not family.” It caused a huge fight and we ended up not going over there so M wasn’t left alone. It was a fight every year until finally they stopped inviting us altogether. When M went to his wife’s family for thanksgiving one year, we still didn’t go to brother in laws.

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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So on the very holiday that's meant to be thankful for what you've been given in kindness, that, as I understand it, celebrates generosity and sharing a meal with strangers, this twatwaffle decides to exclude a long time family friend and his wife who was friends with them all their life let him. Wow.

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    #24

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced I was in a friend's kitchen (we were 8), sneezed, then turned and took a kitchen paper tissue from the roll, cleared my nose, and walked toward the kitchen sink door, to throw the wad into the trash bin. My friend burst out "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!". I'm like "What? Throw away the trash." He continued "ARE YOU CRAZY?! SNOT PAPER DOESN'T GO IN THE KITCHEN TRASH!! JESUS, WHAT IF MOM FOUND OUT!!"

    I'd already thrown it, but he fished it out of the bin and flushed it in the toilet in under ten seconds.

    I already knew his mom was a nasty ol' battleaxe, but I had no idea how deep her will manifested itself in that sick house.

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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So many of these parents seem just mentally ill. Feel bad for the kids.

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    #25

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced One of my best friends growing up had super Christian parents. My group of friends loved playing Diablo 2. We would spend weekends at each other's houses for LAN parties. If we ever went to super Christian house, we were not allowed to play Diablo 2 because it included the devil in the game. No matter how many times we explained that the goal of the game was to KILL the devil, they would just dig their heels in even more.

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    That emo Girl
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Christian nuts are not gonna let you play a game with any reference to a devil then 🙄

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    #26

    Ooh my wife didn’t have a door on her bedroom until she was a teenager because “you shouldn’t have to hide anything from your parents.” Her mom also would get really upset if she closed her bedroom door at night when she went to sleep. All of the siblings would sleep with doors open.

    It was a big adjustment for her at first when we got together to sleep with the bedroom door closed

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    Loverboy
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Practically the same thing for me, my door was never, ever allowed closed.

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    #27

    My FIL forbade my wife, and tried to forbid my two children, from driving once they passed their driving test. His wisdom was “put that piece of paper [driving license] in a drawer for five years” to reduce the amount of insurance they would pay. Spoken like he was passing down the knowledge of the Ancients. F*****g idiot.

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    SheamusFanFrom1987
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Tell him to "put his sorry *ss in a drawer for 5 years or more" to reduce the idiocy price you'd have to pay later as a result of spouse and children not being able to drive in case of emergency... Smh!!!

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    #28

    When we were 13, a friend of mine was kicked out of the house by his parents for a week because he stacked things wrong in the freezer, and some bread got squished.

    He spent the week staying at different friends' houses each night until his parents let him come back home.

    EDIT: holy moly, this got a lot of action. For those wondering what kind of parents my friend had...

    The mom was super religious and tended to be pretty strict, but tried, unsuccessfully, to hide it when any of our group were at their house. The stepdad wasn't allowed to have much input when it came to any punishments because he wasn't the bio dad. My friend and his sister were always punished pretty much immediately by the mom, and step dad would just kinda disappear. Regardless of the error made, the punishments would build until she would snap and say something like, "get out of my house, i don't want to see your face!"

    She was definitely verbally and emotionally abusive, but i never saw signs of physical abuse.

    There were multiple occurances of me or other friends going to spend the night and being sent back home shortly after because she was in a bad mood and my friend didn't have his room clean enough for her liking.

    i.e. a plate and fork on the dresser from breakfast

    Or a couple clothing items on the floor

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    surenu avatar
    Surenu
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kicking a kid out with nowhere to go is physical abuse and you can't convince me otherwise.

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    #29

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced I had to make coffee for my in laws, even though I have no idea how their fancy coffee machine works and they refused to explain it to me. Now I'm not welcome there anymore because I have "no respect for them"

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    #30

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My house growing up: if you had to go to the bathroom during a family meal, your plate was taken away and dinner was over for you. No bathroom during meals!

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    That emo Girl
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So basically, if you really need the toilet, they'd rather you develop a liver disease and face hospitalisation than you leaving the table... just great. I'm pissed now.

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    #31

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced The kids could not watch Barney because it's a "dragon". It was a religious family

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    #32

    Had a childhood friend whose mother was (and still probably is) obsessed with her image of wealth and piety.


    1. They had a living room that you could not be in. We were allowed in the "family room", but not the living room.

    2. When we were 6, my friend and I played dress up. I was Protestant, they were Catholic. A mint green cross necklace was in my friend's play jewelry. When we went downstairs to show her mom, her mom's eyes got wide as dinner plates and she yelled, "GET THAT ROSARY OFF HER NECK!"

    3. When we were 18, I started seeing my (now) husband who works a public retail job. Her mother started ridiculing his job and how he walked "like he had a stick up his a*s". He has a lumbar spine injury.

    I let that friend go because as we grew she began turning into her mother and now she won't talk to me.

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    salminella_1 avatar
    Cooking with Sal Minella
    Cooking with Sal Minella
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    “My name is Erin Quinn, and I come from a place called Derry...or Londonderry depending on your persuasion”

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    BJ Hage
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, but had to watch it with captions on cause I couldn't understand their fecking accrens

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    LadyJaye
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thats really sad. Especially the way the husband was treated. Just because someone doesn't walk the way you do dosen't make them any different. Discrimanteing or making fun of people with dissabillitys is one of the top ten things that really pissis me off

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    Beck
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I went to catholic school growing up. Wearing a rosary around your neck is a huge no no for some reason.

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    BluEyedSeoulite
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I had to Google why BC I was so curious. Evidently, if you wear a rosary as a fashion item, ie necklace, it "removes the rosary's sacredness."

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    Jennifer_Crowley_Luci
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I wish she hadn't succumbed to the insanity, but its good that the friend was able to recognize that it was not a sustainable relationship.

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    Demosthenes
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Having a formal living room isn’t that odd. It’s a concept from an older time when people had manners and would host guests formally and treat them with great respect. Such concepts are apparently mocked and derided these days, sad days.

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    John Dilligaf
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    #1 was is pretty common when I was growing up. We had the "living room" and the "den". The living room was kept spotless, had the fancy furniture (with slipcovers) and the pictures of untold generations on the walls. It was for company.

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    Heather Talma
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I want to know what six-year-old children play "Protestant and Catholic Dress-up"

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    #33

    I had a friend in 5th grade and her mother was legitimately insane. She wouldn’t let her daughter come to my house because we had carpeting. I think she had some munchausen by proxy because she was convinced her child was allergic to everything, including dust mites/any innocuous dirt in carpeting. The girl also developed an eating disorder…she was a dancer when we were kids and her mother apparently monitored what she ate extremely closely. I felt so badly for her.

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    OSKNILLAB
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That’s sad. I know a kid who’s parents are both over 400 pounds at least and he only eats one meal a day because he’s scared he’s gonna end up the same and he developed a social disorder cuz his dad abusive. (Forgot to mention that the reason his mother is so heavy is because her husband abuses her emotionally)

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    #34

    Growing up my dad and stepmother gave my sister and I chores that we had to do before we were allowed to go out with our friends. I thought it was normal until I moved out.

    When I vacuumed the marks couldn't overlap and they had to go in the same direction.

    I had to clean the bathroom wipe everything down including the shower no water spots allowed.

    No personal items (shoes, jackets, or bags) could be left in any other part of the house besides your room.

    We had a sitting room that no one was allowed in that I also had to clean weekly.

    We had a dishwasher but I had to do the dishes every day by hand

    I had an 11pm curfew even on prom night. After I joined the military and moved away married and had children, I still had the 11pm curfew if I came back to visit. I was in my 30s at this point.

    Oh and I forgot to mention I didn't get an allowance for this so if I wanted money I had to not eat lunch at school and save my lunch money.

    I also bought all my school clothes from the age of 12 on up working cropping tobacco in the summer.

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    Lyoness
    Lyoness
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I could swear this was written by myself or my brother but a, I know I didn't, and b, he was never in the military. Took me years to let go of "the house must be perfect."

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    #35

    My stepmom had a totally bonkers rule about feet. She was irrationally afraid of plantar warts and, according to her, anyone she didn't know intimately had plantar warts. As a family we had a second home/beach house that was basically a small bungalow and only had one restroom with one stall shower. Nobody, no friends, relatives, could use that shower after the beach because they'll get their plantar wart all over the floor and then she'll take a shower and she'll get plantar warts. We also had a swimming pool and she would make new people, including children, WEAR SOCKS IN THE SWIMMING POOL. And as far as I know, nobody living in our house including her ever had plantar warts so... unreasonable? Sure. Effective? Sure.

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    oliviadean avatar
    Olivia Dean
    Olivia Dean
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Couldn't everybody just wear thongs as you do in public shower stalls and be done with it? Also, I've never heard of "plantar"...

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    #36

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced I have a friend whose dad had one paper towel specifically used for eating bagels. You cannot re-heat or eat your bagel on anything other than the bagel towel. No plates or bowls were allowed to be used for bagels. You got your turn with the bagel paper towel or you waited till it was free

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    #37

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced We were never allowed to ask for anything while visiting...even a glass of water

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    Loverboy
    Loverboy
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If I'm having guests, I am supplying them with as much as they will accept, they don't even have to ask. Why would anyone treat people like that

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    #38

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced A friend's parents had a pool table. His mom decided to play with us one day, and gave us the house rules. She said, "When it's someone's turn to shoot, I tell them. If someone gets ahead of me, they lose their turn. Everyone plays very hard, and in the end, I win."

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    #39

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced my 11 year old daughter was at a friend’s house and my daughter said “oh my god” and then got lectured by the parents for using god’s name in vain.

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    Loverboy
    Loverboy
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The wrong use of the Lord’s name, the one the Bible warns against is using God’s name for evil. Not that I believe in a God, but "using god's name in vain" really just means doing evil in the name of him.

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    #40

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced A lady once watched my kids, and the rule was no beverages during a meal. I think she didn't want kids filling up on liquids instead of food...?

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    Lara Verne
    Lara Verne
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It was back in the mid 1990s Some article claimed that drinking during meals is unhealthy and children may choke on food if they drink something. And people took it too seriously. When I was in kindergarten, one of teachers always make sure we did not drink anything during meals. We werre allowed to drink only after we finished meal. No idea where that belief came from.

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    #41

    Had a friend who was very much into computer gaming in the late '90s/early 2000s. Voodoo video cards were very much in vogue, but his parents forbade him from using the term "voodoo," even in reference to the card. They suggested they he instead call it the "V-card;" the hilarity of the situation was lost on them.

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    missal_warrior_0c avatar
    and_a_touch_of_the_’tism
    and_a_touch_of_the_’tism
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    1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Voodoo isn’t even a proper thing. It’s a perversion of Vodu, a Haitian religion born from the mix of culture overlapping in the midst of the slave trade.

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    #42

    We have one; it’s not too crazy but a guest might wonder “WTF?”

    No singing at the table.

    My daughter, as a young child, would just start belting out a (totally randomly generated) song while we would try to eat. She would sing it very loudly. We just made the rule that no singing was allowed at the table. If a little friend came over, we’d keep the rule consistent (it applied to us as parents as well).

    Now my daughter is 16, and every once in a while one of us will start to hum a tune just so the other two can sternly (and mockingly) say “No singing at the table!”

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    #43

    The twelve year old kid had to wear a shirt and helmet while playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3.

    It was me. I was the kid.

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    mllechloet avatar
    CT
    CT
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This way the game is more immersive. 😆 But thinking about it, the method is certainly weird, but I find that there is an educational side to always associating the skaterboard with the helmet

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    #44

    Not their house but my wife has a cousin who took her child home because my niece was watching Disney Channel and I was wearing a tank top. She felt like those things were bad for her 12 year old to be seeing and experiencing and took him home.

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    RagDollLali
    RagDollLali
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Omg, not a tank top! How dare you expose this poor innocent to the bareness of your arms??

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    #45

    My parents had a neighbor two doors down from them that made their kids leave the inside of their house by 8:00 am in the summer and they were not allowed back inside until it was bed time, around lunch and dinner time the mom would put food out on a table in the front yard for them to eat. In the winter months after they got home from school they stayed outside till it got dark. Just a very odd family all the way around. Didn’t surprise anyone when the oldest daughter got pregnant at 15 and moved away.

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    #46

    My college dorm roommate was on the phone with her mom and her mom said, “don’t share food with your roommate.” Lol. it’s ok, i can live without your cheeze its and gummy worms. I would never tell my child not to share. WTF.

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    #47

    My friend’s mom would not allow the word “Dang” in the house as it was “one small step from a swear word”. She also wouldn’t let the kids watch Mary Poppins as it had witchcraft, and kept the sugar under lock and key.

    Both kids got into hard drugs and ended up in secure treatment facilities

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    cookie avatar
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The kids did not learn self-control as the mum controlled everything.

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    #48

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced My ex FIL had a rule that once he sat down for a meal, only his wife and grown children could get him anything he needed from the kitchen. He would not stand up

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    thomasdewith avatar
    Day
    Day
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Poor man’s masculinity was so fragile that he’d turn into a woman if he went into the kitchen.

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    #49

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced No Harry Potter

    it's Unchristian

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    adam-t-mccauley avatar
    Me.
    Me.
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    A Christian website that doesn't like Harry Potter because magic uses a picture of me and my brother reading them happily. Oh, the site thinks it causes satanism, so I want to tell them that I do not worship satan but Cthulhu

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    #50

    Went to a playdate at a church friend's house. Her mom made us wear t-shirts over our bathing suits to "maintain modesty"...we were in kindergarten.

    My parents had the rule that any friends coming over could only play outside. They couldn't come in even for a glass of water. I had to bring it out to them. I was not a popular child.

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    Ace
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sounds like they knew the father was a paedophile and wanted to avoid 'temptation'.

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    #51

    When I was a kid, my best friend's mom wouldn't let us walk anywhere in the house except for on designated paths. Supposedly she didn't want us messing up the vacuum trails left on the carpet after you vacuum. Basically she wanted her house to always look like it had just been vacuumed. But the carpet looked even worse than it would have looked had she just let us walk everywhere since there were very visible trails leading to each room and to the couch and kitchen.

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    Spocks's Mom
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I wonder if they lived in Nashville in the late '80's. I knew a girl whose mom had paths of carpet runners in her house. You know the clear plastic kind with the spikes on the bottom? You couldn't veer off of these paths or her mom would be upset. She ended up kicking me out of their house as well because I brought the Necronomicon in their house. I wasn't a "devil worshiper". I was just curious as to what the book was about. It was kinda weird because the mom was very familiar with men and flaunted her many boyfriends in front of her daughter.

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    #52

    My friends dad would have a almost screaming rage at me if I didn’t finish all my food . He would say we don’t waste food in this house and hed bully me to eat it . I refused and my friend usually finished it for me . Very good way to teach disordered eating .🥴 Never force someone to eat something that’s vile and harmful . I ended up not spending the night anymore after that happened a few times .

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    Nicole Weymann
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That behaviour IS vile - but after it happened for the first (and maybe second) time why eat there at all, or take more than, say, one half sandwich?

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    #53

    Growing up my cousins often stayed with us. They were not allowed to watch TV or play computer. They could not have fun on Sundays, could only go to church, read Christian books and nap. They could not travel on Sunday. Sundays were eery with 7 kids in the house and no laughter.

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    #54

    When I was a kid, my friends mom was a little nuts. She had a sitting room with a couch and a love seat that nobody was ever allowed to sit on. You had to walk through it to get to the rest of the house and it led to the kitchen and then the living room.

    If you sat on the furniture in the sitting room she'd throw a fit. I always felt like it was such a waste, to have such a nice room and never use it. It would have been a perfect study room or reading room.

    She also had other crazy rules, like punishing my friend when his little sister did anything wrong. As if he was responsible for her actions and looking out for her.

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    Sonja
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When I was younger my parents had a room we only used when visitors came. The couch was quite comfy. But no one ever used it unless we had visitors. One day I wandered through with my book and spontaneously decided the cool and quiet room with the huge opened patio door (you had to walk through the room to get to the terrace) was perfect to have a peaceful afternoon, so I got me some pillows and huddled in the huge armchair. After a while my father walked through and asked: why on earth are you sitting here? I told him and he looked really confused. But then he got his newspaper and sat on the sofa to read. Rinse and repeat when my mom found us. After that we all used that room frequently. My siblings too, whenever we wanted peace and quiet. It was also the coolest room in summer in the whole house. It was just an usus they'd learned from their parents to have a room for special occasions and no one had questioned that. But as soon as they saw me sitting there the spell was broken

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    #55

    When I was a kid we used to play a game called Tunnels and Trolls (it was basically a cheap Dungeons and Dragons ripoff) and one of our friends with ultra religious parents wouldn't let him play because 'troll' is Swedish for 'devil'.

    To this day I have no idea whether that's even true.

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    #56

    My nephew wasn't allowed to use the trashcan(automatic) or flush the toilet. They say it's cuz he used them inappropriately but I'm like how is he gonna learn to use them appropriately if he is banned from ising

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    Surenu
    Surenu
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Reminds me of how my father was always complaining about how I couldn't do household repairs but refused to actually teach me. Like, did he believe the handyman fairy came at the night of my 8th birthday and implanted me with the knowledge of how to lay bathroom tiles?

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    #57

    My friend was married to a tyrant for way too long. He made his children go to the bathroom at specific times of day so they could "train their body" to "go" at those times. He also turned on the water heater for a few hours a day, and allowed the kids only 10 minutes per shower. This was all in the interest of saving money apparently. I was so happy when she divorced him.

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    fredneobob90 avatar
    Huddo's sister
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    10 minutes is plenty of time for a shower. In Oz it is recommended we have showers under 4 minutes.

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    #58

    Extreme politeness. One of my friend's mom had very strict rules about politeness.

    I once went to this friend's house as a kid, and she offered me something to drink. I said "yes please" and "thank you" once she gave me the drink. The next day at school she told me her mom was upset and wasn't sure if I was allowed to come back. According to her (the mom) I should have said "yes, thank you (for offering me this drink)" and the "thank you" again after getting the drink. Both "yes please" and "yes thank you" are correct in my language.

    In the end I was allowed to go back, but that's such a weird reason to be mad at a kid.

    We also weren't allowed to call something ugly, or say that something tastes or smells bad. Instead we had to say "I don't like how it looks/smells/tastes". (small edit to clarify that part: we weren't allowed to use these phrases *at all* when she was watching us, *ever.* You accidentaly ate some food that went bad? it's not gross, you just don't like it.)

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    nikihuffine avatar
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think the last part about not calling things ugly or saying they taste bad is a good rule. I'm an adult with no children, and I make a conscious effort not to label things or people negatively. You can go around calling everything you don't like yucky, or you can say something like"I don't enjoy the texture of boiled carrots, but I prefer them roasted." Words matter.

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    #59

    40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced The kids had to call farts "fluffs"

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    #60

    i once went over to a friends house when i was younger and she lived with her mom and grandma. we were eating thin mints and my friend didn’t want the rest and offered them to me, so i ate em. welp turns out the grandma saw me eat her thin mints and proceeded to yell at me and what an awful greedy child i was. i was 11. when i told my parents about it, i wasn’t allowed over to her place anymore

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    tyranamar avatar
    Tyranamar Seuss
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can just picture crotchety old grandma "You greedy child! Eating all the thin mints!" LOL.

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    #61

    Family friend wasn't allowed to say the word "gross" because it was his mom's maiden name; I'm guessing she'd been teased as a kid and hated it . My brother said it in front of him at our house once and the kid freaked out and told my mom he'd said a really bad word. That mom was just making her kid weirder with that one.

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    #62

    My step brothers had to use lidded coffee cups for juice and water in the house until they were 20. I mean, yeah they're disasters and spill everything, but now that I'm a parent, I definitely love my kid more than my carpet

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    msonntag1028 avatar
    Delta Dawn
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    my kids are clumsy and one would knock over her drink every. single. meal. for her first ~10 years so yeah, she got to use the lid

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    #63

    A woman with 2 teenage daughters will only pay for their college if they DONT’T date or have boyfriends.

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    censorshipsucks12 avatar
    censorshipsucks
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hmm a bit control freaky I mean I get the idea that lovers are a distraction during college but you can't tell kids NOT to get involved. It's going to happen.

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    #64

    My friend’s grandfather wouldn’t let us drink the leftover cereal milk by bringing the bowl to our mouths. We had to finish it off with spoons. It took forever.

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    yvettesherman avatar
    AtmosttheFabulist
    AtmosttheFabulist
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    Premium     1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I drink the extra milk from the bowl if there is a lot left. Yum.

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    #65

    I once went to someone house and their mum wouldn't let them drink milk unless they watered it down. It was like that for every drink they drank too. Didn't matter if it was milk, fizzy drink, juice it had to be watered down.

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    destinythornton avatar
    Spocks's Mom
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I drink super diluted juice if I am not in the mood for straight up water. Less sugar and you still get the fruity taste. Juice lasts for a while at my house too.

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    #66

    At my Mom’s cousin’s house, you are not allowed to sleep on the couch. They never had an answer why, just because.

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    cookie avatar
    Cookie
    Cookie
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    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Cos they don't want you drooling on it. Couches are harder to wash than bedsheets.

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