Did you grow up with rules at home you thought were ridiculous? I did. My mom was strict, especially about not sitting on certain chairs or couches, except for when we had company, and even then, we were limited. However, scrolling around the Internet, I found weird rules, some of which were real doozies. As the saying goes, “to each their own.” Here are the top-rated responses we found.
1. He Turns 18 And Finds Clothes On His Driveway
According to her arbitrary rules, this top-ranked response from one Redditor said his friend’s mom had locks on all the kitchen cabinets to prevent him from eating when he wasn’t supposed to. When he was old enough to earn money, she took 50% of whatever he made. When he turned 18, he returned from high school and found all his belongings in the driveway. Lucky for him, he lived in his friend’s home by the grace of his friend’s parents until he was financially on his feet.
2. Sometimes Rules Are For A Good Purpose
This comment gave me some good vibes. Someone shared that their mom took 50% of every birthday, Easter, and Christmas card they ever got, put it in a savings account, and bought them a car at age 16 with it. The Redditor wrote, “No hard feelings Ma. You taught me delayed gratification, good saving, and that family can be trusted (at least mine anyway).”
3. Enforced Bedtime
Enforcing early bedtimes was a common theme on this thread, but 8 PM for a guy in his 20s? The Redditor said that the rule was not even relaxed for this guy when he was sleeping over at his house during his 21st birthday party. At sleepovers, he had to phone his dad at 8 pm to say he was going to bed (which was lucky for him since he didn’t go to bed then).
4. Infinite Bagel Paper Towel
Someone told of a friend whose dad had one paper towel specifically used for eating bagels. You can only reheat or eat your bagel on the bagel towel. No plates or bowls were allowed to be used for bagels. You got your turn with the bagel paper towel or waited until it was free.
5. Take Me Home, Mom!
One young girl reportedly begged her parents to pick her up from her sleepover when she was little. The girl’s mom showed up quickly to take her daughter home. The little girl had seen beer in the fridge and called home crying because she was very frightened. They were not allowed to look at, talk about, think about, or especially drink beer at home.
6. Parents Ran A Tab For Their Kids
A Redditor shared that his friend’s parents ran a ‘tab’ for him and his brother. They added how much they spent on food, clothes, sports, etc., and told the two boys how much they would have to pay back when they left home. He remembered they got yelled at for eating his dad’s ‘snacks,’ and the cost was added to the tab.
The parents ‘cleared the tab’ for their graduation gift when they graduated. They got nothing but a reminder of how much they cost, leaving a terrible feeling between him and his parents for years.
7. Don’t Ask For Anything When We Visit
This rule seemed very familiar to me. One commenter said he and his siblings were never allowed to ask for anything while visiting, no food or even a glass of water.
Several commenters agreed that many people might offer you something, but young kids especially were told to refrain from taking anything offered to them. One said, “Courtesy dictates you offer what you have to your guests, but when you are living in poverty, that can mean leaving you with very little for yourself. So while it was courteous to offer, it was also courteous to refuse.”
8. Drink 7-Up Instead
One parent wouldn’t let her kids drink more than of glass of water in the afternoon because she thought it would dilute the nutrients in their bodies. Instead, she gave them 7-up if they were thirsty. The kids would secretly drink water from the bathroom faucet every time they used it when thirsty at her house.
9. A Different Kind of Foot Fetish
One person’s stepmom had rules about feet that seemed pretty odd. According to this Redditor, “She was irrationally afraid of plantar warts, and anyone she didn’t know intimately had plantar warts. The family had a second bungalow at the beach with only one restroom and one stall shower. Due to her fear, she didn’t like anyone outside of the family to use the 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.”
They also had a swimming pool, and “she would make new people, including children, WEAR SOCKS IN THE SWIMMING POOL.” No one ever had plantar warts.
10. Where Do You Throw Your Dirty Tissue?
Some poor child may have been scarred for life by his friend for throwing out his dirty tissue in the wrong place. For the record, there is more than one place to throw a used tissue you blew your nose in.
This eight-year-old boy was in his friend’s kitchen, sneezed, took a paper tissue from the roll, cleared his nose, and walked toward the kitchen sink door to throw the wad into the trash bin. He told us his friend burst out, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” The wrongdoer said, “What? Throwing away the trash.” His friend continued, “ARE YOU CRAZY?! SNOT PAPER DOESN’T GO IN THE KITCHEN TRASH!! JESUS, WHAT IF MOM FOUND OUT!!” All was alright after his friend fished it out of the bin and flushed it in the toilet seconds later.
11. Kicked Out of His House
Helping your parents with chores deserves some praise. This poor kid (age 13) stacked things wrong in the freezer, squishing some bread. As a punishment, his parents kicked him out of the house. He spent the week staying at different friends’ houses each night until his parents let him return home.
This person’s post received significant votes, as many wondered what kind of parents his friend had. He shared that the mom was religious and pretty strict, while the stepdad had little say about punishments. His friend and sister were always immediately punished by the mom. She was verbally and emotionally abusive to her kids.
12. Charged Guests For Their Stay
One family made guests pay for their stay. They invited someone for dinner, then calculated how many minutes he was there, and charged for his portion of food, drink, electricity, and water usage. Yes, they counted toilet flushing and timed everyone on hand washing.
13. Don’t Play Pool With Your Friend’s Mom
Can you imagine being invited to play pool at a friend’s home? Sounds fun, but not when mom wants to play too. Someone told us about his friend’s mom and her decision to play with them one day. She gave the house rules, saying, “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.” No thanks!
14. Restricted TV Shows
Several people volunteered that there were TV shows they were not allowed to when they were younger. These were the most restricted shows:
Spongebob because “the holes in SpongeBob induce lustful thoughts.”
Rugrats because the way they talk about adults is ‘vile.’
One person was punished for having a picture of Brittney Spears hidden under my bunk bed. He could only listen to Christian radio stations for a while.
One person was grounded for a month for watching one episode of The REN & STIMPY Show, and as a result, he was banned from Nickelodeon, a house rule.
Power Rangers, according to one person, “was straight from Satan, so that was out.”
15. Put Your Driver’s License Away For the Next Five Years
One Redditor said his father-in-law forbade his now-wife and tried to forbid his 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.
16. She Can’t Sleep In the Same Room When Visiting Her Parents
A man was dating a woman for a couple of months. They took a vacation where they visited both of their immediate families. At her parent’s house, they weren’t allowed to sit next to each other or stand near one another. Also, they couldn’t sleep in the same bed. The man had to sleep on the couch, and his girlfriend (the homeowner’s daughter) got the spare room. Their reason was that they didn’t want any “funny business” happening in front of them.
They were both 32 at the time. No comment.
17. Staggered Eating
I had to read this twice to see if I had missed something. I didn’t.
This Redditor shared that his great-uncle only allowed one bowl, plate, spoon, fork, knife, cup, and light bulb in his house. A minimalist at best. 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. Guests were forced to get their own water from the well if they were thirsty.
This thread inspired this post.
This article appeared first on The Cents of Money.
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With a passion for investing and personal finance, I began The Cents of Money to help and teach others. My experience as an equity analyst, professor, and mom provide me with unique insights about money and wealth creation and a desire to share with you.