Parenting,CuriositiesAPR 5, 2023

40 People Spill The Tea On The Weirdest Rules They Were Unfortunate Enough To See Enforced

Gabija Saveiskyte, Jonas Grinevičius and Rasa Žilinskaitė

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!

#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.

kefkaeatsbabies, Victoria Akvarel

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251points

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.

#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.

FloridaParalegal

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232points

#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.

AhFFSImTooOldForThis

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173points

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.

"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

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.

MindRacer789, Alexander Grey

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154points

#5

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.

Icy-Control9525, CA Creative

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150points

#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.

wyoflyboy68

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144points

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.

"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

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.

khalavaster, Karolina Grabowska

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141points

#8

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.

SeaStarless, Artem Podrez

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139points

#9

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

TheCell1990, nrd

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134points

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.

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

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

HumanAverse, SuckerPunch Gourmet

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131points

#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.

Utterlybored

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128points

#12

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).

Secret_Agent_666, Greg Rivers

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127points

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.

#13

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.

TobyOFM, lisaclarke

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123points

#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.

TGOTR

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117points

#15

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…

MisterChiTown92, Mert Kahveci

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109points

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

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."

anidlezooanimal, Camylla Battani

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103points

#17

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.

GummyKibble, Erik Mclean

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101points

#18

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.

whoopysnorp, Aleks Dorohovich

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96points

#19

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.

Debstar76, Anton Danilov

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88points

#20

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.

Aperture_T, Krzysztof Kowalik

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83points