Silly rules you had growing up?

What silly rules did you to have follow growing up?

I was not allowed to call adults by their first name. Only the 2 neighbors. I always had to call them Mr. Ms. or Mrs/ last name. Even as an adult my mom still refers to a lot of people like that and I still call them by their last names.

My mom would lose her **** whenever anyone walked on the floor she just mopped. It’s like she mopped it in gold or something. Even now I have to “walk
around” or wait.

I was not allowed toys on Easter. Only candy and eggs in my basket. My Jewish grandma would bring us toys on Easter and my mom would get mad and say “Easter is not about giving presents!” She wouldn’t take them away or anything though. I got a yellow stuffed duck one year, which you’d expect to be Easterish but it still pissed my mom off that my Grandma was giving any type of gift.

My siblings and I too referred to elders in the community as Mr or Mrs ?? Still do it today it feels weird calling them by their first names even though I know what they are lol.

It was expected of us as teenagers to visit my Grandparents (late 70's and early 80's respectfully they were in) even though my older cousins didn't need to. We had to but my Brother who is 4 tears older didn't need to as he played Football so he was exempt

We must attend church EVERY Sunday... although my Dad and Brother were exempt from this. I was able to stop going at 16 when I got a part time job

Cause I went to a Catholic high school it was compulsory to attend Mass until I reached the senior years (16 years old) in high school

I was not allowed boys in my bedroom even though I had male friends. My Brother though was allowed girls in his room no questions asked

We had a rota in our house which we must adhered to. Except my Twin who was ill. I had to do double chores

If we wanted a toy or anything like that a privilege we had to earn the money. We were not given pocket money from my parents. My Granda gave us pocket money back in 90's when we were under 13 years old.... back in my day lol it was 50p we were given a week. Then it went up to a £1 when I hit 13 years old lol. Kids today get anything from £10- £20 a week no joke.

Think that's it, but could be more lol. Oh to be young again lol

I still don't know why, but we were not allowed to watch the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats. It's a cartoon about toddlers. It has gross bathroom humor sometimes, but we watched all sorts of other stuff with sex and violence.

Maybe because I'm an old fart I don't see anything "silly" about calling adults Mr. or Mrs/Ms Last Name. It's a matter of respect.

MD, gotta say I'm with your mom about walking on a freshly mopped floor. Don't be walking on a floor I just cleaned. Walking on a just mopped floor leaves footprints. Again, it's a matter of respect.

I don't see anything "silly" about requiring kids to do chores. It teaches skills the kid will need in life and rresponsibility.

Like I said I'm an old fart.

I'm gonna agree with LL, I'm technically a millennial (90s kid) and it's out of respect to call people you do not know Mr./Mrs. and respecting elders was a big part of my childhood. I was/still am the housekeeper of the house and I lose my **** if the CAT walks on my freshly mopped floors--it leaves dirty footprints (or pawprints, for that matter) .I grew up with the upbringing that everything I want must be earned, not given for free.

Silly rules I had growing up? My mom to this day hounds me about messing with the refrigerator door...I guess when I was younger I didn't shut the fridge door all the way and spoiled a lot of food. So she constantly reminds me about shutting the fridge door and "making sure its shut all the way".

Shutting the light when you leave the room. “Don’t waste electricity!”

I had five year old friends of my kids call me by my first name and I was put off. Their mother encouraged them to do it. When I said I was raised to say Mr. or Mrs. their mother said where she’s from she grew up calling the adults by their first names. She didn’t correct her kids to respect me by saying Mrs. instead. I let it go but felt annoyed and that they were snotty kids. Other kids would say Miss and my first name. It’s the southern way. This felt more respectful and also warmer than the formal way I was raised.

Other rules that come to mind are observing superstitions. We had many. I broke a mirror and did have 7 years bad luck.

When I got something new to wear, I had to wait for an occasion to wear it. Now I wear what I get right away.

I couldn’t leave the house without taking a jacket.

I couldn’t have a snack too close to dinner because I would ‘spoil my appetite’.

There weren’t many rules. I was fortunate to be spared that.

My mom was made to clean the apartment for her mother. She resented it because the apartment was tiny and her mother didn’t work. And she was made to babysit her sister all the time. She was better to her kids in that respect.

No matter what time or day of the year it was, it could be New years eve or May 6th, my mom always reminded me that there were "drunks on the road".

So did mine! But she always worked in bar/restaurants, so that probably colored her perception.

My parents did too. But they were in law enforcement, so they saw the carnage and death that resulted from drunk drivers....their rule for me was they would disown me if I were caught drinking and driving.

The weirdest rule they ever had for me was, "You can get tattoos or piercings, color your hair rainbow, but never, and I mean NEVER get gauges. You'll ruin your life!"

I pranked them one time by getting fake gauges. I posted a picture on facebook and my parents were hysterical. You should have seen the look on their faces when I later told them they were fake.

Love the prank on your parents Lark! Would love to have seen their reaction.

Tisha makes a good point about kids in the south calling adults Miss First Name. I'm fine with that. My last name is a long tongue twister. I'm fine with kids calling me Miss First name. It's gotten so that even the adults I work with call me Miss First Name.

This wasn't a rule, but every time I was going to drive somewhere my mother would tell me to "check the backseat" before I got in the car. Since I've driven a pick up truck most of my adult life i thought it was funny.

Who remembers always wear clean underwear and no pins in your bra in case you are in an accident? One of my first tthoughts on the way to the hospital after an accident was "oh **** I'm not wearing a bra. Mom was right!"

Only God can help anyone who walks on my freshly mopped floor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BethRags Only God can help anyone who walks on my freshly mopped floor.

“Stop I just waxed my floor!” I’m like “mom your mother waxed floors. You don’t wax you mop your floors” she says it’s the only way she knows how to say it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizardlady .... Who remembers always wear clean underwear and no pins in your bra in case you are in an accident? One of my first tthoughts on the way to the hospital after an accident was "oh **** I'm not wearing a bra. Mom was right!"

You betcha! Clean underwear and a clean bra free of safety pins. When I was a teen I used to be really worried that I'd get in an accident while having my period

Hey @BethRags my mom Always said every now and then to “let the air in” meaning occasionally not sleeping with underwear on like if you were in a night gown. She said lady parts need time to breathe. I swear by it.

I'm formal with strangers to this day. It was supposed to be the norm to show respect to adults, when I was a kid. We were also taught to refer to our aunts and uncles as "Aunt X" and "Uncle Y". Even today, when I address an adult male or female I know little or not at all, I call them Sir or Ma'am. I refer to younger people I don't know well as "Young Man", or "Young Lady" or more casually to two or more younger kids as "Boys" and "Girls".

Another rule was that I said hello to people. Kids (and even adults) nowadays seem to have been taught that it is unnecessary or even "dangerous", which is ridiculous and tragic.

I'm from a time when kids could go out and play, unattended, for hours. Even very young kids. However, we had a rule that we HAD to be home for dinner at 5 pm. We also ate family sit-down dinners. We had chores to do, as well. Sassing and cursing were not tolerated. I rarely curse even to this day.

When I was a little kid I had to go to bed at 8 pm. It wasn't an option not to. That's when we were tucked in to bed. Nowadays I hear little kids still awake outside at 11 pm, or even later, with their parents.

My husband and I never had kids, so I obviously haven't "changed with times".

My husband and I basically bonded over telling each other the sometimes very silly rules we had to adhere to when growing up. But of course, we didn't invent them. They were imposed on us by our parents.

I was always keenly aware of the unfairness of certain rules. There was A LOT of unfairness in the home I grew up in. And the rules for my brother applied to me, but not my two younger sisters, often. Sometimes this happened because of blind spots in my parents attitudes, and sometimes it was intentional favoritism. Mom was usually the guilty party, most of all. Dad tried his best to have a one-rule-for-all kind of ethos.

I hated a lot of the things they made us do---early to bed, even in the Summer, which was torture!. We never had sweets, almost never, when other kids were allowed them, which led to lots of confusion. My parents refused to give us an allowance, which was especially difficult at times, as everyone I grew up with got one. There were more, mostly around formal religious stuff, which I've largely ceased to observe. And only once in my whole life did I ever get an apology from either of my parents, when it was clear they had made a dreadful mistake. That was an even bigger mistake, on their part, overall. Kids need to see that the need to apologize should apply to everyone.

Over the years I realized those limitations did build character and/or keep us healthy and safe, so I'm not too terribly traumatized. But it did feel like I was, at the time.

Museum Ghost, my mom has never apologized for anything ever in her life...at least, not while I've been alive.

the one I always remember is if I have someone in my room of an oppositte gender, I had to keep my door open

not really sure what a 9 year old girl was doing having a rule like that, it's not like I was going to do anything

the other one I always thought was weird was that I was not allowed to use the telephone, for any reason at all- even in emergencies

I had the same rule when I was 13+ I didn't have very many male friends at 9. I still mostly played with my sister and two best friends who were girls.