Weird household rules you had growing up.

[habibihabibi]

A number of odd rules but most memorable:
My mother did not allow us to sit ot lie on beds unless in our pj's ready to sleep.
Not allowed in bedrooms during the day unless poorly.
If we had friends over we had to play in the garden/playroom.
We were not permitted downstairs in pjs ever.
Straight from bath to bed and immediately washed and dressed on waking.

Hit me with your strange rules

We weren't allowed to put milk bottles on the table.
We weren't allowed to chew chewing gum.
We weren't allowed to eat in the street.
I wasn't allowed to wear red and purple together.
Apparently women shouldn't drink whisky or wear red hats.

All of the above = COMMON AND VULGAR according to my batshit mother.

Lots of weird ones here:

• never make your clothes dirty, my cousin used to get my old clothes... they looked brand new
• no walking on grass
• no sitting on grass or the floor
• dry all dishes and the entire sink after washing up
• never put cutlery in the dishwasher always hand wash
• always wear a vest ... even in the summer
• change into home clothes when coming home then change to pj’s later
• never talk loud in the garden
• never get the worktop wet
• don’t open a pack spaghetti when the pasta isn’t finished
• if you get a visitor clean the whole house even the parts they won’t see
• don’t stay overnight at any party
• no school trips into other countries
• no concerts and festivals
• no skiing, snowboarding or skating

I had a nice childhood but crumbled every time I have to run on the grass to get my kids or my kids shout outside ...

I was allowed to watch Grange Hill, but not CITV and nothing with a pub in (Coronation Street, EastEnders), although my parents did relent on EastEnders when I was about 16. Until we moved house when I was about 11, all my toys were downstairs and I wasn't allowed to have friends to play in my bedroom, only in the living room or outside. No dogs upstairs - but he learned to open the living room door and would sneak up for a cuddle when everyone was in bed. Anything that might get me hurt or messy was off limits - never had a bike or roller-skates, and the worst trouble I ever remember being in was when I played out and came home with grass stains on my clothes.

I looked Amish compared to girls today

Yes, my mother had a bit of an obsession with old-fashioned victorian style clothing too. I can remember going to a friend's 12th birthday party and I was the only one in a frock, they were all wearing jeans and t-shirts. My mother made quite a few of my clothes herself. I also wasn't allowed shoes with any kind of heel until I was 16, when I got one pair of court shoes "for best". As a result I wore flat shoes and had Norah Batty baggy tights at school.

My father was anal about punctuality. He'd drive to pick me up from Guides at 9pm and woe betide if they were running late, I'd have to leave before or half-way through Taps, else he'd have a go at me - even though it wasn't my fault. He had zero patience with sitting in a car outside somewhere waiting for me.

I too cannot leave without going to the toilet, I have to force myself to not go when it's something like leaving where I have had my nails done to my home which is about 2 mins in the car.

Also no kids ITV, but my mum could have Coronation st on.

No clothes not approved by my mother who also insisted on taking up hems.

Apparently women shouldn't drink whisky or wear red hats.

Because, "red hat, no knickers"?

I was never allowed to eat a whole Mars bar.

Did you have to cut it up in slices? I can't remember if that was an actual rule or just something we started doing but my brother and I would share a mars bar cut in 1cm slices.

I remember my mum having a list of things she found 'frightfully common'! Grange Hill, Eastenders, TVs in living rooms and fitted kitchens to name but a few. But she did allow me to have my ears pierced at 8 which was deemed frightfully common by my friends' parents and we always had a massive jug of water on the table at mealtimes. I wonder if it is a very English thing just to have your one allocated glass of drink at mealtimes? Because that's the way it was at all my friends' houses.
I wasn't allowed a boyfriend until I was 16. She was very strict about that and struggled to reconcile the fact that I may quite a few sexual partners before settling down. But at the same time allowed me to go to mixed sleepovers as a teenager. Better to socialise in a house than in town. Anything could happen in town...but not at a mixed sleepover apparently. Love my mad French mum. 😂

@Lostpurplehoodie - we had the loo paper rule - 4 sheets a wee

my OH is an absolute nightmare for toilet roll - he actually gets through a roll a day

No eating on the street.
Loo roll rationed.
No putting stuff in an empty bin in someone else's house.
Not allowed to say the word toilet.

Oh and no ankle bracelets because that was the sign of a prostitute 😂

Smoking wasn't 'bad' !! just bad if done on the street whilst walking (hooker)

Only allowed if doing the housework unsighted or after dinner. (The sort of dinner you had to change into evening dress for)

my OH is an absolute nightmare for toilet roll - he actually gets through a roll a day

How?

Ours were mostly benign compared to others here, and had their roots in either religion or frugality.
We had Izzal toilet paper that was basically shiny tracing paper. It was rationed.
Not allowed water with dinner.
Had to eat all our dinner.
No drinks other than water, milk, tea or instant coffee.
Sweets once a week after mass, or at Christmas or Easter.
Biscuits were for the visitors.
We were allowed to snack as we wished - but there was nothing snacky in the house so your snacks were homemade brown bread, with butter or jam, fruit or raw veg or something like a boiled egg or cheese sandwich.
No breakfast cereal, porridge only.
Rosary every night. Grace before and after meals, bedtime prayers.
Mass every morning during lent and every Sunday without fail.
Not allowed in the good sitting room.
No TV before 6pm - and then it only went on for the news, and no matter what you were watching you had to switch over when it was time for the news.

No playing out in the street. I used to watch the kids up the road out of the window after I'd been sent to bed.
Table manners at all times, no elbows on table, knife and fork in each hand. I'd get my knuckles and elbows rapped with the back of a spoon if not. Owch.
One bag of crisps a day (I enforce this now)
No tv on Saturdays until 5pm.
No boyfriends until 18.
No shaving legs until 18.
10pm curfew at 17.
Empty your plate and you can't leave the table until it's clear. These days I have a dig at my mum if she deigns to leave a morsel
No homework on Sundays- this had to change at A levels.

changing out of school uniform
not allowed to drink milk ... had a pint a day delivered by the milkman
sweets only on Saturday
no talking at the dinner table... but this made my mum, sister and I giggle
no eating in between meals
non participation in adult conversations
.... loads more...

My Mum would only put the heating on if there was ice on the inside of the bathroom window.

I grew up cold

I spent a lot of time in my neighbours house playing, the one rule her mum had was if you needed a poo you had to go home. Once I was caught short at about 11 years old I was banned from the house for 6 months

Don't dry your hands on the tea towel. (There's a separate towel for hand drying).

Don't leave the landing lights on or you'll get a jumbo jet in your bedroom .

You have to use a dice shaker when playing a board game. No throwing the dice from your hands.

DM smoked at the dinner table between courses but not while anybody was eating. I guess nowadays people would be at that.

Also when I was a toddler biscuits were allowed but sweets and chocolate weren't. But when I got a bit older other people kept giving me them anyway so DM ended up caving in. And now I have terrible teeth, which is exactly what she was trying to stop happening.

When somebody else was looking after me for a bit, when pocket money was given they insisted it was spent in the newsagent immediately, no saving it. This was at infant school age and got me upset.

No gum was a school rule at my secondary school, and a reasonable one, but it's why I to this day stopped bothering with the stuff.

Not being allowed in the house on my own when my parents were at work when I came home from school. Waiting in the garden or the garage is much safer.

Reading some of the others, really I'm grateful I had (and still have) a good and loving mother.

Back to the light-hearted stuff - a family friend had the rule that the father wasn't to use the toilet in the ensuite because he'd stink it out .

Holy water featured in my household more than you might imagine

Only allowed to wash hair twice a week. Anything more was vain!! Luckily I did not suffer from greasy hair.

Not allowed to cut toenails on Friday. Unlucky or something.

I ignore both these rules now.

I wasn’t allowed to leave my room on a weekend (unless to use the toilet ) until my mum had got up . Some weekends that could be quite late and she would then have a go at me for not waking her !!

Christmas morning I had to sit and wait and stare at the pile of presents and not touch them until she had done her hair and make up got dressed and generally farted about for ages !

We had to have a roast dinner on a Sunday and she would go ape shit if she didn’t get one for some reason

Only allowed a max of 3 biscuits from the packet at one time

Sunday night was hair and bath night

Only allowed one chocolate from the tree on Christmas Day until dinner was out of the way

Shoes off at the front door and she used to have the hall carpet covered in that plastic transparent mat which was slippery as anything when it got wet

Don’t ring anyone if you can help it until after 6 when calls were cheaper

If it was raining and you came in very wet you would have to strip right down just inside the front door (I do this to my kids now to be fair )

No food in the street (common)
Bedrooms were not to be played in.
No chewing gum.
Had to ask before getting a drink of milk (squash or water was help yourself).
No ketchup in the house ever.
No knickers under nightwear.
We were banned from calling on friends to come out and play on Sunday mornings and at any point my mother thought they might be having a meal.