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Original poster

Rules you had in your childhood that now seem bizarre?

999 replies

Tattted · 05/02/2022 17:20

As a child/teen living with my parents we were actively discouraged from showering/bathing everyday. It was really frowned upon and seen as unnecessary and probably a bit extravagant. I know probably as a young child I didn’t need to but as I got older and even after I turned 18 and was still living at home they would have been a bit annoyed about it if I wanted to shower everyday . I should say where we live has no water charges so it wasn’t about that. Now as an adult and a mother myself it seems so strange. I realise it’s probably because my parents both came from large families that had very little money and, back then, no hot running water. Even know my parents bath weekly but sink wash every day.

OP posts:

MondeoFan · 05/02/2022 21:02

Oh and switch the tv off and lights off if thunder and lightning were forecast

goodgodlemon · 05/02/2022 21:03

Just remembered another one. Only allowed to watch BBC and not ITV kids programmes. So Swap Shop and not Tiswas, which looked like much more fun (sorry Noel). And I never once watched an episode of Magpie

AngelinaFibres · 05/02/2022 21:03

Reading this thread to my husband.
He wasn't allowed an Action Man because he was a doll and boys who played with toys would end up gay.
No television at home for his whole childhood .His father wanted his tea on the table the second he got home from work and didn't want anything to distract from this mission.
Another one from my family.
My grandparents would bring a box of Milk tray or Dairy Milk at Christmas. We were allowed one and then had to wait at least twenty minutes before we got another one. I still choose toffee or fudge from chocolate boxes as they last a bit longer than soft centres.
Not starting the second layer before the entire first layer has gone. As a teacher I got lots of boxes of chocolates at Christmas. Absolutely loved only eating the ones I liked and not eating the orange or coffee creams ever. The thrill of eating 4 at once has never left me.
No TV if you were ill. I very much enjoy wrapping myself I a blanket on the sofa and watching daytime TV 50 years later. It feels naughty.

wheresmyshoe · 05/02/2022 21:07

My grandmother wouldn't allow us to bring Barbie dolls into her house when we visited because she thought Barbie was "an American tart", Sindy dolls were fine.

Powertoyou · 05/02/2022 21:08

I wasn’t allowed court shoes that showed the crease of toes.
No sitting down during the day, housework to be done again ad again.
Females not to wear trousers.
Good clothes be worn for church or flying.
No baths or hair wash on a period. No tampons.

No steam irons or duvets.
No convenience or foreign foods. ever. Not allowed to eat fish and chips from a shop , very common.
No nail polish or allowed to pluck eyebrows.

Daenerys77 · 05/02/2022 21:09

We had to bash up the shell after eating a boiled egg. Apparently witches would steal discarded eggshells and make boats, to sail out to sea and frighten the sailors.

OpheliaTrousersnake · 05/02/2022 21:10

@AngelinaFibres

Reading this thread to my husband. He wasn't allowed an Action Man because he was a doll and boys who played with toys would end up gay.

No television at home for his whole childhood .His father wanted his tea on the table the second he got home from work and didn't want anything to distract from this mission. Another one from my family. My grandparents would bring a box of Milk tray or Dairy Milk at Christmas. We were allowed one and then had to wait at least twenty minutes before we got another one. I still choose toffee or fudge from chocolate boxes as they last a bit longer than soft centres. Not starting the second layer before the entire first layer has gone. As a teacher I got lots of boxes of chocolates at Christmas. Absolutely loved only eating the ones I liked and not eating the orange or coffee creams ever. The thrill of eating 4 at once has never left me. No TV if you were ill. I very much enjoy wrapping myself I a blanket on the sofa and watching daytime TV 50 years later. It feels naughty.

Oh no! We were allowed TV if we had proven that we were genuinely ill (by virtue of high temp or D&V). Then it was TV and the Sick Blanket on the sofa in the Drawing Room which we were not otherwise allowed in. I used to read Country Life and watch Dorothy Sleightholme's Kitchen on the very rare days off school. All the 'adult' stuff that we never otherwise got to do.

QueenofDestruction · 05/02/2022 21:11

I was not allowed to wear black clothing, black was only for adults.

AngelinaFibres · 05/02/2022 21:12

I wasn't allowed a tiny tears doll or barbie, or sindy. My granny bought me a Tressy doll from a jumble sale. She had a long pony tail that you could move in and out of her head by turning a wheel in her back. I thought she was fantastic. My parents were appalled.

Cuck00soup · 05/02/2022 21:12

Hair could only be washed at the kitchen sink, never the shower. It might block the pipes.

Always had to be up at 7:30 to unlock the gates, even at weekends. (Parents had a business) still meant no lie ins for me ever.

No friends upstairs. No toys upstairs. Could only play in the hall or kitchen.

TV was in a separate room and I had to ask to watch it and make my case. The answer to TOTP, fame or the Young Ones was a resounding no.

Fizbosshoes · 05/02/2022 21:14

Not exactly a rule but when teen DD was bemoaning my apparent lack of style the other day I was reminded that I don't think I saw my mum ever wear trousers at all, until i was well into my teens if not later. Day wear was a blouse and knee length - mid calf length A line skirt. A slightly longer skirt or dress would be worn for church, going on a train journey, parents eve or going out for a meal.

user1471554720 · 05/02/2022 21:14

This rule of not being really sick unless you had d&v, couldn't get out of bed. We had this when I was young. I even extended this rule to my working life. I would go to work feeling dizzy with a bad cold. Nearly crashed the car once. Couldn't answer the phone as was hoarse and sneezing every second. Spread cold all around the office. I would come home and go to bed at 7pm trying to rest for the following work day. This was especially true when I was working and living at home. I used to wonder why colleagues never had a sniffle but took plenty of sick leave....

Wfh has been a Godsend for me as commuting to work with a bad cold is exhausting and I feel guilty if I take sick leave. Also I would hate to ask a dr to sign me off for a day with a cold. We cannot take a random sick day and have to get certified sick.

thefirstmrsrochester · 05/02/2022 21:15

Wasn’t allowed makeup/hair products/deodorant at all. Had to wait till I was old enough to get a Saturday job to have the money to buy these things for myself.

Wasn’t allowed my ears pierced until I was 16.

Wasn’t allowed to go on any sleepovers until I was 16.

Wasn’t allowed to wear trousers until I was 16.

I went fucking nuts after my 16th birthday.

liveforsummer · 05/02/2022 21:16

Salad and all unwrapped Pick'n'Mix type sweets had to left to stand in Milton for 30 minutes before we were allowed to eat them. I was 18 and had left home before I realised that salad did not need to taste of bleach

I read a thread on here not long ago about eating strawberries straight from a punnet and some posters actually still do this now with soft fruit and the likes - crazy!

godmum56 · 05/02/2022 21:17

Oh yes, always smart clothes for church and never trousers on women for church. The older members of the congregation still wore hats and gloves...as an aside in 2000 the Crown Estate hosted two Royal Garden parties, one in Windsor and one in (I think) Edinburgh. They were for people who rented Crown Estate properties. We went to the Windsor one and there were all kinds of people there...big business, the forces, small shopkeepers, farmers and so on. dress code was very relaxed...I can't remember the wording now but it was something like "smart casual, hats not required" I made up my mind rto do the thing properly so had a lovely sage green suit with a cream hat and gloves....apart from The Queen and her ladies, I was the only female I saw there weating gloves! We met Prince Philip who was lovely. There wasn't a receiving line or anything, they just suddenly appeared and started wandering through the crowd.

godmum56 · 05/02/2022 21:20

@QueenofDestruction

I was not allowed to wear black clothing, black was only for adults.

My Dad hated black clothes. He didn't ban them but didn't like to see any of us wearing them. I suspect it was something from his childhood, he had been in an orphanage and the little bits he would tell us were not nice.

WinterGold · 05/02/2022 21:20

We had no hair washing during a period rule too. As a teenager with lanky greasy hair, I wanted to wash it every day but my mother told me my hair would fall out if I did. Since I left home, I have washed it very day and I still have plenty left!

My parents were very reluctant to have central hearing as apparently, people who did always had colds! Also, having the fire on full blast in the living room whilst the rest of the house was freezing; a right pain because the telephone was always in the chilly hallway.

Watching TV in the dark - and not too close - because it was bad for your eyesight.

Being told not to eat acidic food at the same time as milk products as they would curdle in your stomach.

Not allowed to do washing on a Sunday because it was unlucky.That rule must have an origin in a religious sense.

My grandmother told me that you should never sleep in moonlight as it would make you into a lunatic! I was petrified as a child and always was very fussy that the curtains were pulled tightly because of this!

GoodbyeKat · 05/02/2022 21:21

Please may I leave the table, followed by thank you

TV went off when visitors arrived

Periods were referred to as wotsits (ffs)

Sanitary towels the size of a fucking mattress is what mother brought us, thank god my sister was working and used tampons so I used to take hers.

Bath and hair wash Sunday and bed at 7:15 even when I was a teen!!! Hideous

Sex education by mother was “you put the sticky part of the towel onto your knickers”

5128gap · 05/02/2022 21:21

Baths were to have no more than a couple of inches of water. Otherwise my dad would apparantly have had to 'work night and day' to pay for the immersion heater.
Women and girls only ever got one egg. Men and boys always two.
The whole family had to sit in the back room even though there wasn't enough seats, and the 'good front room' was empty.
All adults had to be referred to as auntie and uncle. Calling them by their first name was 'cheeky'
Top of the pops had to be turned off if grandad was there in case he saw men in make up.
At a push, you could leave veg if you were full, but could never ever leave meat.
No nail varnish on toes. Very common. Also very common: eating in the street, ankle chains and bare legs.

RadioactiveEmeralds · 05/02/2022 21:22

Why in the world???

Clevs · 05/02/2022 21:24

Having to sit at the table until everyone had finished eating. My dad was always last.

Asking to get down from the table.

Only allowed sweets on a Friday and they were kept in an old ice cream tub on top of the fridge.

Not allowed to play outside on a Sunday afternoon as it was a day of rest. On the rare occasion I WAS allowed out I had to play quietly in the back garden.

Everybody had 'their' seat in the lounge. If you sat on someone else's chair or place on the sofa you had to move if they came in.

I wasn't allowed slip-on shoes until I was about 10/11 years old. I thought I was so grown up when I got my first pair. They were red and actually had a strap across the top of my foot but it could be moved to go round the back of the heel.

I wasn't allowed to wear anything blue, apparently because it didn't suit me. But I think it was because I am the only girl and my mum wanted me in pink.

youhavenoshameonyourface · 05/02/2022 21:25

@SoRuff63

Saying “I’m full” was vulgar. We had to say “l have had an ample sufficiency”.

That is fantastic.

I'm beginning this as a new rule in my house

OpheliaTrousersnake · 05/02/2022 21:26

Reading through this all again, I think I had a narrow escape in various ways.

My parents were very young when they had us, so were pretty 'meh' (though this didn't exist then, obviously) about shoes, clothes, Sindy/Barbie, TOTP, etc, etc, etc.

The basics were: meals at the table; school unless high temp/D&V; go to bed at the 'right' time, but read for as long as you like; hair wash on Sunday nights; don't sit there like a lemon but don't talk too much at dinner parties; if you have a drink when you eat soup, you will be sick. I inflicted the same rules on my DC, and they seem to have survived.

SuperSocks · 05/02/2022 21:27

No audiobooks (remember cassette tapes? Those were the days!) in the car unless we were on the motorway. Which now as an adult I do kind of 'get', but they were the only thing that distracted me from my car sickness. So many hours of feeling rough could have been avoided.

godmum56 · 05/02/2022 21:27

@GoodbyeKat