Rules you had in your childhood that now seem bizarre?

[Tattted]

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.

No elbows on the sofa and no leaning on the wallpaper.

I can see that some of these things are economic, and some are about politeness, but some really do sound like abusive parenting to me.

Only BBC children’s programmes, no ITV. Grange Hill was also banned. Once in secondary school no TV until after homework was done,

No Barbies as too American, Sindy was OK.

Not allowed to wash my hair myself, until I was about 15; my mum has to do it for me over the sink, and not allowed to grow it long.

@Mossstitch

Did anyone else have the 'not allowed to wash hair when on a period' or just my weird mother (along with a lot of other weird stuff😕)?!! As a greasy haired teenager this blew my mind and eventually ignored her!

@Mossstitch it wasn't just yours

I was only allowed a hair wash every two weeks and wasn't allowed to do it myself

Not allowed to use the toilet at other people's houses

Not allowed alone in a room with a boy, even when I was eighteen

Compulsory coffee for all children just before going to bed,...even the toddlers.

Only a bath on Friday nights but had to be one hour after dinner
No drinking water after eating an apple?!
Heating on only in lounge and kitchen
No baths allowed when it thundered not sure why

@AnnaSW1 coffee before bed for toddlers, that is weird!

@FrenchyQ

We were only allowed 3 eggs a week, otherwise we'd get egg bound ( constipated I think?).

Egg bound is something that happens to laying chickens!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@Balonziaga

No hairdryers in our house.

Blow drying your hair was frivolous and a bit 'tarty'
My mum had short fine hair. Mine was long and thick. Consequently I hated washing my hair as it would hang in long wet coils dripping cold water down my back for hours, no matter how much I 'towel dried' it. Also always looked awful as it was wavy with a tendency to frizz that needs blow drying.

No kitchen roll. Wasteful.

If you wanted to make a phone call, you sat on the hard backed chair in the hallway and spent a maximum of 10 mins on your call (that would be made after 6pm for cheaper rates). As the 10 minute mark approached, my dad would start pacing the hall tapping at his watch so you couldn't concentrate on what you were saying anyway.

Sheets changed once a week but midweek, you had to turn your pillowcases and duvet cover inside out to get a few days more 'wear' out of them.

Two toppings only on a jacket potato (butter counted as one) as anything else was greedy.

Our telephone could only be used in an emergency, because we couldn't tie up the line in case someone was trying to call us, and it might be an emergency.

This is because the recorder is an infernal instrument and your parents were exercising tremendous forethought.

This is very true. I once had a chest infection in the days before Christmas and ended up having to go to my GP and wait for an appointment. The local primary school recorder group had elected to come in and sit in reception and cheer us all up with their Christmas medley. By the time I had heard it all the way through several times I felt much, much worse.

Not me as my parents were fairly paid back but my friend ( she had 3 brothers / sisters ) was not allowed a dressing gown as not allowed out of their bedrooms without being fully dressed . The only time you could be in a nightie or pjs out of your bedroom was to go to the toilet during the night . She even had to dress after a bath to walk to the bedroom , then undress again to get into bed. Her Dad made that ' law ' and his wife was included 😕
Another one of his , was you had marg on your bread or jam , you couldn't have a jam sandwich with both. That was their Saturday night ' tea ' .

@Chichimcgee Oh my god you poor thing! That sounds horrendous! How did you not get scurvy and generally suffer from vitamin deficiencies?

I made a hideous , bottle green, A line skirt in needlework in my second year at secondary school. It was awful. The hem was huge which meant that I didn't grow out of it and had to wear it every year until I left for 6th form. All my friends wore the fashionable pencil type skirt with an inverted pleat at the front (1978). Really flattering. I wore my bloody awful A line skirt. I was horribly bullied. I have never worn a single item of bottle green since.

@AnnaSW1

Compulsory coffee for all children just before going to bed,...even the toddlers.

Whaaaaat

@Justmuddlingalong 🤣🤣🤣. Very similar - I wasn't allowed to wipe the static off the tv because 'it was the static that made it work'!

Not allowed orange juice - too expensive.

Only allowed sweets on an occasional Saturday. Actually grateful for that one

Not allowed to watch Tiswas - 'inappropriate'

Showers were for wealthy people. We had to make do with a weekly bath and daily face cloth washes. When I complained to my mother, she told me that daily face cloth washes were like having a bed bath in hospital and thus a better - healthier option.

Never, wber allowed to eat in the street.

@AnnaSW1

Compulsory coffee for all children just before going to bed,...even the toddlers.

What is the reasoning behind that madness???

@Queensize

No elbows on the sofa and no leaning on the wallpaper.

yup. wallpaer was fragile and expensive. I still remember the amazement when vinyl wipe clean wallpaper came out

@Cherrybomb197

Oh. And my dad was completely against me going on the pill at 15. Nothing about sex. No: he just thought it fucked with women’s hormones and made them fat and depressed

I don't think he was wrong ...

No coffee allowed, and no wearing black 🤷‍♀️

@JamSandwich0

I would be told it's too late for a bath / shower after around 8pm not sure why!

My husband had to eat everything on his plate as a child... Including condiments 🥴 not a drop could be left.

We had the no showers after 8pm rule! I found it so odd when I moved in with DH and he said he was going for a shower at 10pm, I still very rarely shower later than 8pm now.

My sister and I were never allowed to go to bed with wet hair, mum said we'd wake up with a cold.

We were always told when we were out playing we couldn't come in and out of the house, once we came in that was it we weren't allowed back out again, to this day I've no idea why.

@Sunnyday321

Not me as my parents were fairly paid back but my friend ( she had 3 brothers / sisters ) was not allowed a dressing gown as not allowed out of their bedrooms without being fully dressed . The only time you could be in a nightie or pjs out of your bedroom was to go to the toilet during the night . She even had to dress after a bath to walk to the bedroom , then undress again to get into bed. Her Dad made that ' law ' and his wife was included 😕 Another one of his , was you had marg on your bread or jam , you couldn't have a jam sandwich with both. That was their Saturday night ' tea ' .

that jam or marge thing is a hangover from the war. With my mum it was not having butter or marge with meat in a sandwich. She freely acknowledged it was a hangover from rationing but she couldn't break the habit.

@SuperSocks I have no idea, I was anaemic and quite sickly as a child but nothing major. I had tests as an adult that found I was vaguely malnourished but that was put down to undiagnosed coeliac disease. It’s taken me years to figure out a proper diet and luckily I love fruit and veg and enjoy cooking so I’m doing well now! My mum did apologise bless her she just literally didn’t have a clue.

@pascalandrapunzel

"thats sensible too, it makes the bedding wet

I’m finding this thread fascinating.

One thing that comes across is people were just as judgemental and critical of others before SM as they are now. It was just back then their immediate audience was smaller.

My mother and her social group had some very harsh views of looks and dress in the 70s. I remember her commenting on how ridiculous any woman over 30 looked with long hair or short skirts! That colouring your hair, particularly bleaching it, was really ageing. Any sort of dangly earring was common - in fact, pierced ears were too. An adult woman wearing a skirt without tights looked sluttish. Didn’t matter how hot it was, your outfit wasn’t complete without tights.

Ankle chains were considered tarty and if you had a tattoo - male or female - you must definitely be a criminal.

The rules we had in our house revolved a lot about worrying about what others might say about us as a family. Don’t eat in the street, don’t let the neighbours see you hanging around in street corners, make sure the curtains are open early because you don’t want others thinking you’re lazy and still in bed. Never answer the

^^ the wet hair in bed thing