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.

@TomPinch homosexuality was legalised in 1967.

@Georgyporky

No pierced ears when a teenager - it was "common". (I still think it looks awful on children.)

Me too, weren’t allowed until 15 and by then, my sister had changed her mind, I really don’t like to see babies or young children with pierced ears!

No help of any sort with homework. It was 'cheating'. This extended to buying things for creative projects and making models for coursework apparently. As a result I love every paper mache volcano, junk modelled map of our street, and buy loads of craft supplies.

[quote RosesAndHellebores]@TomPinch homosexuality was legalised in 1967.[/quote]
@RosesAndHellebores
I mean that schools were banned by law from promoting it, which would have had a chilling effect on schools discussing it.

@RosesAndHellebores 1967 is irrelevant when it comes to schools, it was section 28 that mattered.

@Inspectorslack

Sorry you had the same thing *@SiliconHeaven*.

I ended up anorexic.

I ended up very fat 😕

I was not allowed to eat ice cream and have a drink of coke at the same time as it would ‘make me sick’. Imagine my surprise/ horror when I learnt about the existence of a coke float !

@justasking111 Yep, I had the pudding bowl haircut too. I also had horrible coats...one like a fucking duvet and one that was actually a man's...this was in the mid 80s, I got teased and bullied at secondary school. So fucking embarrassing.

I remember my mother being so pissed off when I was 17 and I signed the consent form to have my appendix removed. The nurse she complained to looked at her like she was mental.

My grandfather had this awful toilet paper called Bronco. It was basically a stiff, greaseproof paper and didn't get you clean. I made the mistake of using it once. I know it was specifically my grandfather's because I mentioned it to my grandmother who laughed at me and said she normally kept a roll of normal toilet roll in the bathroom for herself and she was sorry she'd forgotten it had run out. This was in the late 1980s.

Clothes had to be properly aired, even tights otherwise you would get rheumatism.
Neighbours were deemed to be common if they put clothes on the washing line on a Sunday.
No eating in the street.
Lights had to be switched off as it was wasteful to leave them on without reason.
Knickers and bra’s or periods were never discussed. I had to buy my own bra with my paper round money.
We often had mulligatawny soup which used to make me heave, but we couldn’t leave the table until it was finished.
Hugs were almost non existent.
Too much attention was paid to what other people might think.

Told until 17 when I finally got a pair 0f jeans I was too fat for them, was told I was big until I left at 22 to go to college. 35 years later I looked at some photos of me aged 19 I looked so thin, in fact I cried. The photos were destroyed.

@thenightsky

No cold drinks with fish and chips because 'it'll set the grease'

That has genuinely made me laugh out loud

I used to phone my grandparents to let them know I had arrived home safely but the rule was to give three rings and then put the phone down

Never allowed to put the top light on. Ever. Lamps only.
No loaf of bread or milk bottle on the table.

Sunday afternoon tea ..tinned salmon on open breadcakes,bit of pork pie and stackers( pringles shoddy cousin!) Saturday tea crumpets with best butter (lurpak) on a toasting fork.Best days of the week,
Dad used to go for two pints every sunday lunch to be back home by 1 o clock for lunch, He always bought us crisps back and when the ice cream man came at 4,30 we took a bowl and had 50ps worth of icecream to bring home and share, Between 2 and 3 on a sunday only mum and dad went for a nap as they were tired,,mmmhhh! We got the TV and could watch whatever we wanted but we couldn;t play out when they were "asleep" as they needed to keep an eye on us???!!!

School summer holidays. No question (1980s) go out all day but be back for dinner. No checks on where we’d been. Total freedom. I was 12 in 1980.

We weren’t allowed any food after school until my father came home from work so we could all have dinner together.

@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!

That was quite a common one when I was young. My friends' mums all said the same.

I had a friend who had a very strict timetable which she had to stick to. Every day at 4.00pm she had to do a poo. She wasn't allowed out until she had "performed".

Gosh I can relate to so many of these. Periods and bras were never discussed. Tampons were for married women only and I was not allowed to buy or chose my own clothes until I was 16.
Baths were allowed twice a week- we had no shower- and you would catch double pneumonia if you had a bath or washed your hair if you were having your period. I was not allowed to use deodorant or conditioner although I had a secret stash under my bed. My life changed dramatically when I left for Uni at 18.

I think I'm too young for many of these although some of them remind me of my grandparents!

My granny used to wash our hair in the sink when we stayed with her, as still did her own hair that way until she could no longer bend over. Did no-one else do this when they were on limited baths/showers?

Oh yes, no fizzy drinks Coke, Pepsi etc as they were "American" so unacceptable. But the Sodastream with disgusting fake cola drink was lauded as an amazing innovation.

Having dairy and citrus together will curdle in your stomach. Still can't bring myself to drink fresh orange and cereal
With milk together.

I had one coat. My school uniform one. All through my teens. It was got when I was 13 and until I was 18 and left home that navy gaberdine was the only coat I had.

we had to eat a couple of slices of bread and butter before we could have our tinned fruit and Bird's custard