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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:
Itsnotdeep · 05/02/2022 19:22

no eating in the street
no ITV

Half a mars bar shared with my sister
We had teeny tiny little glasses of "breakfast juice" (fruit juice)

We had baths on a Sunday night too - this wasn't a rule as far as I was aware, just the way we lived.

BalloonSlayer · 05/02/2022 19:22

My Dad also went bonkers if anyone moved his rear-view mirror, and he was generally an extremely mild-mannered man.

I remember the first time I jogged a boyfriend's rear view mirror and went into a paroxysm of apologies. His face! He said "Erm... it's OK," adjusted it and drove off. No drama. At all. I was stunned. Stunned!

MintJulia · 05/02/2022 19:22

We weren't allowed to watch ITV, and no eating in the street.

Itsnotdeep · 05/02/2022 19:23

There was a lock on our phone too, but I can't remember why.

DedalusBloom · 05/02/2022 19:26

@craftyminer

None of us were allowed to learn the recorder at school. Me and my twin brother (in the same class) used to have to read quietly in the corner while everyone else did music.
This is because the recorder is an infernal instrument and your parents were exercising tremendous forethought.

I learned the recorder at school and regularly tormented my parents (and later discovered, also neighbours) with endless renditions of Greensleeves at 6am.

SequinnedShawl · 05/02/2022 19:27

Saturday night bath and hair wash ready for Church the next day. No talking at the table over dinner. No water with dinner because you'll fill up on it and won't eat your meal. Couldn't have school friends over to play because "you don't need friends when you've got family" Confused

Ducksurprise · 05/02/2022 19:27

A whole room for best. We struggled for space in the back room whilst the front room lay empty. I only ever went in there on Christmas night and the day my mothee died. It always smelt musty

midsomermurderess · 05/02/2022 19:27

Not being allowed to watch tv in the evenings. We had to go to our rooms and do homework.

feellikeanalien · 05/02/2022 19:29

No watching the TV or going to the shops on a Sunday.

If we ever went on a plane (which didn't happen very often) you had to wear smart clothes.

Always saying "grace" before a meal and having to say "please may I leave the table" at the end. DD and I only sit at a table now if we're in a restaurant!Smile

Also the TV was turned off at mealtimes and everyone had to sit at the table. (Not actually a bad thing!)

bloodywhitecat · 05/02/2022 19:30

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.

Tdcp · 05/02/2022 19:30

There's a lot of folk who weren't allowed to watch ITV 😂

Easterbunnyiswindowshopping · 05/02/2022 19:31

My dm wouldn't put the emersion heater on very often. Prob costs as it was just us 2..i couldn't wash my hair or bath very often. I used to wait until she left for work and boil kettle after kettle.
I left home at 17 and 1 week old. I have therefore washed my hair every day for over 33 years now.. Every single day.
Once in a disabled loo sink in motorway services abroad! Dd helped me! My dd's use copious bottles of shampoo etc..

Cattoes · 05/02/2022 19:31

Had to take my brother to school even if it meant I would be late for school. Was not allowed to drink any of my brother's juice or eat his cereals, water and Kwik saves own brand wheetabix for me. Had to make my own way to friends houses- we lived rurally so this meant walking four miles often and hoping their parents would take me home. Had to hand over half my wages from my weekend jobs and a third of my EMA. Wasn't allowed to put pans or cups in the dishwasher,these had to be hand washed. No coming home a second later than 8pm unless I was at work. No going out with anyone who wasn't local or working class or a valleys lad. If we were expecting guests we weren't allowed to sit on the furniture, to keep it nice. Eat everything on my plate, even if it meant sitting there til midnight. I had to do most of the housework. Mainly because they were inebriated and couldn't be arsed. If any of these rules were broken there would be such a bollocking. They really disapproved of my now DH because his dad has a PHD. Thankfully I'm no contact and have been for 16 years, for a myriad of other reasons as well as these combined.
I take huge joy out of drinking orange juice and I buy myself fancy Kellogg's cereals now.

Mommabear20 · 05/02/2022 19:32

No laying on the sofa if you were ill, you could be ill only in your own bedroom!

I wasn't allowed to use tampons until I was old enough to get a job and buy my own as DM deemed them unnecessary. Not ideal when you had gymnastics training 3 times a week so had t miss 3 classes a month! 🤦‍♀️

You only eat Turkey at Christmas! Never during the year!

Riverlee · 05/02/2022 19:35

I’d forgotten that. Fizzy drinks were only for birthdays and Christmas for us also. I’ve wondered since if it was because they were relatively more expensive than they are today.

Holothane · 05/02/2022 19:35

No chip butties no dunking of biscuits, no posters on bedroom walls, clothes chosen for you I had some hideous stuff. No choice on the tv. Wasn’t allowed friends were we lived. I made do with my school..

Georgyporky · 05/02/2022 19:37

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

GrandmasCat · 05/02/2022 19:39

We were not allowed to go to McDonalds at all, food for dogs apparently, a young aunt who felt sorry for us used to say she was taking us to the park drove us to McD for a clandestine happy meal.

Georgyporky · 05/02/2022 19:40

No Tampax ever !!!

I luckily had a very sensible Aunt Rose who explained everything, & persuaded her SIL (my not so DM) to buy them for me.

liveforsummer · 05/02/2022 19:40

I remember at my cousins we were only allowed one small drink with meals and no other time. I remember being so thirsty when there. Being forced to finish meals. I can't imagine forcing my full dc to keep eating when their body is telling them to stop

Nanny67 · 05/02/2022 19:40

I was only allowed to watch top of the pops on a Thursday evening and the Muppets on a Sunday. This was around 1978.

Foolsrule · 05/02/2022 19:41

I still don’t get the no washing whilst on a period one. Whole generations of girls have been abused like this, it’s horrendous! Imagine being covered in dry, caked on blood and not being able to wash for the best part of a week… Confused

godmum56 · 05/02/2022 19:41

@The2Omicronnies

It didn’t suffice to switch the socket for hair straighteners off at the wall, we had to physically unplug it.
this is still a good idea.
MostIneptThatEverStepped · 05/02/2022 19:43

@Tdcp

There's a lot of folk who weren't allowed to watch ITV 😂
Yeah it wasn't really approved of in my house either 😂

In later life my mum changed some of these rules when she lived by herself and was a devotee of Corrie and Emmerdale for a while. She still looked down on Brookside of course 😉

Hyenaormeercat · 05/02/2022 19:43

Thought of another, not allowed out to play on a Sunday. We could play quietly in the garden only. From about 10 I was allowed to go for bike rides but only on my own not with friends, I often rode to the football pitches to watch the Sunday league.