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Original poster

Stupid rules from your childhood

88 replies

Knifer · 21/05/2022 21:14

This evening I have been reminded that my parents and theirs had a weird rule that children were not allowed to sit on the sofa. We had to sit on the floor unless we were invited to sit up on the furniture.

I also remember if we had family over for dinner, children had to sit at a different table, and if there was ever a buffet, children were last to eat.

I have never enforced any of this with my children.

What stupid rules were there when you were a kid?

OP posts:
FabulousKilljoys · 21/05/2022 23:09

Oh and no friends allowed over to play in the house. I hated that rule most of all.

bluespottyladybird · 21/05/2022 23:13

If we were out playing then we could only come inside once and once we were inside we weren't allowed to go back out again. To this day I've no idea why.

CherryRipe1 · 22/05/2022 00:29

thegreylady · 21/05/2022 23:01

I can’t remember a single unreasonable rule! Mind you my favourite evening meal was liver with onion gravy, mash and cabbage! I have a school diary from when I was 9 and one entry reads,”Valerie B laughed because I like liver.”

Your school diary entry is the funniest thing I've read for some time. 🤣🤣

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Families
sashh · 22/05/2022 00:51

No children's ITV.

Not allowed to use the word 'protestant' we had to say, 'non catholic'.

Not allowed in parents' bedroom unless it was to take a cup of tea and a cigarette to my mum on a morning.

Not allowed to practise the recorder (totally understandable) but not allowed to not do recorder lessons.

MardyOldGoth · 22/05/2022 02:50

I was allowed my ears pierced at 11. I wasn't allowed a second earlobe piercing as they were trashy apparently, but I was allowed to wear fake earrings where a second piercing would go. So it wasn't that my mum was opposed to me having my ears pierced at all, or that she was opposed to me wearing 2 or more earrings, just opposed to me having more than one hole pierced in my ears. I'm still trying to work out the logic 30 years later!

Her mum apparently banned her from trimming or filing her nails on a Friday for some reason, so I guess in comparison her weird rule was pretty sane!

Applegreenb · 22/05/2022 03:01

@FabulousKilljoys @thegreylady what was so dangerous? Where you ever given a reason?

im super curious about this

Topseyt123 · 22/05/2022 03:27

We weren't allowed to be known by shortened versions of our names. Even though my parents were both only ever known by shortened versions of their names.

I have a name which doesn't really shorten, but my sister's does. If any of her friends were heard calling her by the short form then my Dad would publicly correct them. Which was cringeworthy.

It is only since we have been adults and have repeatedly pointed it out that they accepted (begrudgingly at first) how silly and unreasonable that was, and what a glaring double standard.

IamEarthymama · 22/05/2022 03:46

@Applegreenb @FabulousKilljoys @thegreylady
I think the reason girls and women weren’t allowed to wash their hair whilst having a period was a legacy from the days of coal fires and bathing in front of the fire etc.
People thought you were more vulnerable to catching colds and flu whilst menstruating and that sitting around with damp hair was ‘dangerous’.

100 years ago you had to pay to see a doctor so becoming ill was something to be avoided to the best of one’s ability. My mother’s younger sister died because they could not raise the doctor’s fee. My grandparents carried this guilt for the rest of their lives and were really strict about avoiding coughs and colds.

Lots of family rules that seem senseless to a younger generation probably have their origins in something similar.

sashh · 22/05/2022 03:54

bluespottyladybird · 21/05/2022 23:13

If we were out playing then we could only come inside once and once we were inside we weren't allowed to go back out again. To this day I've no idea why.

Probably to stop you dragging dirt through the house going to the loo every few mins.

WTF475878237NC · 22/05/2022 04:46

Lots of family rules that seem senseless to a younger generation probably have their origins in something similar.

^ I was thinking this. Also explains legacy of why children eat last too, as a throwback to adults needing the energy for manual labour jobs.

Khalas · 22/05/2022 05:46
  • No pierced ears as it looked common
  • No ankle bracelets - prostitutes wore these - same with red nail polish
  • No NafNaf bomber jackets as it was something to do with an SoS phrase which might confuse people 🤔
  • No watching Gladiators (encourages violence) Blind Date (common) in fact very little ITV watching
My parents had some strange ideas Confused
supercheers · 22/05/2022 06:02

We were not allowed to watch Grange Hill or Marmalade Atkins (I think this was the name) because it showed children mis-behaving and would give us ideas.

We had to wear 'party dresses' to a party which meant that from about age 10 I couldn't ever go to a party because everyone else was in jeans, kickers and Benetton jumpers and I would have died in my frilly dress (she probably would have tried to put ringlets in my hair too).

I started work very young, bought my own clothes and left home as soon as I could. My daughter can wear what she likes!

GillyGumbo · 22/05/2022 06:11

Maximum 3 sheets of toilet paper (I was always confused as to whether this was per visit or per wipe, but used whatever I needed anyway)

No talking at the dinner table, unless spoken to

No drinks at the dinner table

Fizzy pop permitted at Sunday lunch and on no other days

Had to greet one another with "Good morning <name>"; a casually thrown or generalised "morning" to no one in particular would result in a bollocking

Not allowed in parents bedroom or bathroom because THAT'S PRIVATE

My stepdad was a funny old stick. I rather foolishly back chatted him once and he chased me up the stairs, that was the only time he ever smacked me! I was about 7.

KarenLovesRosario · 22/05/2022 06:19

thegreylady · 21/05/2022 23:02

Just remembered I wasn’t allowed to wash my hair when as having a period. It was very dangerous…

@thegreylady
@FabulousKilljoys
😮
What happened if you got caught in the rain ?

00100001 · 22/05/2022 06:24

godmum56 · 21/05/2022 22:53

we had this subject recently

🚔

KarenLovesRosario · 22/05/2022 06:31

IamEarthymama · 22/05/2022 03:46

@Applegreenb @FabulousKilljoys @thegreylady
I think the reason girls and women weren’t allowed to wash their hair whilst having a period was a legacy from the days of coal fires and bathing in front of the fire etc.
People thought you were more vulnerable to catching colds and flu whilst menstruating and that sitting around with damp hair was ‘dangerous’.

100 years ago you had to pay to see a doctor so becoming ill was something to be avoided to the best of one’s ability. My mother’s younger sister died because they could not raise the doctor’s fee. My grandparents carried this guilt for the rest of their lives and were really strict about avoiding coughs and colds.

Lots of family rules that seem senseless to a younger generation probably have their origins in something similar.

@IamEarthymama
Makes perfect sense, how terribly sad for them.
My Gran ❤️ used to go mad if we didn't take our coats off inside straight away because she worried we wouldn't feel the benefit going back out and we'd get a chill or "Miss it" as she used to say.

MrsMigginsCat · 22/05/2022 06:32

Not allowed to watch Grange Hill because the actors had 'common' accents. Had to eat all your food even if it was something you didn't like. My DM was a convenience food queen and used to serve Smash a lot. I used to hate finding the dried up lumps where it hadn't been mixed properly. Not allowed to go to bed with damp hair. Only allowed a bath on a Sunday.

sashh · 22/05/2022 06:38

supercheers · 22/05/2022 06:02

We were not allowed to watch Grange Hill or Marmalade Atkins (I think this was the name) because it showed children mis-behaving and would give us ideas.

We had to wear 'party dresses' to a party which meant that from about age 10 I couldn't ever go to a party because everyone else was in jeans, kickers and Benetton jumpers and I would have died in my frilly dress (she probably would have tried to put ringlets in my hair too).

I started work very young, bought my own clothes and left home as soon as I could. My daughter can wear what she likes!

A few years ago, well OK a couple of decades ago, a friend of mine was taking her DD to a party, DD was about 10 and was wearing the bridesmaid dress she had.

When my friend saw the other girls she thought, "Oh no, DD will want to go home and get changed" because all the others wearing little dresses with handbags, or jeans.

BUT they took one look at her DD in the posh frock and declared she was like a princess.

LaurieFairyCake · 22/05/2022 06:52

Some of these rules are fine Grin

KarenLovesRosario · 22/05/2022 06:58

OMG I've just remembered I wasn't allowed to wear jeans until I was 14.
Then it was a pair with bright yellow stitching down the sides from Tesco home & wear, for those not old enough to remember I can assure you it was nothing like F&F etc at Tesco now.. really not.
Ahhh but I loved those jeans.

DropYourSword · 22/05/2022 07:02

KarenLovesRosario · 22/05/2022 06:19

@thegreylady
@FabulousKilljoys
😮
What happened if you got caught in the rain ?

Show quote history

Drink a piña colada. Thems the rules.

Mummyoflittledragon · 22/05/2022 07:04

Only allowed to wear ‘best’ clothes for best despite hardly having any clothes… dd just has clothes, albeit some are not to worn to get mucky in etc.
Not allowed in parents’ bedroom, felt really odd if I did, like a real privilege. Dd and her friends otoh come in my room and still lie on the bed with me sometimes - they’re 13.
Not allowed to take money out of my mother’s purse (with permission). I had to hand the purse to her, which made me feel totally distrusted - a recurring theme. I just tell dd to get X out of my purse. She will tell me if she’s taken something and now has dh’s cc her phone. I soooo hated not being trusted.
Not allowed to watch Tiswas. Dd introduced me to Scottish Peppa Pig when around 11. I thought it was hilarious, she watched a couple of episodes and got bored… forbidden fruit is so much more alluring.
Not allowed to be vegetarian, which included holding down and force feeding - sibling, not me. I tried to never defy parental control as I was too scared of being hit and thus pretty obedient. Dd is naturally pretty ‘good’, so was I. However, she’s allowed to be herself.

The issue with trying to list rules is that there often weren’t explicit ones or the rules changed. I just found out after the event I’d done something wrong and was punished or pocket money withheld.

KarenLovesRosario · 22/05/2022 07:06

@DropYourSword
😆

whiteroseredrose · 22/05/2022 07:09

KarenLovesRosario · 21/05/2022 22:12

Not allowed to watch ITV (then it was regional) as my mother said it was a communist channel. So just BBC1 &2 growing up.

This is hilarious @KarenLovesRosario. I wasn't allowed to watch ITV because it was a nasty capitalist channel.

KarenLovesRosario · 22/05/2022 07:10

@Mummyoflittledragon
Being a veggie was just not up for discussion in my family, I would have been sent to my room just for asking.
Left home at 15, it was the first thing I did.