What are some trivial and stupid things your parents would give you shit for ? What are some stupid rules they had ?

[nadia11]

Most of us have decent relationships with our parents but most parents in general give us shit about the most trivial things.

When me and my sisters as well as my two brothers lived with my parents until our early twenties, our parents(especially our mom) would give us shit for not brushing our hair even when we wouldn't go out and be in the house all day.

Home should be a safe haven. You shouldn't be worried about your appearance at all but our parents expected us to look somewhat presentable all the time.

Another stupid expectation. We were expected to be up by 9 AM on weekends. Now that we don't live with them anymore, we can sleep in till whatever time we want on weekends. 10 AM, 11 AM, 12 PM.

And also when we were teenagers, our parents gave us shit for refusing to let our younger cousins play in our gaming consoles. They would also give us shit for not letting them play in our cellphones.

We couldn't lay down on the couches.

One time our mom gave us shit for not cooking for our older brothers.

We were not allowed to polish out toenails and we were not allowed to wear open high heels or sandals because they claimed that women's feet are one of the things that causes random guys to lust after women. That's why we couldn't be barefoot or wear flip flops whenever our fathers guy friends would show up. We had to cover our feet. Apparently guys get sexually aroused by feet.

We couldn't have boyfriends. We weren't even allowed to have guy platonic friends.

We were not allowed to go to the beaches.

Couldn't watch Eastenders or Grange Hill, because the accents were considered 'frightfully common.'
I wasn't allowed a boyfriend until I left home at 18, which just turned me into a liar as of course I did have boyfriends, I just had to be very devious and secretive.
She was pretty cool on everything else.

Fuck! That's grim 🙁

We weren't allowed to be known by shortened versions of our names, whereas both of them were.

I never heard either of them were ever referred to by the long forms of their names. Neither of them saw the double standard in that until we (my sister and I) firmly pointed it out as adults.

Nobody was at all bothered about elbows on the table, as long as you weren't actually leaning so far across it that you virtually had your back to your neighbour.

Farting and burping were fine too unless there were visitors.

Not allowed to have black patent leather shoes (common apparently)
Not allowed to speak with a local accent (ditto)
Not allowed to like " pop" music ( all rubbish)
Not allowed to have pierced ears, even as older teen ( common also)

Mum was very against me walking on grass with bare feet.

Also was against breathing. Not joking - she didn't like me being close to her as she didn't like me breathing on her.

Having too many clothes- eg 1 pair of jeans was enough, ditto 1 skirt enough (we weren't poor!).
When I got my 1st Saturday job I bought myself a skirt and she pointed out that I already had a skirt. I pointed out that it was my money to spend.

Amongst many possibly the strangest

Not allowed to put vinegar on pastry or steak pudding!!
First night of living in my own house was celebrated joyfully with vinegar!

@RelativePitch Yep, Grange Hill was definitely considered common, although shown on the BBC which was not common and therefore posed a bit of a dilemma.

We weren't allowed to drink coke. Lemonade, or any other fizzy drink was ok

They call you on the phone at 9 AM to wake you up after moving out ? Then you should put your phone on do not disturb.

Actually the main thing was not eating things "properly". For example, nibbling the chocolate off a kitkat was a big disgrace.

What is the elbows on the table thing?! Why is it possibly seen as rude?

It's the very epitome of 'I say it's rude because my parents said it was because their parents said it was'.

It makes no sense to me. Someone decided one day that it was rude and bam, generations destined to be uncomfortable at their own kitchen table.

We were not allowed to polish out toenails and we were not allowed to wear open high heels or sandals because they claimed that women's feet are one of the things that causes random guys to lust after women. That's why we couldn't be barefoot or wear flip flops whenever our fathers guy friends would show up. We had to cover our feet. Apparently guys get sexually aroused by feet.
We couldn't have boyfriends. We weren't even allowed to have guy platonic friends.
We were not allowed to go to the beaches.

I think I would be focusing more on these things, which indicate that your parents were abusive and possibly insane, than on the trivial stuff like being expected to brush your hair every day.

I never thought this was abusive. Just absurd.

Being sad or upset. I was expected to be smiling and happy all the time. I'm fairly sure I was seen as a problem child because I couldn't produce the goods.

We were allowed to watch Grange Hill but a friend's mum was very against it, and also Enid Blyton.

We weren't allowed to watch the Simpsons until we were 12

Lots of these rules are awful and very sad. But tbh I do make my children brush their hair everyday😬I'd prefer them to get changed out of PJS too regardless of leaving the house or not but I am not too fussed about that. Hair for me needs to be brushed, same as showering consistently, as it's basic self care to me. Especially for little ones, it'll get knotted so easily if I don't insist!

I can't think of any for my own parents. They've always been very reasonable and loving and I am grateful for that. Although they were the parents that would make my siblings and I wake up at 8am max every day unless we had had a late night so as to start the morning early. I don't think it was that stupid tbh because it gave us a proper sleep schedule which I think is so important in your teens. We were grumpy about it though! I'm not as strict with my own children but I still think a good sleep schedule is key

@Pinkruler My parents encouraged us to read anything, but the Mr Men books were always a big no no, which struck me as massively unfair because everyone else had them. It wasn’t until I tried to buy them for my own children that I realised how incredibly badly written they were.

Wow soooooo many of these, and also inexplicably I wasn’t allowed to used deodorant or tampons, which was horrendous. I had to sneak out and buy these things and then keep them hidden, my stepmother was seriously insane/extraordinarily abusive.

I'm so sorry 😔 not being allowed tampons was absolutely awful, I wasn't either and had horribly heavy, unmanageable periods from the get-go. I used to dispose of ruined clothes in public bins after getting into loads of trouble when my mum found bloody clothes hidden in my room, I was constantly bleeding everywhere and didn't know what to do about it.

Generally, mum was quite reasonable, but tampons were absolutely forbidden. Life changing when I finally had my own money and could buy them!

Same here.

My DF was very into U and Non-U language. We were not allowed to say pardon, serviette, dessert, toilet, lounge etc...
So not only was English not my first language, but I had to remember what words were acceptable in my household and expected everywhere else. If I'd ever said 'what?' at school or at my friends' houses, the adults would have been very swift to say 'Don't say what, say pardon.'
But to say pardon at home would have been sneered at.

No milk bottles on the table.

We had a milk jug.

For some reason cartons were fine.

Breathing.

No drinks after 6. I was a bed wetter and the Dr advised this. I remember sneaking a drink from the bathroom taps I was so thirsty.
Eat everything on your plate.
Ask before leaving the table.
No elbows on the table.
No reading at the table.
Use cutlery correctly and place together on plate when finished.