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Original poster

Rules that YOUR parents had

61 replies

sleepsforwimps · 31/03/2009 08:43

Come confess, is there a rule they had for you, no matter how big or small, that the child/rebel in you just refuses to apply to your own kids/household?

I was not allowed to sit on the arms of the sofa... I really wanted to... but apparently I would have broken them. I know it's slightly pathetic but I get a strange delight in sitting on the arms of my sofa, it's my sofa and I'll break the arms if I want to

Anyone else slightly pathetic?

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shootfromthehip · 31/03/2009 08:48

Oh the list is endless. My parents were ruthlessly in control of my every move. Finishing everything on my plate/ my kids plates makes me have a mini rebellion every day. They were terrible for the 'not speaking until you're spoken to' thing too and I actually want my kids to have opinions and I want to hear them. I could go on and on...

RubyrubyrubyRaven · 31/03/2009 08:49

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WowOoo · 31/03/2009 08:49

Shoes off before coming into house - I do this too.

No drinks on sofa arm - I do this too. (dh likes to rest his teas there)

No food in front of TV - I don't always do this, but mostly prefer it.

Plates washed/ put away straight after meals - the one where I'm a bit more relaxed.

Limit to snacks - As long as it's healthy fruit/veg snacks i'm easy on this too.

Basically, I am my mother!

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Comewhinewithme · 31/03/2009 08:52

Mine were way ott too then chilled out when they had my younger siblings .
Me and my sister think it is very unfair that we got the strict version of them although our little sister and brother are spoilt brats now !

The one I hated was
"No drinking of the pure orange juice except at breakfast "
Used to drive me up the wall .

Comewhinewithme · 31/03/2009 08:55

Oh she also used to make me fold the creased washing before it went into the ironing basket almost every day we would have a row about it been pointless to because they were sat there waiting to be ironed .

I got revenge on her for that though .

WowOoo · 31/03/2009 08:59

My mum ironed EVERYTHING.

I don't. What a rebel. (Phew, I'm actually not my mother at all)

TrillianEAstraEgg · 31/03/2009 09:04

I iron nothing, except some shirts. Everything except underwear used to get ironed. Why iron a teatowel, FGS? Why?

I will definitely not be enforcing the 'sit there until you eat it' rule that my Dad loved so much. I'm only just discovering that things like broccoli aren't so bad if they are hot and not overcooked. Sitting at the table with horrible cold food is a good way to ensure that once you leave home you never eat vegetables again.

ohdearwhatamess · 31/03/2009 09:14

No going out until the house had been cleaned from top to bottom and was spotless - we'd never go anywhere if I followed that one.

Coffee but not tea to be drunk in the mornings. Tea, not coffee, to be drunk in the afternoons. And hot drinks were only allowed at set times. Mother could never give me a good reason for this one.

Certain people could only sit in certain chairs.

Everything (except underwear) ironed.

LunarSea · 31/03/2009 09:21

Eat everything on your plate, or you'll not get anything else until it's eaten. Never mind if after being re-served, cold, many times it's starting to grow mould.

No contact with anyone from school other than at school - the only "activity" allowed was going to the library.

The daily smacking because even if they couldn't think of anything particular I'd done to displease them, I "must have done something".

Original poster
sleepsforwimps · 31/03/2009 09:23

Crikey I think my parents were pretty relaxed thankgod.

ohdearwhatamess I really hope you make them get out of your favourite seat when they visit and serve them tea and coffee at all the wrong times

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Tummytuckrequired · 31/03/2009 09:23

I am my mother! I only let children have chocolate at weekend. They are not allowed to eat in front of the telly. They have to take their shoes off in the house.

Of course when they go to bed.... I eat my dinner in front of the telly... I eat chocolate every night and I keep my shoes on...

Very very sad..

BonsoirAnna · 31/03/2009 09:23

"The daily smacking because even if they couldn't think of anything particular I'd done to displease them, I "must have done something"."

Original poster
sleepsforwimps · 31/03/2009 09:25

LunarSea That doesn't sound like a fun childhood, daily smacking? Oh dear poor you

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GentleOtter · 31/03/2009 09:34

Rules parents had that I have dropped -

Mouth washed out with soap for saying 'pig' or 'fart'.
Watching ITV was common.
Smacking me for something my brother had done as I must have had something to do with his 'crime'.
Potted haugh, potatoes and peas on a Tuesday.

LunarSea...

JudithChalmers · 31/03/2009 09:35

no eating in public.

JudithChalmers · 31/03/2009 09:36

elbows on the table banned

etc

we did this once in MN classics - things your parents thought were common.

Othersideofthechannel · 31/03/2009 09:39

Poor you LunarSea

You have to eat your dinner cold for breakfast the next day if you don't eat it the evening before.

The rest of the rules were pretty sensible and reasonable IMO

helsbels4 · 31/03/2009 09:39

My parents were pretty easy going it would seem but I do remember my mum would never let us set foot even into the garden if we had just had a bath and had wet hair. We'd get a chill. I'm ashamed to say that dd and ds regularly go to bed straight after their bath with wet hair

Original poster
sleepsforwimps · 31/03/2009 09:40

I can't believe all this...

GentleOtter feel free to fill up this entire thread with saying pig and fart. And again the smacking

No eating in public?! Did they never eat out/have a picnic/buy a snack? This is craziness.

Do you all feel you are still frowned upon as an adult when you 'break' their old rules?

OP posts:
flippineck · 31/03/2009 09:43

No baked beans for breakfast - wtf is that all about?! If she did a cooked breakfast we were allowed tinned tomatoes but never ever baked beans.

And if we had biscuits, we were never allowed more than two. I'm very very good at breaking that rule now (for myself, not DD!) and it still feels a bit naughty.

Gentleotter - we weren't allowed to watch ITV either. Or Grange Hill, or Eastenders.

funtimewincies · 31/03/2009 10:12

Hmm...

Don't ask because then you'll definitely not get.
Don't show off.
Don't make a scene, do anything to stand out or that is 'different'.

And then they wondered why I had no self-confidence, refused to wear bright colours and got walked over in my career .

Sitting at the table until you'd finished - I ate like a sparrow and could be there for hours. And I do still love my parents, amazingly .

Stayingsunnygirl · 31/03/2009 10:16

No tv before 4pm - ok that wasn't a huge loss, way back in my childhood where there were only three channels and the children's programmes didn't come on until 4.20pm, but when Swapshop started at the weekends, I felt so left out because I never got to watch it.

No commercial TV. None. Ever. I think that one would be impossible to enforce nowadays!

Only one spoonful of sugar in coffee or on cereal. My dad and sister got caught out once, when the three of us went to a concert without mum, and they took the opportunity to put more than one spoon of sugar in their coffee (oh the defiance), and it turned out to be salt! I'd just given up sugar in coffee so was able to be frightfully smug. But I do have more than one teaspoon of sugar on my porridge (please don't tell mum).

GentleOtter · 31/03/2009 11:26

pig,fart,pig,fart,pig,fart.

Ironically we do not get much television reception up here and do not get ITV.
Mum would do a cat's bum mouth if Coronation Street was even mentioned.

PestoChocolateMonster · 31/03/2009 11:29

Another household where ITV was frowned upon and very very rarely watched

No eating bananas after 6.00pm - they lie heavy on your stomach, apparently.......

RidiculousCrush · 31/03/2009 11:41

Don't drink the milk
You must keep your bedroom curtains closed
Finish everything on your plate
"Fart" is a swear word
Nobody Needs More Than Two Biscuits EVER
Boys are less capable than girls and need more mollycoddling (grrrr grrrrrrrrrrrrr)
No talking in the living room - it's telly time
No talking at the table - we're eating
No talking in the kitchen - mum's cooking
No talking in bed - it's night time