Remember being a kid when your parents told you, “My house, my rules”? It was so annoying. As a child, you had to do what your parents said, even if it didn’t make a lick of sense to you.
Now that you’re older and living on your own… you kind of get it. People want their homes a certain way, which is totally respectable.
Then there are the people who have rules that are just…weird.
We all had one of those friends growing up. You know, the kid whose parents had rules that didn’t make any sense. Maybe they wouldn’t let you talk about Disney movies or play a certain game. Perhaps you had to include your friend’s little sister in all your activities. Or it might’ve been that you weren’t allowed to say the word “patootie.”
By the way, if you think you’re free of weird rules as an adult, check out this weird law from Georgia: “No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.”
Now that we have the internet, people are sharing the weirdest rules they experienced during childhood. And boy, oh boy, are these weird.
1. Don’t waste cereal
While it’s good to reduce waste, this family took it to the extreme. With seven kids, they bought food in bulk. Guests got to choose the “cereal of the day,” meaning everyone else had to eat it too. No leftovers allowed.
No one was allowed to sit on the furniture. Instead, you had plop down on the floor so that couches and chairs would stay clean. What’s the point of having furniture if you’re not going to use on it?
Passing gas is smelly and gross, but it’s a part of life. One family was so offended by this natural bodily function, they made their kids go outside to pass gas. That seems like a lot of effort.
4. No need to think of topics for dinner conversation
No one was permitted to talk during dinner. Meals would be consumed in absolute silence. Not only did they think talking at mealtime encouraged speaking with your mouth full but it also created a choking hazard.
Kids were required to ask their parents’ permission before opening the fridge for any reason. That included getting a drink of water. They must’ve had to ask permission 10 times a day.
It seems a lot of families have weird rules for the dinner table. At one house, no one was allowed to drink any liquid during the meal. Why? Because you would get too full to finish your food, which meant letting it go to waste.
The reasoning behind this one kind of makes sense. The idea was that noise at night disturbs those trying to sleep. Still, that’s a pretty unsanitary solution.
One family never washed the dishes. After meals, they just put them back into cabinets with food remnants all over them. That’s just asking for food poisoning.
This odd rule has a funny story behind it. The father of the family convinced his kids that the heel of bread was the best part. That led to fistfights over who got to eat it, thus the birth of a new rule.
One guy who lived with his grandparents was required to repeat the phrase “Nothing good ever happens after midnight” before going out for the night. If he had friends with him, they had to say it too.
11. You can have soda before bed, but only if you stir it
Most parents try to keep soda away from their kids, especially before bedtime. One house, however, had an interesting rule. Everyone could have soda before bed but only if they stirred it until the bubbles dissipated.
When your dad works for Pepsi, you can’t bring any Coke products into the house — or at least, not in this family. They wouldn’t even let guests bring them. That included everything made by Coca-Cola, such as Fanta, Sprite, and much more.
Bedroom doors couldn’t be closed at night for one very specific reason. They wanted to let the cat wander at will. This bizarre rule even applied to guests.
One woman was so terrified about her children becoming constipated that she forced them to poop every day. Most people do that anyway, but who wants to be monitored? She even did it to guests.
The cat was permitted to walk all over the table during mealtimes, helping itself to food from each plate. Anyone who objected or pushed it away was scolded for “infringing on the cat’s rights.”
The house had two living rooms. One was for relaxing, watching TV, and doing everything for which living rooms are intended. The other was just for show. Absolutely no one was allowed to go into that one.
No one was allowed to lean on or touch the walls. In fact, the walls were completely devoid of decoration or mirrors. If anything splashed or spilled on them, they were immediately repainted.
18. You can throw things when you’re mad, but only if you clean up
You were welcome to throw or destroy things if you were mad. The only stipulations…you couldn’t break anything important and you had to warn others in advance. Oh, and you had to clean up after yourself, of course.
No one was allowed to stand up to pee in the house. It’s understandable not wanting to clean pee off the seat but maybe we shouldn’t police one another’s bathroom habits.
This one might take the cake for weirdness. The rule in this house was that whoever used a condiment last had to lick the excess off the bottom of the lid. Not wipe. Lick.
You know how your grandma had plastic covers on her furniture? One lady had a plastic pathway that ran through her house so that no one ever walked on the carpet. Anyone who stepped off the path was in serious trouble.
Most of us don’t really care which slice of pizza we get. But one family cared so much, they chose pizza slices by seniority. They started with the dad, then the mom, and down to the kids.
One family made it mandatory to clean the toilet every time you used it, even if you peed. We’re all for keeping things hygienic, but that’s excessive. The toilet must’ve been cleaned 10 times a day, if not more.
Here’s another rule with a story behind it — no belts at the dinner table. This arose after the family’s teenage daughter went through an emo phase. Her studded belts were damaging the wood on the chairs.
One family owned white leather sofas and were extremely careful to keep them clean. That included a rule that no one could fidget while sitting on the furniture. In other words, you chose a position and stayed there.
While some people don’t like bare feet in the house, others don’t like shoes. But one woman allowed her guests to choose between barefoot and shoes — but never stocking feet.
Having a pool is great, but not if you have this rule. No one was allowed to get the side of the pool wet. If you had long hair, you had to wring it out for a count of 10.
Kids love trampolines, but they can be dangerous. To cover all their bases, one family had every kid sign a waiver. Are documents signed by children legally binding?
29. Enlighten yourself by reading before going out
One mom was just fine with her teenage children going out and having fun. She just required them to spend five minutes reading a self-help book first. Maybe she thought that would help them make better decisions.
Most teens are transitioning away from having a bedtime. One family didn’t mind their kids staying up late. But they were all locked in their bedrooms after dinner and couldn’t come out except for a bathroom break.
It’s not uncommon to have a guest bathroom and a personal bathroom. But one grandma took it a little too far. If anyone, even relatives, used her bathroom, she’d ban them from ever visiting again.
Yup, you read that right. One family forbid anyone to put pancakes in the toilet. They even went so far as to tell guests not to do it either. They said there had been an “incident.”
If you’ve ever had a crowd of children playing at your house, you know they’re constantly in and out. One family required them to knock, and then wait to be let in every single time, even if they’d just gone outside.
In one family, boyfriends were welcome to attend holiday functions. However, they had to wait in the basement during the “main event,” like Thanksgiving dinner or opening Christmas presents. Talk about boring.
Some parents have such a fear of choking, they impress it on their kids. Popcorn is a choking hazard for children under the age of 5, but there’s no need to be so cautious with teenagers.
If you have older siblings, you probably remember being jealous that they all got to stay up later than you. Not in this family. Everyone went to bed at 7 p.m. – the same time as the baby.
This one was in the context of a party, which took place in the hostess’ yard. She locked her guests out of the house. Whenever someone needed to use the restroom, she unlocked the door and waited outside the bathroom until they were done.
Parents can get a little controlling about the music their kids listen to. One dad had a bizarre solution. His kids were forbidden from listening to any music with words.
One U.K. family had a very specific rule for teatime: you must eat everything in the same order. That meant sandwiches first, then savory snacks, and then sweet snacks. Ignoring the rule earned a scolding.
Some people are weird when it comes to food mixing on a plate, but this rule was for snacks. For example, babysitters were forbidden from putting chips and pretzels in one bowl. Doing so meant getting fired.
Some people struggle with bedwetting into their teen years. To help her son not feel like the odd one out, one mother forced all his guests to wear overnight diapers during sleepovers. Yeah, that’ll help him feel better.
Every kid has heard the words “Use your inside voice!” But for one family, an “inside voice” was whispering. They said anything louder was “trashy,” something no one wants to be.
It’s common courtesy for a host to serve their guests drinks. But in one house, it wasn’t just courtesy, it was the only way to do things. If anyone tried to serve themselves, they would be yelled at.
Using spices was seen as being incredibly rude to one cook. None of the children were allowed to use any spices, not even salt. That was reserved only for guests.
45. No buying anything unless it was a birthday gift
One mother told her teenage child that she couldn’t buy anything, ever, unless it was a birthday or Christmas gift. She even went so far as to monitor the time it took her to walk home from school. That way she knew if she’d stopped at a store.
No one could use the front door, not even guests. The family made sure that everyone followed this rule by locking it from the inside AND the outside. We’re all for having preferences, but that seems extreme.
Some families try almost everything to cut back on laundry. In one household, each person was given a single towel to last the entire week. If your towel got dirty before the end of the week, you just didn’t have one.
In one house, using straws was forbidden. It wasn’t to reduce plastic waste or save marine life, instead, the dad was certain that straws would cut through your cheeks.
In one household, parents punished their kids when their friends broke the rules. That meant if the neighbor’s kid missed curfew, their kids got grounded. How does that make sense?
Most parents don’t want to hear their kids swear, but they’ll allow a “Gosh” or “Fiddlesticks.” Not in this house. Those weren’t acceptable alternatives because it meant the kids were thinking about swear words.
Drinking from the bathroom sink is often the easiest option, especially in the middle of the night. But one person’s parents refused to let them drink from anywhere but the kitchen faucet. They never gave a reason.
One woman refused to let her son’s friends come into the house to play. They all had to play in a trailer in their backyard. Even worse, she made them relieve themselves in a bucket.
Children weren’t allowed to use the hose or play in the sprinkler, even in the middle of the summer. If they wanted a cup of water, they’d be charged $1.
55 strange house rules people actually had to follow
Cedric Jackson
11.01.19
Remember being a kid when your parents told you, “My house, my rules”? It was so annoying. As a child, you had to do what your parents said, even if it didn’t make a lick of sense to you.
Now that you’re older and living on your own… you kind of get it. People want their homes a certain way, which is totally respectable.
Then there are the people who have rules that are just…weird.
We all had one of those friends growing up. You know, the kid whose parents had rules that didn’t make any sense. Maybe they wouldn’t let you talk about Disney movies or play a certain game. Perhaps you had to include your friend’s little sister in all your activities. Or it might’ve been that you weren’t allowed to say the word “patootie.”
By the way, if you think you’re free of weird rules as an adult, check out this weird law from Georgia: “No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.”
Now that we have the internet, people are sharing the weirdest rules they experienced during childhood. And boy, oh boy, are these weird.
