One family I worked for had two:
1. No bare feet in house
2. The girls had to have a hot breakfast before school
The last family had a no singing at the table rule. With 7 kids, 3 adults, and a bunch of animals it was kind of understandable though.
I know my parents had some but I need to remember them.
watermelon / 14206 posts
My mom had a no singing at the table rule, too. Apparently I used to annoy my big brother with it in the mornings.
honeydew / 7586 posts
I had a friend who had a "no touching below the shoulders or above the knees" rule posted in her house. That's like your entire body! I always thought it was weird.
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
Not my family but my sister was a nanny for a family and every time the kids went outside they had to bath when they came in & they were also only allowed to nap on mats on the floor not on their beds. They were a little odd.
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
I don't remember anything strange about rules as a child.
We had a no phone after 9pm rule that made me so angry as a teen. I was like, 17 and couldn't be on the phone after 9pm. No computer, either. IT WAS THE HEIGHT OF AOL. I thought I would die.
pomelo / 5509 posts
@rahlyrah: So cuddling wasn't allowed? And only awkward hugs? That's...weird.
ETA: Oh wait maybe I misinterpreted it. Was it no touching yourself or no touching others?
kiwi / 649 posts
@rahlyrah- what in the world? Did they do it to stop kids from touching their junk? What if you have an itch?!
honeydew / 7586 posts
@travelingnanny: I think it applied to the brothers/sisters. Like, you can't touch your sister below the shoulders or above the knees. Very odd. As kids, how do you play without touching?!
kiwi / 649 posts
@mrs. Jump rope- oh gosh, the aol days! I wasn't allowed to have a computer in my room (at least till I was 17). We had a computer in the family room but once dad went to bed (around 8ish and his room was off of the living room) I had to get off because I was too loud. Boo!
honeydew / 7586 posts
@IRunForFun: It was meant for others. We were kids though, and it applied to family, so it wasn't for sexual reasons.
grapefruit / 4120 posts
No barbie dolls! I sort of built it up in my mind like my mom was some huge forward-thinking feminist, but at one point when I was an adult she told me she just couldn't stand them and thought they were annoying LOL. Anyway I am glad we had that rule!
pear / 1571 posts
Oh, where do I begin? So many strange rules in my house growing up. Some had to do with our religious beliefs, such as long hair and dresses/skirts only for the girls, but some were just out there. One I can think of off the top of my head was absolutely NO calling my parents by anything but their prescribed names, Papa and Mama. Saying something like mom or mommy would get you spanked. So that was a little weird, as I found out when I was 10 or so and the other little girls at church were quizzing me on why I still called my mom "Mama," like a little kid. I was too embarrassed to tell them that I'd get spanked if I called my mom anything different.
We weren't allowed to have Barbies either. Superheroes were baaaaaaaad.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@FarmWifeGina: wow that's strict! What do you call them now?
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
A friend's dad forbade her from wearing soccer sandals while driving...it was too dangerous!
pear / 1571 posts
@mrbee: Mama and Papa. Some of my sibs call my mom Mother now though. For some reason that's ok, but "Mom" was disrespectful or something.
pomelo / 5326 posts
@travelingnanny: Like the family you mentioned, I also was not allowed to have bare feet in the house. Even now when I go to people's houses in the summer I bring socks, cause it feels weird to walk around a house in bare feet.
Other rules centered around tv. I was not allowed to watch certain shows like the Simpsons and Friends.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
My mom was obsessed with our clothes. We weren't allowed to pull each other's shirts or use our clothes as napkins (duh). She wanted or clothes to last and look good, but she would go ape sh*t if she saw bad behavior.
pomegranate / 3895 posts
No singing at the dinner table
No cereal that had sugar in the first two ingredients
watermelon / 14206 posts
@FarmWifeGina: Now that you're older, have you ever asked them why that was important to them that you called them that?
watermelon / 14206 posts
@delight: Ours were a lot about the media, too...there were a lot of shows that I wasn't allowed to watch. DH makes fun of it now, cause we'll watch old shows, like Married with Children and I crack up, cause I have never seen this stuff before!
pear / 1570 posts
This is an awesome thread! There are so many 'no singing at the table'
pear / 1571 posts
@Dandelion: Um, no. We're not close enough that I could ask something like that. It was definitely a respect thing. And mom and dad terms were "worldly" or something.
kiwi / 633 posts
We weren't allowed to say "hate" in my house. We were taught it was a word you could never take back, worse than swear words. I didn't say that I hated anything until I was in highschool, and still felt weird about it. We used "strongly dislike" when we were REALLY pissed at/about something or someone. hahah 
cherry / 165 posts
@thismustbetheplace: aww, I like that!
I am surprised by the no singing at the table one. I've never in my whole life felt the need to sing at the table?
At my mom's house we had (what I consider) normal rules.
My dad's house was the opposite. No rules! This explains why all my siblings had babies and/or drug problems as teenagers. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
pear / 1998 posts
The only rule that I can remember was that after I bought my car at 16, I wasn't allowed to have a steering wheel cover, anything hanging from the rear view mirror, or any other "decorations". I understand they were just being cautious but I was SO frustrated because all my other friends had "cute" cars and mine was so boring.
kiwi / 649 posts
@littlebittyhouse- yay! I'm trying to ask new questions because I think the boards can get a little repetitive. Hopefully I can come up with some more fun threads in the future.
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
Aw, the "no singing at the dinner table" rule is bumming me out. My HS friend taught me a song to teach children about keeping their elbows off the table. It's cute! I will absolutely sing at the dinner table if the mood strikes me.
My parents just had normal rules.
coconut / 8498 posts
I was never allowed to watch Smurfs or Family Matters just because they annoyed my mom. I was pretty old when I realized they weren't, like, rated R shows.
pear / 1992 posts
Rugrats was banned in my house because my Dad hated the 'baby talk' in the show. We were totally allowed to watch The Simpsons and he loved Ren and Stimpy though
One of our 'weird' rules were that you had to open/close things gently/quietly. No slamming the microwave door shut, you should turn the knob before you close the door, etc. I know now that it was so that you didn't wear out the latches on things but it was sort of confusing as a kid. It works though as they had their above-range microwave for like 20 years! I find myself very sensetive to this as an adult though - and slamming or even closing doors roughly grates on my nerves so much!
papaya / 10560 posts
No tv during dinner. Couldnt' leave the table until everyone was done and couldn't start eating until everyone was seated.
persimmon / 1331 posts
I had a friend who had to say "yes", no yeah or mmm hmm or anything. It was supposed to be a respect thing I guess. They also had a lot of other strict rules as they were very religious!
nectarine / 2936 posts
The one that comes to mind is we absolutely could not allowed to say that we were bored or that something was unfair. The bored/boring talk made my mom furious. My mom was also convinced that parents who fell for the "that's not fair" stuff were letting their kids run the place.
clementine / 899 posts
My parents were firm, but not strict, so I can't think of any weird rule we had.
Cousins of mine were not allowed to talk at the dinner table. At all. Not a peep. Complete silence. That one boggled my mind, since supper-time for us was when we were actually able to be all together and could discuss our day, school and future plans.
papaya / 10570 posts
They're not rules per se but my mum was (still is) really superstitious and there were a bunch of things she was really obsessive about:
- No new shoes on the table
- No hats to be placed on beds
- No open umbrellas inside the house
- You can't use the washing machine on the first day of the month in case you wash your luck away
- If you see a lone magpie, you have to say "hello mr magpie"
- You had to say "rabbits rabbits rabbits" as soon as you woke up on the first of each month
- Woe betide anyone who broke a mirror.....
There were a whole host of other ones - rhymes you had to say in certain circumstances or when you saw certain things. It was really quite confusing as a child when I found out other families didn't abide by these rules!! The first time I saw someone leave their umbrella up to dry in their hall I nearly fainted!
No singing at the table is a new one on me though!!
pomegranate / 3032 posts
if i was eating dinner at my aunts house all the kids had to drink a pint glass size glass of milk before you could choose to drink anything else even water. I thought it was so odd to drink milk with spaghetti. my parent always let me drink water or unsweetened iced tea with dinner.
pomegranate / 3401 posts
No drinking iced water when you're on your period. Lol. I think it has something to do with Chinese beliefs on elemental balance or something. Also, no iced water when having crab for dinner. Weird, I know!
pomelo / 5607 posts
Mine were pretty normal, though on the conservative side for religious reasons. The only one that really annoyed me was not being allowed to prop my feet on the opposite chair when I ate at the table. I know now it was to keep my dirty feet off the light upholstery, but to this day my knees hurt if I sit too long without being able to prop my feet up, so I had a legitimate reason too. It's just that no one takes that seriously when a kid whines about it.
My friend had a dad with some mental issues, so she had some weird stuff. I don't remember much, but I recall he was the world's pickiest eater, and they weren't allowed to have any food he didn't like. So she grew up having never even tried a ton of perfectly normal foods.
clementine / 899 posts
@Chillybear: We had to have a glass of milk everyday at supper before any other drink. I never thought it was weird, just a way to make sure we were getting our calcium. DH grew up the same way.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@Cherrybee: hello mr magpie... that would be an awesome username!!
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