"I Didn't Realize This Wasn't Normal Until I Was A Teenager": 18 Wild "House Rules" People Followed Growing Up That They Never Realized Were Reallyyyy Strange

Yahoo

07-03-2025

Everyone probably grew up with rules they had to follow within their family, but some were a little... weirder than others. Recently, we posted about these unusual house rules people never questioned as kids, but sure as hell do now. Surprisingly, quite a few commenters had similar bizarre restrictions growing up. Here's what they shared.
1."I was only allowed to eat those 100-calorie packs for snacks, and my mom would get mad when I had more than one pack. She stressed 'everything in moderation' but had a strict no junk food rule at home. I found this weird compared to friends and classmates, who were allowed to eat packs of Oreos and ice cream with meals all the time."
—scrocker170
2."We had to announce to my mother that we were going to the bathroom to make a bowel movement."
—psychiclion30
3."If I were sick on a Friday, I wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere all weekend. My sisters were prone to skipping school, so my parents devised this to keep us from lying about being sick."
—caitline7
4."We could not leave the table until an adult excused us. Also, we were not excused unless all our food was gone, and we were forced to eat everything on our plate whether we liked it or not. I hated yams but was forced to eat them every Thanksgiving. I vowed I would never force my kids to eat something they did not like."
—blueskull83
5."Not my family, but a friend's. I ate dinner there two or three times. There was absolutely no speaking during dinner. I remember how completely uncomfortable it was, sitting there listening to nothing but people chewing food. In my family, no one was allowed to watch TV after dinner on school nights. The thinking was you should be studying, although I'd just go to my room and play with toys or whatever. I remember everybody talking about last night's episode of Batman or some show. I was an adult before I even saw some of these shows in reruns."
—google_104165373993725326715
6."My friend's mom made all of the kids shower after they pooped. If it was too late in the day, they were not allowed to go back outside and play. Needless to say, if they were having fun, they just pooped their pants and went on playing. Their mom also did not allow them to sleep in their own beds. They slept in sleeping bags in the basement."
—Tonia, Ohio
7."No bathing during a thunderstorm or talking on the phone in a storm, either."
—kimd46402339d
8."I come from a large family; I have 10 siblings. We were never allowed to refuse any food or have seconds. My mother put the food on each of our plates, starting with my dad. Then, each child was served, going from oldest to youngest. My mother took what was left. Plates were to be cleared of all food. When asking to be excused, we were required to thank my father for providing it and my mother for cooking it. I didn't realize this wasn't normal until I was a teenager, having dinner at a friend's house. It freaked me out when I saw her family serving themselves."
—Anonymous
9."My mother raised me to believe that using two toothbrushes (one for the teeth and the other for the tongue) was the norm. When I was dating someone in college, we went to brush our teeth, and I busted out my two toothbrushes like it was the most normal thing in the world and asked him where his second toothbrush was. His look and laughter made me realize this was not normal. I've never let my mom live it down."
—Kay, 45, California
10."I wasn't allowed to eat anything besides Jell-O or pudding if nobody else was home. To be fair, my mom was afraid of me choking. Also, the limit of Fig Newtons was two."
—cosmonautpuglifeo
11."In order to reduce the family water bill, my friend's dad wouldn't let anyone flush the toilet all day, regardless of what was in it. The last person to go to bed at night got to finally flush the toilet. Imagine what a family of four accumulated in that toilet every day!"
—Anonymous
12."Whenever we were home sick from school, we weren't allowed to do anything but lay in bed that day. My mom's thinking was that if you were too sick to go to school, then you were too sick to play, too sick to watch TV, or too sick to read. I got really good at sneaking things and telling myself stories to keep me occupied if I was sick at home."
—happyhero16
13."My dad would stand outside the bathroom and yell, 'Two squares!' because we were only supposed to use two squares of toilet paper. When we showered, we had to turn off the water while we soaped and shampooed, and then we could turn it back on to rinse off."
—hiddendaredevil954
14."We had a 'don't feed other kids' rule. I kinda understood it since my mom wanted the dinner to be family time and didn't want any random kids hovering around dinner time. When we had dinner, friends had to leave. I think this was because my mom knew we'd rush through dinner if someone were at our place waiting for us to play. I was also taught to come home if someone else had their dinner."
—whale_tail
15."Not my family, but a friend's. Her family was super ultra ridiculously Christian, and they prayed before everything, and I mean everything. Sure, they would pray before dinner and bed, which is normal for some families, but there was so much more. Getting in a car, they'd all gather together and hold hands as they prayed, 'Lord God, protect this vehicle as we travel surrounded our vehicle with your angels. In Jesus name, we pray.' When kids would play outside: 'Jesus, let these children feel your love and glory. Protect them as they play.'"
"Almost every single little thing they did involved praying first. They also had a satellite dish in the yard and some sort of Christian TV subscription. They only had Christian TV channels.
As a kid, it creeped me out, and I did not spend the night again."
—ImAshes
16."I had a reverse curfew: I wasn't allowed to come home on Friday nights BEFORE 11 p.m. There were times when I had to sit on my front porch and wait because my friends dropped me off at, like, 10:30. When I got older, my mom told me it was because she wouldn't have sex with my dad unless my sister and I weren't home."
—minisedan326
17."Growing up on a ranch with nine brothers in West Texas was very difficult. One of the things my family insisted on was that we all share the same bathwater. After one person took a bath then, the next person used the same bath water, and so on. With several generations living under the same roof, I had absolutely filthy and cold water by the time my turn came. I have no idea where this came from. We had our own wells, and water was plentiful and free to us. I still can't make myself take a bath and have to take very hot showers every day because of my fear of dirty bath water and not getting clean enough!"
—Anonymous, 58, Texas
18."We were not allowed to sit on any couch in the house or touch walls. When my mom came home, my siblings and I would rush to smooth out the plastic-covered couch and sit on the floor before she walked in."
—Anonymous
Did you have a "house rule" growing up that you later realized wasn't normal? Tell us about it in the comments or fill out this anonymous form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.