Let's Talk Tuesday: Parental Rules

 

Recently, I saw a Tiktok of someone's childhood memory about her parents FORCING her to watch one of the Chucky movies. I was horrified until I read the comments of all the other people out there who were plopped down on the couch as children with a Chucky movie in the VCR. It was so outrageous to me that I laughed until I cried. I mean, WHO would do that to their kids??

I've also enjoyed threads on Reddit, where people discuss the ridiculous rules of their childhood. My favorites are the ones that have to do with potty habits, such as parents not allowing kids to eat past 6 pm because they believed this would prevent pooping in the middle of the night. WHAT?? It defies logic, but so did a lot of rules my husband and I grew up with. In my family, the rules focused on health and safety:

1. My mother dished out all of our meals onto our plates and my brother and I had to eat every single bite or we were not allowed to leave the table. Gee, I wonder where I get my food issues now?

2. We were also expected to consume a glass of orange juice in the morning, along with a multivitamin, plus a Vitamin E and Vitamin C pill. Now we know that orange juice in the morning is basically just a glucose high and doubling up on the vitamins was just money in the toilet.

3. I dealt with a lot of Old Wives' Tales Rules, such as no swimming after a meal, not going outside with a wet head, and not sitting too close to the television.

4. We were not allowed to go bare foot, ever. Socks at all times indoors and some sort of shoes outside always. My mom equated bare feet with getting sick and/or hillbillies.

This was the opposite of my husband's household, where all the rules revolved around saving money:

1. He and his four siblings were forbidden to wear socks around the house because holes in your socks just meant having to buy more socks. It was bare feet in summer and slippers in winter.

2. His family lived in a rural area, so many phone calls were long distance, even to classmates. They had a phone log next to the phone where each person had to write down every long-distance call made and then pay for the calls when the bill arrived.

3. Once the kids were old enough to drive, they also had to keep track of their mileage in a ledger in the car and then pay their father gas money based on the mileage (I'd be curious what the rate was back in the late '70's/early '80's).

4. Treats were rare and doled out in a mathematical fashion. My husband specifically remembers occasions where his mother bought Oreos and then counted out however many Oreos came in the pack, divided by five. You got them all at once and then he said you just ate them all at once, for fear that another sibling might find your hidden stash.

None of his rules are relatable to me and most of mine (besides #1) are not relatable to him. How about you? Do you look back on the rules of your childhood and think, 'What in the world??'