People Are Sharing The Rules Their Parents Had For Them Growing Up And These 17 Are Pretty Weird

"My mum’s strange rule was that I could never pet the cat because he shedded everywhere. One time, I literally put my hand on my cat’s head and my mum yelled at me so loudly and didn’t talk to me for the rest of the day. I’m still really confused."

—cool_cat8284

"No Power Rangers. I could watch pretty much everything else on kids TV but Power Rangers was not allowed. Not entirely sure why to this day, but knowing my Mum, she probably just found the music irritating or thought it was too shouty or something."

—bethc31

"Dad must be the first to open and read the morning newspaper. If the pages had been separated already, he would refuse to read it."

—charley_victoria97

"My parents were pretty laid back and as I was the youngest they never really worried about age ratings for films or the TV watershed. There were only three films I wasn't allowed to watch until I was thirteen – Nightmare on Elm Street, Silence of the Lambs and... Walt Disney's Fantasia. They gave in and I watched the first two at twelve, but they stuck to their guns with Fantasia. It meant I had seen The Exorcist before a kids classic.

For context, my mum had seen Fantasia when she was a really little kid and it had terrified her (the dancing mushrooms I think) so much it scarred her for life. She bought me a copy on VHS for my thirteenth birthday along with a video player and I was only allowed to watch it in my room."

—rcvaughan

"My mum had a thing about The Simpsons – it was the only thing banned in our house! To be fair, it is adult entertainment, and she was savvy enough to know that just because something is animated, doesn't mean it's just for kids."

—raptorneet

"No drawing on the car windows with your finger, as 'your swiggles will stay there forever!'"

—hannah_31

"Don't walk downstairs with glasses or socks on. Dangerous, apparently!"

—chocolateat22

"I got my first phone when I was eleven but I had to ask my dad for permission if I wanted to have a friend's phone number and if I could give mine to a friend in return. Was always really awkward on the last day of school when a friend wanted to stay in touch and I'd have to say 'let me ask my dad first.' Needless to say, I never stayed in touch..."

—rubberduckazillaxd

"We weren’t allowed to have blue Smarties as my mum was convinced they contained heroin. They came out in the UK just as Grange Hill and Eastenders were dealing with drug storylines, and my mother read in a magazine that blue Smarties were laced with heroin! Might be a good time to mention that my mum is a doctor, so you'd think she'd know better!"

—chef666