We asked people to tell us what rules their mothers made them follow. Needless to say, some mom rules are more ruthless than others.
1. "We were not allowed to have a video game console in our house growing up, simply because my mom didn't want us to hog her TV time." —Patrick B.
2. "Any time my siblings and I were arguing over something silly, my mom said it was time to play 'the quiet game' to see who could be quiet the longest. We were all super competitive, so we would all try really hard because there was a cash prize for the winner." —Tara P.
3. "When my mom was trying to teach me to drive, on my second day behind the wheel she made me go through a drive-thru and eat while driving 'because that's a critical life skill.'" —Hannah C.
4. "My mom lied to me about wanting to try pot because she wanted to make me confess to smoking pot. It worked." —Emily C.
5. "My mom always told me the police were going to come to our house and take me away if I misbehaved. This was for anything — if I didn't want to brush my teeth, if I was throwing a tantrum, etc." —Marjorie J.
6. "My mom didn't want us to say 'fart.' We had to use a made-up word ('bweep') instead. I thought 'bweep' was a real word until I was about 13." —Andrew C.
7. "My mom used to tell us that whenever the ice cream truck played music, that meant they were all out of ice cream." —Daisy W.
8. "If I slammed the door, my mom said I didn't deserve a door. So if I ever slammed it after a fight, she would get a screwdriver and take the hinges off. I spent many months with no door and no privacy." —Aurelia A.
9. "On the weekends my mom would padlock the refrigerator shut so that my brothers and I couldn't raid it before she woke up." —Louise K.
10. "My sister and I used to argue over who would sit where in the car and at the dining room table. One day my mom gave us assigned seats and we weren't allowed to change them. To this day whenever I go home I still sit in my assigned seat." —Laura H.
11. "My mother used to tell me that I owed her 5 dollars if she found whatever I was looking for before I did." —Jake R.
12. "My mom taught my brother and I that Saturday morning was International Cleaning Day, which meant that we couldn't go outside and play until the house chores were done. She said there was no point in calling our friends until at least noon because all the moms agreed their kids would be tidying the houses until then too." —Amanda W.
