When you're a kid, most of the time, adults make no sense. Parents always seem to devise arbitrary reasons to stifle fun under the guise of "safety and concern." Of course, the best reason I most often recall is... "because I said so!" That one in particular always seemed a little fishy to me. But if we knew what was good for us, we acquiesced. However, in hindsight, every so often, parents have some weird motivations.
Redditor u/Korn_makes_me_horny wanted everyone to tell us about the times in childhood parents made some "questionable" decisions by asking...What's the weirdest rule your parents made you follow as a kid?
Menu Choices
GIF by Pop-TartsGiphyChocolate PopTarts are dessert and therefore can only be eaten on Saturdays. Fruit PopTarts are obviously nutritious and are to be eaten during the week. (There was no healthy option instead of PopTarts.)
Be Home
If someone asked me to hang out with them, I had to go (unless it was after curfew or someone my parents didn't like). As an adult I understand that my parents wanted me to be social and wanted me out of the house, but how it felt as a kid was that I needed to give other people what they wanted, my time was not my own, and my feelings always came second to others. Not a great lesson to give your kid.
In & Out
My friend's Filipino mum would only let us play his Sega Megadrive for 15 minutes before literally kicking us out the house and locking the door so we had to play outside. After 2 hours outside she would give us another 15min on the Megadrive.
I once pooped myself in his driveway because she wouldn't open the door.
king yes GIFThem 90's Shows....
Grew up in the 90's and 00's my mother would not let us watch king of the hill specifically. when I was about 15 I asked my dad why and he said "besides the fact that it is not funny, I have no idea."
Same! Any 'adult' cartoons of the 90s and 2000s (Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead - pretty much every vaguely edgy cartoon of the era) was banned for me growing up because my mom hated them. Made me feel really left out when I was young. It still makes me feel left out, because I never ultimately got into any of them so other people think there's something wrong with me.
Wardrobe Malfunctions
My parents were very chill for the most part but they (particularly my dad but sometimes my mom too) would get on a high horse about the most random issues.
One of them was hats. My parents HATED us wearing hats. Any hats. It was the craziest thing. We really were only allowed to wear them like dress-up clothes and sometimes not even then. Even if it went with our outfit, you couldn't have it on in the house for thirty minutes without hearing one of them snap, "Take that hat off your head!" Going out in public with a hat on was forbidden, unless it was actually snowing. Sometimes, for Christmas and such, relatives would give us hats that they thought we would like, but we were never actually allowed to wear them anywhere.
One other exception was when we did Little League, of course, a ball cap was part of your uniform. My dad would freak out on us if he caught us with it turned backwards or to the side, because "That is disrespectful to the game of baseball! It is not the way that hat is meant to be worn!" It was the 90s, backward ball caps everywhere, so at the time we felt it was especially lame that we couldn't. When I went to summer camp, I packed a baseball cap and wore it backward the entire time because they finally weren't there to stop me, haha.
Wordplay
Not really the weirdest but the only one I remember: we were allowed to say the word 'a**' but not 'a**hole' because that would make it too inappropriate/descriptive. Still funny to this day.
Another one is where my dad buys new things and doesn't allow anyone to use them. "Why are you taking your new umbrella out? It'll get wet!" or "Don't wear your new shoes, they'll get dirty!" These are all things he has said before, lol.
TV or Not to TV
flying harry potter GIFGiphyWe were not allowed to watch Harry Potter, but we were allowed to watch Wizards of Waverly Place.
Meh?
I wasn't allowed to say, "I don't care" when I was a kid. My parents viewed that as leading to a callous attitude about the suffering of others.
Of course, the emotional burden of having to care about everything has left me jaded.
"Do you want peas or carrots for dinner?"
"I don't care"
Gets smacked!!
The Greens
Wet Hot American Summer Cooking GIF by NETFLIXGiphyI was not allowed to mix my salad dressing in with my salad. I had to just hope it coated the leaves while I was eating it.
in the pocket....
I was not allowed to put my hands in my pockets (unless I was getting something out of them). "Only lazy people put their hands in their pockets..."
JTT Forever
justin timberlake GIFGiphyMy mom wouldn't let me put posters on my wall because she said it would start a fire. Ya know, because my JTT posters might spontaneously combust.
The 90's
I wasn't allowed to watch the show Martin because it was full of dirty jokes and bad black stereotypes.
I could watch In Living Color, however.
My parents let me watch in living color with them when I was around 4 years old. Homey D. Clown and the Head Detective defined me.
Free Dogs
Every morning when I woke up we had to eat a hotdog because my dad worked at the hotdog factory and he got unlimited free hotdogs so basically every meal for my entire childhood was hotdogs.
Superstition
Super Bowl Football GIF by Frito-LayGiphyFor several years, everyone had to wear a hat while watching the Steelers game, because my mom decided it was good luck.
"Crude"
Watching The Simpsons, ever. I was 10 when it premiered; now, in my 40s, I'm still not allowed to watch it in their house while visiting. The main reason I was always given was "It's so crude!" "Crude" meaning the fact that Smithers is gay and Marge thought of cheating on Homer in one episode in 1990.
Clip Clip Here.... Clip Clip There....
Flush my nail clipping (as opposed to just throw then in the trash can).
Just gonna put it out there that some people, particularly more witchy peeps, are super careful to discard their hair and nail clippings in such a way that it cannot be collected by another person and used against them in like a spell or such.
Idk what your parents reasoning for flushing the nail clippings but just gonna leave this here lol. Oh as a side note, I'd flush those bad boys just to be totally rid of them VS maybe finding one that missed the trash receptacle just laying around randomly one day when I'm sittin' on the throne. floopyferret
Stay Awake
No sleeping over at a friend's house whatsoever because "little girls shouldn't be doing that", but my mom is a Jehovah's Witness so it wasn't that unexpected along with the no birthdays or holidays rule.
Girl Crush
I couldn't cut my hair above my shoulders… When my mom found out I was gay, she for bid me from going over to any females house except for the one girl I had a crush on. The girl I had a crush on was Mormon so she knew nothing would happen. She thought I was sleeping with all my female friends even though they were straight.
After 16
drag queen avon pride GIF by AVONBRGiphyFor the boys, no parting your hair down the middle until you're 16. For the girls, no make up/eyebrow plucking/shaving until you're 16.
We have never heard of some of these, but we can't say that we disagree with some of them!
Do you have any similar rules? Let us know in the comments.
Redditor r3tr0gam3r83 wanted to hear about which realizations in life have left people SHOOK, so they asked:
"What is something that blew your mind once you realized it?"
Avocados are not vegetables.
They're fruits, berries to be exact.
Like what?!?!
Colleagues
GIF by Bud LightGiphy"Sometimes it is more important to like your colleagues than the actual job."
"I had shi**y jobs with the most amazing colleagues and had shi**y colleagues and the most amazing job. I'd pick the first every time."
chr989
Star Trekking
"That you could legitimately travel at warp speed through the center of galaxies and never run any real risk of hitting a star. That’s how spread out space really is."
justanotherguyhere16
"Also, galaxies, stars, and even the Universe is constantly moving. I think time travel has been invented, but they can’t figure out the 'space' part of it.
"Yes, they can travel back in time, but relatively speaking, they can’t figure out how to navigate to the part of the planet they want to reach. So when they travel back in time, it’s relative to where they currently are, and end up not moving through space, thus ending up in the middle of an empty vacuum."
theknights-whosay-Ni
Jaws is Old
"That sharks predated the rings of Saturn."
BeardedDominant
"Sharks also developed the immune system that ended up in both dinosaurs/birds and mammals."
csiz
"We don’t know that. We can’t say for certain that the rings are only 100 million years old. It’s still debated."
The_Kek_5000
"I'm pretty sure that sharks are older than trees."
Cayderent
From the Trees
"One day I sat on a tram, passing a river. There was a duck in a tree. I realized I'd never seen ducks in trees. No one else seemed to notice, but I was puzzled. Now whenever I come across something that seems intuitive but I have never considered I call it a duck in a tree."
Ol_Pasta
"This realization happened to me this past year. We apparently have a family of wood ducks in one of the big trees in our yard. Our neighbor said she has seen a duck walking around on a branch. I made it 37 years without knowing some ducks can roost in trees. My wife caught a video of the mama leading like eight ducks into the field next to our house. We aren't even near water."
jwbourne
Artistic Timeline
Confused Eminem GIFGiphy"Pablo Picasso and Eminem were both alive at the same time."
leebon427
"I’d bet a lot of people think Picasso is a Renaissance artist."
editormatt
I admit it. I'm one of those people. Pablo and Marshall, in one lifetime.
New facts are fun.
The New World
Design Loop GIF by xponentialdesignGiphy"They were colonizing the Wild West at the same time as they were building skyscrapers in Manhattan. I always think of them taking place eighty to a hundred years apart. It's wild."
Emilayday
Oh the Power
"Nuclear power plants are just steam power plants that use nuclear reactions to heat the water. There's no fancy magic extracting energy directly from nuclear material. They just boil water and spin a turbine."
RenaKunisaki
"Most electrical generation is spinning a turbine. Photovoltaic solar power is pretty much the only exception, and it's not the only form of solar power. There's solar thermal power, which uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate the heat of the sun to make steam and turn a turbine."
Brawndo91
The Empire
"The Roman Empire fully fell less than 50 years before the discovery of the new world."
South-by-north
"The Romans also had copper wire, magnets, and battery acid. They could have invented electricity hundreds of years before it was actually discovered. But they didn't. The wire was used for jewelry, the magnets as lodestones, and the battery acid was used to clean the rust off of swords."
Kahzgul
"RIP Byzantine Empire. 1453 never forget."
crossbowman44
The Witness
"Owl‘s silent flight. I mean I always knew that but a while ago was the first time I actually witnessed it. Owl came flying towards me and landed only a few feet away and you couldn‘t hear anything. Crazy."
Zealousideal-You-324
"I saw a barn owl swoop down and catch a mouse while hiking at night, and the whole thing happened in complete silence. It gave me a deep sense of unease because it was literally like someone hit the mute button on life."
VulcanVisions
Bad Kermit
Kermit The Frog Meme GIF by IdentityGiphy"Poison dart frogs aren't poisonous in captivity."
"I own 5 of them and anytime I tell someone I own some I always get 'Do you ever lick them' or 'Can you go kill someone with them.' But yeah they get their poison from what they eat, and all I give them is fruit flies."
JMfury
Poison frogs?
That sounds like something Rose would have a story about on 'The Golden Girls.'
Redditor rentinghappiness wanted to hear about the things everyone really didn't know anything about until it happened to them, so they asked:
"What is something you used to think people were over-exaggerating about until you experienced it yourself?"
We never really know anything about anything until we try it for ourselves.
Mouth Issues
Dentist GIFGiphy"Dentist chiming in… tooth pain. I knew academically how painful they could be until it happened to me."
juneburger
"You know the pain is serious when you start looking forward to the inevitable root canal."
HailMari248
Wonders of Nature
"Giant sequoia trees. When I finally saw them in person, they looked fake. I could not comprehend a tree of that size."
schaefer001
"And we may have lost 15-20% of the remaining trees during some big fires in 2020 and 2021. A 2011 estimate puts it that there were only 80,000 remainings. They truly are wondrous organisms that I feel like everyone should have the chance to experience if they can."
"I'm a big believer in doing everything we can to protect and preserve these silent giants. It's really sad that so many were cut down by loggers when the wood is such poor quality for human purposes, to begin with. Such an utter and sad waste."
this_is_poorly_done
Just Me
"Loneliness."
Fried__SoapI
"I'm with you. Put all my cards into a girl who went suddenly cold and dark on me. Now I'm alone at rock bottom figuring out my next moves. You know, the smartest people in the world and also the happiest people in the world can be the loneliest?"
"I was only recently informed it's okay to talk to myself and hype myself. Enjoy my own company. I'm absolutely going to learn to do that. I'm thinking of painting, walking, and weekend trips out on a bus. Would be nice if you could have joined me even if we sat in silence."
Roofdragon
The Years Gone By...
"The physical pain of getting older. Damn."
marklikeadawg
"The emotional pain too. I get so nostalgic and teary over the past and how much has changed. It's a weird grieving process over losing your youth and the way things were."
heethersmeether
"On my 35th birthday, my wife woke me up with a cupcake and a candle, sang me 'Happy Birthday' and then congratulated me on being '15 from 50'... that really hit me hard. The other day I turned 45 and she said '5 from 50' and that hit me so hard, I just wanted to stay in bed all day. I still feel like an irresponsible teen but I'm pushing 50. Insane."
Opa_Kalaka
It's Hazy
Confused Always Sunny GIF by It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaGiphy"Brain fog. I had an alcohol withdrawal seizure in March. My short-term memory and sense of time are absolutely sh*t right now. On the plus side, I haven't had a drink in over 90 days and I don't want one."
Sideshow_Bob_Ross
Oh the wonders of the brain.
What a mess.
Scorched
Menopause Hot Flashes GIF by Kino LorberGiphy"Hot Flashes. I didn’t think they were this bad. I’m a 31-year-old man who took Wellbutrin for the past month and hot flashes are a side effect."
"I thought you just thought you were hot. No motherf**ker you are. You’re super hot legitimately, and you have to do something about it or you’ll go insane. It’s not in your head. It’s your brain raising your temps until you can’t focus on anything else."
_PswayZ_
Everlasting
"Chronic illness, there is absolutely no way you can truly understand the impact unless you experience it."
Disastrous-Phase-979
"Just that idea of always being sick and you will NEVER not be sick again."
"AND you're expected to participate in society just the same as everyone else. It's deeply f**ked up."
Farisr9k
"I like the part where I've been in pain for 25 years so I can kind of still function even when it's really bad."
"And then I try to get an ambulance guy or an admin assistant in a hospital to believe that I'm having an emergency and they're like 'You seem fine, take some Tylenol and go home' until I finally get a blood test, and then the doctor goes 'Holy crap, you're about to die, why didn't you come to the ER sooner.'"
"Like, listen up MF, I had to take a go**amn Uber to get here and then argue with reception for an hour."
BlahBlahILoveToast
Stoned
"How much a kidney stone hurts."
SpiritusSanctu
"Most people expect it to hurt the most when passing a stone through the urethra. Nothing prepared me for the pain as it passed through my kidney/ureter."
"One second I would be fine, carrying on conversations, prancing around nimbly-nimbly. The next second I would be keeled over, crying in agony, losing my lunch due to the sudden onset of crippling pain. 0/10 ... Would not recommend it."
King_of_Lunch223
Close Your Eyes
"Insomnia."
Successful_Fall7801
"Oh, what I would give to not have insomnia! I go through periods of sleeping more or less normal, and then for seemingly no reason, I’ll have weeks on end where a good night of sleep is IMPOSSIBLE. I’ll get 2-4 hours of sleep despite pills, tea, baths, white noise, meditation - everything."
"I’ll spend my days so deeply, utterly exhausted that I can barely think, and my whole body feels heavy, lifeless. It’s hard to feel any kind of emotion, let alone happiness or contentedness. Just existing as a human-shaped puddle until the time when I can go to bed and hope to god that tonight will be different for some unknown reason."
"Insomnia is a real bi*ch. It will tank your mental health and send you spiraling really fast."
thesmallshadows
Beep
Meme Reaction GIF by TravisGiphy"Tinnitus. It’s torture."
DissidentBliss
"I don't mind it much 'cause I've had it since I was born. That means I don't know what proper silence is."
77x5ghost
"Me too, they thought I had hearing issues when I was young because I couldn’t really hear some of the beeps well because they matched the pitch of the ringing."
ehter13
Don't judge another until you lace up their shoes and walk a mile in them!
Do you have anything else to share? Let us know in the comments.
