There are strict parents, and then there are those whose rules are simply ridiculous. Imagine not being allowed to hang out in your room, or not having access to snacks. How would you feel if you went on a date, and your parents demanded an accounting of every minute and each mile? Imagine no naps! These are real, and Redditors who escaped unreasonably strict households shared their tales.
huey764 asked, People who grew up with strict parents: what was the most unreasonable rule?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
My sister used to call farts "tushy talk"
GiphyMy Dad once heard my sister say "fart" and got really angry because it was not "ladylike" so he prohibited us using it. Instead we were to say "noise that came from behind" which made it even funnier to me.
These overbearing parents.
My (now) wife's parents wanted an itinerary of where we would be on every date (she was 19 at the time but still living at home).
I thought they were asking in a more general way so I answered "well we're headed to a show, then probably dinner. Maybe a coffee after."
Unacceptable.
Which show? What time would we be physically inside the venue? When did the show end? Which restaurant? What time will you be eating? Which coffee shop?
I was just like "ehhhh... hasn't really thought that far ahead. We'll let you know."
"she can't leave till we know."
I just made some sh*t up. Seemed to placate them. From that point on I would just rattle off some bullsh*t and do whatever we wanted.
Very weird people.
What grandma says, goes.
My grandma had a "no leaving the table until you eat your food" rule. Pretty reasonable, except she would prepare your plate, often with more food than you wanted.
One time she made me a chicken salad sandwich but the chicken salad had turned. She wouldn't let me leave, she just sat across from me to make sure I didn't get up until I ate it. This went on for hours, until my mom got off work and picked me up.
It wasn't even that strict a household, I think she liked control and this was one if the few arenas where she could exercise it.
Oh, the horror.
Listening to non-Christian music was punishable by being grounded for weeks.
This is... weird. No naps?!
GiphyI wasn't allowed to be in my room for an extended period of time except to go to bed at night. Also, no naps.
My laptop was required to stay in the living room at all times.
When I started commuting to college because dorms were expensive, I was required to report to my father and step-mother's room every day as soon as I came home, and they would yell at me if I didn't come up without being told every day.
Texts must be responded to immediately. My father threatened to report me as a missing person because he called me while I was on a shift that ended at 3AM and didn't text him back until the next morning.
One time, my step-mother asked for the full name, race, drug and crime history of a coworker whose house I was going to to play D&D. It was only a one-off event, but still super weird.
I'm sure there are more that I can't think of right now, but I've been No Contact with them for going on 8 months now and so it's been a while since I interacted with their craziness.
Wow. Yikes.
I was an unwanted child that my parents decided to keep out of pity as I was always told growing up. I wasn't allowed out of the house for anything other then school or family events. I couldn't see friends ever, wasn't allowed a phone until 16 which was only for emergencies and checking in when I got to school and when I left. I would get beat occasionally the worst was for a bit of poop not flushing. Everything had to be spotless, my bed had to be made by 7am. If I did something that didn't like I would never hear the end of how terrible I was.
No music while cleaning? Who's in charge, Ms. Hannigan?
No music allowed when cleaning the house, because it would "distract" us.
Also, not allowed to do anything with friends on a Sunday because it was "family day" (even though we never did anything as a family and just stayed shut in our rooms).
More fart restrictions. "Fluffs?" Really?
Among other stupid, non-sensical rules.... until I moved out at 17, I wasn't allowed to say "fart" because it's a "swear word". If I needed to talk about farts, I had to call them "fluffs". My best friend and I would kill ourselves over how silly this was.
Im 26 now and as much as my parents are proud of me for my life accomplishments so far, I know they're not proud of me for having a VERY extensive, dirty vocabulary. Feels good to prove to them I can talk like a degenerate and be successful.
This is how the best Redditors are made.
I was never allowed out with my friends, after school, the weekends, the holidays etc. I stopped being invited out after a while and internet became my friend, might explain why i prefer online company.
No snacks, no freedom.
GiphyLocks on the fridge and pantry. Bars on the windows. Wasn't allowed to have the computer password.
Evolution - bad.
There were a lot of TV shows I wasn't allowed to watch. Mainly things like Pokemon because it obviously promotes evolution. The big one though is I wasn't allowed to get my driver's license. I had to learn how to operate a car and drive in case of emergencies but was not allowed to get my license. There were extreme amounts of bitching and whining when I needed to be picked up late due to my after school activities or be dropped off at a Saturday competition. Then I was the ungrateful one if I complained about them yelling at me for having to go to an event, for a school activity they signed me up for, that I didn't want to do in the first place.
No longer a prisoner.
16 year old me: "Can I go to the coffee shop with some friends? I'm done with all homework and I promise to be back by bed time."
Dad: "No. You already went out once this week."
That was actually the last straw, because he made that rule up on the spot and doubtlessly had every intention of enforcing it. I snuck out my window and left home. He found me a couple days later and it turned out, after talking to his cop buddies, that he couldn't have them arrest me unless I was found breaking laws. I agreed to talk to him and my stepmother, whereupon they told me I could either live by their rules or not live there again. No brained for me - packed a couple bags of favorite clothes and got the f out.
This stepmother from Hell.
Step mother tried to boot myself (14 female) and my bro (12 male) out because she didn't want us living with her. Dad realised if that happened, he would end up dealing with child services etc. So he "compromised".
As the female, I was allowed to still be living in the house but had to remain in my bedroom unless asked to come out for dinner. I had to ask to use the bathroom. My door had to be open at all times and no phone allowed. I was never allowed to be given cash so all of my stuff (school bus tickets, sanitary products etc) were bought for me. I often went without lunch as she wouldn't make it for us (only her son) and we weren't allowed in the kitchen. A teacher at school worked this out pretty quick and started bringing me food each day.
My bro was not allowed in the house. He lived in a van (I mean a literal work van) around the side and had allocated shower and bathroom times. He had to eat outside. He thought it was cool.
One day when I was 15, the police came to my school and said I couldn't go home as my bro had done something to set her off and she had chased him up the street with a broom, then come back in and trashed my room and the van with an axe.
EDIT: lots of comments have asked what happened next. No consequences for her but we weren't allowed back in the house and she obtained restraining orders on us coming to the house...I'm still not quite sure how as I did nothing! Dad paid for an apartment and we both lived in that - he would visit once a week to take us food shopping. This lasted until I was 16 and someone tried to break in while I was home alone and I rang my 17yo BF in a panic. He came over with his dad who sussed things out pretty quickly and I went home with them where I stayed for the rest of high school and uni as his girlfriend initially and then as a boarder.
I am now a teacher who works with disadvantaged youth and use my experiences to inform my support for them. My bro has not coped as well (partly due to personality and also being younger than I was) and is a drug addict who I have very little contact with after he stole from me repeatedly as an adult.
Dad and step mother stayed married for 20 years. He left her last year, they are divorced now and he's about to marry a Chinese lady I've never met.
What's up with all this lack of privacy?
Not allowed to close the door of my room from my 15 to my 18?
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.