10 Unreasonable Rules Enforced By Strict Parents

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There were also rules that seemed completely unreasonable, like not being allowed to wear a certain color or being grounded for something as simple as forgetting to make your bed. Let’s take a look at some of the most unreasonable rules strict parents have imposed on their children and explore the potential impact they can have on a child’s development.

1. Not Allowed to Play Video Games With Certain Ratings

“My mom was very strict about the ratings of movies and video games. One year for Christmas, a relative gave me a copy of Star Wars: Shadows of the empire for the Nintendo 64. It was a T (for teen) rated game, and I wouldn’t be turning 13 for another 4 weeks. My mom had my dad drive me to Toys’R’Us to return the game.

Cont’d: Not Allowed to Play Video Games With Certain Ratings

We walked into the store and over to the games, and he had me pick out an E (for everyone) rated game. We proceeded to check out, and as we went to the car, he handed me not only the new game but the game we were supposed to have returned to buy it as well and told me not to let her catch me playing it,” one person shared.

2. Not Allowed to Say ‘Stupid’

“I had a friend who wasn’t allowed to say the word “stupid,” and tried to report me to the teacher when I said it. Teacher yelled at me and then told me it was okay in private and “not to say it around that one kid.” Nice guy, though, just had a helicopter mom,” one guy remembered.

3. Not Allowed to Use Too Much Shampoo

“My stepmom decided that I was using too much shampoo. She would get a little medicine cup before my shower and pour the designated amount into it. It wasn’t ever enough becuase I had hair down to my butt. I also wasn’t allowed to use conditioner,” one girl recalled.

4. Too Many to Count

“I was/am not allowed to do the following: use the washing machine, wash the dishes, pull the weeds, vacuum outside of my room, I must ask to use the vacuum, I can’t cook a meal, I can’t have the remote, I get instructed on how to use the microwave that I’ve been using for years, and if I ask where we are going I get told ” out” and I have to dress in jeans, a shirt, and running shoes no matter how hot because he doesn’t like shorts. and no jacket, no matter how cold,” one person shared.

5. Not Allowed to Listen to Guitar

“We could not listen to music with guitars in it. I will never forget the day my brother was listening to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and my father took the radio and threw it through the window. Spent my childhood listening to Richard Marx and Michael Bolton. Thanks dad,” someone remembered.

6. Not Allowed to Play in the Snow

“We couldn’t go sledding during the winter – or any other season, obviously – because my mom was a neat freak and didn’t want snow slogged into the garage. So, no snow playing of any kind, really. Never built a snowman. Did go sledding when I was an adult. It’s pretty great.

All of the clothes in our closet had to be arranged by color, descending in order by shade. So, for example, midnight blue at one end of the blue section and tarheel blue at the other. There was a system in place for colors, too, so if the yellows were by the purple, for example, there’d be hell to pay.

7. Writing Essays to Be Able to Watch TV Shows

“I had to write essays on tv shows that I wanted to watch in order to have them unblocked by parental controls. I remember writing a riveting piece on the educational and cultural benefits of Disney’s That’s So Raven. Also, I wasn’t allowed to watch PG-13 movies, even after turning 13.

8. ‘Truth Sessions’

“I was from a large family, and discipline was very strict. If one of my siblings or I broke one of the major rules, my parents would hold a ‘Truth Session.’ All the children would be brought to my Dad’s study, where the guilty party would be given an opportunity to confess.

9. Not Allowed to Volunteer

“There was a lot, but the most ridiculous one to me was they didn’t want me volunteering during high school. I was visiting the elderly, and they said it was too dangerous to be around strangers like that, and the time was taking away from my studies. Most extracurriculars I wanted to do they had a huge problem with, but it didn’t hit me how absurd it was until it was about senior citizens,” one person remembered.

10. Not Allowed to Cook/Make Certain Foods

“My mom was insanely controlling about food. Weird rules were in place, like “one slice of lunch meat per sandwich.” No one but her was allowed to cook. She’d make one giant batch of spaghetti or something, and we’d have leftovers for days, so she only had to make dinner twice a week. She did not work or anything, just didn’t like cooking every day. Breakfast was cold cereal, and you’d only be allowed a small bowl with just enough milk to moisten it. Occasionally she’d bake something she called Corn Toasties, which was simply cornbread baked in a sheet pan. She’d cut them into squares and fill the freezer with them, and we could have one of those for breakfast as an alternative.