Life

The 10 Weirdest Rules Parents Have Come Up With

by Sara Levine

Growing up, we've all dealt with weird rules our parents have established that don't seem to make any sense. I'm not talking about the "you'll understand when you're older" type situations — those actually have a purpose, even if we as kids didn't get it at the time. For instance, my mom didn't let me watch TV during the week when I was little, which at the time I thought was totally unfair; in retrospect, though, it taught me to do other things with my free time, like go outside. But sometimes parents make rules that actually make no sense, as is evidenced by this Reddit thread of the weirdest rules parents had their kids follow growing up.

I maintain without hesitation that if this thread proves anything, it's that helicopter parenting isn't a phenomenon that's unique to this generation — no matter how much people try to tell me otherwise. Parents have been overprotective way before the Internet, or even the invention of the term "helicopter parenting" itself. I once had a friend whose parents didn't let her watch PG movies — we were in middle school, by the way — which doesn't seem that crazy until you try to watch a movie at a sleepover and realize just how few movies are rated G. Pixar's Inside Out isn't even rated G.

Here are some more ridiculous rules, from the parents of the Reddit community:

This literally makes no sense.

Marie, is that you?

Ah, the good old days of parents not understanding technology.

This one seems extremely counterproductive.

Jinkies!

But... why?

OK, half of this response is reasonable.

I have no words.

Hilarious.

And the award for "Weirdest Rule of All Time" Goes to...

Images: ClearFrost / Flickr; Reddit (10)