People who grew up with strict parents, what was their most unreasonable rule?

[@joshuamckown3145]

The line between strict parenting and abusive parenting is one single atom thick.

[@LaughingLlamaLodge]

@xoxopreppyemi Yeah, I agree. My parents are the same.

[@senpai_mangue6141]

youre completely right@xoxopreppyemi abusive parents are kind of screwed up in the head while strict parents (not crossing the line with taking doors off hinges, smashing devices, restricting basic amenities, etc because of something minor, thats a different kind of strict i wont get into) genuienly do something that isnt designed by the military for physical and/or mental abuse

[@bombsity2]

Yea, I know this line well, as my father was a horrible parent, left me needing therapy, but lying to my therapist so she wouldn't call my parents, but I ended up getting help with that. My step aunt on the other hand sure, she's strict, but she's like actually good, for example me and my cousin can't actually fight but play fighting is fine just not endorsed, if my father saw me play fighting my cousin I'd have to real fight him.

[@joshuamckown3145]

@@bombsity2 I'm sorry you've had to go through all that, but I'm proud of you for getting good help and being better for it instead of worse.

[@heavenlyrics333]

I wish everything goes well for u​@@bombsity2

[@mizu7662]

These 'strict parents' videos mostly just make me sad about how many people posting were abused as children but seem to have convinced themselves they just had 'strict' parents instead of acknowledging that they were outright abused.

[@legthieff]

Yeah. Parents will abuse their kids and say “it’s for your own good” and gaslight you into thinking that they are just strict

[@meegansandberg1308]

The problem we have is growing up that way seems completely normal to us, even though we would never treat our own children that way. It's just our everyday life. And it didn't help that my parents always said it was my fault they treated me that way. If only I could be a better kid.

[@claytonhill936]

It's hard to think otherwise when that's all you've known and have nothing to compare it with...

[@drrocketman7794]

Where do I start? I think it's got to be "children, obey!" Which means, "You will do whatever I tell you to, without question or complaint, and you will magically understand how to do it because I gave you a command." It worked about as well as you'd expect, and punishment was always swift and severe.

[@AdrieneTheDarkestHorse]

Welcome to the life of children, we don't recover anymore :)

[@Sk83rNinja]

I had parents like this who denied it but it was obvious that they wanted me to be perfect

[@harl3quinn]

My parent's biggest rule was, in no uncertain terms, that I had no expectation of privacy. It wasn't to the point where they would take my door off the hinges, but they would regularly go through my room whenever they felt like it. I'm now very paranoid of people seeing what I do online and have severe anxiety when someone is behind me, even if I'm doing literally nothing. Thanks, "dad."

[@Toadey2012]

Zoo wee some nigga's gonna have some CRACKS

[@error_Occurred_noNameFound]

I was gonna say my experiences, buuuut now I feel like I got it off easy...

[@TragicWriter]

My parents are extremely religious and they decided to become super strict and "godly" parents. I was a very shy and easygoing kid and never really acted up, and so they would go ballistic about very small things. For example: I picked a flower outside when i was four and i got punished for "stealing" and was spanked. I "had a look on my face" and would get grounded, I "had bad thoughts" and would get a smack, I was being "sassy" if i refused to admit guilt for something one of my siblings did and would get my mouth soaped, I spilled a spoonful of sugar during breakfast and got berated and screamed at for over half an hour,. I was allowed to play from 3:30-4:15 every weekday, allowed to play from 10am-4:15pm on Saturdays and was never ever EVER allowed to play on Sundays. Not even something quiet like a board game or dolls. We were told "Sunday is the day of rest" and would be very severely punished if we played or even talked too loudly. We went to church on that day and I was expected to sit perfectly straight in the pew and never turn my head or move my legs. If I shifted even the slightest, I would get a severe punishment once home. Bedtime was 7pm no matter how old I got. I once got grounded for picking an apple off the neighbors tree when i was nine after he told me I could have one. That was a spanking and month grounded for stealing and lying. I once got spanked for touching a Tamagotchi when I was in third grade. My mother didn't understand technology and she believed it was alive and therefore satantic. Any game involving magic was also banned. Once a couple Mormons came to our door and gave me a holy book. I didn't know what it was and gave it to my mother. That was a very VERY bad day for me. I never had a moment of privacy as a kid and I remember feeling like I was going to snap. Every day my entire room was searched for hidden items and no diary was ever safe. Once I hit puberty, I became angry and bitter, and really hated my parents. In a desperate attempt for privacy, I nailed my door shut. My mother and father spent two days trying to get in and they actually cracked the solid wood door, but couldn't get in. I had water and snacks in my room and for the first time I felt free. I didn't experience this again until the day I moved out at 18.

[@HighwayNull]

that sounds horrible, sadly these type of people give a bad reputation for actual decent religious people

[@Psionic-soon-to-be]

i have been raised in church and it for me was a little different and i feel really bad for the perspective of church your parents gave you church is were your suppost to have liberty but all the worlds garbage got dumped on you what kind of church did you go to i go to an appostalic church and i dont belive once saved always saved one God jesus and i'm not going to rant on about geting saved for all i know you are saved and filled with the holy spirit and it is a choice i hope your life is way better now i still live with my family and i love them i'm thankful i was raised right and please dont think this means i think i am better or my family we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of god i have done things i'm not proud of but i'm looking to a day when his kingdom comes and if you were taught that he's a that will strike you down if you do anything out of line then you were taught wrong he loves you and gives you free will and the destination is your choice remember you are loved and when you are hurting remember you are loved hope you live a blessed life

[@CappaDaBarra]

I’m a Christian and I’ll say, smacking your children is not what god taught. Especially over the smallest things. If they were actually following the word of god they would hear you out and try to help. Glad you moved out. Edit: I’m curious are still in contact? Are you on better terms? I would not blame you one bit of you don’t talk to them.

[@HighwayNull]

@@CappaDaBarra same I have Christian parents too, and what they taught me is that nothing in our church is forced, it’s simply if you want to work for God or not

[@CappaDaBarra]

@@HighwayNull that is exactly what my parents tell me too. Be Christian or not they love me no matter. That really helped. I chose to still be Christian but I liked that I had the choice.

[@bobbylibertini]

These parents aren't 'strict'- They're demented! Kids treated that way are always the ones who go nuts/wild as soon as they have the opportunity.

[@T.Gonz1216]

Sometimes it's hard to fathom how some people could be so cruel, especially to their own children. The worst thing from my parents was that our dad used to hit my brother and I, but that was almost a decade ago (im 17 now). I don't hold it against him because his childhood was shit and he feels terrible that he used to hit us.

[@johnstory2760]

A lot of people should not have kids.

[@DezAmmySel]

His childhood being bad is not an excuse to hit a child. There is NEVER a good excuse for a parent to physically abuse their children. You deserved parents that loved you properly, took care of you and protected you from harm rather than inflicting that harm on you themselves. You deserve better. It is not your responsibility to be your father's solace after a shitty childhood. He needs to go to therapy and deal with that himself, NOT take it out on you. You deserve so much better than that. We both do.

[@The_Existential_Bread]

​@@johnstory2760All children deserve parents, not all parents deserve children. The fact that things like this happen so much is baffling, and the children involved deserve so much better.

[@Draconor]

The limits of cruelty are near endless, and parents can pretty easily be cruel to their children based on circumstances, unrealistic expectations, irrational feelings, mental illness, etc. But still cruelty is a choice, always. Even if it is still an easy choice to make for some.

[@gillchatfield3231]

Even though he says he feels 'terrible', it is very likely that he'll do the same to someone else. If you see this, please talk to someone - there are lots of organisations, such as Childline (you’re not too old ;-) and you have your whole life in front of you.🙂

[@aisir3725]

*Strict parents* Look inside It's just child abuse

[@Peppino23331]

@@aisir3725 yes I have had a mom and dad like this

[@Sayoriismyfavdoki899]

So I was right all along

[@vishalahmad-ck6cu]

Theres a difference tho

[@chanimalice3874]

Every time I hear stories of abused children. I hug my 18 month old tight and promise him that he will NEVER experience anything like that. You poor kids. All of you. I'm so sorry.

[@breeinatree4811]

No matter how small the mistake i made, i had to do all the dishes. Not just the dirty ones, but every single dish, pot, and pan in the house. There were three sets of everything. Sometimes I'd be up until 3-4am washing dishes. Then i had to be up at 6:30 to get ready for school. Id fall asleep at school and my teacher told my mother and stepfather. Guess what my punishment was.

[@lazyryan3766]

At a certain point, I would have broke some dishes

[@red-trinity7390]

That is just one continuous and disasterous event just waiting to happen. Getting sleep deprived due to a small mistake?!

[@nyanya2757]

Bro you should've told the teacher the reason you fell asleep if they were nice so they could have put some sense in your parents head. At least it wasn't full on abusive like the stories just dumb logic from the parents on one point.

[@JustSomePortugueseGuy]

No Sleeping all Night for 1 month?

[@ItsSleeve]

They might have made a paradox

[@DezAmmySel]

My mom raised me to believe my autism was basically just Thinks Differently And Therefore My Opinions Don't Matter disorder. She favored my older brother, my dad favored my twin brother, and I was the only girl so I couldn't even enjoy the few perks of not having them give a shit because I was also overprotected to hell and back. Mom was a narcissist, she had depression, anxiety and OCD, but she only admitted to having the depression and anxiety because the others weren't good for playing victim. She manhandled a memento of my (at the time, RECENTLY) deceased grandmother who died of cancer "Because she's the adult and can do whatever she wants." She broke it, and had the audacity to tell me to be e x t re m e l y careful with the watch she handed me as it was the last thing she ever gave my grandmother. The memento she destroyed was a cd I gave my nana when I was probably 7 years old or younger, so 20+ years ago. The watch was something she gave my nana a week before her death. I threw it in the fucking garbage. She tried to convince me my nana _hated me_ before she died. She emotionally, mentally, and financially abused me. I used to wish she would get physical so I would have something to show all the dumb fucks that whined _b-b-but she's your mOtHeR._ Yeah, she was. So why didn't she treat me like a *_daughter?_* Once both of my grandparents passed, I cut her off like the tumor she is and haven't spoken to her, or my enabling father and brother since. My grandparents were my only reason to try to stick things out. My twin brother also, thankfully, cut them off as well. I genuinely struggled for years with thinking that I just didn't try hard enough, and that it was my fault things went the way they did until my twin cut them off. He may not have realized it, but I was glad that it wasn't just me because this made it clear that it wasn't a problem on MY end, it really WAS their shitty parenting that caused us both to flee from them. Honestly, I'm still struggling. Financially, mentally and emotionally. But at least these problems are my own, and she's not here to make them for me or worsen them just because "she can." I would literally rather die under a bridge than move back into her house. I know if I ever was forced to move in with her again, I'd be dead before I could finish unpacking one box.

[@pksmith4496]

I hope you and your twin have a good relationship now and are far away from that abusive household and are having a better life

[@DezAmmySel]

@@pksmith4496 Well it's not _great_ since we're both pretty awful at keeping in touch, but at least when we do talk it doesn't immediately turn into an argument lol We live pretty far apart, but at the very least we're both safe and away from our abusers. It's not ideal by any means... But I finally, FINALLY have some modicum of PEACE, and that's all I ever really wanted all those years.

[@pksmith4496]

@@DezAmmySel Good for you and I hope you live a happy life from now on 😉

[@DezAmmySel]

@@pksmith4496 :3

[@Twinturbo-ti3sx]

Guess we can suffer together my parents are also overprotective.

[@ruthiewitter569]

Thank you for caring, and being empathetic, Spark. You have a gentle heart. I appreciate that. For everyone here who’s hurting? I love you. I’m so sorry you had to suffer like that. I hope you can live free, and please, seek help from an outside adult if you can. If you are young, and/or your abuser is very controlling and good at dodging consequences, you can still escape. Go straight to a police station if you need. If you can collect evidence like hidden photos in your phone, or audio recordings, and that will help others believe you. Log data. Even if it is noted in your phone, even written data that is dated can be enough to help you get out. Be careful, be safe, and please be kind to yourself. You deserve love and freedom. I love you all

[@scarlettrazor5374]

I had a friend who lost door privileges. The stepdad literally took the door off the hinges. Why did he do this? It's because she slam the door. Why did she slammed the door? She was trying to get away from her little sister who is chasing her with a butcher knife. Know her sister to not get in trouble just a talking to from the mom. And no not her step sister

[@AdrieneTheDarkestHorse]

My parents keep threatening to take off my door because I lock it so I feel safer, but they think I'm in danger when I lock the door for some reason What could I possibly be doing in my room that's so bad? They can unlock the door faster than they can knock on it, anyways!

[@scarlettrazor5374]

I really don't know. whole thing was insane.@xoxopreppyemi

[@EstherHunt-p6d]

My dad in the last couple of years was a trucker and my mom was a busy student in her office 24/7 when she wasn't sleeping. The main rule of the house was to be silent and productive at all times. Nobody had any time to take me anywhere so until after graduation, I had no activities outside of the home (other than the Mormon church earlier) and pretty much no friends. I had to ask permission for food, otherwise I was STEALING. And stealing involved weeks of punishment, or "consequences" as they called it, like being "put on silence". I was on silence a lot because I was a naughty kid. And I wasn't allowed to bug my sister when she was working, whether it be chores or school, but the fact that we were supposed to be productive all day meant we were never really free to speak to each other. My parents even put up cameras inside and outside the house; the ones inside set up to make sure I wasn't speaking to my sister. Our meals were supposed to be eaten quickly and quietly, but of course I didn't care about those rules and still have an excellent relationship with my sister full of laughs at the table or in her bedroom doorway. We'd even hide in one corner of the living room the camera couldn't see and dance together for literally hours.

[@aussiebox]

Honestly I haven't met a single parent that can admit they were wrong to their own children. It's really painful when you prove them wrong and they just pull the "don't talk back" card or something, just to get away with it. Everyone makes mistakes 😭

[@tyujg7495.]

I always pray and thank to god that im not in their situation, huge respect even if it were 60+ years ago

[@Onemoretime-qu6sf]

Not being allowed to use internal female products during periods. Could not figure out why and still do not know why. Still managed to get some from friends and use them. Parents were upset , when they learned about this. I was almost 18 before they agreed to buy these products for me.

[@TheGuindo]

so, there's this archaic belief, still depressingly common in some places, that if your hymen is broken then you no longer count as a virgin. and that belief gives rise to the belief that inserting anything into the vagina is inherently sexual. that second one has a much wider reach, so you don't even necessarily need to believe in the first one to buy into the second one. so, my guess is your parents thought tampons were "inappropriate" until you were of a certain age.

[@Onemoretime-qu6sf]

@xoxopreppyemi didn't go swimming during periods. When I got older, friends in high school would give me products so I could go swimming.

[@HolyNamed]

what's a period

[@dancingghostgirl2291]

Menstruation Google it

[@sammygreen066]

They equate it with sticking a dildo up there and call it sinful because they're out of their minds, no offence

[@lisapeesalemonsqueezah3241]

(TW For cults, religious trauma, child ab*se)I had a friend in highschool who wasn’t allowed to have too much fun. Let’s call her Sandra. One weekend, in summer, our church youth group went speedboating at the lake (complete with waterskiing and tubing) We had an amazing time. Afterwards, my mom is driving us home and I ask permission for a sleepover. She says “of course!”, and Sandra calls her mom to check if it’s okay. When she told me she wasn’t allowed, I was mildly surprised because she and I had impromptu sleepovers many times before, and we were neighbours so it was logistically uncomplicated. Plus my mom and I were well known in the church as pretty boring, unproblematic people. I asked her why, and in the most casual, no-big-deal tone she replies “she says it’s too many fun things in one day” My mom and I were clearly baffled, but didn’t know what to say. Sandra picks up on our surprise and innocently asks “what?” My mom kept her criticisms to herself because she obviously didn’t want to meddle in someone else’s parenting. 14 year old me did no such thing though, I made my opinions known as usual. Sandra was floored to learn that other kids don’t have the “too much fun” rule. Later, Sandra told me that there were a lot of good things she wasn’t allowed to have at all, let alone “too much” of. Actually, she was horrifically ab*sed. Her parents were in a cult. She was raised in tents in the woods up until the year before I met her. She moved in with my mom and i when she was 16, before moving in with a different family the following year. Strict parenting can be a sign of abuse, don’t ignore red flags!

[@heavenlyrics333]

Yeah u are true but that's just how cruel parents are it depends how ur parent grew up

[@red-trinity7390]

Holy moly. Sandra’s parents were part of a CULT?! SHE CLULDNT HAVE “too much fun”?! What.

[@Twinturbo-ti3sx]

What's wrong with having to much fun I'll distract you from your studies, you need dopamine.

[@Toadey2012]

Those pair of niggas will feel the wrath of the PINGAS SLAMMER 1960

[@jokerofspades-xt3bs]

my parents had a rule where i wasn't allowed to eat ANYTHING outside of meal times, if i wanted to have pasta i HAD to have it at 5:00PM or else i wasn't allowed to have it at all

[@T3nch1]

The line between "strict" and abusive is as thin as the line between medicine and poison. My family was abusive. When my child self thought it was just strict, my adult self knows it was abuse.

[@ff-pj3de]

That’s how these things tend to go, often. Kinda makes confrontating these things a lot harder.

[@uniquegeek2708]

Yes, often people don't fully realize it until their 20's when they mention something offhand to a friend, and the friend goes W... T... F???

[@Chirpingcherub]

I wouldn’t call my parents strict but they imposed their weird relationship with food on me. I wasn’t allowed to eat chicken skins because they were too high in fat. I was allowed to eat fatty foods like burger and fries. I wasn’t allowed smoothies because too high in sugar. I was allowed Candy. If I had bacon I had to cut the fat off, but I was allowed to cook things in used bacon fat. I wasn’t allowed to add salt to my food to add flavor but I was allowed super salty foods like ramen and chips

[@quoeppel]

Yes, often the rules of parents are not logical. It's crazy but you cannot convince the parents that a lot of their rules don't make any sense.

[@lizzybearstar1661]

It Really Is So Sad How A Lot Of These People Think The Abuse They Went Through Was Okay. Breaks My Heart!

[@chloenyan9952]

My parents weren't too strict, but some stuff still sticks with me. My father gave me math lessons for long periods of time (I've never been good at math to his despair), like every Wednesday afternoon and weekends for a month or 2, several times a year.. So much so that I panic when I'm given easy mental math and I need to verify it several times. The other stupid thing was going out. It was always a assle with questions and rules that I ended up not wanting to fight over it anymore and stoped going out, while my lill bro had all the freedom. Now they complain that I stay at home too much and worry about my "small" friend circle.

[@bot7845]

Try coding It help me with advance math

[@chloenyan9952]

@@bot7845 I did coding at school, as long as it was math free I was ok, I don't mind numbers when I don't need to do math. I wasn't really good at coding too tho. To his despair again ! 😅

[@TERMINATOR101-b8j]

When I was 16 I went on a couple dates with a cute girl from gym class. Her parents were super strict born again Christians and would 'chaperone' our dates. She wasn't allowed to see me again after they found out I listened to 'secular' rock music. Apparently she married a fellow cultist and became a missionary.

[@TheTwin12321]

The dining table was placed in such a way that my dad and I (sitting next to my dad) could see the tv from where we were sitting, my sister (across from us) could not see the tv. When eating diner, my dad always had the tv on. My dad would hit me if my sister or I made too much noice, talking was definitely not allowed. If I lifted my head up too much from my plate, my dad would also hit me, because I was not allowed to watch the tv. According to him, the tv distracts from eating, tho he never gave an explanation why woulden't distract him. My sister and I were not allowed to lok the bathroom door, and my dad would often walk in to check what we were doing in the bathroom. This includes times when we were underneath the shower. He would yell at us if we used the wrong soap or shampoo. He would not tell us which of the soaps we were allowed to use that day, so it was just a guessing game for us. We had to take a shower daily, even tho we were not comfortable using the shower at his place. Using the shower any other place than at his home, didn't count. If I had my period, I had to shower twice a day. I should note that my skin is sensitive, and I should not shower more than every other day to deal with my skin. According to my dad, it was always my fault. It got to the point that my sister had borrowed something from me without asking. Normaly I would have been okay with that, but I wanted to use it myself. When I asked for it back, my dad got angry at me. If I wanted to use it too, I had to bring one for myself and not take what my sister was using. The explanation that my sister took mine and that she was the one that didn't bring what she wanted as she thought she could use mine. When I was 17 I managed to cut contact with my dad for an entire year, this of course was my fault according to him. I just didn't want to speak to him after 5 years of mental abuse from him (on top of all that was written above). I am disabled, and as an "excuse" for him abusing me, he now claims that I deserved being abused, since I am disabled. The only way I could deal with my dads behaviour as a child, was that I always knew it wouldn't last long. My parents are divorced and I would only see my dad 4 days per 2 weeks. Now I am 28, and barely have contact with him. I talk to him 3 times a year, and only see him those times if my partner can be there. He still tries to abuse me to this day, but will try to act normal when my partner is with me. My partner only saw the abuse happen once, all other times my dad managed to behave. My dad now doesn't know why I don't talk to him and wants to be a family again. He doesn't know it yet, but the children my partner and I are planning to have, will never be alone with their granddad, my partner will always be there as well. I only feel sorry for my stepmom, who is an amazing human being and honestly made my life better by being in it. She may never fully get to bond with her future grandchildren, because of my dads behaviour when she is not around. Edit: I forgot, I also got in some trouble for breaking up with an abusive boyfriend, my dad was really pissed off at me, and yelled at me. First because he thought the boyfriend broke up with me, and aparently it is not allowed in his books to have someone break up with you. When he found out it was mutual, but I started the break-up talk, he got angry at me for having emotions. Yes, I was not allowed to have feelings or emotions when I was around him. I still am not allowed, but now I know better then to try to hide them. I am fairly certain he has no emotions and feelings, but I will never ask him about this, so I can't be sure.

[@HungryWarden]

Oh, he has emotions, but just anger.

[@ariannarenee389]

My upbringing is a little funny because my mom was the strict one, and my dad was the easy going one. With my dad, I could watch him play video games way above my age group rating, and my mom banned a lot of things from the house. Now, there were some things we were allowed because of my dad like playing video games (some of the more adult themed I would make sure I wasn't playing while she was around though). For what I'm about to explain; most kids I know who grew up in a Christian household have dealt with this to some extent. We were allowed to watch Harry Potter, but when I was little, and wanted to watch Pokemon, it was "of the devil"... and I mean, everyone I know now who had an extremely religious parent/parents have some type of show, or genre that was "of the devil." Me and my sisters started watching anime thanks to the early days of Netflix. When they had a ton of really good, and even obscure anime. We watched a few shows before my mom banned it entirely from the house. A couple of years later, she catches one of my sisters watching it, and finds out she had been doing so behind her back since she created the ban (I was too scared of my mom to do the same). She stood us in a line as she had done many times before, went on one of her lecturing tirades (that could sometimes take HOURS to get through), and went off about how anime is of the devil and whatever. After who knows how long of her ranting, she finally tells us if we admit we don't think any of that stuff is "real" that she'll lift the ban. We were all dumbfounded as OF COURSE IT'S NOT REAL! It's animation! So that summer, me and the sister who was watching anime in secret this whole time, pushed our beds up together (we shared a room), and watched anime on my dad's laptop when we were allowed to have it over night. We watched dozens upon dozens of shows we still love, and she showed me a few of the ones she watched over the last two years. It was good. I also have a couple of stories over how I wasn't allowed to date until I was 16 (none of me or my older sisters were), and the many lectures we had for dumb reasons over the years. But that last one I like because it actually ended on a happier note, and I still look back at that summer so fondly

[@hanarielgodlike9283]

I had religious parents and can attest to "of the devil" stuff.. On my house it was mostly everything... I also had to watch anime behind my fathers back, Horror movies, anythging to do with magic, anything to do with ghost, spirits... Funny how my parents did this thinking it would make me a religious boy, it had the complete oposit effect, it made me hate religion more them anything.

[@YoshiCh1ef-je6me]

I kid you not, clicking on the video, the ad that popped up was a trailer for the new diary of a wimpy kid movie, and WE ALL know how strict Susan Heffely can get

[@mcninja6592]

I know

[@Toadey2012]

WOOOOOO 🔥🔥🔥

[@imaspecofdust3913]

Knew a dude who wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom at night. So he peed in a bottle or something. I think he handed those pee bottles to his mom or peed on the floor in his mom's room as a form of retaliation

[@HungryWarden]

“Here mom, have some lemonade I made you!”

[@ShadowSkyX]

Wonder how long that lasted?

[@LadyAmdis]

My grandma (mom's mother) who raised me tried so hard to make me hate my mother and wanted to give me to my aunt that I couldn't stand. She hated cooking and would feed me once a day so she didn't have to cook much, so I never had breakfast, only had lunch when I was in school, and had dinner. She would then proceed to overfeed me, and if I wasn't hungry she'd lose her !@#$ on me for making her waste money on me. Then when I started overeating to keep from being yelled at, she'd tell me I was getting too fat and therefore ugly and would cry that I was ruining my beautiful body (this started when I was 7) and would buy clothes that were too small for me and tell me if I'd just lose weight I'd fit into them.

[@mztweety1374]

The more you try to restrict them the more they will rebel... I thought we talked about this...

[@cg0825]

My father never thought my grades were good enough. The school adopted this thing where they would send out "warning notices" if you were down a grade level. I went down from an A to a B in ONE CLASS. My dad opened it and his eyes no joke were like The Incredible Hulk. The school did away with that policy after that year thankfully

[@Juliethefurball]

My mom yelled at me for not washing my hair. Had to cry on my sister's shoulder that night. Another time she literally screamed at me first thing in the morning for not taking out my trash can. She yelled that i was gonna "choke the dog." When i said I wanted to to go to my dad's house permanently, she yelled "then go kill your stepmom's dogs!" I, no joke, actually considered poisoning my mom's dog purposely when the voice told me *"she said your a dog killer. Why not live up to that?"*

[@lostbutfreesoul]

The Rating thing: Out-sourced Thinking. To keep it short, some people would rather not have to do too much of their own research and trust others to do it for them. If you take one of these people and turn them up to 8 or 9, you get individuals who believe things like movie ratings and the food pyramid. They are not bad people, they just rather not have to think about a lot of things so they just accept whatever they where first told.

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

Wasn't allowed to not eat at meal times if I wasn't hungry. Like, a meal was for family to share and you couldn't skip even if you were too sick to keep it down (happened at least a few times). Food was always bland and overcooked (the madre was/is a Karen, and they _hate_ actual flavor), and led to me gaining weight once I found out that food is supposed to taste like something. And you know that got harped on constantly. Also, there was a clear "what's yours is mine, what's mine is also mine" mentality with both the materfamilias and her precious golden child (not me, oooooooh hell no) that still persists to this day as far as I know; I cut ties with both of them and never looked back.

[@ninjagirl2424]

Wasn't allowed to stay up when my mom had to go to bed at 8 pm for her early morning shift. When i was 25 and knew how to be quiet in the other room. I also had my own job at this point, but didnt make enough to move out. Took Covid keeping me confined in the house to nearly break me, and thankfully i moved out with then-long term bf, now husband of four months

[@featherflame1962]

When I was 15, I had gotten grounded for having trouble getting up in the morning (I have severe insomnia and hadn't slept for several days at that point), and my father grounded me. Told me that my bedtime was 7:30 pm. I went along with it, it meant that I wasn't disturbed very much so that my dad could scream at me and call me a rapist for 'being one of the gays' (I'm also trans. Wee...) My friend, practically my brother at this point, had come over for dinner, and his parents and siblings had tagged along. I helped make dinner and everything, I was on my best behavior, and my dad says that it was bedtime for me, at 7:30. I was absolutely MORTIFIED. I stepped outside with my dad, tried to ask to stay up a bit later so that it wasn't so embarrassing, and he grabs me by the neck and slams me into the wall outside, and punched me twice across the face. I went inside, covering my face and trying not to cry, and my friends little sister saw the bruises on my neck and told her mom afterward. Nothing was done about it. I was too scared to say anything, and I moved out of that house at 19. I stay in touch with my siblings though, and I'm always within a car rides reach. And I will absolutely follow through on my threat if he lays a hand on my siblings like he did to me. So far, he's been on his best behavior.

[@ririlub]

First story, having too much fun actually wanted to make me work less. I found games more fun than doing assignments, so I procrastinate on them.

[@watermelongaming3698]

So somewhat related to this comment, but I'm doing virtual school. Even with all of my procrastination and getting distracted, I still get finished in less time than a regular, physical school day. And this is including days I have at least one test.

[@Aster_Risk]

No human should have to work as hard as most of us do. There are literally enough space and resources for everyone that we could all have comfortable lives. There are people who want everything and have an investment in keeping others oppressed and impoverished.

[@ririlub]

@@Aster_Risk just one comma could've ruined your comment 😨

[@TheGuindo]

me too. and then i found out i had ADHD, lmfao. it wasn't that having too much fun made me want to work less, it was that assignments are boring and video games are interesting, so the assignments would just slide right out of my brain like water off a duck's back.

[@ririlub]

@@TheGuindo that was the description i was looking for (i haven't been properly diagnosed with ADHD yet)

[@ThatAlleyRat]

That journal being found and taped on the wall hits too close to home. The silence before the storm and being yelled at for something that should be private and natural. That shit really does screw you up for life.

[@xxLivingMyWayxx]

I had too much fun parents and i kinda get it though. They don't want you to get used to always being out and my parents get burnt out from over socializing. Turns out i get burnt out from socializing too!

[@kdcthelioness]

For story 15, I'm pretty sure that's technically a war crime? Collective punishment is.... yikes.

[@mikehilbert9349]

A lot of these are not strict parents, they are stories of psychosis and abuse.

[@ElNeroDiablo]

Growing up with an abusive "Christian" (talks a big game but never followed any actual teachings, the hypocrite) [Egg Donor/Incubator] narcissistic "mother"; I never got to watch TV on my own unless I managed to get home from school before she got home from work (not even Edutainment shows like PBS Kids "Cyberchase" on ABC) or the *singular* case that I *had* to watch a particular show on ABC about Yabbies (Aussie crawfish) for a class assignment; the instant half-past-4 rolled around the TV was forcibly switched to her damn soap operas until the 5pm news came on for one network, then switched to the 6pm news for another network, then more of her damned soap operas. Even once I had a TV in my bedroom that was *gifted to me from one of my cousins* (no remote and the tube was stuck heavily red-shifted, but it still worked) when I was in my last year of mandatory Jr High (Years 7-10), she threw it out by placing it curb-side to be picked up as trash whilst I was at school one day after a week or so. Oh, lest I forget that the *only* time I was ever allowed to have my bedroom door closed at her place was when I was getting dressed; so even if I was doing my homework I was forced to hear her damned soap operas, get dragged out for dinner during news time (often *I was the one cooking dinner* since I was about 6 or 7!), then had to either do my homework in the living room or in my bedroom with the door kept open. Every radio in the house was tuned to one specific local FM station that had "Christian" programming playing the nutter stuff by "Dr" James Dobson's "Focus On The Family" mob like "Adventures In Odyssey" (to the point she got an Audio CD of a specific two-parter that was from the Satanic Panic over bloody Dungeons & Dragons from the 80's, in the *early 2000's* fer crying out lout), every music CD she played in the car when driving was "Christian" soft-rock or folk music like The Seekers, I even had to fight her control just to tune my radio-alarm to a nearby AM station that played exclusively popular music from 1950 to 1980 just for a smidgeon of comfort away from whatever was being pedals on that FM station. I barely got to know some of my small group of friends (said group ranged from newbies in Yr 7 to seniors in Yr 12, by the time I was in Yr 10) outside of school as I was only allowed to visit their house if I used my limited cellphone time (I had two old brick phones - one on a plan paid for by the [Egg Donor], the other paid for by my dad, so they could keep in contact with me, starting in 2000 when I got in to Jr High) to call the [Egg donor] after school that I was headed to said friend's house if they were living nearby so I would be able to walk home in time for dinner. Small mercies that once I did my time in high school and got out, to do a course at CIT - I was able to visit friends I made in my course at CIT or spend my afternoon/evening at a LAN cafe near CIT as long as I home before around 8pm and took care of dinner for myself in that case, as I was taking busses to get to and from classes and was paying for them myself on my Youth Allowance pay from the government to encourage tertiary education. Edit: Just remembered another piece or two of my [Egg Donor]'s nuttery - 18 years ago when I was a full legal adult she sent me a letter threatening to write me out of her will for "joining a cult" having become a Latter-Day Saint (since fallen off from active participation but still friendly with the local branch), without her realising the irony of her being in the cult known as the "Salvation *Army*" (which is extremely bigoted against LGBTQ+ people), as she tried to use emotional and financial blackmail to pull me back in under her control. I last saw the bint at dad's funeral back in July '22 where even after not talking to her for over a decade she still had the gall to try and worm her way back in to my life. The only reason I didn't get a restraining order on her to get her the hell out of my life under threat of jail for years of domestic and child abuse when I was growing up; was I was still in shock and grief over dad's passing barely 2 weeks before the funeral.

[@Yikes_its_Psychs]

Have a few: No furniture in the room No posters No paintings No drapes I never picked my wall color I never picked my sheets I never picked my rug I never picked my clothes I never picked anything for myself, and if I was allowed to I still had to run it by my parents first No friends The only tv, movies, music I could watch or listen to was what they liked No video games for a very long time, which was b.s. we had an Atari nobody was allowed to touch. The only game on the computer we were allowed to play was Math Blaster. By the time I got a Game Boy Pocket, Pokémon yellow had been out and Pokémon silver was on the horizon. No cable tv. Idk why on that one, id say it hurt them as much as us.

[@LibraryofAcousticMagic3240]

i never got to choose my walls or floor either. Its is the same as before I was even born. I used my sisters chair and a bed that wasn't built for me. I fought for the desk I wanted and won. My other furniture was given to me besides a wooden chair I had made myself. Over half my clothes were handmedowns. I don't think I had strict parents but that part of your pain I can feel.

[@marmaladetoast2431]

no furniture in the room??? where's ur furniture

[@Yikes_its_Psychs]

@marmaladetoast2431 what furniture? Bed frame doesn't count.

[@Techischannel]

My parents tried to be strict for a while, around the same time i was Sexually and Physically abused by Teaching Staff, meanwhile i was being bullied by my own classmates. I understand the picture my parents had of me was quite bad, biased from what they heard, worsened by my adverse reactions to being unjustly punished for things done to me. (Its taking a while for me to write this, i try to keep myself calm) But while trying to be strict they failed so badly at being parents that on multiple occasions i tried to commit suicide (failed, obviously, as you can deduce from how i am still alive) partially because i wanted my parents to suffer the anguish, the pain, the hurt i was experiencing every day. It messes with a kids mind in the worst way possible when people you should've been able to trust, start punishing and hurting you, for things they're supposed to atleast aid you with going through. Instead of being another source of grief. The feeling of blind rage while i tie a rope around my neck and attempt to hang myself, thinking that they'll finally feel what i feel, is scary, more so because i still remember that feeling. Very clearly, its buried but the hurt is still there, i was wronged so many times and they never even apologized. Instead it was shrugged off as, that i must have deserved it if they did that. Its still a hate that burns in me, i have redirected it into something else but i can still feel it boiling within me, even if i adore my parents. My literal caretakers sometimes. And recently my mom has been getting like she was back then, yelling at me that my experiences are lies and a foul excuse. That all i do is do excuses for why i cant do anything, that i am not in pain, that its all made up. This hurts, when i hear these things i feel genuine emotional pain ontop of the usual strong pain i have to live with every day. A dull stabbing sensation, having my own experiences invalidated in a verbally abusive way at that. But i understand that she is frustrated, by me and thus releasing said frustration towards me. Stressed partially because i'm not getting any better. Instead i am getting weaker, slowly wilting away even though the enviroment should be ideal. The plants i own weirdly reflect that matter, they're all sick, but all still alive even if only somehow. Often enough in the past, they were eventually killed off by my parents, more by accident than anything. Anyway i gonna end this rambleventing here. I feel, while not any better, i dont have an excessive emotional pressure now. And if its inapropriate, i am pretty sure i'm not the only one here who can delete this comment.

[@Techischannel]

As a reply, notably. My parents did the as "Hands off" of an raising approach as they could've taken, without being too neglectful. This meant and still means they're more like housemates to me than parents. They were there, we sometimes did things like go on vacation or celebrate a birthday or christmas. But thats it, most of the rest of the time i was pretty much on my own. Sometimes literally. I never lacked in food, fridge and pantry basically always full and i've been cooking since i could climb up the stove to teach the pots. (Around 3 to 4 years old) This left me emotionally stunted, as the only effective means of dealing with distress was to just suck it up, because my parents did nothing, unless i was phyically hurt enough to warrant a hospital visit or i was sick enough to warrant a doc visit. Or basically, every other week was i was getting sick so frequently, my parents started to belive i was faking it to get out of school. Also means almost everything i know about emotions, empathy, etc. i had to learn about myself. Not even knowing what most of it was called. For a long time i thought feeling the way i do was a Human base level, a sort of Happiness as i shoud've been happy so lets say that i am because i dont actually know what its supposed to be like. As i didnt simply know. Its only now that i can savely say that i wasnt Happy. I was Lonely, depressed, sad and sometimes afraid. A internal joke that i sometimes made in my mind is that even if something bad were to happen to me, it would take my parents at least a few days to notice, likely more because i didnt go out of my room. Happened when i was fasting/starving myself during i think it was spring break? mainly due to emotional stress and overall feeling unwell. And it took my parents 4 Days to notice i wasnt going outside of my room except for i suppose when i went to the bathroom for a toilet break and notably: Water. This joke became a more bad realization, almost to the degree of dread, when i couldnt move due to pain or weakness, i dont remember, for a while and i was stuck there in my room with numb legs trying to at least keep on breathing. Nodding off occasionally. Watching the sun go down, it be a bit darker in my room and eventually the sun go up again and then down yet again. That was scary. And turned the joke into something dreadful. Because they really would not notice for a while.

[@EntropyAndSingularity]

@@TechischannelI am so sorry for you. And I thought my emotional situation was bad. At least I have the internet to find examples of emotions from others.

[@chibigoji5080]

I feel like a lot of the behavior from these parents was learned/passed on. Either from their own shitty parents or some other external factor. Doesn't excuse anything, mind you, just explains a lot

[@Fresh_Mayo_Productions]

My parents had the rule “no biking past our street” and I mean that made sense, but we live in an extremely safe neighborhood, and drivers are careful.

[@bluecannibaleyes]

There are reasons beyond that, like not wanting the kid to get lost, wanting to know where the kid is, being able to keep an eye on the kid...

[@Fresh_Mayo_Productions]

@@bluecannibaleyes To be fair, I know my neighborhood like the back of my hand. Getting lost isn’t a problem for me.

[@bluecannibaleyes]

@@Fresh_Mayo_Productions That’s from your perspective, though. Your parents didn’t know that. And like I said, maybe they just wanted to keep you within their sights in case something happened, like a bike wreck. Idk, it just seems like a totally reasonable rule to me, but whatever.

[@Fresh_Mayo_Productions]

@@bluecannibaleyes It’s okay.

[@Geilolp.]

thats why i got revenge on my grandparents. they gave my mother alot of mental illness's. she was a wreck so my grandparents adopted me and did the same to me. they should have just let me live with another family, now they're the wrecks, in some facility for old people aswell

[@TetrisKing]

Strict parents end up in homes with kids that don't visit.

[@nara9404]

My father normally doesn't like to have to meet with my mom's side of family. And we cannot meet them if he isn't around. So we get to meet them very rarely. Me and my sister aren't allowed to sleep over at any of their houses if he doesn't want to. I don't think this can be called being strict or abusive, it's just illogical. Sometimes I feel like i can relate to the situations given above but they never go the extreme as these parents did, so I don't know

[@lazyryan3766]

If you're an adult, you don't need his permission

[@nara9404]

@@lazyryan3766 I'm not, 😅

[@ShadowSkyX]

Sounds like he has issues with them or someone in particular he's avoiding, and for whatever reason, the rest of the family protects their awful/abusive behavior - which sours the rest of the dynamic. Whether it's for your own good or not is hard to say.

[@micahscott3895]

Welp that truth session thing sounds like a story my father told me about his childhood minus the small "mercy" of the bamboo rod on the youngest instead it was the buckle end of a leather belt for everyone and he just talked about it as if it was completely normal my dad was strict but never did he turn abusive but HOLY SH*T did he get abused and he doesn't even realize it

[@The_Existential_Bread]

I believe my mother was abusive to at least some degree, but it was in an extremely backwards way. (Text wall warning, this is a long comment) One of her main problems was that her priorities were mixed up. She was somewhat strict as I grew up, but neglectful. She had time for basically everything in her life but me. She would still pay attention to me, but it was almost like she saw me as some sort of virtual pet. She would say things like "I love you" quite a bit each day, and tend to my needs, but that was it. She would talk about me extremely positively to other people, but rarely spent time with me unless I approached her. I also was an only child, so there wasn't much of an excuse for her inability to spend time with me half the time. It made me feel like a fancy decoration that she loved showing off, then kept in a glass case for the rest of the time. She was also oddly protective of me, which when compared to the rest of her behavior, basically made no sense. Thrifting was an obsession of hers; she would frequent Goodwill or other, more obscure thrift stores in search of good deals, regardless of whether or not we needed them. That's how we ended up with multiple boxes of Walmart notebooks that we never used. Just because they were 50¢ each. Things like that also leeched our money, making it so that we kept needing to get cheap food and not go out to do fun things. Even without the money problem, she still only bought the cheap food because it was cheap, and the few times we went out to do things, it was the cheap stuff. She even made a big deal out of teaching me how to shop online for certain things and compare unit prices. Saving money and finding deals would have been good mindsets to have if they weren't obsessions. Also, remember when I said she was strict? Well, that shows the most in how she handled emotions. She and my dad were allowed to express theirs freely, but if I got too excited, she would tell me to tone it down, or even worse, if I got just a little irritated at something, she would immediately snap at me to 'drop the attitude'. It was frustrating, to say the least, especially since neither parent expressed theirs healthily and I knew not to follow their examples, even more so when I hit puberty, since I was supposed to have more extreme emotions. They never got to the point my mother acted like they did, and since she abhorred 'dramatic behavior', I eventually started bottling up my emotions and withdrawing. We even got into an argument once where she had upset me, and approached me, asking if I wanted to play a game with her in an attempt to make me feel better. I tried talking to her about how I felt, and ended up mentioning her past frustration with my 'drama', which sparked an argument where she said something unhealthy which I hold against her to this day. She said, and I quote, "I'm not here to interact with the drama, I'm here to interact with you." I immediately called BS and told her to leave, especially since she had entered that room knowing I was crying. The thing that drove me up the wall the most, however, was the fact that she refused to see that she was doing anything wrong. She wouldn't listen to me when I tried to talk to her about it, and she had grown up in a very similar situation with a manipulative family, so you'd think she'd have learned to double-check her work. But no, she insisted that she wasn't doing anything wrong. Sometimes, she'd even do something like that, then promptly follow it up with saying that it's something that her mother (my grandmother) did, drove her up the wall, and that she's not doing. I grew up with my grandmother until I was 8 (my mom lived with us, then she took me and left), and frankly, I think that whole she was crazy, she was better than my mother in some cases. Not better overall (she still did a lot of insane stuff), just at what my mom was failing at. She would spend time with me, unlike my mom. My dad (technically stepdad) was a bit better in my opinion, but still wasn't the greatest. He vaped and would hole himself up in the garage as his personal space, the same way I would with my room. While my mom was basically an emotional robot, he was the opposite, and his anger sometimes got to the point where he punched holes in the wall a couple of times (my mother was in another state both times, which is how he got away with it). Better than taking it out on us, but not great. Hence my irritation at my inability to express my emotions. At least he listened to my complaints about my mom and understood. Unfortunately, they divorced when I was fourteen, and my mother got full custody. TLDR, neither of my parents were raising me well, and only time away from them both helped me see there was a lot that was wrong with my situation. That experience left me with deteriorated mental health. I grew up depressed. I used (and still use) maladaptive daydreaming as a coping mechanism. I sometimes feel detached from my own body as a result of the neglect, in addition to some extensive secrecy in my life. Like life goes on around me and I'm just there, a ghost with no purpose or importance. I'm clingy towards people I like and are willing to talk to me. It's all awkward to live with. I eventually stopped talking to my mother unless it was necessary. There's more, but if I kept going, I'd need a video of my own. Sorry for the long comment, I just needed to vent. If you somehow read the whole thing, I applause your patience. If not, that's understandable. Have a good day, and if you have family issues, I hope they get better. If not, don't take your time with them for granted. Cherish it. =)

[@Flareclaw64]

my parents arent overly strict or abusive,but the emotions thing hits close to home.Everytime i would laugh that wasnt the quiet he-he giggle,i would be told to calm down.(when i got into an argument with them)I was also expected to forgive my parents at all and any times,no matter the scenario(in which they could be HORRIBLY wrong)

[@Shakki_Channel]

"She and my dad were allowed to express theirs freely, but if I got too excited, she would tell me to tone it down, or even worse, if I got just a little irritated at something, she would immediately snap at me to 'drop the attitude" ^^ This is exactly how my parents acted as well, and I also learned to withdraw and bottle up everything. It's super hard trying to survive in that environment, and it's even harder when it gets ingrained in you and you can't detach from that coping mechanism after having done it for so long. I'm so sorry all of this happened to you. But it gets better! Don't ever stop working on yourself and moving forward xoxo

[@SamuelLee-gw6wr]

The first rule of story 17 happened to me even though I'm 21. I was punished by my family for returning home after midnight, and always returned home before 11pm every day since. I also used to tell my parents that I cannot be home for dinner on each instance.

[@lazyryan3766]

Punished? They can't keep you from being out of the house once you're an adult, that's false imprisonment. What are they gonna do, kick you out?

[@SamuelLee-gw6wr]

​@@lazyryan3766I was locked out at 11pm last week.

[@lazyryan3766]

@@SamuelLee-gw6wr don't you have a key?

[@lazyryan3766]

@@SamuelLee-gw6wr you should be able to make a copy of the key. Even if you don't live there, until you are legally evicted with the help of the authorities, I think its straight up illegal to lock you out

[@SamuelLee-gw6wr]

@@lazyryan3766I have a key but the door was locked so hard that I couldn’t get in.

[@ems.master]

My faith in parents is now completely ruined.

[@marmaladetoast2431]

Not every parent is like this. Just look out for the red flags.

[@brendan5260]

My dad was strict in the wrong areas, he made a seriously bad prediction of the present. He wouldn’t let me hang out with friends unless he’s friends with the parents, yadda yadda, no going outside without an adult, all that jazz. But he let me have free reign over my computer and the dozens of others he created. The furthest he went for internet protection was blocking KZbin in the year of our lord 2010. Like there weren’t worse platforms out there. And regardless, I got disabled the block anyway. It wouldn’t have even mattered had I simply decided to move on to a better browser.

[@The_Odd_Beetle]

My cousin is a teen like a TEEN TEEN but with No makeup aloud No learning to drive No going anywhere without trusted adult (trusted by parent not by child) And was NEVER home alone Who doesn’t want there child to learn to drive with holding intelligence from females is dystopian (Context: cousin is female reasons for these rules are because she is female and there are so many more like dating I don’t want to make a paragraph of narcissism rn)

[@hayaq9991]

I was raised by father who had 8 kids.. most ppl would say he had a lot of responsibility but little did they know from the age of 12-20.. I managed the whole house by myself.. was responsible for cooking at the age of 12 for over 20 ppl on a daily basis, manage to get clean the house w my sister, never had time for homework so of course I failed bc I was tired.. from Friday to Sunday.. I could come home at 2 am living in nyc but if I left a spoon in the sink.. the whole house was dirty.. and on a school night my father would wake up the whole house and make us( most my me) spring clean the house.. my and my other sister had to do laundry for over 20 ppl and it had to be done before Sunday evening.. it was horror.. I don’t even treat my child like that.. half the time I say “f” it.. literally I can’t gather energy to get worked up

[@meegansandberg1308]

I could relate to a lot of these people. Not being able to sit on certain furniture, only allowed to eat certain foods, and being grounded for 6+ months and do chores all day. I was involved in a bicycle accident when I was fourteen. Screwed up both my knees. Denied medical attention and had to scrub the floor with a toothbrush a week later. Told children don't need to eat every day. The list goes on and on. I'm fifty-eight now and I still have moderate pain in both knees.

[@DarkKnightofIT]

My aunt insisted that reading on a Nook (E-reader) counted towards the "No video games or TV" ruling because I had done... something to get in trouble (IDR what). I had assigned reading on the Nook. She's a lot better about that kind of thing now, and has apologized for it, but I still don't get the logic...

[@Symmetry_Obsessed_Freak]

My dad has thrown things at me and called me a homophobic slur after I “came out” to him (He had a strict policy of NO SECRETS, or you’ll be grounded forever, so he forced me to out myself to him) He also raised a knife at me after I flipped him off one time, recently threatened to kick me out after I didn’t tell him who I was talking to on the phone (I’m a 19 year old guy with a full time job), and would threaten to take my door away if I ever locked it

[@kaitlyn_stark]

Not as bad as most of these stories, but my parents won't let me watch R rated content until I'm 17. A little strict but not too bad, but what makes it worse is how paranoid they are about it. They set my profile on every streaming service we have to TV-14 and under and won't let me know the logins for any of them, even making me look away when they log into the accounts for me. They prevent me from leaving my HBO Max profile with a child lock pin and they still put pins on their own accounts to prevent me from getting into those. Seems like a bit much. Oh, and absolutely no exceptions. A TV-MA rated show I want to watch came out recently, about a month before my 17th birthday, and my parents still won't let me watch it. I'm convinced they think there's some magical switch in my brain that flips the moment I turn 17 and suddenly makes me unfazed by gore and sex. The only exception was Everything Everywhere All at Once, which my mom passed bc Amazon had it rated 16+, and, of course, Passion of the Christ. And according to them, that one isn't just allowed because it's religious. And whenever I tried to debate this rule, I would try to be as civil as possible and they would still shut down the conversation instantly because I was apparently "trying to manipulate them."

[@sur7969]

this isnt 'strict' parents. this is straight up abuse

[@achyfi]

the line between "strict" parents and "abusive" parents is a hair thick

[@ggrj45ter]

I can't be on my laptop for more then a hour... all my school work is on my laptop 2.0 gpa and got grounded for not doing homework

[@Voxelgd]

8:26 this entire story shows that strict parenting really causes a "the harder you push, the harder they pull" situation. this person didn't get to play with snow and puzzles, and grew up to love both. when parents take a kid's freedom they don't know how to control themselves so they go wild with it.

[@victorjun2421]

I would write my whole life story here but honestly, i became numb to my own suffering due to the sheer amount of hatred i have for my mother. After all she did and didn't do against me, i forgave her and never talked to her again. They say this is self-respect, and i just wanna move on already. It's easier to pretend she didn't exist.

[@Paper246]

7:56 gigachad dad moment

[@endersdragon34]

Undiagnosed autism and a traumatic brain injury (me vs car, car won, I was in a coma for almost a week) so I am amazed that my parents were as lenient as they were when I was tween/teen). Granted it was the 90s so we didn't have TV telling us to be afraid every 10 seconds. I was allowed to walk to school by myself (probably mainly because I didn't have an IEP for some stupid reason, so no special needs bussing and my parents both worked). During the summer I could walk to swimming pool by myself that was like half a mile away and stay there all day (which I often did, my mom would just leave me $5 and see me at dinner time). I could go to the mall that was like a mile away and hang out there all day. Etc. I meet autistic adults (not just kids/teens) now that have nowhere near that much freedom, it's sorta crazy

[@bombsity2]

Random thing with story 19, if i found the diary or a diary of my child id just put a lock on it without opening it, and leave the key with a note that says "key for your diary" and put the diary somewhere nearby the key

[@JoaoVitor-tz1bj]

7:23 WAIT LOCKING YOUR DOOR IS A CONCEPT?

[@RonnieHagaChristiansen]

my moms weirdest rule was that i couldnt have anyone honme with me if they werent home, not even my sister who had moved out. one time i got scolded because she found out my sister had been at our front door/in the hallway after driving me home - how she found out? there was a piece of gravel on the floor..

[@Ducko_YT]

My father is abusive and makes assault threats, says i dont have rights and MUST obey cuz im under his roof and

[@VictorMartinez-en8zr]

Then don't expect help from people

[@Teresaplayz_NO.1]

spanking can be good, but not over the littlest thing, and definitely not ok when u do it excessively. Spanking isn't supposed to be because you want to hurt the kid, it's to educate the kid. Those types of things can be horrible when put into the wrong hands.

[@ShadowSkyX]

It's a slippery slope too. I don't remember my mom _ever_ wacking me in the rear end more than 4 times. She only spanked me three times in my life. It was never a first resort or even a second. She didn't even use a wooden spoon or anything either, just a hand. The belt was a last resort that was threatened but never followed through, mainly because I knew better than to keep pushing my luck anymore. I accidently hit myself with belts before and it stung like crazy; I used nowhere near full force either. I knew it would hurt way more if my dad followed through. Getting hit with wet towels really hurt too but it was my brother who had just figured it out how to snap them like a whip and thought it'd be "funny" to show me. (thanks big bro for the latter you little shit).

[@Apriladb]

I thought my mum's rules of not being allowed to wear makeup or dye my hair until I was 18, no clothes that showed the chest, stomach or butt and have to have all my homework done before anything fun was strict. It wasn't

[@TommyBo42]

Things I would be grounded for the day for: If I forgot to open my blinds to the correct angle. If my shoes were not pointed in the correct direction when taken off. If I left a single crumb after making my sandwich for lunch. If I came home a minute late for dinner. If I left my laundry in the laundry room overnight (clean and hung up).

[@Lisa2206xP]

My parents weren't thaat strict. I mean, there were a lot of kids who were allowed more than me but their parents were just really easy going. I was allowed to do lots of things, for example play outside, move around alone from a young age (like 6 or something) which is kinda normal in my country (I know it isn't in america, but that's a different story) as long as I came home at dinnertime. But I was some kind of a lightning rod for my fathers stress from work. I don't remember getting hit but my grandma told me that I said so when I was at her house around 3 years old waking up from a nightmare. She told my parents off and they stopped I guess. But my father would still grab me by the neck and threaten to hit me with his hand lifted up for the smallest of reasons. He'd come home from work and search for anything that he could use to relieve his stress on me. I always knew that I'll get screamed at, so I was scared of that time of day. The neck grabbing only stopped when I build up the courage to tell him off when I was like 15 and I'm so glad I got to that point. I'm 28 now and my relationship to my parents got better, but it's still not that loving. Although my mother was reallly kind and never did something like that, she never said anything against my father doing it either, so that made our relationship to be kinda distant too. But compared to a friend of mine at that time this is nothing. She told me about it when we were like 18. She got abused quite heaviely physicallly as well as mentally. Once the physical punishment wouldn't work on her anymore cause she got used to it and was kinda indifferent about it, her mother resorted to hurting herself as a punishment for her. She told me, she would pour hot fat over her hand until my friend would break out into tears. She was also never allowed to have any male friends and had to be home at 8pm, even at age 20. I'm still baffled how she endured all this without getting totally fd up.

[@TeaSippingCommunist]

some kids need to report their parents to the cps. problem? they don't have the means to contact them, or will get badly injured for doing it

[@Southeastern_Thrills]

Story 3 is pretty reasonable but, only if it's a vacation or something else that's special.

[@StupidKit917]

I am just disappointed i can't see the faces of theese parents in the nursing home when their children don't visit

[@MikinessAnalog]

Just accept that the family dog will bite you, and if you tell authorities, you will be kicked out.

[@Twinturbo-ti3sx]

I feel like these people want to be kicked out tho.

[@StickyNarrations]

my friend parents said 'No dating till marriage' =))))). they Asia....

[@marmaladetoast2431]

how does that work

[@schrod1ngersc4t]

My mom was pretty chill, but my dad wasn’t. Very strict household when my dad wasn’t drinking or on business trips. The worst rule? No crying. My dad HATED crying and when i, and only me, not my younger brother, cried in front of him, he would yell until i was so dehydrated that the tears stopped flowing. I had really bad anger issues too.

[@GlennCoco04]

In story 12, it sounds a little like OCD, but I could be wrong.

[@Everlasting1587]

This is absolutely not as bad as anyone else's, and I don't even consider it that bad, but someone else told me to talk about it here, so here I am. My parents aren't in the best relationship with each other. Either my mom will say something and my father will antagonize her into an argument, or my dad will say something and my mom will assume that he's upset with her, thus starting another argument. When they argue, my siblings and I get the brunt of the anger in the form of sharp words. I don't even think that they realize it; they just do it. A lot of people that I know express concern on this one thing alone, but isn't it normal though? Like, all parents argue. Out of the two, my father could be seen as considerably worse. He has an issue with his temper, and when it does flare up, it means that some kind of punishment is in the near future. Quite recently (about two weeks or so ago, the day after Christmas), I was playing a Mario game in the car on the way back to my house. I groaned because I fell off the same cliff for the fifth time or so, and he said to me, "[Name], stop talking to yourself." I was not in fact talking to myself, and proceeded to say to him that I was not and to shut up about it, since he mentions this often. He suddenly took a sharp turn into the parking lot of a gas station and got out of the car (I should have recorded the conversation as he was walking around to my door, that would've helped me explain this). He opened the door and said to me, "Get the f*ck out of my car. If you're going to disrespect me like that, then you're going to get out and take this sidewalk all the way back home." Keep in mind, it's the day after Christmas and freezing outside. I also looked up how far the distance was later and found out that it was a full two miles. Considering that the roads can be dangerous for a woman to be alone, I protested. He kept telling me to get out, and I almost thought that he was going to physically push me out, like he did a little over a week ago (current time, not at the time of this story) when he tried to physically push me out the front door because I wanted to run the dishwasher sooner rather than later. I started crying because I actually thought he was gonna pull me out, but then he said to me that if I ever something like that to him ever again, then he would take my things (mattress, lightbulbs which he has done several times before, blankets, et cetera) and break any electronics that I possessed (excluding my phone and laptop for school, he would keep the phone for months though because he's done it before). Then he said to me that if he heard me again that night, then he would have my hide (or a threat similar to that, the specifics are a little hazy due to time). I did not speak for the rest of the night. He's done stuff like that before, but it's normal. My mom isn't that bad, she just screams at me. I apologize for how long that paragraph was, and if you read through the entire thing, then I wish you a good day/night, you deserve it!

[@nancyriggs8170]

My mom didnt say i couldnt have to much fun; but if i went out friday night, I couldnt go out saturday, except very rarely.. Most of these storys sound like abusive AHs instead of just strict.. My mom and dad were not abusive..

[@ThreeTrees475]

My rage issues self really couldn't be able to endure some of these 💀

[@lechugaenlabiblioteca3298]

Story 9 is just plain abuse. OP you were a child and it wasn't teaching you a thing.

[@Robinem]

Can't say my parents and/or stepdad were strict, definitely not like any of the ones in these stories. Although when we moved into the house were my Mom and Stepdad still live it was brand new and we were the first to live there. And yeah we had the no shoes in the house rule too but that's common, not just like places like Japan. But it also brought on some strange rules, like... When you need to do a certain thing we all do several times a day... Everyone sits. (It was mostly boys.) Oh and after he had reached a certain age me and my younger brother were treated equally... Literally, until he was 12 (and I was 15-16.) Good for him but not for the teenager aware of what he should have grown out of doing. I did have a strict aunt who was in charge of babysitting for most of the year. Although this mainly during school breaks or we were off school for other reasons. Drinks severed with lunch was for after food, cartoons were fine but anything else couldn't be a "stupid comedy" and no matter what we had to make time for her "stories." Although that was my introduction to American detective shows which I would be very much into years later. Ok so that last one wasn't unreasonable but one thing I definitely remember was she was not the forgiving type. I knew to apologise for my wrong doings as a kid but for much of my childhood I didn't even know a response to an apology other than "too late." Cause that was all I got as a response. Ok it wasn't just her but in some cases but I noticed it all this from her more as an adult and what her relationship was like with others she was wronged by or had some kind of issue with.

[@thejayinator585]

My parents didn’t teach me how to treat my future children. They’re teaching me what NOT to do.

[@reichtrangler]

My parents were not too strict, but everytime I ignore my grandmother to do my chores, she grounds me for 7 days.

[@6x8sheetofplywood]

my mom gets so mad whenever i skip church like why do i have to go to someplace to some god i dont even believe in

[@AnneKirk453]

Oh same here! I am 19 year old Autistic girl who has to put up with living with her parents. I suffer a lot from headaches and loud voices. I also get uncomfortable 😳 in the pews because of being hyper sensitive and that is why I avoided church ⛪️…and there is also a young man who is younger than me that keeps following me…I don’t know what he would want with me because I have issues and no one wants to deal with them…

[@6x8sheetofplywood]

@@AnneKirk453 omg im autistic too! but instead of me being uncomfortable in church, i just get annoyed. people always gossip about me and say really mean stuff as if i dont exist.. thats why i don't go to church/ also, in my young women's, it was SOO toxic when i turned 18 i just stopped going

[@AnneKirk453]

@@6x8sheetofplywood yeah! My Mom is always wanting us to go to church ⛪️ but dad doesn’t care about it! He is literally the only person who I think might understand what I’m going through. Sometimes after church I go to my room and cry because I can’t do in church(plus me and my sister share a room so I have to be careful). It’s embarrassing 😳! I actually can’t say anything really I have to suffer through!

[@lazyryan3766]

​@@AnneKirk453If you can't get out of going to church, make them regret dragging you there. Malicious compliance

[@AnneKirk453]

@@lazyryan3766 I might but not now because I’m at their mercy because I’m living under their roof…

[@metalgod542]

Okie. I thought my parents were bad, but they were saints compared to some of these stories.

[@HadiidCanva]

Mine: No crying No raging No anxiety No insomnia No depression No spending time alone No sympathy Being naked in front of my family No friends No being black No incognito mod No growing up Being bullied is considered good luck No anti brainrot No Gen Z content No social media when it's 19:00 No love from your friends Get grounded for getting homework No summer break No living a normal life

[@ms.krueger2660]

I believe you have to give them a little freedom or they will go wild later. I let my boys get their ears pieced at 17. Let them wear all black or what they wanted. Let them have long hair. Let them stay out kinda late sometimes. Maybe I just got lucky but they are great young men. They work hard and are kind people!! If I had tried to hold them down they would have gotten into trouble as soon as I let them go. My Mother was strict. I was very shy so I did not get into anything. My sister was into everything. Drugs, drinking, sneaking out etc. My brother was into stuff but sneaky. I think I did the right thing with mine. I’m not stupid. I know they got into stuff but I think it would have been worse if I was super strict. My mother was always mad at me for giving them some freedom!! Not letting your kids go to the bathroom at night is crazy. I don’t understand all this strange parenting. Sounds more like showing your control!! My boys after they finished school would stay up all night and sleep half the day. I let them. They finally got jobs and could not do that anymore. I gave them some freedom and they appreciated that. 💜

[@LuXangoCain]

My dad said that he would ban me from eating if I eat in my room again (he had just built a small table in the kitchen).

[@gokucomplex]

bro the e for everyone video game one was so funny to me because i was playing gta at like 7 but i wasn’t allowed to tell my mom either

[@laceyaryn]

not strict parents but more-so my paternal grandmother...i was only allowed to use 3 sheets of toilet paper (no i did not follow that rule), use a pinky nail amount of conditioner for my hair (did nothing), was not allowed to go inside the house if anyone was not home after i got home from school (one time i was sitting on the front porch for about 2h while my grandmother, aunt and cousin who was in 2nd grade came home in the car and i was in 7th grade...wtf)....i was not a happy child and a black sheep of the family on that side

[@LBlair9838]

Having a mental breakdown rn realizing that a lot of people's parents were considered unreasonable for allowing their kids to do about as much outside of the house as I do without any rules about it and parents who literally always say yes as long as I'm not doing anything illegal and time allows

[@IsaacDoctorKleiner]

6:11 abusive parenting aside, how tf do you burn a basketball?

[@TheOneandOnlyR0zieP0zey]

My dad was always insanely strict, he would get mad if we snacked between meals or had anything that wasn't healthy enough to him, he called us spoiled brats and got mad if we didn't eat his nasty cooked vegetables. We always had to dress and talk a certain way too and couldn't even say "Chill out" or "Darn" without him losing his mind, we couldn't even be funny or make jokes without him blowing up. Everything had to be his and he took our phones very often any time he could make up a reason to, he even took a nap in my bed once just so he could basically remind me that he can do whatever he wants, he also sits in my mom's room chair just so he can own our personal space and bother us.

[@lordshaxx4693]

I remember being like 8-10, seeing my 6 year old sister crying because she got yelled at, and then getting hit by mom because she was pissed and I looked like I was about to cry and that pissed her off more. By High School she was upset that my responce to being yelled at was to just take it and go to my room.

[@bronsonmills]

bro the story 3 is the same for me we drove for 10 hours not knowing where we were going ( was worth the wait though)