Being a parent is one of the hardest, yet most underappreciated jobs out there. However, when your adult children grow up, it's usually all worth it. But some parents don't have the best relationships with their adult children—and they no longer talk to them.\nFrom neglectful upbringings to losing a parent young, these people took to Reddit to share why they think their adult children no longer speak to them. These stories will make you want to hug your loved ones.",""],"image":{"name":"srsxiwvzw3e0npue.jpg","credit":"Photo by Eva Wilcock on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1076},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":598}}}},{"text":["

U/TrueLet8993: \"My step daughter is an addict and mentally ill. Her son was placed in our custody by the state three years ago at 13 months old and she has never made the effort to regain custody. Her rights were terminated last year and we adopted him last month when the state gave us the choice. \nShe has hated us ever since he was placed here and has convinced herself that we stole her child. She only contacted my husband if she wanted money, which he won't give her so that makes her hate us more.\""],"title":"Adoption Struggles","image":{"name":"zohds8gmghv5d44b.jpg","credit":"Photo by Mahdi Bafande on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":900},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":500}}}},{"text":["

U/AcademicPin8777: \"My children are low contact. I feel it's fair. Their mother has BPD. She was violent and abusive. She has gotten help but she still hurt them. I did not protect them. Them not being around me is justified. They should be angry. We f----- up. \nThey didn't do anything wrong and they need to heal as they see fit. Kids not being around their parents have valid reasons. Most people just can't accept it.\""],"title":"Family Healing","image":{"name":"juypyz3x58heb8ct.jpg","credit":"Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/RTrinitoneBlast: \"I am a parent of a child who does still talk to me but rarely and I fully accept that it is my fault. I was an immature parent and made some bad decisions in addition to being inconsistent with my parenting due to immaturity. \nI am also on the spectrum but that’s something I didn’t find out until a few years ago when my son was diagnosed. I know I wasn’t great and I understand my daughter and I try to give her space.\""],"title":"Parental Regret","image":{"name":"j5t4foqu8v7u4ca5.jpg","credit":"Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/HearingNo4103: \"I grew up in a retirement community. What I’ve noticed was it’s due to a few things. The parent is intolerant of their child’s life choices. That can be everything from d----, religion, politics, racist ideology(parents), who their kids married etc. Sometimes it’s the parents unpleasant personality from either some personality disorder or just plain being an a------. \nSome kids usually stay away cause they feel they’ve disappointed their parents and are hiding their life from them. The majority of the issue is usually do to an unpleasant parent.\""],"title":"Unpleasant Parent","image":{"name":"bodsjwj56gtv4z7i.jpg","credit":"Photo by Dominik Lange on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/GarageNo7711: \"I had a patient (she has since passed RIP) who didn’t talk to her youngest daughter. We were very close (saw her 3x a week) so I asked her why she thought her daughter distanced herself away from her. She simply said that they were too alike and they butted heads, even over little things. \nShe did admit that since they distanced themselves from each other, she has had more peace and she thinks her daughter does too. Not sure if her daughter went to her funeral, although in my head I’m hoping she did. She died from COVID.\""],"title":"Alike But Apart","image":{"name":"u8dcrltna78aaf23.jpg","credit":"Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/bigredthesnorer: \"I am very careful with 'advice' that I give to my adult son for fear that he's going to stop taking to me. IMO the kid (?) is making some decisions in his personal and work life that I don't agree with or have concerns about, decisions that I would not make based on experience or my personal views. \nI am biting my tongue to not say anything. I don't want to be a nagging parent because he is an adult and needs to make his own way. I will give advice when asked but I've stopped giving out-of-the-blue opinions. I save that for my high school teens still at home.\""],"title":"Respecting Adult Choices","image":{"name":"ll30eey9guxo5b3s.jpg","credit":"Photo by Desola Lanre-Ologun on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/GirlGruesome: \"Mom of a 23 year old who went no contact a few years ago. If I’m really honest with myself, after years of reflection, I failed to provide the amounts and types of guidance he needed as he was growing up. I have 'reasons' to explain why I failed to provide enough attention or did the wrong thing… but at the end of the day, the reasons why I failed don’t matter a bit from his perspective. \nBecause the result was still that he was hurt as a consequence of my choices. I hope he is healing and self reflecting himself. I miss him terribly but respect his boundaries.\""],"title":"Parental Reflection","image":{"name":"i45vp1hhxdzw595h.jpg","credit":"Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Gsmack73: \"I wasn’t the best father. Even though my kids wanted for nothing all through their time before leaving home I had my own issues when they were young and was distant and emotionally abusive. When I realized what I had been doing it was too late. \nAs they grew up we had no common interests even as I supported them in theirs, they avoided me unless absolutely necessary for things they needed for projects or school. Counseling helped, but emotionally they have no connection to me at all. I don’t hold anything against them. I know it’s on me. I hope they can have healthier relationships with their kids if they have any.\""],"title":"Too Late Too Soon","image":{"name":"9iq88rlomgk7tezg.jpg","credit":"Photo by Natalya Zaritskaya on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/Bert-Nevman: \"I'm 56, my children are 33, 31, 25, 23 and 22. I haven't seen them since they were 21, 19, 13, 11 and 10. I was in prison for 9 years and my ex-wife blocked any communication with them. She intercepted my letters and phone calls. Our divorce decree (which she wrote) provided for regular visits, phone calls letters and progress reports. I had no means of enforcing that and now have only memories… \nI was released nearly 3 years ago and have tried to reach out to them. My youngest asked me not to contact her. I can't force a meaningful relationship, all I can do is have hope that they will reach out to me one day and always be ready to receive them.\""],"title":"Longing Dad","image":{"name":"wasko6npy4g9jlvn.jpg","credit":"Photo by freestocks on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/darlingsolo: \"My daughter is 17 and still lives with me, and we seem to have a good relationship. But once she moves out I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she stopped talking to me. I have bpd and have had some terrible mental health problems and have dated some terrible men and have made her life feel unstable and unsafe at times. \nI've apologised for all of this and I'm working on trying to heal my issues and trauma and try as hard as I can to be there for her. But she has closed off a lot towards me emotionally and I know it's my fault. I really wouldn't hold it against her if she decided to stop talking to me, but I'll always be there for her no matter what.\" "],"title":"Maternal Apology","image":{"name":"hcjb1pdtw649kmwr.jpg","credit":"Photo by Elina Fairytale/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/endsandpieces: \"I made a lot of stupid decisions and pretty much abandoned them when they were young. About 10 years ago. Now that I finally pulled my head out of my a-- they don't want anything to do with me. I've reached out they have my phone number but they haven't tried to contact me. \nThen I don't want to push it it's not like I could really help anything and I figure they'll come looking for me when they're ready.\""],"title":"Reconciliation Awaits","image":{"name":"yodgvy9qvoldnsy7.jpg","credit":"Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Brett707: \"A combo of mine and his mother's poor parenting. I tried so hard. But his older sister required so much attention for her mental health issues. Sometimes he was just a long for the ride. \nIt all came to a head when he attacked our dog and my wife and I didn't respond well. I caught chargers and he became a huge a------ because I didn't want him to live with his mother. I didn't want him to live there because I knew what would happen. He would go from an A-B student to a D-F student. Which is exactly what happened. He only graduated because his girlfriend wrote his final essay for English. I wish I could fix it. But he holds so much resentment towards me. I fear I never will be able to.\""],"title":"Riding Along","image":{"name":"ricnn2sq76a7pdm6.jpg","credit":"Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/dougiebgood: \"I came reallllllly close to cutting off one of my parents. I'll be vague, but the family was going through a REALLY turbulent time after a tragedy. Each family member dealt with it in their own way, some ignored it, some obsessed over it, and one of my parents dealt with it with anger. That anger included directing statements at anyone who hadn't gotten over what happened (two weeks later) and something was said to me by one of my parents that ALMOST made me say 'that's it, you've just lost a son.' \nI paused, and realized where the statement was coming from, and that my parent just really didn't know how to deal with the emotions we were all feeling. I've forgiven them for what they said, but I won't ever be able to forget it.\""],"title":"Turbulent Forgiveness","image":{"name":"kx5cz8ogu83iok0u.jpg","credit":"Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/theewlk: \"I was an imperfect father. Scars from my childhood bled through to my kids. Nothing horrific. Mostly them living through the mental health crisis I was in. It's been 7 years since I left the abusive relationship that was at the heart of that crisis. \nIn that time they have grown and have made decisions on how to best handle their feelings about my crisis days for themselves. We aren't completely NC. I can text and they will respond but the closeness that I had prior to leaving is not there anymore.\""],"title":"Imperfect Father","image":{"name":"12z43xuvep94zlvr.jpg","credit":"Photo by Natalia Trofimova on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/BeausM0m: \"I was a mother of one who married, and he brought 2 more into the relationship. Why do you think I had 1? I didn't want 2. I sucked as a young parent. Bottom line… my 3 children and I spoke about this a long time ago and realized how bad my mistakes were. \nWe have made peace with that and our own poor choices. They are good parents, IMNSHO. If your child will not speak to you, talk to them and find out WHY.\""],"title":"Discovering Why","image":{"name":"296wcqiq7z02hruv.jpg","credit":"Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/grannywanda: \"They say the phone works both ways. I’m waiting for them to test that out. They’re simply obtuse. In their minds we’re probably fine. They talk about my kids like they know them. They see them every couple of years at family reunions when they look up from their phones. \nMy Dad has visited my home and my children twice in twenty years. I haven’t cut them off, but I couldn’t carry the whole relationship anymore, I’m busy bonding with my kids.\""],"title":"One-Sided Connection","image":{"name":"r0a0j169wn2xg1av.jpg","credit":"Photo by Josue Michel on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

\"After my husband's sudden passing, my adult children distanced themselves from me. Confused and heartbroken, I sought answers. One stormy night, I received an urgent call from my daughter. She hesitantly revealed the truth, 'Mom, before he died, Dad had visited each of us separately. He made shocking accusations against you, tarnishing your memory.' Tears welled in my eyes as I listened to my daughter tell me the things their father told them. \nI felt completely betrayed as she told me that their father had told them about that affair I’d had years ago, that he and I had worked through. Unfortunately, it seemed he wasn’t over it, and made sure to let my children know before he died. I couldn’t deny what she was saying, and when she heard that it was true, I could hear the disappointment in her voice before she hung up the phone.\""],"title":"Tainted Memories ","image":{"name":"ep3qmsmoj1hzpxey.jpg","credit":"Photo by Claudia Wolff on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":562},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":312}}}},{"text":["

\"Every year on my birthday, my three adult children would send me a beautiful bouquet of flowers with a heartfelt card. But this year, the silence was deafening. Confused and hurt, I reached out to each of them, desperate for answers. One by one, they ignored my calls and avoided my messages. Finally, my eldest daughter answered, her voice filled with bitterness. 'You want to know why we don't talk to you anymore?' she asked. \n'It’s because of what you did.' My heart raced as I racked my brain, trying to remember what could make them hate me so. 'We found your journal, Mom. The one from all those years ago. How could you? How could you not tell us who our actual father was? We went our whole lives calling him Uncle Vinny, when really, he was our father?' Tears streamed down my face, as I struggled to stutter out a response. But the line went dead before I could say anything else. What a terrible birthday.\""],"title":"Terrible Birthday ","image":{"name":"bppimdre2dw76gdh.jpg","credit":"Photo by Oleksandr P/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"My beloved adult children had distanced themselves from me for years, and I couldn't understand why. But then, on my 60th birthday, they handed me a package wrapped in gold ribbons. As I unwrapped it, a letter fell out. Trembling, I read their words. 'Dear Dad, we've kept this secret for so long, but now it's time for you to know the truth. On the day of our high school graduation, you were supposed to be there, cheering us on. But as we stood on the stage, scanning the crowd with hope in our eyes, you were nowhere to be found. We felt abandoned. You choose drinks over us. That's when we decided to choose ourselves. Enough was enough.\""],"title":"Dear Dad","image":{"name":"0lkey1in17lsrv87.jpg","credit":"Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/crayiii: \"As an adult who doesn’t speak (much) to parents AND has an adult child that hasn’t spoken to me in a decade. Here’s why: I was in a vehicle accident that killed my wife. It was the other person’s fault and the courts took care of that person. I don’t speak to my parents because I’m ashamed and blame myself and feel worthless. \nMy child doesn’t speak to me because he can’t handle the sadness he feels when he looks at me. That’s what he told me a decade ago. I know that he blames me. So for me, it grief all around. When family should have come together I and my child ran.\""],"title":"Silent Grief","image":{"name":"pdxnshusuq9nx82s.jpg","credit":"Photo by Stefan Spassov on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/PhilosopherOk9238: \"Adult child who just started not talking to my parents. Let’s see As a child : being called the B word, an A hole, dumb. Gaslighted into believing in parents know everything and if you question you don’t love your parents. Corporal punishment for anything. Forgetting to take clothes out of the dryer? Leaving an empty box in the cabinet? Punished. \nWhen I had my first attempt my mom said I embarrassed her and my dad said I was pulling a stunt. Detrimental to my mental health. I would have mini panic attacks when I knew I had to go home…\" "],"title":"Silent Escape","image":{"name":"ey448aexqqtpe7x4.jpg","credit":"Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":960},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":533}}}},{"text":["

U/Similar_Ad3466: \"My adult child doesn’t speak to me because I failed as a mother. I spent those young important years still desperately trying to fill my own empty dysfunctional need for love and approval. I did not value myself and didn’t teach my kids self-worth or boundaries. I didn’t know how to identify or regulate emotions and didn’t know how to teach or model them. \nI failed the only people who mattered. Every single day, I send peace and light and love and healing to them, praying that the Universe or God will lift them. I’m so so sorry.\""],"title":"Mother's Prayer","image":{"name":"uovtv13wtcgsti25.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ben White on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/geminiloveca: \"From the other parent perspective. my adult children (25 and 23) do not communicate with their father at all. Long story short, he remarried about a week after our divorce was final and he and his new wife went on to have children of their own. Over time, his visits with the children because more infrequent and stressful due to his wife's distaste for me and my children. He has had no contact with the kids in over 3 years and his previous attempt was 4 years before that.\nMy youngest says he will never forgive his father for replacing us all with a new family and forgetting us. The oldest says it's just not worth chasing someone who has no interest. Personally, I'm sad and angry on their behalf. He divorced me, not them.\""],"title":"Divorce One, Divorce All","image":{"name":"pnhc5lhmhmipnqlb.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/jebthereb: \"I have 4 kids. My two oldest aren't living with me. My oldest daughter talks to me some. My oldest son wishes me dead. I made many many mistakes when my kids came back to live with me. My eldest hated my LTR girlfriend. She was terrible and consequently so was I. My daughter left to go back with her mother as she was not doing well here. I understand, now, why. \nMy LTR made eldest sons life miserable too. During that time I broke up with the LTR. It was too late. My eldest son left to go be with his mother and sister. I am sure that my ex wife is not helping this matter but he is mad at me and I know I made some pretty bad decisions. I have accepted the fact I may never have a relationship with him ever again.\"",""],"title":"Too Little, Too Late","image":{"name":"17pl62es11e55n8z.jpg","credit":"Photo by Peter Idowu on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/implodemode: \"My sister doesn't speak to one of her kids. She expects too much of people. She's very entitled. She doesn't follow through on commitments. She's always the person who is hard done by. She wants to be taken care of, that's all. She thinks she should get to spend her money as she pleases and someone else should subsidize her lifestyle because that's what she wants. She has burned through all her options and is on the verge of homeless.\nShe's manipulative and a taker. She doesn't do anything terrible - no d----, b---- or gambling - and appears to be very sweet and caring. But she really believes she's owed much more and she shouldn't have to do anything to have it. She always has her 'reasons' and everyone else is unreasonable. It's that old nut about doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result.\""],"title":"Taker, Not a Giver ","image":{"name":"sajvrqbkv2dupcow.jpg","credit":"Photo by Marina Piano on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Trottin_Trollop405: \"Because I took my anger & frustration at life out on her. She got caught between her fathers & my drama. I have issues with my mother too, we’ve been NC since 2012. My daughter chose her relationship with her grandmother over me. She & I have had spats off & on since she was 14, she’s 30 now. \nThis one started in October 2020. She & her wife had a baby in November. I found out from my cousin when she congratulated me on becoming a grandma. I reached out again, apologized for all the hurts over the years again. She asked me to leave her alone, I’m honoring that request. We can’t force our children to allow us to stay in their lives, I don’t want to be an obligation to anyone. If she needs me, I’ll be here.\""],"title":"Love From a Distance ","image":{"name":"tqodbaoi6ldhjba3.jpg","credit":"Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/JuleeeNAJ: \"I have 2, the youngest when he moved out told me it was creepy how I wanted to be friends with him…He said his friends told him it wasn't normal for a mom to still want to help their son so I backed off. I helped him move 4 times, every time he called we came with trucks & trailer. Then he would ignore us for year. He said I was too involved in his life, because I got him a job & carpooled with him since the job was 30 miles away. He said it was because I didn't hug him enough, but if I tried to show affection he said it was creepy.\nAfter worrying about what I did wrong his brother told me it wasn't us it was him & he needed to lay off the d---- & probably see a mental health professional. My son moved back in with us & recently told me he needed to get professional help and I needed to make sure he went, instead of letting him not go like last time.\"",""],"title":"It's Not You, It's Me","image":{"name":"nnm9350u5knfthxe.jpg","credit":"Photo by Irene Strong on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":477},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":265}}}},{"text":["

U/WritingisBleeding: \"My son stopped talking to me a couple years ago. I've only known him for about 13 years (gave him up for adoption when he was born, I was 17), and the first 8-10 years, we were pretty good friends, at least I thought so. But I moved 60 miles away and he doesn't have a car. I think our friendship just ran its course. \nHe's a grown man (in his 30s), he doesn't need a mom (his adoptive mom passed right before we met) and he doesn't 'get me' at all. He's the only kid I had, but the reality is, we both have lives, and we don't owe each other anything. I do miss him, though, and hope I'll see him again someday. Even more than that, I hope all good things for him in his life.\""],"title":"Ran it's Course ","image":{"name":"vyruonb7jdtx7vlw.jpg","credit":"Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/bulletandboard: \"My mom has always been a Narcissist Mother. Recently she told me she cut me out of my fathers will. She gave me a long winded story of course, of why all of their 4 houses are going to my dad’s sister (my aunt) instead. Something about the law recently changing, blah blah blah.. of course it’s all lies. She made my dad take me out of his will because I have decided to go Low Contact with them. \nWhen she first told me, yes, I was absolutely pissed. But it’s been about a week and honestly I enjoy the peace of not having to call her and update her about my life, so she can later use it against me, and telling me how I need to lose 30 lbs., and so on. Although it would be very nice to inherit the houses later on, my parents can keep their stupid houses while I keep my peace and sanity! Life has been good!!!!\"",""],"title":"Keeping Peace ","image":{"name":"m9kvjfgavkl1llzt.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ruben Ramirez on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/gogojack: \"I have a step daughter. I was the only 'dad' she ever knew. Got lots of father's day cards. Walked her down the aisle at her wedding. I had a health scare not long after, and she told me that I needed to take care of myself so that I could be a part of her son's life. I was there at the hospital after he was born.\nThen the distance started. I was invited to his 1st birthday party, but not his second. Or his third. Or fourth. Her husband still sends me texts on holidays and my birthdays, but she stopped. I know she's busy…she has a kid, a business, and they travel a lot, but that hasn't stopped her from bringing her mom to every event and even vacations. I have absolutely no idea what I did.\" "],"title":"Dad Duties ","image":{"name":"jhxax9ipyygc4zxf.jpg","credit":"Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/haditwithyoupeople: \"20 year old step-daughter is not talking to us. My wife left an abusive husband before we stated dating. The husbands family and my wife's family all supported the abuser. My wife told her kids they could not have contact with her family, that it was risky for us, and that anything they shared could potentially put us at risk. After turning 18 her daughter had contact with my wife's family and started visiting them. \nWe explained again why this was risky for us and told her that she needed to choose who to have a relationship with. About 10 days 2 friends showed up with a moving U-Haul and loaded up her stuff. No contact from her since that day. The ultimatum was not great…but my wife didn't feel there was much choice. Really no other way to protect ourselves from harassment and from not having all our info at risk.\" "],"title":"No Other Choice ","image":{"name":"i0myol08ps51u9vf.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kyle Bearden on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/No_Curve2350: \"Daughter doesn’t talk to me because after she got married to a women with 3 teenage kids( 16, 17, and 19) i never invited the teenage kids to go to the playground or to go buy toys, instead only inviting my 5 year old grandson… \nThe teenagers want nothing to do with our family but it was always an argument of us not accepting the other kids.. which we do, just aren’t allowed to only want to spend time with my grandson even if they never want to spend time with us in the first place.\""],"title":"Unwanted Relationships ","image":{"name":"h5503b2xxqgba04a.jpg","credit":"Photo by christian buehner on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/Atriev: \"I stopped talking to my parents because they were very critical about the way I lived my life. They wanted me to be a doctor. I got my doctorate as a pharmacist because of them. And I am in the process of quitting this job because I can make much more money as a fund manager and a social media influencer.\nMy parents are first generation immigrants so they wanted me to have my doctorate for the prestige. And they wanted to pick my wife for me. It was excessive. Every time my mom saw a new girl, the first thing she would do was critique/criticize instead of just being happy for me. Every single time I brought a girl that was not a doctor, all I would hear was criticism.\" "],"title":"Criticism After Criticism","image":{"name":"vjfmwkfcuvojpkup.jpg","credit":"Photo by Usman Yousaf on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Whydidieatthat: \"Parent here. I'll tell. Their mom and I were married for 16 years. Before that, she told me that she always wanted to be a single mother to a daughter, who could be her best friend, drinking buddy, and confidant, who would then take care of her when she was older. That should've been a red flag for me…\nI wasn't able to realize that she was slowly turning our kids away from me. During one of our last conversations she stated that I could have our son, and she would make sure he would always like me. But, she made it known that our daughter was actually hers, but she would make sure that our daughter knew that I always loved her. Presently, 7 years later, I'm still battling this. My daughter barely talks to me, and my son, well, kinda the same anymore.\""],"title":"Red Flags","image":{"name":"a5zex0ow203qfxv7.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/WaffleProfessor: \"My dad gave an ultimatum as well, talk to me or I'm taking you out of the will. I wasn't going to be threatened like that and we haven't spoken since. \nThat was a lose lose for me, accept the money and then that's the only reason I came back making me an a------. Don't come back and talk to 'family', I'm still the a------."],"title":"No Will to Talk","image":{"name":"brdh00wt7xyej0n7.jpg","credit":"Photo by yerling villalobos on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Big-Summer: \"Both my adult children call me multiple times a week. But my ex (their father) complains that our daughter rarely calls him. I’ve told him many, many times that if he wanted her to call more often he needs to listen to her. He’s a pretty narcissistic dude who only wants to talk…He never asks questions or expresses any interest in their lives.\nMy son puts up with it because he can direct some of the conversation by bringing up sports or interesting historical stuff or books or whatever and then they can have somewhat of a discourse. My daughter has little patience for that so she rarely calls him. Even after I told him what he should try, he ignores me, which is what he did for nearly the entirety of our marriage. He still periodically bemoans the fact that she doesn’t call.\""],"title":"Phone Works Both Ways ","image":{"name":"pcw15decvpjd4p8j.jpg","credit":"Photo by Miryam León on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/frontofthewagon: \"My son (31) rarely if ever calls. I try but he rarely answers. He makes big money and is into travel for music festivals so he’s busy. \nWe had a really solid relationship up until he went off to college and his fraternity bros became his family. I miss him.\"",""],"title":"Frat Bros","image":{"name":"ujq2gr056tw0ityo.jpg","credit":"Photo by Nima Sarram on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/TheWhiteGiant33: \"The only person in my family I don’t talk to is my dad. My parents divorced officially 5 years ago and last year my dad wanted to bring his girlfriend to my wedding to flaunt in front of my mom. I never met the woman beforehand and she was not invited. He still brought her anyway and ever since then she makes my wife uncomfortable. \nPlus he never talks or visits the rest of his family and is infatuated with hers. He also has no regard for my brother’s beagle, whom he left out in the storm and go out of the fence for a few days (My mom and brother searched for him and he lives with my mom now). He has alienated himself from his family but that’s alright. He can take care of his new 'step family'.\""],"title":"Out With the Old ","image":{"name":"e5kb8hhm3ggew0ra.jpg","credit":"Photo by Gustavo Fring/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/MountainMilk1068: \"When I was 14 I met a guy in high school who was the same age and we started dating. My mother never liked him and judged him constantly. He was nice, polite, had goals, was going to college, worked a full time job, and treated me right. One thing he was not was religious and so my mom did everything for us to breakup. She would treat him like dirt and my other sisters boyfriends nicely. \nAlways invited them to events and bought them things, etc. When we were 22 my boyfriend died in a car accident with his best friend. Horrible accident that was not his fault. My mother changed her views about him instantly and pretended they were best friends. She bawled at his funeral and told everyone how close they were. After that I realized how evil she really was and now we don’t speak.\""],"title":"Change in Narrative ","image":{"name":"6r4pnc1fyd6h45do.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kindel Media/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/Okami-Alpha: \"I try to call my mom/dad once a week while driving to work even though it's usually not a conversation that is engaging or interesting. I've concluded that my life and lifestyle are so different from theirs that (truthfully) I just don't feel much of a connection that sparks a strong desire to interact with them and they have never been super engaging either. \nDespite that, they are decent people and deserve at least their perception of that connection. If my parents were like her, I wouldn't hesitate to cut communication from them until (if) they changed their attitude.\""],"title":"Difference in Lifestyle ","image":{"name":"5mlvxks5aci5o0bq.jpg","credit":"Photo by Jan Baborák on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/oceanman1973: \"As an adult child having zero communication with either parent, the reason for no communication has a lot to do with their generational attitude- baby boomers are generally selfish with a 'me first' attitude and a spoiled brat mentality having been raised in a time of being able to acquire whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it, and my parents specifically are off the charts narcissistic on top of that. \nI will not live my life to suit their needs. I got my own life to live. I’m the one that’s got to die when it’s time for me to die. (Yes, that’s Jimi Hendrix…) Getting out from under them was a true emancipation.\""],"title":"Baby Booming Out ","image":{"name":"mwy3cwrn9q7zm1vg.jpg","credit":"Photo by Marcelo Matarazzo on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/SailorGohan: \"My girlfriend does not talk to her mom because her mom is a mooch. Anytime her phone rings the voicemail is about her being in some predicament and needing money. She has her on social media but has her muted so will randomly check the messages when she feels like. We think she had the hint though because she hasn't text since January last I checked.\nMy girlfriend's birthday was then and she wanted to see her then after she said what days she is free she asked if can borrow for $400 when she drops it off her gift. The gift was something from Five Below. That was like the 3 or 4th final straw I've witnessed. She'll usually give her mom another chance around the holidays every year then realize she is toxic in a month and not talk to her until November the next year.\""],"title":"The Last Straw","image":{"name":"5swh057iz85svy2o.jpg","credit":"Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/wm3295: \"My daughter is 28. She’s a military wife. She lives an hour an 1/2 away. I don’t hear from her much. It breaks my heart. I realize she has her life to live and she desires a family of her own. I honestly don’t know why I don’t hear from her. \nRaising her we were always a close family. We engaged in extended family events and encouraged family outreach. She went to college, got married and that’s that. I guess we have our own personal image or fantasy of what our children and our grandchildren will look like. I try so hard not to judge or assume why she’s distant. I miss her terribly.\" "],"title":"Fantasizing the Perfect Family ","image":{"name":"iu6wlbnqxj2f51gk.jpg","credit":"Photo by Marius Muresan on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/SirMeliodas92: \"I can share why I (the adult child) haven't spoken to my mother in 5 years. She treated me horribly throughout my childhood, didn't care about me, and is a terrible person overall. She is a narcissist, a hypocrite, selfish, liar, and a manipulator. She never let me voice my opinions unless they agreed with her, which made me feel like I had no voice and no control. \nShe stole my first ever car and crashed it. She tried to use me for her image cause she is image obsessed. I could honestly write a huge list, but she is just a disgusting and horrible human being.\""],"title":"Master Manipulator ","image":{"name":"wzdvypicwfn7233q.jpg","credit":"Photo by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Amocat11: \"Step-daughter (and we had a fantastic relationship even after her Mom and I divorced). My only guess is that she is embarrassed about going down the wrong path and having the state take away her two kids (grandma is raising them).\nI know she respected me, so that is my only guess. I’ve reached out to her many times and get nothing or the bare minimum reply. A few years ago she reached out to me regarding a happy memory she had about a song she heard on the radio. I’m at peace with trying to figure this out and have now accepted that it is what it is. I’m done reaching out to her.\""],"title":"Bare Minimum ","image":{"name":"zssbp87bqng0cpn5.jpg","credit":"Photo by Riccardo Fissore on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/AbleEngine9515: \"My bio dad has 9 children from about 6 different women ranging about 20 years. He was a musician and an absolute man w---- I have zero respect for. I'm from his second to last set of kids before he left to start his last family. I didn't even met him until I was well into my 20's with kids of my own. I tried having a relationship with him but couldn't get past how selfish he is. \nThe final straw for me was when he complained no one remembered his birthday after telling me he literally didn't care about any of ours or his grandkids'. I was done. Haven't spoken to him in nearly 3 years.\""],"title":"Rockstar Life ","image":{"name":"jobudbnjpcjm4hcs.jpg","credit":"Photo by Austin Neill on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/SalishShore: \"Mom here. My 34 year old son married a woman who hated everything about me. People would say, 'she can’t leave a room without her saying something negative about you '. I’m far from perfect, but I’m definitely acceptable and nice.\nI doubt they will ever talk with me or any of my side of the family again. He won’t even talk to his sister. It’s the saddest thing to live through. I miss him.\""],"title":"Monster In-Law","image":{"name":"duyu97knhkrpu66n.jpg","credit":"Photo by Mikhail Nilov/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/nursehandbag: \"My 6’3” Dad went to MIT, played in a rock band in the 60s and wrote important software for one of the biggest mining/construction companies in the world. He was also an expert carpenter and sailor (actually sailboat type). \nHe can build or fix just about anything and custom configure his own severs and networks. I don’t talk to him that often because I’m intimidated and feel like I don’t have anything interesting to say.\""],"title":"Intimidating Relationship","image":{"name":"2ott9ydois5blsls.jpg","credit":"Photo by Alin Meceanu on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

\"None of my daughters talk to me because I broke my legs in a rock climbing accident and I told them to not waste their lives looking after me. Each one of them pleaded and cried to take care of me, referencing the time I spent as their dad when I could've been a deadbeat instead, but I put my foot down (not literally - see the broken legs) and made an ultimatum: either they go out in the world and live their own lives, getting their due inheritances after I die; or they can stay and take care of me, but their due inheritances would be scattered to the winds.\nThey took the former option, and last I heard each one of them graduated from college with honors. I can't claim to know what is inside their hearts, but I know they will be better off for it.\""],"title":"Gone With the Wind ","image":{"name":"sjqc9eo40disq18z.jpg","credit":"Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/dedragonhow: \"I have five adult children. 3 girls/2 boys. My girls have, frequently, cut me out of their lives . I provided for them and they had a better than average lifestyle (cars, clothes, vacations, nice home, safety, etc). We had very open communication and I was an open minded communicator. Two of my girls have been involved with this thing on social media called 'the mother wound'…\nThe mother wound allows the participants to 'experience their trauma to their own understanding '. Kids can decide what is traumatic and then decide who is toxic and then eliminate that person from their life. It is so hurtful and frustrating.\""],"title":"Social Media Trends ","image":{"name":"pllrojvgxz36k30s.jpg","credit":"Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/S3t3sh: \"My mom thinks I'm 'sensitive' at least that's what she said the last time I talked to her because I wasn't responding to her because of her anger issues. My mom is a very angry person and has always taken it out on her kids and I hit my breaking point for it almost a year ago now.\nI have called her out on her anger and it hasn't changed. She has wondered why I barely talk to her and it's because I don't want to answer the phone to someone who is going to start yelling at me because they had a bad day and say some hurtful s--- 80% of the time.\""],"title":"Breaking Point","image":{"name":"3vj4i1wfaf29978b.jpg","credit":"Photo by Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}}]}; window.__cf = (window.__cf || {}); window.__cf.nextArticleData = {"meta":{"id":"cms-7615","title":"40+ Children of Strict Parents Reveal the Craziest Rules They Followed","code":"stric","category":"Gallery","subCategory":"Community","lang":"en","version":"shz","fullCode":"stricenshz","lastTimePublished":"2024-10-08_14-03","createdAt":"2023-03-22T09:20:07.999Z","date":"2024-10-08","author":"Lauren A","nextArticle":{"id":"cms-4890"},"originalSite":"5dwallpaper.com"},"blocks":[{"text":["

While we often look back on our childhood and remember feeling frustrated by regulations implemented by our parents, it's not until much later that we saw the impact it had on the rest of our lives. \nWe've gathered stories from people who realized later on in life just how harsh and unreasonable some of the rules they had to follow really were. ",""],"image":{"name":"1rm5zipfrclklnyq.jpg","credit":"Image by deagreez1/Depositphotos","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/GoghAway13: “Apparently I have to notify my mom when and where I go out to dinner with my boyfriend. I'm 20 years old, living at college, and I've been with him for over 5 years.\nI've also gotten yelled at for breathing too loud and also for speaking Spanish in front of her ?” "],"title":"Supervision From Miles Away","image":{"name":"0ycvnm6zcqvtrz9p.jpg","credit":"Photo by Camila Cordeiro on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":607},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":338}}}},{"text":["

U/Atillion: “I wasn't allowed to swim in public swimming pools because I would catch AIDS. \nWhen my PE class would go to the pool one week a year, I had to walk laps around the pool because I couldn't participate.” "],"title":"Take a Few Laps","image":{"name":"kv317i7re839ksb7.jpg","credit":"Photo by Clark Tai on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/ASpacePotatoe: “No one in our family was allowed to eat microwaved food. Even when we went out, we’d get seated and my dad would ask ‘do you microwave your food’ if they said yes we would get up and leave.\nMind you, this was 20 years ago, before people thought microwaves were a health hazard.”"],"title":"Anti-Microwave","image":{"name":"4ys8uj15nn83852n.jpg","credit":"Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/CFCrispyBacon: \"Bit late, but: One day, the news said school might be closed for a cold day (like a snow day, but for when it's cold enough your exposed skin freezes in <10 mins). My mom demanded I start walking to school, or she'd report me to the cops as truant. We argued. TV said school started late that day. I decided to go anyways, that being better then the arguing. \nShe then decided I was to stay home for her to call the cops. I shoved past her…and then [she] locked me out of the house. Halfway to school, I was told the school was closed. I had to call my dad to be let in the house again. That day I promised myself I'd leave home as soon as possible. I've stayed halfway across the country from my mom ever since.\""],"title":"Locked Out","image":{"name":"sb7d6mr9qwvt5r2r.jpg","credit":"Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/gregosaurusrex: “We couldn’t go sledding during the winter…because my mom was a neat freak and didn’t want snow slogged into the garage. Never built a snowman. All of our 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’s, for example, there’d be h--- to pay.\nNo shoes on in the house under any circumstances. Was super uncomfortable when my brother’s friend, who had prosethetic legs and always had shoes on, came over and didn’t take his shoes off. Mom got really mad and confronted him. No Legos or puzzles allowed, as they make messes and look like disorder. I love puzzles as an adult. One of my favorite hobbies.\""],"title":"Neat Freak","image":{"name":"x1n9bwl69tox4wmi.jpg","credit":"Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/111dayday111: \"Only my mom had the password to my electronics so it was up to her when I could use it, even for homework. I was only allowed to hang out with my friends in a three block radius of my home. Lights out at 11, all electronics left outside in the living room\nHad to do piano lessons, do three pages of science and math books (my worst subjects) everyday, read a passage of the Bible everyday and copy a verse down, swim team and tennis practice at 4am on Saturdays. This was when I was in elementary and middle school… She would randomly do checks on my books that were dated and we would always get into fights over it.\""],"title":"Controlled Schedule","image":{"name":"zr05vh36rqyh8xsy.jpg","credit":"Photo by Pixabay/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/mevoxdez: “I was not allowed to talk to boys. One Christmas Eve Day, I was doing last minute shopping in the downtown of our little town. I ran into two male friends from my German class and we talked for several minutes and wished each other a Merry Christmas. \nOh I was fifteen at the time. My older sister drove by and saw me, told my parents I was ‘ hanging out with boys ‘ . When I walked in the house both my parents were waiting and the yelling began. Some Christmas Eve.”"],"title":"Merry Christmas Eve","image":{"name":"yrc0fqq5z3n3oo8n.jpg","credit":"Photo by Jan Romero on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"I’m 8 weeks pregnant and there’s just enough obvious happenings and we felt it would be right to tell the kids (SS16 and SS11) that they will be welcoming a sibling next year, provided everything goes well. They know it’s early and that loss could still happen. My stepsons initially didn’t seem excited, but now they’ve opened up and seem excited. But they have expressed concern that their mother will not be receptive. \nSS16 even said, 'My mom is going to play mind games and make us think dad doesn’t love us, but we won’t listen to her.' We try to avoid discussing their mother. But this happens to be a fairly regular sentiment conveyed when they talk to us about their mom. I mean, I’m glad the kids get it. At the same time I’m not. How sad is that? They know their mother is going to wield this like a weapon, and they already anticipate her manipulation.\"",""],"title":"Mommy Manipulation","image":{"name":"s01zbo24vs8ah9bk.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":477},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":265}}}},{"text":["

U/azcaks: “My step-mom would never let me have a birthday party. When I turned 12, she finally let me have a sleepover with friends. I was going to a Catholic elementary school at the time that had a rule that if all of the class wasn’t invited to a birthday party, then invitations could not be handed out at school…Step-mom wouldn’t let me hang out with friends outside of school but also wouldn’t let me invite the whole class. So I had to sneakily hand out invites at school…\nThe day of the party, my step-mom got a call from the school about what I had done…she grabs my arm and yanks me aside to question me about what I’d done. I burst into tears trying to explain that I didn’t know what else to do. She said I was grounded for 3 months.\""],"title":"First and Last Birthday Party","image":{"name":"rsb0bqyft29xyh25.jpg","credit":"Photo by Xiang Gao on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":477},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":265}}}},{"text":["

U/Skeletress: “I was not allowed to wear makeup or shave until 16. My mom was controlling about food. Everything was kept track of. I had to be in marching band in order to get my permit. If I asked to hang out with a friend in the presence of said friend, the answer was automatically no.\nI was only allowed to do things if the friend or their parent was paying for it. The straw that broke the camels back (and ultimately made me move out at 16) was that I had to live like a boarder. Showers cost five dollars, a load of laundry was $1.00 for washer, $1.00 for dryer. Telephone time cost $.25 per minute.\""],"title":"Pay Your Dues","image":{"name":"avv40qac82qt5qu7.jpg","credit":"Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

“If we (my brother and I) weren't at the breakfast table by exactly 6:30 all we got for breakfast was unbuttered toast. \nMy mom was all about breakfast but she despised tardiness. My brother ate a lot of unbuttered toast growing up.”"],"title":"Tardiness or Toast","image":{"name":"2e75rm1s1ruw326c.jpg","credit":"Photo by Seriously Low Carb on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":576},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":320}}}},{"text":["

U/Hewasaquietman13: “Attended Church 3 times on Sunday (9am 11am and 7pm) followed by Bible study Tuesday nights and Youth Group Friday nights.\nI can count on 1 hand the times I missed attending from birth until I moved out at 17. I haven't been back since.” "],"title":"Dedicated Church Goer","image":{"name":"fur9ysyn984hrjmd.jpg","credit":"Photo by Shelagh Murphy/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"Growing up, my parents had the craziest rules. We were not allowed to use the bathroom after 8 pm, no talking at the dinner table, and we had to wear a suit and tie to all family gatherings. It was all so ridiculous but we had no choice. One day, while we were having one of our mandatory silent dinners, my little brother couldn't control his laughter. It was contagious and soon we were all laughing hysterically. \nSuddenly my father’s face turned red and he stormed out of the dining room. We struggled to stifle our giggles when suddenly there was a huge crash. My mom rushed into the hallway and screamed. My dad was lying on the floor, clutching his chest. Our laughter had given him a heart attack.\""],"title":"Laugh Attack ","image":{"name":"qy13tga8jc33wpac.jpg","credit":"Photo by Denis Agati on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":479},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/vaccumshoes: \"I was only allowed to play video games on holidays… It was the dumbest rule because my parents would always get me and my brother n64 and gameboy games for x-mas/birthdays but then we would hardly be able to play them.. \nAnd then they would get mad at us for just playing video games the entire day on Easter/Xmas/Birthdays when they wanted us to 'spend time with the family'. We used to sneak around sometimes by stealing our G-boys and running into the forest to play.\""],"title":"Holiday Gaming","image":{"name":"ot7nj7eje22pftt4.jpg","credit":"Photo by TRIN WA on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":960},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":533}}}},{"text":["

U/MrMcPsychoReal: “If I farted it was 2 hours outside, even in the freezing winter. One day I collapsed in the cold and was taken away from my mum after I was hospitalised 3 hours after collapsing; \nthen lived with my grandparents for the rest of my childhood and legally not allowed to see my mum until I was 18. Guess it counted as child abuse”"],"title":"Punishable Farts","image":{"name":"q9jyq53tm0a2hnno.jpg","credit":"Photo by Shawn Dearn on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/StatOne: “I will mention my wife's Mother. Literally, the kitchen was run like a military kitchen. The kitchen is 'open'; the kitchen is 'closed'. One soda a day. One little glass of orange juice at breakfast. One glass for drinking water.\nWhen you go toward the kitchen in our home, you can feel my wife's eyes on you. It is very common to hear, 'use the other glass, don't open that, why are you so messy', etc. Due to Seinfeld, I call her the 'Kitchen N---'. It makes her mad as H---, but 'stupid is as stupid does'.”"],"title":"Sargent of the Kitchen","image":{"name":"0euuhygzkgddvjpq.jpg","credit":"Photo by Sidekix Media on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/PubScrubRedemption: “My parents were super laid back but my mother's step dad Larry could be a huge a------. She told me that one morning, as a kid, she was given a chocolate covered donut and, as a kid will do, decided to start nibbling off the chocolate. Larry decided this p----- him the f--- off, and asked her promptly to stop eating the donut like that. \n‘Oh just let her eat the donut how she wants’ said mom's mom washing dishes. Kid mother continues to eat chocolate around the edges. Larry then shoots up shouting ‘KNOCK THAT OFF’ and f------ pitches his morning cup of coffee across the kitchen where it explodes on the wall next to mom's mom. I'm thankful that Larry was not in my mother's life for long.”"],"title":"Donut Tell Me What to Do","image":{"name":"92hftgpwk7mz0mm0.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ola Mishchenko on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":477},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":265}}}},{"text":["

U/umidkmybffjill: \"When I was in first grade, I had a writing homework assignment. My dad used to be weird about me erasing, because he wanted me to do it right the first time. I ended up erasing a lot on this homework and my dad took the paper from me, ripped it in half and told me to start over. \nTurns out it was the last sheet of paper in the entire house, and I don't remember why but for some reason we couldn't go and buy more paper that night. So ironically, I ended having to completely erase an old homework assignment in order to have a sheet of paper to start over on… I'm 22 now and still give him [a hard time] about this.\""],"title":"Erasure Incident","image":{"name":"h0kliinq8rdikw5h.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

I U/Davey716: “I wasn’t allowed to have a doorknob on my door. Why not just take the whole door? Her reasoning was it would be too easy to spot her spying on me without one.\nThis lasted up until last year (26). Spent a few months away from home and realized this was f------ f----- and my mother was abusive. Moved out the same day I came home and I’ve never been happier.”"],"title":"Knobless","image":{"name":"s42gk39blxyzn99o.jpg","credit":"Photo by Brett Sayles/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":479},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

“…if I left my toys out, my mom would hang them by a string or yarn from the ceiling. She put the yarn on a nail or stable in the ceiling. Also, if I did the dishes and there was any grease on any of them, they all had to be re-done. My sister and I had chores, but not normal chores (we found that out later in life.) We alternated weeks of taking care of the kitchen, bath, floors, laundry, etc. \nWhen describing that I cooked, cleaned, did dishes, laundry, floors, cleaned the bathroom, folks who knew my mom was a stay at home mom would ask, ‘what did your mom do?’ Good question. When you have strict parents, you tend not to ask those questions.”"],"title":"Intense Chores","image":{"name":"dkkaibqunxvet7gi.jpg","credit":"Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"Uh well, I’m 18, and I live with my grandparents. One rule right now: No laptop after 9 pm. They take away my laptop. But they forgot about my old laptop, which I promptly cleaned and updated. Only G rated movies. They still want me only watching G rated movies. And yet, they never monitor my internet?\nThat was, until recently. They put OpenDNS on our internet a few months ago…Basically like a web filter you’d find on any k-12 school network. All of this stuff results in me doing stuff behind their backs, like putting a black pair of pants against the crack under my door so I can stay up late, or like using the other laptop after 9 pm.\""],"title":"Child's Lock","image":{"name":"ulv3y5b13l2mhbk3.jpg","credit":"Photo by RepentAnd SeekChristJesus on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/Leirbag43874: “I couldn't brush my teeth after breakfast on school mornings. I had braces, and my mom wouldn't let me brush my teeth after breakfast in fear of us being late for school. I offered to make my own breakfast earlier in the morning in order to compensate, so I could get all the gunk out of my braces after eating. \nHowever, when I made my breakfast the next morning she revoked my ‘ride to school privilege.’ Had to ride my bike to school every day from then on (luckily my school wasn't a long ride, but rainy days sucked). It was my punishment for being disobedient.”"],"title":"Brace Yourself","image":{"name":"z6blgr0iw4rehocx.jpg","credit":"Photo by aubrey davis on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

“My mom wouldn’t let me wear shorts that were shorter than above knee length. I remember how embarrassing it was on spring break when long shorts were all I had to wear and even my friend’s parents were wearing shorter shorts than me. When I was even younger, around eight, I got a dress from Limited Too that I loved. \nI wanted to wear it to church. While I was in the car my mom started yelling at me about how it was too short and I was embarrassing and how we’d have to turn around and she’d make me change. It made me cry. My dad stood up for me and told her it was only a dress and to stop being so mean.”"],"title":"Dress Coded By Mom","image":{"name":"wz489r8yia9q73vw.jpg","credit":"Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/goddessoffear: “They had to listen to every CD I bought or was given before I was allowed to have it. If they didn't get around to it sometimes I waited months for my music that I bought with my own money. \nThey believe that music causes evil spirits to enter you and make you do evil things (like girls wearing pants and dating) if you listen to ‘wrong’ music. Well, to be fair they think everything is demons.”"],"title":"Evil Influence","image":{"name":"29yp8r6qk3j08mp8.jpg","credit":"Photo by Brett Jordan/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

\"One of my chores was cleaning the bathroom every Saturday morning. I wasn't allowed to use toilet bowl cleaner and a brush though. I could only use wadded up toilet paper. \nNot even paper towels, just toilet paper which of course disintegrates immediately when wet and has no scrubbing capabilities at all.\""],"title":"No Extra Supplies Needed","image":{"name":"ef9cle3cbo3670nw.jpg","credit":"Photo by Colourblind Kevin on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":576},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":320}}}},{"text":["

“The list is endless but the one that stood out the most was this: On weekdays, I was not allowed to go hang with friends, no tv, no video games, all the way until I was 18. When I was about 12 or 13 I was so bored I would go to the living room to watch my mom’s soap operas with her, but she literally made me go back into my room and do nothing because the tv said her show was TV-14.\nI’m honestly happy I rebelled and as soon as I was 18 and became as social as I am. I feel like a lot of kids that went through the lack of a social circle like I did have some social interaction difficulties.”"],"title":"Keeping it TV-14 ","image":{"name":"ppqml1ivkc8zk5lc.jpg","credit":"Photo by cottonbro studio/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/KyleRichXV: “My parents weren't really strict (didn't have to be) but one of the dumbest rules I ever had to endure was I had to wear socks at all times, because my step-dad hated me walking around with bare feet. \nIt was only me, too - my mom could be barefoot, my younger (half) brother could be barefoot, but I couldn't. To this day I f------ hate wearing socks unless I have shoes on.”"],"title":"Keep the Dogs Away","image":{"name":"695v6i8vl7tx738e.jpg","credit":"Photo by Nick Page on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

“Something less serious. My mom was paranoid everyone and everything was a kidnapper. She hated the mailman on our route. So, when I was young, 3, 4 years old, my mom told me it was illegal to be outside when the mail came. Around 11:15 every day I'd see that truck coming. I'd high tail it inside the house, terrified I would be spotted.\nFast forward 30 years. I still genuinely feel a tinge of panic in the smallest recesses of the back of my brain when I see the mailman arrive. Only now it's overpowered by the excitement of my latest Amazon package I really don't need.”"],"title":"Mysterious Mailmen","image":{"name":"j9e94xd0at0yt83v.jpg","credit":"Photo by Joel Moysuh on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"I would be grounded from everything. I wasn't allowed to read, watch TV, play video games, go on the computer, play outside. I sat in my room for hours and literally had nothing to do, it was…horrible. \nIt never lasted for more than a couple of days, but a couple of days of doing absolutely nothing sucks. I used to get grounded fairly often too. Eventually my parents stopped grounding me like that and gradually gave less…in regards to punishment as I got older.\""],"title":"Total Isolation","image":{"name":"fo5bzubbgpqj73d3.jpg","credit":"Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1078},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":599}}}},{"text":["

Emerald_green37: “This will probably be buried but here goes. I wasn't allowed to hold a real job while I was in high school. Babysitting was fine, but nothing that would require a ss number. Why, you ask?Because my mother was convinced that my grandparents would disown her and leave me ‘everything’ if I had a social security number. She was also the kind that literally strip searched my back pack every day after school and grilled me for hours about everything I did and everyone I spoke with.”"],"title":"Fear of Social Security Numbers","image":{"name":"1hvjf9suuzx0ezw7.jpg","credit":"Photo by Max Fischer/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/PMMEDANK_PIZZA: “My dad is all about cleanliness, despite not really washing his hands. He likes the walls, floor and bathroom to be impeccible. Since I can remember I haven't been allowed to touch any of the walls in our house. \nHe actually gets upset with me and will lecture me on it if he catches my finger grazing a wall. I haven't been comfortable touches walls ever because of this.”"],"title":"Don't Mess With the Walls","image":{"name":"iq8g7w7oyv70l8m3.jpg","credit":"Photo by Curtis Adams/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/Meggy14: \"My mom wasn’t strict but my stepdad was. I wasn’t allowed to wear flip flops to church. If our room wasn’t clean we had to do wall sits. Facebook was the devil so we weren’t allowed to have it. Ironically he has one now. \nHe flattened my tires because I wasn’t parked straight in the driveway. The list goes on but those are the main ones I remember. So happy I don’t live there anymore.\""],"title":"Strict Rules","image":{"name":"s3dt8ooncdrsyqfa.jpg","credit":"Photo by Zachary Keimig on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/alphamiller: “My father was very very strict. But the oddest thing…is that he would burn all my things as punishment. Every year…[he would] buy me new school clothes and shoes. He would also burn those, like sometimes days after he bought them.\nAt 8 years old I remember thinking…you now have to buy me more clothes. He once took me to the palace of auburn hills in Detroit to see the globe trotters one year and during the night he bought me a globe trotters basketball and jersey. The very next day, I had left something on the floor in my room and his punishment, among other things, was to burn the basketball and jersey he bought for like 150 dollars less than 24 hours earlier.”"],"title":"Up in Flames","image":{"name":"9q326g1wkgba50kp.jpg","credit":"Photo by Cullan Smith on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/ArmorofInferno: \"My dad was an expert at creative punishments…Once I was at church, and during the service I got thirsty. I left the chapel and got a drink at a fountain in the hallway. On the way back, I ran into 2 friends and started up a quick conversation. Two minutes later my dad stormed out, demanding to know why I left. \nI told him I was thirsty, but since I was taking to friends he decided that I was ditching the church meeting…he made me carry two separate two liter bottles full of water in a backpack everywhere I went for 2 months. You know, just in case I got thirsty. And he'd show up unexpectedly to make sure I wasn't cheating and had both bottles full at all times.\""],"title":"Odd Punishment","image":{"name":"fhcgtdnyi33301au.jpg","credit":"Image by Tom from Pixabay ","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/pheasantmb9062: “Under my step-dad's orders, I had to be home by 6 every school night, and from 6-9 I wasn't allowed to use any electronics that could connect to the internet. This time was originally meant for homework purposes, but since I graduated high school in 2014, a good majority of my homework was online. I barely got any homework done after extracurriculars and time spent with friends to keep my sanity. \nSince I got no homework done, some grades dropped below C's, so I wasn't allowed to use the internet after 9 pm either. I tried to confront my mom and step-dad about this but every time, they said I had no respect, and they're just doing what they thought was right.”"],"title":"Reverse Affect","image":{"name":"u4imelbac4g2lwv8.jpg","credit":"Photo by Daniel Chekalov on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/phoenix-corn: \"I was not allowed to use public restrooms. I 'ruined' our Disney trip because of how many times we had to go back to the hotel (not on site) when I was six. And I quite honestly had accidents when I was far too old to do so because my parents had my teachers reporting bathroom use to them too. \nThere was no place I could safely use the restroom other than home without getting into trouble. :( Finally I got to use public restrooms without punishment when I…went to college (no, I'm not kidding. But I got pretty good at hiding restroom use in high school because the high school refused to report it to my parents.\""],"title":"Bathroom Ban","image":{"name":"9k2a0grita4g4f4w.jpg","credit":"Photo by Buchen WANG on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1086},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":604}}}},{"text":["

U/Marblue: “I was interested in learning about Wicca, because I was young and in highschool. My mom and step dad found out by reading an email I sent to my cousin. It was the summer and they freaked out. I couldn’t read, I couldn’t listen to music, I couldn’t watch TV or movies with the family, I couldn’t hang out with friends, couldn’t talk to my cousin anymore, basically anything that might bring me pleasure was taken. \nYears later, I ended up working at a job with a girl I used to play with in the neighborhood. Turns out that when I wasn’t home, or in another part of the house, she came to the door and asked to play. One of my parents opened the door and told her I didn’t want to play with her anymore. Unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg. I don’t talk to them anymore, but I still llive in the same city as them and I have a lot of social anxiety because of that.\""],"title":"Parental Control","image":{"name":"dlcz0kx66b39qzum.jpg","credit":"Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/MaybeThisUsernameWor: \"If you didn’t instantly say what you wanted to eat my father would cook onions and garlic.\nHe didn’t like people wasting his time.\""],"title":"Don't Waste My Time","image":{"name":"7vdduh9qir94968h.jpg","credit":"Photo by Justus Menke on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":900},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":500}}}},{"text":["

U/ZeD00m: “…my best friend grew up with a very odd rule. I basically lived at her house growing up and we'd always have boxed or frozen dinners and stuff for meals when I was visiting. Anyway, my friend was over at my apartment after I'd moved away for college, she was seventeen and I was eighteen. I was making soup and needed help…So, I handed her a knife and a bunch of carrots and asked her to chop them for me. \nShe just stared at me blankly and said ‘I don't know how.’ ‘My parents never let my sisters and I use knives because they were scared we'd cut our fingers off so I never learned.’ It occurred to me the reason why we'd always have boxed food at her house was because her parents were too terrified to teach their kids how to prepare meals from scratch out of fear they'd cut themselves.”"],"title":"Late to the Cooking Party","image":{"name":"xotii9z7ycf2nlv7.jpg","credit":"Photo by Fernando Andrade on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/Shmegglies: “Pretty tame, I guess, but I wasn’t allowed to lock my bedroom door. My mom’s reasoning was ‘anything you have to lock the door for is something you shouldn’t be doing’. Bathroom door locks are A-OK.\nNot bedrooms. She also had a habit of just coming into my room randomly to try to catch me doing something. I was a shut in nerdy 13 year old playing RuneScape and watching anime. Clearly the poster child for felonious behavior.”"],"title":"Open Door Policy","image":{"name":"6ef0b5exb6xxdloi.jpg","credit":"Photo by khairul nizam/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/KathrenCullen: “When my dad was driving the car there were a lot of rules but the weirdest one I can remember is that I wasn't allowed to move plastic bags around because they were ‘too loud.’ \nIf I had to get something out of a bag and he was driving he'd always ask in a loud voice ‘what are you doing?’ I don't know, maybe getting the CD you asked for out of the bag.”"],"title":"Plastic Bag Ban","image":{"name":"gnty6zw004kdaykv.jpg","credit":"Photo by Teslariu Mihai on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/suryastra: “There weren’t so much rules, as there was her personality and the things that bugged her, and the fact she was going to interrogate the absolute life out of us every single day. It’s hard to explain, maybe, but there was this Socratic lawyer-type method being applied constantly to invent lies to catch you in. Like she was looking for an excuse to backhand you…and then she could ground us…\nEvery single day on my way home from anywhere, I had to prepare a huge list of answers, try to find where she would dig in and build up the walls. Keep stories simple. Build big emotional walls. We didn’t really have a relationship. We didn’t talk about my feelings.”"],"title":"At Home Interrogation ","image":{"name":"x99oxlkdbqrkaqn4.jpg","credit":"Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/hankbaumbach: \"My aunt was overly protective of my older cousin to the point where if we were tossing a football around in the front yard and it went into the street, I would have to go get it because he was not allowed in the street. \nWe grew up in the suburbs on a quiet, seldom used street and this policy lasted until he was 16 years old.\""],"title":"Street Restrictions","image":{"name":"uy7igcw3eheytx8x.jpg","credit":"Photo by Samantha Gilmore on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":960},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":533}}}},{"text":["

U/papereverywhere: \"My grandmother was a retired English teacher. One day, I called my brother stupid (I was four or so). She filled me in on her rule that, if I couldn't spell 'stupid' but I called someone 'stupid,' then it was really me that was stupid. Thus, I should never call someone a name that I couldn't spell. \nSo in my four-year-old head, rather than avoid name-calling, realized that I DID know how to spell 'dumb,' so that word must be permitted. I spent the rest of the day over-using the word 'dumb' and she wasn't quite sure what to do at that point.\""],"title":"Spelling Lessons","image":{"name":"qocw73wkygkpncjh.jpg","credit":"Photo by Artem Labunsky on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":478},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":265}}}},{"text":["

\"Once upon a time, I lived under the iron fist of my strict parents. They never let me go out with friends, they monitored every call, and my curfew was ridiculously early. I often wondered why they were so hard on me, but they refused to give me any answers. One day, a letter arrived in the mail for my parents. It was marked with an official seal and had the words 'Confidential' stamped across it. \nCuriosity overwhelmed me, and when I glanced inside my heart dropped. It was from somebody referring to my parents as Mom and Dad, telling them how she missed them but will never come home. It was then that I realized that this must be a child they had before me that had run away from home and that’s why they were so protective over me.\""],"title":"Secret Communication","image":{"name":"ppu6ae269lnl4htu.jpg","credit":"Photo by Abstrakt Xxcellence Studios/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Kicoma: “I was never allowed to draw hearts. Got beat when I drew one in chalk on my tree house once. \nMy guess is that my immigrant parents correlated hearts with relationships/dating/s-- and didn't want their 8 y/o daughter involved in it. Couldn't have hearts on anything, not even clothes or toys. ♥”"],"title":"So Heartless","image":{"name":"c5o5dj4s3tcrpgom.jpg","credit":"Photo by Karolina Grabowska/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"I had a baby three days ago. I know this does not make me special and it does not mean I get to shirk all the other responsibilities in my life. But I just had a baby. Three days ago. We got to leave the hospital yesterday morning. I asked my husband if we could have at least 3 nights alone before SD8 came back to our house. He did not like that idea. SD came back yesterday evening.\nI don’t want her here right now. I don’t want her holding my baby. I don’t want to hear the parenting advice she’s learned from BM. I don’t want her asking me for snacks. I don’t want her waking up crying because the baby is crying and she can’t sleep. I just wanted a few fricken nights to try to figure this out without the added drama of SP life.\""],"title":"Added Stress","image":{"name":"go7n63do3e77y2a8.jpg","credit":"Photo by Nihal Karkala on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Caucasian_Fury: \"Not mine but my in-laws, my wife said her dad had a strict rule where their family was not permitted to eat dinner until he got home from work… \nBut he did shift-work so sometimes he won't get home until 9 or 10 pm, but made no exception so they'll be starving but weren't allowed to eat until dad was home.\""],"title":"Late Dinner Rule","image":{"name":"vf1ik9ybwpmlj5d5.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ksenia Chernaya/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1079},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":599}}}},{"text":["

“My life with my parents is unreasonable. I am 22, have to live with them, go to college, and I can’t move out because of my diabetes supplies costing too much. If I get a job while living with them, I get thrown off their insurance plan.\nI am not allowed to go over and see my friends, invite people over, drive a car, go outside without them except to go to class and they GPS track me, still have a curfew, and they take my stuff away if I don’t answer the phone or call them back within 5 minutes if I missed a call (basically not even allowed to take a nap or a crap without their knowing).”"],"title":"Under Tight Watch ","image":{"name":"qaku2ij76jpovin5.jpg","credit":"Photo by Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

“My room was up a narrow flight of stairs into a converted attic space, if I left anything on the stairs it went into the garage where I had 7 days to ‘earn it back’ from by doing extra difficult chores in addition to my normal chores. \nAnything not reclaimed in 7 days went in the trash on the next pick up day. And I mean anything. I lost a jacket, a pair of shoes, a bunch of toys, some books. My stepdad didn't want it on the stairs.”"],"title":"Don't Clutter My Stairs","image":{"name":"4s7i32x30xydp7rd.jpg","credit":"Photo by Gerritt Tisdale/pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":778},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":432}}}},{"text":["

U/disneyhalloween: \"Can't be at a non-family party past nine. It doesn't matter the context either. It could be a baby shower across the street and my ass still better be home by nine. It doesnt matter if my parents are AT THE PARTY WITH ME either.\nOh, but if its a family function then it doesnt matter what I have due that night or the next morning then why am I being rude we're staying till the end and coming back the next day non questions asked.\""],"title":"Party Curfew","image":{"name":"ukrb2455zxw4yim5.jpg","credit":"Photo by Zane Persaud on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/Bananabread121: “My mom wouldn’t let me listen to any music unless she read the lyrics first and they were deemed acceptable and Christian…I was not allowed to ‘walk around town’ if I went to a friends house. No phone after 9 PM. No trick or treating. No boys allowed upstairs, even with the door open and with a group.
\nI had to be out of bed and dressed by 9am, even on weekends unless I was very ill. She tried very hard to make me think about making good choices and raising me the best she knew how…Then I went wild and really made some bad choices in my teens. Thankfully, nothing I couldn’t fix or move on from…I think things could have been different if my mom wasn’t so strict.”"],"title":"A Teenagers Worst Nightmare","image":{"name":"jtsh1cs7avdauxn6.jpg","credit":"Photo by Marcelo Dias/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":669},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":372}}}},{"text":["

U/happylittlethree: “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.\nSpent my childhood listening to Richard Marx and Michael Bolton. Thanks dad.”"],"title":"Long Live Rock and Roll","image":{"name":"dnnwle6xpvlyuzzp.jpg","credit":"Photo by Katie Gerrard on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":490},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":273}}}},{"text":["

\"As a child of strict parents, I never understood the craziest rule they followed until one night at dinner, it all made sense. They would always insist that any food we dropped on the floor had to be picked up and eaten without question. I thought it was just a weird quirk, until that fateful evening when my little sister accidentally spilled her spaghetti. \nWithout missing a beat, my sister dropped to her knees and put the spaghetti back on her plate. ‘Make sure you get the sauce, too,' my mom warned her. Later that night, we heard a commotion in our kitchen downstairs—a family of raccoons had taken over our kitchen! We later came to find out that my sister had thrown away her spaghetti instead of eating it, leading the raccoons to scour our trash bin.\""],"title":"Spaghetti Disaster","image":{"name":"476ngjo5xfn79c72.jpg","credit":"Photo by Tacyra Autrey on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":576},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":320}}}},{"text":["

U/throwaway_toronto1: “During dinner, you could not take seconds of anything. You had to take everything you wanted to eat and put it on your plate at once.\nForgot to take something? Too bad. No going back. I guess you missed out. Maybe you’ll get some tomorrow for leftovers.”"],"title":"No Second Helpings","image":{"name":"stfdfetkcun5bxij.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ella Olsson on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/jemifig: “Dad was a narcissist…Biggest rule in the house was not to make any noise around him. If he was home the whole house got quiet and tense.\nEven my mom used to eat her cereal in the bedroom because she’d get in trouble for chewing crunchy food. Now she’s long rid of him and married to a way better guy, but she still apologizes for eating crackers.”"],"title":"Silence is Golden","image":{"name":"lx3pe29popvoypug.jpg","credit":"Image by PeopleImages.com/Depositphotos","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":986},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":548}}}},{"text":["

U/CardmanNV: “I think I was a half decent writer [for a child] and was asked to read a poem I wrote for some project at a school assembly. My dad decided to capitalize on this by making me write something as a punishment any time I did anything he didn't like.\nSay I hate something? Write me a page describing how much you like it Bug my sister? Write her a poem about how much you love her. Break something? Write a story about why it's broken. Better be sure you grammar and spelling is perfect, and he likes it, or you'll do it again. Thanks for ruining writing for me dad.”"],"title":"Writing Overkill","image":{"name":"2doayz1sfxawq9uz.jpg","credit":"Photo by lil artsy/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":734},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":408}}}},{"text":["

U/SpitefulNoodle: \"My parents once grounded me for 2 years for getting a B on my report card. Took everything out of my room besides the bed, and I wasn't allowed to do anything with friends. \nA year and a half into it I asked if I could be un-grounded, and at that point they had actually forgotten what they grounded me for, but refused because 'I must have done something bad if they grounded me.' Also they refused to let me stay up past 8pm. Even in high school.\""],"title":"Extended Grounding","image":{"name":"mv1hul3ty7px7ysq.jpg","credit":"Photo by Monstera Production/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1080},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":600}}}},{"text":["

U/fireflygirl1013: “I have too many to name growing up in an Asian household but the one that was the most embarrassing was I was not allowed to shave my legs or armpits and I hit puberty at an early age. So I had really hairy armpits and legs and was forced to wear shorts to gym class. \nI was so embarrassed about my legs that I would wear shorts with opaque pantyhose which just made the whole situation worse and was the butt of many jokes in middle school. My mom has apologized thousands of times since, but it still brings back crappy memories.”"],"title":"A Hairy Situation","image":{"name":"648zx0yyrwa6r9qs.jpg","credit":"Photo by Patrick Schöpflin on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

Umhithere: “I'm female. I wasn't allowed to wear tank tops until I was 15.\nMad farmer tan until then.”"],"title":"Tough Time to Be Tan","image":{"name":"qnuf02c130olcb7x.jpg","credit":"Photo by Sherise Van Dyk on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":804},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":447}}}},{"text":["

U/sowhatonion: “I was not allowed to use the money cheat on Sims growing up because that's not how the ‘real world’ works,\nI used the cheat once and couldn't explain where all the money I had came from so I was grounded and had Sims taken away.”"],"title":"Cheating on Sims","image":{"name":"mxsf6phnf44h4b76.jpg","credit":"Photo by Alienware on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":496},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":276}}}},{"text":["

\"I wasn’t allowed to say anything when my father called my name. I was required to immediately stop what I was doing and run to him to find out what he wanted from me, no matter where I was or what I was doing. I got in trouble for saying what, what do you need, what do you want, do you need anything, did you call me,\nwhat’s going on, what’s up, sir, or anything else. \nHe’d get furious and yell/snap something like ‘I don’t need anything! I am your father and you’re supposed to do what I tell you to without questioning me, child! I am. Your. Father.’ Sometimes I think he just wanted to remind me that he was my dad and he was in charge.\""],"title":"Establishing Dominance ","image":{"name":"4noumaphf367bxve.jpg","credit":"Photo by Dmitry Vechorko on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/auxcome: “I had to write essays on tv shows that I wanted to watch, in order to have them unblocked by the parental controls. I remember writing a riveting piece on the educational and cultural benefit of Disney’s That’s So Raven. Also, I wasn’t allowed to watch PG-13 movies…Wasn’t allowed to rest my head on my hand with my elbow on any table while there was also food on that table. \nIf my parents found out I was going too fast in my car I had to pay my parents ‘speeding tickets’. Also, they would make me pay for the whole family’s phone bill if I texted a boy. By the time I moved out at 17, I had given them well over a grand in punishment money earned at the Sonic Drive-In.”"],"title":"Time to Pay Up","image":{"name":"7htd1xhgs6j3kzlf.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kindel Media/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":266}}}},{"text":["

U/rallyspt08: \"I grew up with my grandparents. My grandmother was absolutely off the rails and ruined my childhood. Tons of fighting and other [stuff] started from a crazy woman. Anyway, anytime my mother tried to take my somewhere, she would lose her [stuff] and threaten to call the cops that I was being 'Kidnapped'. \nAlso wasn't allowed to go outside much or have friends inside because of her own insanity. But if I wanted to skip school and stay up all night playing video games, that was perfectly fine.\""],"title":"Kidnap Threats","image":{"name":"1xehvjco6jgi6vr6.jpg","credit":"Photo by Rad Pozniakov on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1086},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":604}}}},{"text":["

U/InevitableAstronaut: \"I had to ask before showering, going into the kitchen for any reason, leaving the house even to goi out to the mailbox, using the phone … pretty much anything. \nMy step-monster felt the need to know precisely where we were and what we were doing at all times. Had no expectation of privacy. She would frequently go through my room and take things, then punish me for 'losing' them.\""],"title":"No Privacy","image":{"name":"81qsci4llxt66loz.jpg","credit":"Photo by Tessa Edmiston on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":960},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":533}}}},{"text":["

U/chaoxey: “Maybe not so strict, but my mom would always say that I can't use computer because ‘computers are for boys’ (im female). When I wanted Gameboy she said she won't buy me because it has ‘boy’ in its name. \nShe would always say that I'll waste my life on computer games and I should be sent for therapy….This year I finished degree in Computer Science and I landed good full time job in IT.”"],"title":"No Toys Just for Boys","image":{"name":"5jyqamr0r5vougvu.jpg","credit":"Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/Budget-Bid-4344: \"I (29F) married my husband (43M), 4 years ago. He has 5 kids ages 10-16, whose mom died when they were little. When I first started dating my husband I was apprehensive because of the kids. I was unsure of what my role was, my husband told me I would never be expected to be their mother simply a stepmom. The kids also expressed similar views and I agreed. I became more of a cool aunt figure but things changed when we got married. Slowly more and more parental responsibilities started getting dumped on me until I became the primary parent.\nYet regardless of this, I was never respected as a parental figure. I also wasn't welcome by my in-laws and was iced out of family pictures that my in-laws take every year…When I spoke out I was told I was being cruel and ‘overstepping’…I want to make it clear I never asked or wanted to be called mom or anything like that. I am very respectful towards their mom, we have pictures of her in the house and I take the kids to visit her often, we also have her family over to see the kids. I am the one arranging all these visits mind you. So I don't want to replace her just to be respected as a stepmom.\"",""],"title":"Searching for Respect","image":{"name":"df7wb0b99pihjowz.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kindel Media/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/fionaharris: \"I was at a store once with my step dad and I saw a cute little dress that I wanted to buy for my stepsister (who would have been about 9 at the time). He FLIPPED out. 'THOSE ARE GANG COLOURS!!' It was a…black and white striped little girl's dress.\nBut according to my step dad, black and white stripes are gang colours. This was in Calgary, Ab in early 2000. It turned out that she wasn't allowed ANY stripes of ANY colour. Because yeah.. gangs. Oh, and she wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers because it was 'too violent', but she could watch Cops with her dad because it 'taught her respect for the law'.\""],"title":"Gang Colors","image":{"name":"al6vvl9w3b65qq21.jpg","credit":"Photo by Daryan Shamkhali on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":482},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/kyriann: “I wasn't allowed to come home after 9pm. If I was going to be out past 9pm, I wasn't supposed to come home at all. \nThis, of course, led to plenty of ‘staying at a friend's house’ and partying all night. Mom didn't care - she wasn't going to have me waking her up by coming home late.”"],"title":"Different Kind Of Cerfew","image":{"name":"2rkq1r6dsmbcmar0.jpg","credit":"Photo by KoolShooters/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/mehtotheworld: “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,\nI 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.\""],"title":"A Strict Set of Rules","image":{"name":"e5fks67nghd3zq68.jpg","credit":"Photo by Oliver Ragfelt on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":729},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":406}}}},{"text":["

U/Frogsama86: “They tried to stop me from playing video games because \"it is worse than taking drugs\". Ironically Warcraft 3 made me rush home everyday from school to finish work and get some games. \nThis kept me from hanging around a really bad crowd in class. Last I heard 3 of them were sentenced for drug trafficking.”"],"title":"The Irony is Real","image":{"name":"d73jcy0btwad2mar.jpg","credit":"Photo by Fredrick Tendong on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/dpresk01: “At one point, after having already moved out of my families home, my father came to the apartment my ex and I were sharing. I had given my family extra keys for emergency reasons. I was at work, and he was at a friends.\nI came home to our doves and pigeons, all of which we had raised from either hatchlings or eggs, having been thrown outside to die. My father doesn't believe in birds being inside the house apparently. We were unable to rescue any of them.”"],"title":"Long Live the Doves","image":{"name":"uabe7rrssf78uipx.jpg","credit":"Photo by 卡晨 on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/Tetrafy: \"'Since you're 18 now, you're not allowed to eat food i buy, or use any of my dishes or utensils. Youre an adult and should provide for yourself.' i hadnt graduated high school yet and only made $20 per week. I had to drop out of high school and move 800 miles away to start fresh on my own when my weight dipped under 100lbs. \nShe wasnt strict i guess, just crazy. She also installed an app on my phone that would monitor my activity such as my web history and even limit my phone usage to less than 1 minute per day. She refused to remove it after i became independent.\""],"title":"Extreme Independence","image":{"name":"wnx71jlb2kj08b5j.jpg","credit":"Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/tenpercentofnothing: \"My dad wanted my mom to get estimates for getting a bathroom fixed so NATURALLY my brother and I (both in high school) were not allowed to do any extra-curricular activities for my junior year until she did. The entire year. That doesn’t make any sense you say?…\nIt was a fun power play where everyone lost. When I begged to be able to do the school play in the spring (after not being allowed to do the fall one), my dad said, 'Talk to your mom. I haven’t gotten any estimates yet.'\""],"title":"Extracurricular Ban","image":{"name":"ff32z31ee2mzm3qu.jpg","credit":"Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1079},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":599}}}},{"text":["

U/Revolv667: “Noone in the house was allowed to shave or have a razor at all. I could go to a barber or shave at a friend's house, \nbut had my PC taken away when I tried at home. I still don't understand my mother's logic behind this one.”"],"title":"Prickly Situation","image":{"name":"w6aoidl0oycfmrjc.jpg","credit":"Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":540},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":300}}}},{"text":["

U/SweetT13: “This is going to be buried but I feel like I still win this thread. I was grounded from the library. I got in trouble for reading a novel in Spanish class and my parents called the local library. \nThey had them add a note to my account baring me from borrowing any books and also told the librarians at my school (who knew me well) to ask me to leave if I came into the school library.”"],"title":"Library Ban","image":{"name":"9ipawjejdk64cij4.jpg","credit":"Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"My mom was insanely controlling about food. Weird rules were in place like 'one slice of lunch meat per sandwich.' 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. Once when I was fourteen I bought a pack of hot dogs at the store, snuck them home, and lit the grill. \nI was almost done cooking them when she came out screaming about fire hazards and swatted the plate out of my hand. So then she orders a pizza for the rest of my family, wraps individual servings of spaghetti in freezer paper, and puts them away. She tells me that I will be eating nothing else until it’s all gone.”"],"title":"Cooking In Secret","image":{"name":"llv0sillqkxo3avh.jpg","credit":"Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":900},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":500}}}},{"text":["

U/Asphodelic: “My parents were horrible parents in general but the most bizarre rule that my siblings and I put up with was that we weren't allowed to sneeze multiple times in a row. One sneeze? Fine. Another sneeze after some arbitrary number of minutes later? No problem. Two sneezes in a row?\nGet yelled at for being unhygienic (even if you covered your nose/mouth properly) and for having no manners. God forbid if you sneezed thrice or more in a row… I have seasonal allergies and one time, my dad was in a particularly bad mood and caught me in a sneezing fit and grounded me for a week.”"],"title":"Bless You, You're Grounded","image":{"name":"x1tam88c2snd4953.jpg","credit":"Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":736},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":410}}}},{"text":["

U/thatgirlwiththathing: \"I wasn't allowed to go over to a friend's house of there were males there. Didn't matter if it's their brother or dad, no males could be in the house. I also wasn't allowed to have male friends, or have friends over at our house. \nMy dad wanted to send me to an all girls school, but my mom wouldn't let him. My brother (3 years older than me) could do whatever he wanted, including sleeping over at his girlfriend's house starting at 14.\""],"title":"Girl Standards","image":{"name":"m9d9or26719hl2jg.jpg","credit":"Photo by Julia M Cameron/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1079},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":599}}}},{"text":["

U/WallFlower430: “My dad wouldn't let me go to college because that's ‘not what girls do’. He threw away my acceptance letters. I had applied to the local tech school without his knowledge. I found out a couple years later. \nHe let me do drugs and drink but god forbid I try to better myself. I also wasn't allowed to have a driver's license or have a job. Ever. I moved out at 18 and never listened to him ever again. There was no way I was staying with him until he chose my husband.”"],"title":"Old Ideals","image":{"name":"kx9bqngl9967cwui.jpg","credit":"Photo by Ben White on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

\"My best friend (Sarah) warned me about her strict parents, but I didn't believe her until I went to her house one day. Sarah: Be careful, my parents have some crazy rules. Me: How bad could it be? As soon as I walked in, her mom pointed at the floor. Mom: Shoes off! And make sure to walk on the special footprints we have on the carpet. I did as she said, trying not to laugh. Suddenly, the house shook a little and all the lights went out. It was pitch dark. \nMe: What was that? Sarah: That’s another one of their rules. No electricity at night time. Dad’s built a special fuse box so he can cut the whole house off from the grid every evening. I’m not sure how safe it is, it always makes the house shake like that. Me: Okay… I stayed awake all night, terrified that the house was going to blow up. The next morning, I gabbled my goodbyes to Sarah and fled. We only had sleepovers at my house after that.\""],"title":"Lights Out!","image":{"name":"8l7nfobgssop0e79.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kent Rebman on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":464},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":257}}}},{"text":["

U/cresseliana: “My stepdad typed up and printed a 5 page list of rules. He made me print, sign and date the last page.\nI was to be held accountable and if any rules were broken I had to move out. I wasn’t a bad kid. The whole thing was to establish his dominance on me.”"],"title":"Contractual Agreement","image":{"name":"uq3z370bu1c7mxdf.jpg","credit":"Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":481},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/starshinedrop: “Well, I pretty much couldn’t do anything at all. I wasn’t even allowed to put posters on my wall. I’m not sure whether it was to protect the wall or some other silly reason. All I wanted to put up was a cute poster of a cuddly seal. So I ended up sticking it behind my door.\nMy dad once told me that he was going to ‘ground’ me due to my poor performance in school. So I simply responded with, ‘go ahead, ground me. It’s not like I go anywhere anyway.’ His dead silence after that was an acknowledgement that he knew I had a point there. My radio was taken away during exams. Because I had to ‘concentrate’. THE RADIO HELPED ME CONCENTRATE.”"],"title":"Protect the Walls","image":{"name":"txoo1z3urnfbyalj.jpg","credit":"Photo by cottonbro studio/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/kittycatfood: \"Nothing on the floor ever unless it was furniture legs. That meant everything. They'd rather have stuff piled on furniture than on the ground. Like…shoes couldn't even be stored on the ground. Heaven forbid if there was a lint somewhere. \nMy dad would come into a room and point to a blanket brushing the ground and go GET THAT OFF THE FLOOR and just point at anything. Backpacks set against a desk but on the ground. A toy someone was still playing with. Socks you literally just took off. It was weird.\""],"title":"Floor Obsession","image":{"name":"plnwy2fj5rdjx99j.jpg","credit":"Photo by Glen Ardi on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1280},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":711}}}},{"text":["

U/texaspecancoffee: \"Had to pay .05 every time we went in or out the door during summer. Not allowed to drink any sodas or eat any of the junk food in the house because we didn’t buy it. All labeled with ‘this isn’t yours’. I remember one time I wasn’t pouring the hot coffee I made for my parents fast enough and he came over and raised my elbow to make me go faster and it spilled all over my hand and burned me.\nOn Halloween no lights were allowed on in the house because he didn’t want trick or treaters coming by. Had to go into my closet and close the door so that I could do my homework because he saw a tiny light on in my room and threatened to cut all of the power.\""],"title":"Not Yours","image":{"name":"3xkc2iha7e07jmsg.jpg","credit":"Image by Nile from Pixabay ","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":473},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":263}}}},{"text":["

U/Noisyrussinator: \"I was called at a friend’s house at 11 PM at night because I left 2 T-Shirts slung over the chair in my room vs. hanging them in my closet. I had to go back to my house and then I was grounded for a week. \nUpon getting home, my mother had gone through my entire room and tossed every item out of my dresser. She claimed they were messily put in the dresser….Fun stuff.\""],"title":"Unacceptable Pigsty","image":{"name":"gswd6jl6e8h5fac5.jpg","credit":"Photo by cottonbro studio/Pexels ","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/jellychelly: “My parents were super strict (at least for me and my sister). We couldn’t date until high school, which I had no problem with. Mostly because I wore big glasses and had braces in middle school and was super into sports. But once I got contacts and the braces came off, suddenly they became interested.\nIf any boy wanted to go out with me, they had to fill out an application. Name, address, parents names, where they work (parents and kid), ssn, after school activities, criminal record, which of my older brothers they knew…Each kid that asked me out got their own file. It was so embarrassing. Of course my brothers didn’t have to do that. Good old double standards.”"],"title":"Submit Your Application","image":{"name":"8s3rjnzahcrowxb4.jpg","credit":"Photo by Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/PePziNL: “I wasn't raised strict at all, but looking back I realize that not being allowed to have a drink at dinner is kinda weird. At lunch? Fine. At a restaurant? Sure.\nBut regular dinner at home? No drink or you might be too full to eat all of your food. W-- mom.”"],"title":"Stay Parched","image":{"name":"mxqfj475vqk40y11.jpg","credit":"Photo by Stephan Müller/Pexels","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/PLAUTOS: “No trends, or ‘passing fads’. Pokemon, banned. Barbies, banned. Beanie babies, banned. Playstation/Gameboys? Banned. Anything particularly fashionable, or popular regardless of actual merit was met with derision and we’d be mocked for even suggesting interest. \nWe were achingly frumpy kids with interests and cultural references (or lack thereof) that isolated us from our peers and they wondered why each of us were bullied.”"],"title":"Being Cool is Not Allowed","image":{"name":"akjg41a7pt3dkihf.jpg","credit":"Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":480},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":267}}}},{"text":["

U/ellabee8: \"My Dad hated how chipped nail polish looked, and didn't like me wearing it in the first place. ( Too young? Idk I was around 13) One day he noticed my chipped nail polish and decided if I couldn't take care of my nails I couldn't take care of anything else. He then took literally everything out of my room except the bed/frame and some clothes. \nNo tv, phone, books, music etc. It lasted about 2 weeks before I slowly got everything back. 20 years later it seems kinda [weird] to me. At the time I guess it seemed like a normal punishment. He's since mellowed out and we get along great.\""],"title":"Nail Polish Punishment","image":{"name":"ezi5pj8nnoo5ra9c.jpg","credit":"Photo by Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash","dimensions":{"desktop":{"width":720,"height":1075},"mobile":{"width":400,"height":597}}}}]}; window.pbjs = window.pbjs || {}; window.pbjs.que = window.pbjs.que || []; window.pbjs.que.push(function() { const enabledBidders = { "vidartb": true, "33across": false, "medianet": false, "sharethrough": false, "grid": false, "onetag": false, "triplelift": false, "nextmillennium": true, "vidazoo": true, "pubmatic": true, "rubicon": true, "seedtag": true, "outbrain": true, "openx": false, "rise": true, "underdogmedia": false, "appnexus": true, "criteo": true, "pgamssp": true, "imds": false, "teads": false, "vidartb_s2s": true, "33across_s2s": true, "medianet_s2s": true, "sharethrough_s2s": true, "grid_s2s": true, "onetag_s2s": true, "triplelift_s2s": true, "nextmillennium_s2s": true, "vidazoo_s2s": true, "pubmatic_s2s": true, "rubicon_s2s": true, "seedtag_s2s": true, "outbrain_s2s": true, "openx_s2s": true, "rise_s2s": true, "underdogmedia_s2s": true, "appnexus_s2s": true, "criteo_s2s": true }; window.pbjs.onEvent('beforeRequestBids', function(adUnits) { for (var iAdUnit = 0; iAdUnit < adUnits.length; iAdUnit++) { adUnits[iAdUnit].bids = adUnits[iAdUnit].bids.filter(function(bid) { if (enabledBidders[bid.bidder.toLowerCase() + (bid.bidSource && bid.bidSource.server === 100 ? 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} } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full { padding-bottom: 0; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw { -webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-box-direction: normal; -ms-flex-direction: column; flex-direction: column; } @media (min-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw { box-shadow: none; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw .__wpd__sldshw-details { margin-left: 0; margin-right: 0; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw .__wpd__sldshw-image { position: relative; } @media (min-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw .__wpd__sldshw-image { min-height: 300px; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw .__wpd__sldshw-image .__wpd__sldshw-nav { display: block; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container.__wpd__landscape-full .__wpd__sldshw-nav { display: none; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw { position: relative; display: flex; box-shadow: 0 0 24px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, .2); -webkit-box-orient: horizontal; -webkit-box-direction: normal; -ms-flex-direction: row; flex-direction: row; min-height: 1px; } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw { -webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-box-direction: normal; -ms-flex-direction: column; flex-direction: column; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-header-container { display: -webkit-box; display: -ms-flexbox; display: flex; -webkit-box-pack: justify; -ms-flex-pack: justify; justify-content: space-between; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; } @media (max-width:480px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-header-container { margin-bottom: 0px; } } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-header-container { display: none; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-header-container.__wpd__mobile { display: none; } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-header-container.__wpd__mobile { display: -webkit-box; display: -ms-flexbox; display: flex; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-image { margin: auto; position: relative; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; min-height: 1px; text-align: center; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-img-wrapper { display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 100%; max-width: 750px; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-image img { margin-bottom: 0px; height: auto; width: 100%; } .__wpd__sldshw-disabled-link { pointer-events: none; cursor: default; } .__wpd__sldshw-enabled-link { cursor: pointer; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-image .__wpd__sldshw-img-credit { position: absolute; bottom: 10px; left: 10px; background: rgba(0, 0, 0, .3); padding: 5px 6px; } @media (max-width:420px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-image .__wpd__sldshw-img-credit { bottom: 8px; left: 0px; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-image .__wpd__sldshw-img-credit>p { margin: 0; padding: 0px!important; font-size: 10px!important; line-height: 12px!important; color: hsla(0, 0%, 100%, .75)!important; text-align: left; } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-details { margin: 20px 14px 5px 24px; display: flex; -webkit-box-orient: vertical; -webkit-box-direction: normal; -ms-flex-direction: column; flex-direction: column; width: 100%; -webkit-box-pack: justify; -ms-flex-pack: justify; justify-content: space-between; } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-details { margin: 0; } } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw-text { margin: 0; } } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__sldshw-slide-text { margin-top: 15px; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container h2 { font-size: 23px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0; line-height: 25px; } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container h2 { font-size: 20px; } } .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container p { font-size: 17px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; } @media (max-width:770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container p { font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; } } .__wpd__sldshw-view-single-page-container { margin-top: 95px; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #bbbbbb!important; font-size: 15px; position: absolute; } @media (max-width:420px) { .__wpd__sldshw-view-single-page-container { margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 95px; } } #__wpd__previously_seen_top { font-size: 12px; } #__wpd__previously_seen_top_link { font-size: 12px; } span#__wpd__previously_seen_top { color: #a7a5a5; } #__wpd__previously_seen_bottom { font-size: 12px; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; } #__wpd__previously_seen_bottom_link { font-size: 12px; width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; } span#__wpd__previously_seen_bottom { color: #a7a5a5; } .__wpd__sldshw-next-page-text-container { margin-top: -35px; text-align: center; width: 100%; color: #bbbbbb!important; font-size: 15px; position: absolute; } @media (max-width:420px) { .__wpd__sldshw-next-page-text-container { margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: -35px; } } .__wpd__rtl_lang { direction: rtl; text-align: right; } .__wpd__hidden { display: none!important; } .__wpd__invisible { visibility: hidden!important; } #__wpd__betweenpages_728x90 { text-align: center; } #__wpd__tabmt_728x90 { text-align: center; } #__wpd__middletext_320x50 { text-align: center; } .__wpd__loading-container-bottom { margin-top: 35px; } .__wpd__ad-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button { text-align: center; width: 100%; display: inline-block; } .__wpd__ad-tab-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button { text-align: center; width: 100%; display: inline-block; } .__wpd__ad-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-center { text-align: center; width: 100%; } #__wpd__ad-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-right-wrapper { display: none; } #__wpd__ad-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-left-wrapper { display: none; } #__wpd__ad-tab-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-right-wrapper { display: none; } #__wpd__ad-tab-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-left-wrapper { display: none; } .__wpd__page-block-spacer { margin-bottom: 10px; } #__wpd__ba_widget_content { margin-top: 30px; } .__wpd__sldshw-before-image { overflow: hidden; } #__wpd__feed_between_articles { padding-top: 25px; } @media (max-width:480px) { header .td-module-meta-info { margin-bottom: 7px!important; } } .__wpd__adspot-title-container {line-height: 20px!important; text-align: center; background-color: rgba(128,128,128,0.1);} .__wpd__adv-block {text-align: center;} .__wpd__adspot-title {font-size: 12px; font-weight:bold; text-transform: none; text-align: center;color: #bbbbbb!important; margin-bottom: 10px!important;} .__wpd__adv-block {overflow: hidden;} .__wpd__content-container div[class*=column]:first-of-type {margin-right: 0px;} .__wpd__sldshw-header-container-bottom {display: none!important;} .__wpd__main-container {margin-top: 0px!important;} .__wpd__content-container {padding-top: 0px!important; margin-top: 0px!important;} .__wpd__sldshw-details {margin-top: 0px!important;} .__wpd__side-column {display: none!important;} #__wpd__mobilefooter_320x50-adspot-title-container {z-index: 99998;} @media (max-width: 1018px) { .td-container {padding-left: 0px!important;padding-right: 0px!important;} .td-post-title {padding-left: 10px!important;padding-right: 10px!important;} .post-body-wrap {padding-left: 0px!important;padding-right: 0px!important;} .__wpd__sldshw {padding-left: 0px!important;padding-right: 0px!important;} .__wpd__sldshw-slide-text p {padding-left: 10px!important;padding-right: 10px!important;} .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container h2 {padding: 10px!important;} .__wpd__sldshw-img-credit-text {padding: 0px!important;} } @media (max-width: 1018px) and (min-width: 768px) { .td-pb-span8 {width: 100%!important; padding-right: 0px!important; padding-left: 0px!important;} } @media (max-width: 770px) { .__wpd__content-container .__wpd__sldshw-container .__wpd__sldshw {border-radius: 0px!important; box-shadow: 0 0 0 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)!important;} } .td-post-content {margin-top: 0px!important;} img.entry-thumb {opacity: 1!important;} .author-box-wrap {display:none!important;} header .td-module-meta-info {margin-bottom: 0px!important;} .td-ss-main-sidebar > .td_block_wrap {margin-bottom: 25px!important;} 500px#__wpd__ad-tab-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-left-wrapper { display: none; }#__wpd__ad-tab-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-right-wrapper { display: none; }.__wpd__sldshw-slide-text p {font-size: 25px!important; line-height: 32px!important;}#td-top-mobile-toggle {display: none!important;} .tdb_mobile_menu {display: none!important;} div[id*='__sbrbinscrl-'], div[id*='__beforeimage_728x90-'], div[id*='__page-block-spacer-0'], div[id*='__ad-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-left-wrapper-'], div[id*='__ad-med-rec-above-nnxxtt-button-right-wrapper-'], div[id*='__sidebarextrabottom_300x250'], div[id*='__tabafterimage_728x90-'], div[id*='__tabbt_728x90'], div[id*='__middletext_320x50-'] { display:none!important; } div[id*='__beforeimage_728x90-'], div[id*='__sidebarextrabottom_300x250'], div[id*='__page-block-spacer-0'], div[id*='__tabbt_728x90'], div[id*='__middletext_320x50-1'], div[id*='__middletext_320x50-2'] { display:none!important; } HomeAnimalsArtFood & DrinksIllustrations Search Magazine Blogger HomeAnimalsArtFood & DrinksIllustrations 40+ People Reveal Why Their Adult Children Don't Talk to Them By Lauren A - 2025-04-16 if (window.wpd && typeof wpd.containerLoaded === "function") { window.wpd.containerLoaded(); } Check this out Laurence Winram’s Land Art Celebrates Nature’s Fleeting Beauty April 28, 2025 Artist Creates Minimalistic Illustrations of Carefree Cats Living Their Best Life April 24, 2025 Popular April’s Baker’s Bespoke Cakes Are the Best Kind of Vintage April 21, 2025 Artist Transforms Discarded Books into Mountain-Like Sculptures April 17, 2025 About UsPrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyTerms & ConditionsDMCA