I have a confession to make: sometimes my daughter tells me that I'm the strictest parent EVER, and I laugh. Not in her face, but later, along with my husband who shakes his head and usually makes some comment about how lucky she really is.
I am not the most strict parent out there. But there's no use telling my kid that. There's really no use telling ANY kid that their parents are not the big meanies they think they are.
But as my kid gets older, I'm more than happy to collect proof that it could be a heckuva lot worse out there for her. Take the recent list of "rules" teenagers on Reddit say are enforced in their homes. They go from the normal to the absolutely absurd … and beyond!
If you ever want to prove to your kids that they really have it pretty good, just dare them to compare themselves to the kids claiming they have the strictest parents ever … who have the list of oppressive rules to back them up (that is, unless these are rules for your teenagers too?):
1. No watching TV alone.
2. [I am] forced to wear dresses.
3. No eating meat.
4. No watching cable television.
5. No watching any movie over a PG rating.
6. No having friends over.
7. If I leave the house, I have to send a text to my mom every hour to update her.
8. I'm not allowed to spend any of my own money.
9. Not allowed to stay up past 10:30, even though it's summer vacation.
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10. No sitting with my door closed.
11. Not allowed to read Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket.
12. I'm not allowed to listen to much of the mainstream music out there.
13. Now I'm taking tutoring lessons over the summer for all subjects I didn't get an A in … because I got a B.
14. My mom assigned her own summer homework.
15. No going anywhere without a parent present.
What do you think? Are these rules over-the-top or do you have them beat?
Image via ibai/Flickr
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.