Every household abides by a unique set of house rules to maintain a sense of decorum, whether it's removing shoes before entering or playing ball in the house.
While those normalized rules may work for the occupants, they could come as quite a shock to visitors who aren't used to the way they live in their own homes.
Curious to hear some of the more baffling household decrees, Redditor Ok-Marzipan6892 asked:
"What's the most bizarre rule you've had to follow in someone else's house?"
These Redditors found these instructions highly unusual.
Book Ban
"Kids not allowed to bring any books with anthropomorphic characters into the house. We could play with Legos for hours, but were banned from bringing a Richard Scary big adventure book, or any material with talking animals, or animals wearing clothes."
"The mom didn't want 'her children growing up thinking that cats and dogs wore sweaters'. I hated that house."
– bugwrench
The Assignment
"At my best friend's growing up (middle- H.S), if we wanted to go do something together like go to the lighthouse or visit the old sugar mill ruins, we had to write a research paper first."
"We would give our papers to my friends mom and then she would decide if we could go or not."
– anon
"Feel free to make yourself at home," were never meant by these homeowners.
A Family Exclusive
“You’re our houseguest, but family dinners are for family only. Here’s your plate, you can have your dinners this week in the basement.”
– CookDane6954
Saving Water
"I stayed briefly with a friend whose mom didn’t allow the toilets to be flushed more than once a day unless you’d actually dropped a deuce, who only had tiny night lights in each room for illumination, didn’t believe in either heating or air conditioning, and stole playground sand from the park down the street to use in the cat box."
"She didn’t have furniture, other than her bed. My friend and I slept on moving pads in a bedroom, with no blankets or pillows. I remember eating two cheese sandwiches a day, and by sandwiches, I mean one slice of knockoff Kraft cheese between two slices of the cheapest white bread possible."
"She drove a very expensive car, and according to my friend, worked a very high paying job, and had no debt to speak of, thanks to all the child support she got from his dad after the divorce."
"After two days of this, we both slipped out in the middle of the night, because she wouldn’t let us go anywhere during the day. I found some other friends to crash with, and my friend went to his dad’s house in another state."
"I found out years later that she eventually became a complete shut-in and hoarder, due to some substantial mental issues she’d been dealing with, even then. When she passed, her house was absolutely full of junk."
– tonysnark81
Newspapers And Enemas
"Not me but my mom had an aunt that would put down newspaper to walk on if you visited her house. She also gave her kids enemas every Sunday night so they would be 'clean' for school."
– RanchNWrite
Off Limits
"My old friends mom had a room in her house that NO ONE was allowed in. No significance to the room. It was the 'viewing room.'”
"Edit: this room was all white like the majority of people with similar experiences. WHY WERE THEY ALWAYS WHITE?!"
– Pastor_Dale
"Hostage" Situation
"I visited a friend at a lake house for 2 weeks in the summer and no one was allowed to get up before their dad. This f**king guy would drink until 1-3am and not wake up till 11am and would throw a tantrum if anyone made noise before he was able to get up again and drag his a** back to the real world."
"My friend's mom strictly enforced this the entire time I was there too. The things you look back on from your kid years, man... that was just a hostage situation."
– Away-Sound-4010
The Dress Code
"Wearing jeans meant the only place I could sit was on one of the kitchen island stools. Kitchen chairs, sofas or chairs around the house, or any beds were no bueno."
"Also no shoes inside which was fine, but also had to remove socks so walking on cold hard flooring was super annoying. They didn't like that I brought my own slippers the next time I visited. Avoid going there now as much as I can."
– darybrain
Interesting memories of home rules as children continue.
Closed Door Policy
"It was my house when my parents were still married."
"No closed doors."
"Bedroom, bathroom, closet, whatever. Only door fully closed was screen door going outside. The porch door is cracked at least 1-3 inches always, depending on the weather. Taking a shower? Going #2? Parents intimate? Door is cracked open."
– Saltriverjohnny
Doors Wide Open
"In my own house. Never allowed to close a bedroom door. No secrets would be kept then, if all the bedroom doors were open. But I'm an only child. Why was this the rule?"
"Because it was the rule in my mother's house where there were many children. Why couldn't they keep their doors closed ever?"
"Because it was the rule in the convent/orphanage where my grandmother was raised."
"Then, when I had kids, at first, blindly, I imposed this rule. And I had to ask myself why my own kids, who have their own rooms and aren't sharing rooms with siblings couldn't close their own doors?"
"Because it was rule in the 1920s when my grandmother was growing up in an orphanage in another country. So I reevaluated and my kids are allowed to close their doors and have privacy."
– RuggedHangnail
The Trauma
"I was probably 9 or 10, a girl staying the day with my friend that was a boy. His dad came in and asked a question and I answered, 'Yeah.' Friend audibly sucked in a breath before his dad swung around and screamed, 'How many times do I have to tell you, the answer is 'yes sir '?'"
"There's literally no way it could have been mistaken for my friend's voice. I was terrified until my mom picked me up. My friend was super apologetic, but even then I knew it wasn't his fault so I tried to make him feel better about it."
"Not sure what happened to him but I can't imagine living in that level of terror every day of my childhood."
– momonomino
Peace For The Gnome
"I grow up with a lot of friends from Slavic background (mainly Russian and Ukrainian), and you are not allowed to whistle in the house because it upsets the house gnome."
– More-Exchange3505
Hunger Games
"It was an unspoken rule..no eating. A few friends spent the night at a former friend's house when we were teenagers. She offered us a small bowl of macaroni and cheese at about 4 p.m."
"We thought it was an after school snack, but that was it. Food wasnt mentioned again. My friends and I woke up in the middle of night,starving, so we went to the kitchen and the cabinets and refrigerator were locked."
– Spare_Refrigerator59
Temporary Prisoner
"Visited my besties family farm for a week. Once you left the house you could not return until dinner time. You can chill in the old farm house or farm garage."
"When you return to the house they live in, you strip down in the garage, put on a robe and fresh socks. You can then enter the house, drop all your clothes in the washing machine and to go straight to the shower."
"After your shower the robe and socks go into the washer. Once inside and showered then you are in for the night, we were adults not kids. This wasnt a livestock farm and nor did we work in the corn or soy fields."
"Edit: The mom has OCD. Her entire life is cleaning or mowing. It was never about bugs as my friend hid this rule from me until we were in the garage."
– _youronlyHope
Pizza Etiquette
"My friend's mom was adamant that we were NOT to fold a slice of pizza to be able to pick it up and eat it. The pizza was to remain flat, as we were not 'gluttonous beasts.'"
– jester29
You can't dispute other people's house rules.
Because once you are invited over, you have to respect the homeowner's instructions to be a respectable guest.
Enemas, however, would probably be the one exception to the rule. Because, yikes.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
