Chores. The amount of people that grow up without knowing how to do dishes, pay bills, go grocery shopping, and cooking. It sucked having to to these things growing up, but as an adult I’m glad I knew how to get them done.
Finish a bag/box of something (cookies, chips, cereal, etc) before opening a new one. We have hundreds of half empty containers in our cabinets and I can’t seem to train my family into having only one open at a time
Mine is filling the ice tray immediately after emptying it. Got in trouble so many times as a kid, but once I had roommates and there was ALWAYS no ice and then the ice tray also being empty, I (35m) damn near called my dad crying.
Everyone got the same meal. We all ate at the kitchen table. Everyone helped clean up after. Saves a lot of money. We all caught up with each other’s day. It took almost no time to get the kitchen cleaned up. These are still valid reasons to continue the practices.
Pinning my socks together. As a child, I hated doing this, although the process of finding and pairing socks after laundry took way more time than the few seconds of pinning them together before putting them in the laundry basket would have. Now, as soon as the socks come off my feet, they are pinned together and makes putting away laundry so much easier.
My dad had a strict rule of not eating past 9 or at least 2-3 hours before you sleep. I thought it was a stupid rule and often times I’d sneak around at night to get a snack. As I got older I realized it’s because it’s bad for our sleep quality. Some say it’s a myth but I used to have a hard time falling asleep and had nightmares more often when I ate before sleeping. I’ve mentioned this to friends, and when they stopped that habit, they told me they slept better too
Put your damn keys on the hook by the door. If you were parked behind my dad when he wanted to go somewhere and you were MIA with your keys he’d go ballistic.
Don’t wear outside clothes on things like your bed after a day out! It seems pretty annoying but making it a habit of taking your clothes off immediately and having a quick shower before lounging on anything soft is great prevention against bringing things like bed bugs home. The annoyance is worth it if you’ve ever been traumatized by a bad infestation of anything; if you don’t get it, count yourself lucky.
Doing all dishes and putting the kitchen in order before going to bed. No matter how tired I am. It makes mornings SO much easier and more relaxing, getting the day started with a clean slate instead of having to look at last night’s dirty dishes sitting there in the sink.
I used to think it was stupid that my mom deep-cleaned the house before guests came (esp. my paternal grandparents, her in-laws). I said “it’s kind of like lying, right? Like pretending that the house looks like this all the time?” She kept a super clean house as it was and my dad had a rule against things being left on surfaces such as the coffee table or kitchen table, so I thought she was just being dramatic and stressing herself out for no reason.
Edit: when I said that I think i was 8 or 9 years old – I definitely realize the benefit of a pre-guest clean now.
Last year, my husband and I hosted Christmas, and I was literally cleaning for the entire week up until an hour before they arrived.
Making my bed (I thought making my bed was especially pointless), dishes, picking up dog poop, vacuuming, mowing the lawn. I thought it was just my parents being lazy. Turns out they were teaching me how to take care of myself and a bit of discipline. Now that I’m an adult with my own kids, I realize it was way more than my dad just trying to get out of doing chores. All of our kids have no clue how much we actually do to keep things running. They’re not supposed to at 13 and 10. Our kids fight us every step of the way sometimes, even after years of this expectations, but I feel they’ll appreciate it when they’re older.
No PC until chores and homework are done. Learn to do the work you don’t want to do first and get it out of the way. It’s something that has served me well.
Teen children coming home by a certain time. I didn’t understand it until my ex husband didn’t come home for hours, in the middle of the night, and I thought he was dead. My kids didn’t have a curfew but they were told to leave wherever they were by a certain time (to prevent speeding to be home by a certain time) and if they wanted to stay later, they had to stay at a friend’s and let me know.
My mother made sure my sibling and me could survive in the adult world. She made sure we could cook (basic recipes), do laundry, balance a checkbook (always hates that job), iron clothes and basic hand sewing.
These skills also helped when I was in the military. I would iron uniforms for personnel inspections. Charged $15 per uniform (it was mid-80s).
I re-attached a button for someone and they thought I was a sorcerer or something.
My parents used to hate it when us kids would yell out across the house for them. Just hollering, “MOOOOOM!!” and expecting them to yell back, or come to you. That was reserved for emergencies; if you needed to ask a question you get off your butt and go find the person you need to talk to.
Now as an adult, when I’m at other people’s homes and they are yelling from various rooms at each other it feels so aggressive, haha. If I’m asking you how many hotdogs you want on the BBQ for dinner I just go find you in the basement, I don’t scream, “BRIAN!!! HOW MANY HOT DOGS DO YOU WANT?? HOT DOGS. HOW MANY. DID YOU SAY THREE? I CAN’T HEAR YOU”
Notebooks, computers, diaries, etc. Are all sacred and not to be gone through. Can’t say I hated that one, but most people thought it was weird. You could leave your deepest secret on the coffee table, and nobody would touch it. I am the youngest of four kids. Nobodies diary ever got read, my sketchbooks were left alone, computer accounts were not shared.
Comments
eating your meal at the table, without tv and actually having a conversation with your family
Shoes off at the door.
Putting the toilet seat down, my girlfriend admires me and was in disbelief when she saw me do it for the first time
No outside clothes on the bed. Leave mommy and daddy alone when they asked for it.
Chores. The amount of people that grow up without knowing how to do dishes, pay bills, go grocery shopping, and cooking. It sucked having to to these things growing up, but as an adult I’m glad I knew how to get them done.
Don’t talk when mouth is full
No phone calls after 9pm, after 9pm is for emergencies only
Don’t eat food in your bedroom.
Switching off the lights when leaving the room, folding the laundry, doing the dishes after every meal.
No gadgets while eating
No clutter, clean up after yourself once you are done
Make sure the house is spotless before a trip! Nothing is worse than coming home to a dirty house!
Turn off the damned lights when you leave a room! lol
Finish a bag/box of something (cookies, chips, cereal, etc) before opening a new one. We have hundreds of half empty containers in our cabinets and I can’t seem to train my family into having only one open at a time
No eating while using the computer
no shoes in the house. as a person with allergies totally get this now
Mine is filling the ice tray immediately after emptying it. Got in trouble so many times as a kid, but once I had roommates and there was ALWAYS no ice and then the ice tray also being empty, I (35m) damn near called my dad crying.
I now enforce it in my household.
Everyone got the same meal. We all ate at the kitchen table. Everyone helped clean up after. Saves a lot of money. We all caught up with each other’s day. It took almost no time to get the kitchen cleaned up. These are still valid reasons to continue the practices.
Pinning my socks together. As a child, I hated doing this, although the process of finding and pairing socks after laundry took way more time than the few seconds of pinning them together before putting them in the laundry basket would have. Now, as soon as the socks come off my feet, they are pinned together and makes putting away laundry so much easier.
You don’t need the heating on. Cold? Put on a jumper 😂 now I’m paying the bills I understand exactly where my dad was coming from
You do not walk into someone’s bedroom without their express permission.
We aren’t air conditioning the neighborhood.
No food or snacks in bedrooms- tracking down dishes is annoying and it helps keep the house clean
RINSE YOUR DISH!!!!!!!!!! You dont even have to wash it .
Stop coming in and out that door, letting all the air out and all the bugs in. Either in or out!
My dad had a strict rule of not eating past 9 or at least 2-3 hours before you sleep. I thought it was a stupid rule and often times I’d sneak around at night to get a snack. As I got older I realized it’s because it’s bad for our sleep quality. Some say it’s a myth but I used to have a hard time falling asleep and had nightmares more often when I ate before sleeping. I’ve mentioned this to friends, and when they stopped that habit, they told me they slept better too
Shoes off when entering the house!
Put your damn keys on the hook by the door. If you were parked behind my dad when he wanted to go somewhere and you were MIA with your keys he’d go ballistic.
Don’t wear outside clothes on things like your bed after a day out! It seems pretty annoying but making it a habit of taking your clothes off immediately and having a quick shower before lounging on anything soft is great prevention against bringing things like bed bugs home. The annoyance is worth it if you’ve ever been traumatized by a bad infestation of anything; if you don’t get it, count yourself lucky.
Doing all dishes and putting the kitchen in order before going to bed. No matter how tired I am. It makes mornings SO much easier and more relaxing, getting the day started with a clean slate instead of having to look at last night’s dirty dishes sitting there in the sink.
I used to think it was stupid that my mom deep-cleaned the house before guests came (esp. my paternal grandparents, her in-laws). I said “it’s kind of like lying, right? Like pretending that the house looks like this all the time?” She kept a super clean house as it was and my dad had a rule against things being left on surfaces such as the coffee table or kitchen table, so I thought she was just being dramatic and stressing herself out for no reason.
Edit: when I said that I think i was 8 or 9 years old – I definitely realize the benefit of a pre-guest clean now.
Last year, my husband and I hosted Christmas, and I was literally cleaning for the entire week up until an hour before they arrived.
Clean the house and change sheets before you leave town. Coming home to a clean house and fresh bed is the best
Making my bed (I thought making my bed was especially pointless), dishes, picking up dog poop, vacuuming, mowing the lawn. I thought it was just my parents being lazy. Turns out they were teaching me how to take care of myself and a bit of discipline. Now that I’m an adult with my own kids, I realize it was way more than my dad just trying to get out of doing chores. All of our kids have no clue how much we actually do to keep things running. They’re not supposed to at 13 and 10. Our kids fight us every step of the way sometimes, even after years of this expectations, but I feel they’ll appreciate it when they’re older.
No PC until chores and homework are done. Learn to do the work you don’t want to do first and get it out of the way. It’s something that has served me well.
Teen children coming home by a certain time. I didn’t understand it until my ex husband didn’t come home for hours, in the middle of the night, and I thought he was dead. My kids didn’t have a curfew but they were told to leave wherever they were by a certain time (to prevent speeding to be home by a certain time) and if they wanted to stay later, they had to stay at a friend’s and let me know.
Laundry needs to be in the hamper, or in the laundry room if you want it done. Absolutely not searching bedrooms to gather dirty clothes
close the damn door, we’re not air conditioning the outside…also, bugs…
One person speaks at a time.
My mother made sure my sibling and me could survive in the adult world. She made sure we could cook (basic recipes), do laundry, balance a checkbook (always hates that job), iron clothes and basic hand sewing.
These skills also helped when I was in the military. I would iron uniforms for personnel inspections. Charged $15 per uniform (it was mid-80s).
I re-attached a button for someone and they thought I was a sorcerer or something.
Letting your roomies/partner/parent/know if you are staying out later than planned, or text when you get home it’s just like a safety thing
My parents used to hate it when us kids would yell out across the house for them. Just hollering, “MOOOOOM!!” and expecting them to yell back, or come to you. That was reserved for emergencies; if you needed to ask a question you get off your butt and go find the person you need to talk to.
Now as an adult, when I’m at other people’s homes and they are yelling from various rooms at each other it feels so aggressive, haha. If I’m asking you how many hotdogs you want on the BBQ for dinner I just go find you in the basement, I don’t scream, “BRIAN!!! HOW MANY HOT DOGS DO YOU WANT?? HOT DOGS. HOW MANY. DID YOU SAY THREE? I CAN’T HEAR YOU”
Don’t use the “sewing scissors” for cutting anything except fabric. I am so sorry mom. I get it now.
THOU SHALT PUT IT BACK WHERE YA FOUND IT
Giving two kids a cookie to share: kid A gets to break it into two halves, kid B gets to choose which half to get.
Notebooks, computers, diaries, etc. Are all sacred and not to be gone through. Can’t say I hated that one, but most people thought it was weird. You could leave your deepest secret on the coffee table, and nobody would touch it. I am the youngest of four kids. Nobodies diary ever got read, my sketchbooks were left alone, computer accounts were not shared.
Guests don’t stay over three days if you still want to like each other at the end of a visit.
No shoes in the house. Hated it as a kid, now I cringe when someone walks in with sneakers on.