For better or for worse, every family on Earth has its fair share of quirks and behavioral oddities. So, it helps to be polite, tolerant, and a tad more forgiving when you’re invited over to visit for dinner, a party, or a sleepover. However, some family rules and traditions are so weird that they might affect you quite a bit.
Some confused (and slightly creeped out) guests took to a thread on AskReddit to share the most bizarre house rules they’ve ever personally witnessed when visiting someone else’s place. You’ll find their stories as you scroll down.
#1
I had a friend who instead of washing the dishes after a meal just put them straight back in the cupboard. I thought his parents would freak out but it turns out it was just something they did in their house.
Whenever I went over I always made sure to eat beforehand.
Image credits: anon
#2
In college I had a friend that lived with his grandparents when he went to school. Before they'd let him leave the house his grandmother would say "nothing good happens after midnight" and he would have to repeat it.
If I was there, I would also have to repeat the phrase.
Image credits: iownalaptop
#3
No fighting over the heel of the bread. The father once off hand told his oldest children that the heel of a loaf of bread was the best and made them want it instead of the regular pieces. By the time there were 4 kids sometimes fist fights would break out over the heels. Loaves had been opened on both sides, or loaves were a mess because someone reached through the sack and pulled the back heel out. For a while there was a turn system where the heels were promised to a child for each loaf, but that fell apart when one went to summer camp and lost their turn. One time my friend wasted an afternoon waiting for his mother to come home with a fresh loaf of bread instead of going out and playing. I witnessed fist fights over the bread most people throw away.
Image credits: DarrenEdwards
To be completely fair, it’s usually best to give your hosts the benefit of the doubt. It is incredibly difficult to see how peculiar some of your family rules and traditions might look to an outsider. It’s only by interacting with lots of different people from various backgrounds that you can then begin to look at your own situation and upbringing more objectively.
Some of these rules and traditions form so naturally and gradually that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when they became ‘a thing.’ What’s more, some behaviors are so deeply ingrained in your daily routine that you don’t actually notice that you’re doing them. Reading through the thread, it’s actually quite a revelation to hear that other families also used to prioritize the heel of bread (it’s crunchy and delicious!) while others just threw it away (which also makes some sense).
When you start thinking about all of these dozens of little behaviors, you start to realize that every family is weird… though some are much more bizarre than others. For example, it’s natural to be weirded out if someone doesn’t wash the dishes after dinner and just puts the plates back on the shelf, dirty.
#4
I had a friend whose mom required her to sit on the floor. Never a chair, couch, bed, or other piece of furniture. I went to her house once and sat down on her bed and she flipped out, made me get off it and spent several minutes smoothing the sheets to make it look flat again. I think her mom thought "kids are dirty" but the rule was in place even after bathing and wearing clean clothes.
...
I also have a family member has a "no pants dragging the ground" rule. In addition to taking shoes off, you have to roll up your pants when you come into the house. Last time I visited, I brought jeans straight out of the dryer, never worn outdoors, and changed into them when I got there. She still gave me dirty looks.
Image credits: knitasha
#5
My friend must ask his father before he is allowed to eat anything in their house. One time our group of friends wanted to go out on a Friday night. We asked if he could come and our friend said he was grounded. We asked him what he did this time and he responded, "I ate a bowl of cereal when my dad wasn't home."
Probably the stupidest thing i've ever heard someone get grounded for.
Image credits: RDDR_CEO
#6
Not a house but a dorm room--these two guys had a big list of words that were banned within the room. A lot of them were swear words (not because they were opposed to swear words, but just because using a lot of them is a lazy way to speak), but others were things like "good," and "bad." They didn't really get mad if you said them, but it was still kind of challenging to avoid using "lazy" words when you were visiting.
Image credits: ghost_in_the_potato
But speaking up about these rather strange behaviors can be incredibly awkward and embarrassing. You’re a guest, after all! So, if something’s concerning you deeply, you could, for example, pull your host aside for a friendly but frank chat. Tell them how it affects you while also not sounding judgmental.
How open you can be is obviously going to depend on the type of relationship you have with the host. If someone’s super close to you, you can joke around more and be less guarded. Someone who’s still half a stranger, however, might react very strongly to any criticism about how they go about their business at home.
You could also reach out to the host at a later point in the future if that sort of behavior continues. Or you could simply reevaluate the friendship you have and come over for dinner less often if something bothers you that much.
#7
I moved across country years back. I was looking for a room through craigslist. You find some pretty wild house rules on there
Showers can only be had on specific days
no one in common areas after 10 pm
no overnight guests
vegans only
i had more freedom living with my mother.
Image credits: sdcrag
#8
Not so much a rule, but a weird thing. My mother in law had an aunt who was a self proclaimed "hand dipper." When you ate a meal at her house, she used her hand to scoop up a portion and put it on your plate. It could be mac n cheese, a casserole, whatever.
Image credits: astronomydomone
#9
I posted something about this once before.
They yelled at me for not letting the cat that was walking around on the table eat from my plate. I love cats, but what the hell?
Apparently gently nudging the cat away from my food was "interfering with the freedom of another sentient being".
I was 12 I think. I was pretty freaked out.
What are some of the weirdest rules or traditions that you’ve personally witnessed after being invited to come over to someone else’s home? What was your first reaction when you realized something bizarre was happening, dear Pandas?
Are there any strange rules in your home that you think might leave some of your guests a tad confused? We’d love to hear your opinions. If you feel like sharing, feel free to write your thoughts in the comments below.
#10
My best friend in elementary school had a paddle on the wall in the kitchen engraved with the bible verse about "sparing the rod". Next to it were different infractions and how many swats with the paddle they were worth.
I was later asked not to return after I said "Oh, God" after a sad story.
Image credits: FancyLadyOfCornwood
#11
I slept over a friends house in grade school one time. He prepared us a bowl of cereal the next morning for breakfast. Not thinking ANYTHING of my behavior, I didn't finish the milk. I just never used to. I don't know.
He was like "You uh...gonna finish that?"
"Uhhh oh...I uh...I don't think so? Does that matter?"
He panicked. Absolutely panicked. I think he put it down the toilet before his parents came back into the room.
I don't know what the rule was, exactly, but FINISH YOUR MILK OR DIE would be my guess based on his reaction. I still feel bad about it. I was like 8 and didn't think.
Image credits: soomuchcoffee
#12
I've got a friend who had to walk the dog to get permission to wear his favourite jumper...
Image credits: Pontuselvis
#13
I know people who pour the milk they don't finish back in the carton. Ewww.
#14
In my friends house you were only ever allowed to drink water. No juice, no beer, no milk. Water. Even if you took your own drink to her house, you had to drink water.
Image credits: dreamer234
#15
Separate toilets for guys and girls......... In a house.
Image credits: anon
#16
I had a roommate that was very particular about her home. She called it OCD, but I don't like throwing around that term. She was never diagnosed, and coped pretty well most of the time.
She always said she didn't expect me to follow her crazy rules, but I could tell it stressed her out, so I just did my best to remember and follow some of the "rules" so she didn't freak out as much.
* All towels had to be folded the "right way" and stored in a specific order. They also had to be the same color. I had to hide my towels in my own room because she couldn't stand to see my brightly colored towel amongst her gray ones.
* All shampoo and soap bottles had to face the same way, with the label facing outward. All cans in the cupboard had to face the same way as well.
* If the vacuum tracks started fading, it was time for another round. There were times she felt the need to vacuum at 3am.
* All shoes had to point the same way, be with their pairs, sorted from larges to smallest AND should be sorted by color. I can't remember how the colors went. I never got that one right.
* When she felt stressed at work, she would tear apart the house and clean EVERYTHING. I couldn't be in the way, so I either stayed in my room or left the house. Her cleaning binges could last 8 hours or longer.
* She refused to use Tide laundry soap because she believed it left a coating on her clothes because they illuminated under a black light. I didn't have the heart to tell her almost all soap is going to do that. The same night, she turned the light onto the carpet, she was up until 5am cleaning all of the carpets in the house.
* She was also pretty superstitious and hated it if I brought anything in the house that could be associated with the occult. I had to hide a lot of incense, candles, necklaces with charms, and some books. Lord of the Rings would have sent her over the edge.
Funny thing is, I'd live with her again in an instant. At least the house was always clean.
Image credits: psychocentric
#17
All through middle school, the rule at my best friend's house was "no belts are to be worn at the dinner table." This was because when we were 12-14, my best friend was in her emo stage and would wear studded belts. Apparently, the studs on her belts would rub against the back of the chairs and cause damage to the wood. In hindsight it actually makes sense, but at the time I used to think it was mad strange to have her mom double check I wasn't wearing a belt before I sat down.
Image credits: imsosickrightnoww
#18
My friends mom asked me to leave her house one time because she didn't allow guests over unless she knew the guests had insurance.
Image credits: Jages790
#19
In college my roommates and I had a rule of "No Lifetime" which meant the television could never be on the lifetime channel. Another roommate had a girlfriend that would stay over a lot and would sometimes change the channel to lifetime. If one of us walked through the room and saw it we just turned the TV off and said "No Lifetime", even if we were leaving. We didn't really like her and it showed, but the rule survived in every house I have lived in since then, though I'll let my girlfriend do it as long as I'm not in the room.
Honestly, it started as a joke but snowballed into a very intense rule. When I was living with my ex years ago she had a friend over and they were watching TV and her friend changed it to lifetime and I remember my girlfriend yell "NO LIFETIME!". That was the point I realized I had won.
#20
My friend had two fully furnished living rooms.
One for doing the usual stuff in (TV, reading etc), and one for show only. You weren't even allowed to enter it.
Image credits: idlewildgirl
#21
When I was about 15 I was invited over to my friends house. The house rule was that no one spoke during dinner and its not like they watched TV or something. Dead silence. When they did communicate it was so formal "may you please pass me the salt" then silence again. Suffice to say it was the most awkward dinner I've ever experienced and I no longer went over for dinner.
Image credits: anon
#22
When I was in the military I lived in base housing. They have a lot of rules that most HoA's would have but one always stuck out to me. We could only set our A/C to 10 degrees below the outside temperature. At first this kind of made sense because we didn't pay the power bill, they did. However I was stationed in west Texas where the average summer temperature was well over 100. They got onto me a lot about using too much power, I kept mine at 70 all year, until I proved to them that 90 degrees in your home is considered unlivable conditions.
#23
My neighborhood friend and I would hang out almost every day of the summer. We would go out exploring in the woods with a bunch of our friends and would usually come back all muddy and tired. My friend was very nice and would offer me water and food. His parents would take those away from me if they saw me with them saying they were only for their children. He was always allowed to eat at our house yet I'd have to walk back if they started having any type of meal. The worst though was his next door neighbor who had a daughter our age and when we were hanging out we all got muddy (we were 10) the girls mom proceeded to take her daughter and my friend into her house to clean them up and told me I wasn't allowed to enter and that I could use the hose. Some people just know how to ruin a kid's self esteem.
#24
I had a friend whose dad owned white leather sofas. They took precautions to keep the sofas pristine, which was understandable, but one of the rules was that you couldn't move when sat down. Either you sat down, and that was your position for the rest of the movie, or you would have to stand up and sit back down in your new position.
I'm a fidgeter and was always forgetting this rule. If I ever shifted position my friend would grit her teeth and take a sharp breath like I just showed her a gory picture or something.
#25
When I was a kid, one of my aunts had a rule where she insisted that the TV be turned to the station she she wanted to watch a full five minutes before her show started, even if that meant other people watching TV didn’t get to watch the last few minutes of their show.
#26
When we were little (like 7-10). When i had sleep overs at my friends house, his mother would force us to take a dump every day. She heard stories about ( i dont know whats it called in english) organs f*****g up for some kids that didnt go to the bathroom enough. So each night id go to the bathroom,play in front of a mirror for a few minutes,flush and go out.
#27
During college years, I used to visit my friend during summer months at his parents' house, where he lived at that time. They had two odd "house rules" I'll never forget:
1) We couldn't open any window in the house (even the bathroom window) - ever! Even if it was far cooler outside than inside during the summer.
2) We weren't allowed to close our bedroom doors at night, so that his parents' cat could have free access to all rooms at all times. (This made it difficult to sleep, without a breath of air from the windows, and the cat walking over us in bed while trying to sleep.).
#28
Extremely nutty about the walls. Don't touch the walls or lean on them to put your shoes on. Accidentally splashing food (like a sauce) on the walls will result in a new paint job. No pictures, art, mirrors, or decorations go on the walls.
Image credits: ThisIsMyOtherOtherUN
#29
When I was younger, my best friends mom didn't allow anyone entrance to her apartment if we had white socks that weren't completely white. Any stains meant bye bye. Also, holes in the socks was instantly bye bye aswell. No socks, you guessed it. Bye bye.
Oh. Only white socks, no other colors were accepted. She was really weird back then. Now, she's my second mother. She's not like that anymore.
#30
When I did home care I ran into some real doozies.
One would not allow me to speak during her soap.
Another made me stand at attention while she delivered a longer blessing over her food than the time it had taken me to prepare it.
One very sour lady made me wear makeup daily, and I was not allowed to keep my hair in braids or two side ponytails. I had to put it up in a bun or wear it down. Her house was broiling hot in the summer, and at the end of my three hours my blush and mascara were running halfway down my face.
One fellow was a vegan and a vitamin junkie. I lost count of how many supplements he popped a day; they must have done something because he was over 90 and meaner than dirt. He religiously followed the newsletters put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (the buzzkills who threaten impending doom if you so much as wave hello to a French fry) and basically lived on leaves and wheat germ. I was not allowed to bring any lunch for myself that had animal products; however, he was not a fully committed vegan as he wore leather.
#31
I went to a friend's house where the friend's mom made everyone take off their shoes and socks when they got inside. Not totally outrageous yet. But after I took off my flats I told her that I couldn't take my socks off because I was actually wearing tights.
“That's fine,” she said. “Have a seat and hold on a minute.” I sat down on a kitchen stool.
Five seconds later she came back with a pair of meat scissors, bent down, grasped my feet, cut off the ends of my tights, and rolled them up to my ankle so that my bare feet were showing!
I was totally shocked! She didn't even give me a chance to change out of my tights, she just went for it. Had no problem destroying her guest's clothes without warning! Needless to say I never wore tights again in that house.
#32
Can't pour a drink for yourself. Very awkward when thirsty.
#33
As a college kid who comes home for summers, I can tell they're trying to get me out of here ASAP with all the new rules I have every summer. This year: I have to ask to take showers, have to ask to use the washer and dryer even if no one is home, and I can't use the oven to cook anything.
Going to have to say though, I guess their plan is working. I work two jobs, seven days a week, and haven't had an off day in about 27 days, just because I don't want to be at home and want to move out.
#34
I knew a guy who owned a house he was renting out to a few people, he had a legit house rule of 'if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down' for the toilet. His reasoning? "Saving money on the water bill"
He meanwhile would take 30+ minute showers. I tried to tell him that shaving 10 minutes off a shower would save a weeks worth of 'yellow' flushing.
#35
College apartment with five girls, two guys and at least one couch crasher at a time. Freezer and fridge space was at a premium. So if you opened a beer/bottle of wine/bottle of hard liquor you had to either safeguard the lid with your life or plan to finish it. If you lost the lid you had to personally drink the entire bottle because there was nothing else to do with it. This got out of hand with things like tequila because people would go out of their way to find and take the lid.
#36
I knew this family that would share the same bathwater as a means to cut down on their water bill. So when one person took a bath, they ALL took a bath that day. The waiting list was about 4-5 people deep. From what I understand, a lot of families do this, however, I just couldn't see myself washing off in someone else's soapy leftovers =( If that were the case, I got first dibs on getting in the bathtub first lol.
#37
My girlfriend's dad allows no non-family members upstairs.
#38
From the ages 3-11, I had this babysitter who had... strange eating rules. She wanted all our meals to be finished completely in 30 minutes, or else we'll be in trouble. When different amounts of time passed, she'd give warnings (e.g. 10-minute warnings). Also, she hated how my brother, sister, and I talked at the table instead of eating, because she felt our talking killed time.
#39
At a friend's parents house everything was covered in plastic. Don't walk off the plastic walkway. Don't take plastic off furniture. If sitting on furniture sit on the edge to not wrinkle plastic.
When using the bathroom only use certain towels. Hang them exactly the same way. I got yelled at one time because I hung one towel a tiny bit off.
#40
~There was a pooping toilet and a urinating toilet at my grandmother's house growing up. If we pooped in the toilet that was not intended for it, it was frowned upon.
~Sleeping late is rude in my parents house. IF you sleep past 8, you better be exhausted and it better not be everyday.
#41
A friend whose mom insisted that much of their house was off-limits including their all-white living room. She had set up those velvet ropes and brass poles used in theaters to guide the crowd so that no one could accidentally enter the wrong room.
#42
Don't put keys on the table. Superstition that supposedly brings bad luck. You must be a f*****g idiot to believe that s**t.
#43
Well, my niece in law got pissed because I used "her" towel to dry myself with. She acted as if I took the biggest, messiest dump ever and wiped myself with her towel.
Growing up, when we got out of the bath, we just picked the next towel from the stack. Nobody had assigned towels. I had never heard of that being a thing that people do.
#44
When my dad worked for Frito Lay we had a rule that saying the word "Pringles" was a swear word.
#45
My wife's mother and step-father had a rule where pizza slices would be taken in order. The step father would take the largest to start, then the mother would set the order by taking the next most-favorable piece. In a family of 4 with an 8 slice pie, when their turn came up again, they had the best ones to pick again.
#46
I had a business partner whose wife was a neatness and a cleanliness freak. Way over the top. They lived in a very large house that could be described as a mansion. No shoes were allowed inside the house. That’s not uncommon. The living room was filled with expensive furniture. Visitors were allowed to walk through the living room but no one was permitted to sit on or touch the furniture. The room was strictly for show only. The main dining room was similar. It was turned out to the ninth degree but never used. For show only. They took their meals in the breakfast nook. She didn’t cook. He would bring home fast food or have burgers and fries delivered. The kitchen featured a huge Sub Zero refrigerator that was basically empty. Just sodas and beer and some milk. They both died early deaths. Probably too much junk food.
#47
I have a girl friend who like to go around her home in bra/underwear and sometimes a bikini. She also has 2 kids around 7yrs old.
As long as there was no men around, she expected her friends to be dress down to bra/underwear. It sort like some homes when you show up, you cant wear shoes in the house, so your have to remove them. She expect her girl friends to be dress down like her.
Second rule, this actually make sense so I was cool with it, visitor needed permission to use her bathroom. Her reason is that she did not want her kids to hold it if someone was in there. So she would ask her kids, if they were fine, then you were allowed to use the bathroom. Here you needed to plan ahead and not wait until your about to wet yourself.
Here is the funny thing, if I knew she was coming over, I got naked and required her to be naked too!
#48
I was doing a project with a classmate at her house and on our way to her house we stopped at a store and picked up some snacks. We did our schoolwork and then just kind of played and messed around while eating those snacks. Then her mom came home and lost her absolute s**t about the snacks. It wasn't so much that we had eaten them, it was because the snacks had crumbs that had contaminated their otherwise purified home.
My friend had to stop everything and vacuum the entire house to get every crumb of snack, then take the nearly empty vacuum bag, the empty snack bags, and the half-empty but "contaminated" bag of kitchen trash outside and ask one of the neighbors if she could put it in their garbage bin because not a crumb of that kind of food was allowed on the property in *any* form after sunset. My mom picked me up and as I was leaving they were doing some additional purification ritual and my friend was praying for forgiveness for having potentially defiled their home.
Turns out they were 7th Day Adventist and it was against their code or whatever to have leavened foods in their house/property during a certain period of time? I don't remember the exact details, but I remember it was a pretty big thing about how every crumb had to be removed from the property ASAP.
#49
Had these old friends with marriage issues. Trip and grace iirc.
They had this wierd-a*s rule where you couldn't say the word "melon" or trip would throw you out.
D**n near anything else you could say. But not melon.
#50
One family had the rule of cleaning the toilet every single time you used the bathroom... P**sing included.
