"It Blows My Mind That Other People Don’t Do This": Adults Are Revealing The Weird "House Rules" People Have To Follow When They Visit
We all have rules we create for our homes — but sometimes, they are so unique that they might seem a little weird to others who don't live with us. So when Reddit user u/Inevitable_Kick_5014 asked: "What’s an unwritten rule in your household that would seem bizarre to outsiders? over eight thousand people shared their unique "rules." Here's some of them listed below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1."Replacing the trash bag IS PART OF taking out the trash."
2."If someone is voluntarily doing a chore, no one shall tell them how to do it differently unless damage is going to be incurred. If unsolicited advice *is* given without the intent to actively roll up sleeves and help, the task then belongs to the giver of the unsolicited advice."
"Sometimes, with my kids, I'll ask: 'Can I give you a tip?' If they say 'no,' I leave it lie. If they say 'Yes,' I'll give them a tip. Usually, they are appreciative (because I'm 51, I have swept the floor many thousands of times, and I've got ways to make it more efficient/easier)."
3."This is at my mom's place. If you wear long-sleeved shirts, you are exempt from doing the dishes."
4."Winner of a board game is charged with putting said game away."
"My family did this, too! It's a great way to minimize competition drama because the winner gets to gloat about winning while tidying up, and the rest get to gloat about not having to tidy up."
5."When someone shows you the eggs the chickens laid today, you must admire them and say ‘eggknowledged.'"
6."My husband and I have a large mug that says, 'As I suspected, I was right all along.' When one of us has an 'I told you so moment' the other says, 'You get the mug tonight.' We love the laughs we have when one of us turns the corner with that big ass mug looking smug while the other has a regular 'pity' mug."
7."If you have a cat on your lap and want something from the kitchen, someone else has to get it for you. The cat must not be disturbed."
8."If you tell me you can’t find something after I’ve told you EXACTLY WHERE IT IS, and I walk over there and find it EXACTLY WHERE I TOLD YOU IT WAS, I get to hit you with it."
"My family would be covered in bruises. I'd likely be in jail."
9."The loud noise and I’m ok rules. If you know you’re going to make a loud noise, say dropping a heavy bag down the stairs, you have to yell 'loud noise' to warn everyone that the noise was coming and planned. If you made a loud noise unplanned, you had to yell, 'I’m OK,' so no one came running or did come running. I thought you were NOT ok. Side note: this rule was created when grandpa dropped a toilet on his finger."
"Any loud noise coming from the shower/bathtub must quickly be followed by an audible 'Oh, shit'/'dammit'/'heck!' and change to the shower spray sound, proving movement.
Failure to acknowledge will result in a 'you good in there?' from the outside party."
10."So growing up, there were the 'better' seats in the living room. And if you had one and got up, someone would likely grab it. So my siblings and I used to do this thing where we would say 'X Save' and even draw out the imaginary X on the seat. But one day, my brother pretended he had a fake eraser, erased the fake X, and took the comfy seat. So now we say, 'X Save No Erase.' And to this day, it’s just a very natural thing to do/say when we are together."
"It has also been passed on to the youngest generation. But oddly, we only do it at my mom's house. And we have longtime friends who even do it when they come over. I know it is funny, especially to outsiders. But it seems just so natural to all of us now that we hardly even notice we do it. Here we are, well into adulthood. And on holidays, we are watching like hawks to see if someone gets up and forgets to say it, which rarely happens — and there are plenty of seats. At this point, it’s more of a game."
11."When we don’t feel like cleaning the kitchen entirely after dinner, or leave the junk in the living room, whatever the case may be, we’re obligated to declare: 'Who closed last night!?' And then we blame it on the baby."
12."My wife and I have a 'validation kiss.' If we're having a disagreement about something, and one of the people realizes they're wrong, you immediately have to sigh, grab the other person's cheeks, close your eyes, and then give the other person a deep 'validation kiss.' We also have red light kisses where we kiss each other (sometimes a peck, sometimes more) at every red light to remind ourselves that no matter how we're feeling, we love each other. Our daughters love it."
13."Have you found the body? My sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, and myself are avid readers. Our guilty pleasure is detective novels. We often get them gifted by each other and others, buy them or trade them among ourselves. The Body Rule: any detective book, started by any one of us, is free game if the reader has not yet gotten to the part where a body is found. So, if I visit my mom, and she started a new book, I ask if she's yet found the body. If not, I can also start reading it, and if I get to the body first, I have the priority now and can take the book home. We have polished off the rules during the years:"
"• Reading can't take priority over things that need to be done. We catch up, eat, help with chores, etc. You can only read if you are free, waiting for someone, etc.
• You can't hide the book; it needs to be accessible to everyone.
• You can't take the book from someone who is reading just because you had it first. You need a legitimate excuse to distract the person.
• You can't take it with you to the bathroom.
• Missing people don't count.
• Encountered body parts don't count if the victim has a chance of survival (leg - no body, head counts as body).
• Depiction of the murder doesn't count until the body is found by someone else.
• Absolutely no spoilers at any time."
"My mother was an English teacher, and the rule in our house growing up was that if you had less than 50 pages left in your book, you were exempt from chores until you finished. Another rule was that your bedtime was extended by half an hour if you were reading a book."
14."Bandit, our aged Great Dane, gets the cushion on the far right of the orange couch. There are no exceptions, and no asking him to move; that’s his spot."
15."Either my wife or I can do any chore when noticed. We thank each other for routine chores as we appreciate each other."
"SAME!
The fact my husband and I do this drives some of my family members insane. One of my aunts said, 'Why should he thank you for something you're supposed to do as a wife?'
I told her we were both working full-time. Neither of us is a stay-at-home spouse, so when we use our limited free time to clean and do chores, we thank each other.
We are building a life together, and no matter the task, big or small, it deserves to be recognized. I swear it matters. I do the dishes and get a thank-you hug and kiss from my husband. It makes me feel good. He mows the lawn because he knows I hate yard work. I give him a backrub and thank him.
Little acts of love matter!"
16."No big light."
"This is my wife’s thing — and not because the big light is too bright. She doesn’t like the way it lights the room."
17."Wash your hands upon getting home. The outside world be nasty."
18."When you’re sitting down, and you’ve misplaced something small (phone, remote control, etc.), you must get up and check under your butt before asking anyone else if they’ve seen the thing."
19."In our household, the unwritten rule is that you must perform a full interpretive dance routine to earn the right to use the TV remote. It keeps the peace and provides nightly entertainment."
20."If you turn on a light in a dark room that has an inhabitant, you say, 'One, two, three, bright light,' so the person can cover their eyes or prepare for the shock of light."
21."Cooks don’t clean."
"It's the opposite in mine, though initially the same. My partner does not have the ability to cook without using every pot, pan, utensil, and dish that we own, and we cannot fathom how to wipe/clean as they go. So, he who maketh the mess, cleaneth the mess."
Do you have an unwritten rule in your household that would seem bizarre to outsiders? Tell us what it is and why in the comments below.
