Not as bad as some but...
When I was a kid my parents were a bit weird. I've later discovered this had a lot to do with my father as when he died my mother became a lot more sociable, but nonetheless, it was a bit of a shit time for me when i was a kid. I don't blame my father, looking at his parents it's a wonder he turned out as well as he did...
So, onto my parents strictness...
Obviously being the older brother, my sister got away with everything. Whenever she screeched, I was punished regardless of if she'd actually caused the issue or was at fault.
I used to be allowed out to ride my bike, but had to be back within x number of minutes, and initially was only allowed round the block, without crossing any roads. This eventually grew to a couple of blocks and a couple of hours, but was never trusted with my own key till I was older! I always had to have a safety helmet on too...
Food was pretty much rationed, no snacks between meals, and dinner was a 7pm sharp every weekend. Bedtimes were early I remember, can't remember the specifics, but being a night owl and book worm i used to sit up reading, and my father would look up from the hall below and see if my light was shining under the door, forcing me to read below the covers with torches, which has fucked my vision up i reckon!
Oh, god, the list just goes on and on, but it's mainly the whole not encouraging me to be friends with others, "not bothering other people" i think was the way they put it... which led to me being bullied and having fairly poor self-esteem.
I was also smacked regularly until I got big enough to smack back, at which point I eyeballed my dad and said "you're not going to smack me, cos i'll smack you back". An empass was reached, and he found another way to punish me. No food that weekend... Luckily my mum sneaked me meals hehe!
I also wasn't allowed to go down to the cellar on my own or use the tools, though I was allowed my own soldering iron and to build my own burglar alarm. I wasn't allowed a lock on my door either, and they used to lock me in my room if i'd been bad! This was usually after the spanking. Of course, taking the lock apart and removing the springs meant that i could push the bolt back using a flat cut key that I kept handy, or just turning the key on the outside with a pair of needle nosed pliers got me out when i needed to. Used to confuse the hell out of them when I was supposed to be locked in and came wandering past them a few minutes later...
( Alex Save a Tree, Eat a Beaver!, Sun 11 Mar 2007, 19:04, Reply)