15 Hilarious Stories Of When Parents Should've Respected Boundaries But Chose Not To

Even at young ages, we very much support privacy in our home—for us and for our kids. They know early on that this is a healthy boundary to set with anyone and should most definitely be respected. Of course, as is everything with little kids, it's a work in progress. But progress nonetheless, and I am so proud to be teaching healthy boundaries to my kiddos.

Some super simple examples are: once independent on the potty, they go alone. No friends, no siblings, not even a parent accompanies them. (There are and always will be extenuating circumstances, such as in public, etc.) I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, and they respect each other very much for being so young.

Another example would be when someone says stop, we stop. Whether that be tickling, playing, or anything else. Stop means stop, and it is a very firm boundary that is prevalent in our household.

I'll bet the parents in these stories wish they had set firm boundaries early on. It would have saved the whole family from embarrassment. BUT! We also wouldn't have these stories either. So train your kids in the way they should go, but still find room to laugh along the way too!

1. I would literally run the opposite direction. This never made any sense to me. I DO NOT want to catch my kids in the act.

“I had a bed platform for a while, and it got very squeaky.

I was cleaning one day, reaching to my left and tossing to my right, the whole time squeaking the bed. My mom didn’t knock and immediately opened the door; she straight up burst through as quickly as she could, having approached it with stealth, whereas any other time she would drag her feet through the hall like a sloth.

What it accomplished was that it almost gave me a heart attack. I jumped nearly half a foot; it was that abrupt.

Needless to say, I haven’t been able to stop wondering what my mother was hoping to see. I can’t even look at her without thinking she’s some kind of creep; you hear your son’s bed squeaking, so you sneak up and burst through the door… why!?”

2. Yep. Definitely waiting for my cue, thanks.

“I walked in on my kid masturbating once. ONCE. Never again. To his credit, he took it like a champ. “Dude, you’re supposed to knock.”

3. Oh man, even as a grown man?!?!?!

“I had to move back in with my folks after splitting from my wife. My mom tried to pull that stuff on me, but I was smart, and the door was always locked. So instead, I would get, “The door’s locked!” Yeah, no crap. Why are you trying to barge in here? I could be naked with a hairbrush up my butt for all you know.”

4. Healthy boundaries defined.

“Very modern family thing here. My parents never knock. So I usually lock it so they can’t open and catch me doing something wrong. But that habit of never knocking was kind of instilled in my brain. So I never knocked as a kid either.

I saw some stuff when I walked into my brother's room once. I also know that every time my parents do lock the door, they’re doing the deed. Therefore, teach kids to knock and wait until you open. Do the same for them. Don’t waltz in. Don’t barge in. Because they’ll do that to you too. Learn from me.”

5. Seriously, don't be a creep as a parent.

“My mom did and still does that when I go back home to visit once a year (I’m 30, by the way).

Knock, knock, knock—can I come in? Opens the door…

Sometimes I’ll open my eyes to her grabbing empty water bottles out of my room! Oh, sorry, I thought you were sleeping!

Yes, Pauline, I was sleeping until you decided to come in at 7 AM on my vacation time for no reason. The worst is that my grandma is nothing like that… only her. No respect for privacy or sleep.”

6. Mine took my door off once.

“Knocking? Parents knock? My mom took away my doorknob because I shut the door to change my insulin pump while she was yelling at me for not having my college applications done two months early.”

7. Wtf?!?!?!? Peeping Tom much?!

“I’m in my thirties. My mom lets me know she decided to come over by pressing her face up to the windows. Sometimes from the backyard.”

8. What is wrong with the generation that came before us... balls.

“This thread reminds me why I moved into a fifth-floor apartment with no elevator. My mother hates taking a lot of stairs (medical problem), and she would be in my apartment every day if it weren’t for the stairs. I love my mother, but she has zero sense of privacy.”

9. THANK YOU! I could literally hug you. Breaking cycles over here!

“UGH. My mom used to do that, if she knocked at all. So, at my house with my kid, I knock. I let the kid know what I’m doing. “Hey [kid], I have laundry for you,” or “Hey [kid], I need to talk to you.”

Then I wait for an okay. Only then do I open the door.

If by chance I get a “Not right now, Mom,” I say, “I’ll be back in exactly three minutes.” And that’s what happens.”

10. I don't know what is worse; did she continue to tell you though?! Right then?!

“My mom barged in once while I was jerking off, and it was to tell me my friend died.”

11. Hey, I would've too! Taught her a lesson!

“We lived with my in-laws for a month while between apartments. My MIL would always barge in to “clean” or “just grab something from the closet.” One night she swung the door open at TWO IN THE GODDAMN MORNING; I don’t know why. I’m startled out of a deep sleep, confused, and see a silhouette standing in my doorway, so naturally, I start screaming at the top of my lungs in terror. That was the last time she did that, haha.”

12. Taming the wild bush.😂😢😂😢 Not gonna lie, I think I heard this from my mother once or twice too.

“My mother walked in on me using an electric bikini trimmer once. I had one leg propped up on the edge of the tub and was leaning back against the wall with my pelvis tilted upwards. So here I am taming the wild bush, and boom, my mother throws open the door and then acts shocked at what I’m doing. She later told me that any man who wanted a woman with shaved pubic hair was a pedophile because only children do not have pubic hair. I was like, what the heck, Ma! I shave because the hair itches me, and I don’t like it.

Edited to add this: just because my mother said a few crazy comments in her life doesn’t mean she was a bad person. I’m sure everybody has said at least a few crazy things in their lives. Please chill, everybody; it’s just a funny story that happened 15 years ago. Can’t we all just laugh at my teenage self getting caught shaving my groin? It’s not that serious.”

13. Those are marks on your soul!!!

“When I was 11 or so, I knocked on my parents' door to have them help me open something, and they didn’t answer, so I let myself in. They were having sex. So I’ll never do that again.

I also don’t just walk into people’s houses, even if they tell me to; I wait for them to open the door for me. When I was 8, I had a friend down the street call and ask me to come over. He told me just to walk in… I did, and happened to see his dad walking around completely naked. So needless to say, I’m pretty scarred for life.”

14. At least she learned her lesson!

“My boyfriend’s mom did this. Ended up walking in on us doing the deed. She now waits.”

15. Hey, you were upfront and honest, and it got you a healthy boundary. Bravo!

“My dad used to do this all the time until one day I stopped him and told him, “Look, you’re free to barge in whenever you want to, but someday you’re gonna come in, and I’ll be d*ck in hand.” He laughed. I laughed. He knocks and waits now.”

Do you have any boundary-less stories for us? Don't keep them to yourself! We want to hear them!