19-year-old refuses to crash at his friend's parents' house because they confiscated his phone after curfew: 'I am a grown man'!

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 10, 2026 8:30 AM EDT

When do you become too old to take orders from your parents?

That differs for everyone, but it's safe to say that once you're over 18, you've moved out, and pay your own bills, you should be considered an adult whenever you visit your hometown. No matter what.  

My parents started treating me like an adult at an early age, trusting my opinion, letting me make mistakes, and most importantly, training me to be an independent person by the time I was truly going to be on my own. When I got to college, I resented this experience, hoping to regain some of my childhood years, but as I witnessed the childish behavior of the stunted 18-year-olds around me, I became grateful for my upbringing. My parents respected me, and they treated me like an equal, which prepared me for real life. Conversely, those around me struggled to sort their laundry, didn't know how to cut an apple, and couldn't do anything without calling Mommy or Daddy. Time to grow up, sweetie!

This pair of university friends came home from college and experienced a strange de-aging effect.

After spending a year living on their own in college, a pair of 19-year-old best friends returned to their hometown. While crashing at his friend's parents' house, one man realized exactly what it felt like to be babied again, in the worst way. Treating an adult like a child is weirdly demeaning. But what made this guy's experience at his friend's parents' house even weirder was that they weren't just trying to helicopter parent his buddy, they were trying to parent him, too. Sharing his story on Reddit's subreddit, r/AmIOverreacting, this 19-year-old learned exactly how overbearing and weird it was to be held to the same restrictions and standards as a young child, even after growing up and living on his own. 

How do you tell someone else's parents that they're suffocating your independence? Well, you first start by calling out the weirdness with your friend. That's where things got spicy for this young man, whose maturity was put to the ultimate test. 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10637389568
    via Getty Images (Nick Lloyd)

    Guests being welcomed upon arrival, as depicted by models. 

  • AIO for not wanting to visit my friend's parent's house anymore after they took away my phone at night?
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • I (19m) just finished my first year of Uni and one of the friends I made there, I'll call him Tom (19m) wanted me to come visit him during summer break.
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • The issue is that we both live with our parents when we're not in Uni dorms (when it's summer or winter break) and both of our parents have houses in separate cities which
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • means that I had to stay with his parents in order to visit him, no issue at all though. His parents were very nice!
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • Cheezburger Image 10637389312
    via Getty Images (Nick Lloyd)

    Guests sitting at a table while parents make dinner. 

  • The weird thing about his family is that for some reason they have very strict curfew rules, even on Tom who's an adult.
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • They told me their family curfew is 9pm, I'm not used to going to bed so early so I thought, "oh, I'll just scroll on my phone for like two hours before going to bed." I made sure to be
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • quiet by the way to not wake anyone up. The bizarre thing though is that at around 9pm, Tom's mom went into his room (the room where him and I are sleeping) and
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • demanded to take his phone. I thought that was a bit weird but maybe she paid for his phone and is justified in taking it. The part that was absolutely weird is that she demanded to take MY
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • phone. I bought my phone with my own money with a job that I myself worked, it's my phone. I know I may look rather young for my age but I am indeed a grown a man lol. It'd
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • make more sense for her to do this kind of thing if we were 12 but we're not. It's not like she's legally responsible for me. Anyways though, I'm not a confrontational person at
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • all so I just gave it to her and tried to fall asleep. She gave it back to me in the morning which was good.
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • I was at Tom's house for like 3 days and I had to give his mom my phone every night which I thought was a bit weird but didn't think about it much. Now that I'm back
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • home and have gone back to my house with my normal parents I've realized how weird of a thing that is to do to a house guest.
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • I'm planning on visiting him again in like a month and I told him that I'm gonna get a hotel instead of staying with his parents family. He got a bit upset
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • at this and told me that his parents would view me as like ride for refusing to stay with them. Still though, I was firm and said, no, I'm gonna get a hotel. He said I was stupid
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • for wasting my money for no reason. I said that his "family is kinda weird" and he got upset at that. Am I overreacting? Should I just stay at his parents house and deal with their rules?
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • This was all a phone call with my friend, we were arguing about this over the phone. I feel a bit bad because I made him upset at the fact that I don't want
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • to stay at his house anymore. I think that maybe I shouldn't have been so blunt by saying "Hey man, you have really weird parents and I don't want to stay with them"
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • but perhaps it's for the better. He was like "why do you say that" and I told him that "I found it uncomfortable that your parents would take away my phone at night." He told
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • me that's a normal thing to do. Anyways though, it's not like we were in a particularly heated argument, it was rather light. Still though, I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm overreacting about the
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • situation but I think I'm not. Am I overreacting? Is it an overreaction to refuse to stay with your friend at his family's house after an experience like that?
    via iFlexRickRoss
  • Perhaps my family is the weird one though, are Tom's parents normal? Is that a normal thing to do to house guests?
    via iFlexRickRoss

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