Tuesday Ten: House Rules

We have a ladder system at my house. Break the rules, move down the ladder. Obviously, not every little problem results in a step down--I try to save it for the big deal ones. When someone is moved down the ladder they lose priviledges depending on how far down they move. At least that is how it is supposed to work. We are not perfect, I will admit.

There are two main rules but I am a big rule person so there are lots of mini rules. In my opinion, all of my rules are common-sense-should-go-without-saying rules. They also change at random and new ones pop up daily. This is not unreasonable, trust me.

1. Do what you say you are going to do. No promising to play legos if so-and-so plays a game with you and then going back on it. No saying yes ma'am I will feed my rabbits every day and then having to be reminded EVERY DAY.

2. Do not encroach on others. Yep, I actually have that written down. My kids know what it means too. It covers all the no hitting, biting, kicking, spitting on your brothers and sisters, sitting on people's heads, taking toys away--I could go on for hours.

3. No worms in the house. I found a worm in the window track yesterday. Is this normal? Is it normal to find worms in the tracks of the windows? Am I wrong to be totally grossed out by this? I don't even want to know how it got there. I sort of asked and didn't get anyone to confess so I left it alone. Not the worm, it went outdoors.

4. No picking through your sister's dinner. My 11 year old daughter eats dinner late most nights because of gymnastics so we save her a plate. Apparently, someone has been picking through and taking the good pieces of whatever we had for dinner. Not anymore.

5. Change your underwear every day. This is on my list of things I shouldn't have to say more than once or twice per kid. However, I have said it a lot more than 14 times.

6. Don't jump out at the baby(15mo) and shout "BOO!" He cries. It isn't nice. Don't do it.

7. When having something for dinner that you know someone else doesn't like, don't turn to them, smile, and say "We are having mushrooms for dinner! YUM, I LOVE mushrooms!" Mean. Mean, mean, mean. Gets you sent from the dinner table to think about manners for 5 minutes, then back to apologize. We'll see if that nips it in the bud.

8. The laundry basket is for laundry. It is not a boat, car or train. It is not a fort. It is not made to withstand being turned over and jumped upon. It is especially off limits when there are clothes in it. One exception to this rule is if the baby wants to be pushed around in it. Key word: wants.

9. Don't do things that you wouldn't do if Mom or Dad were there. This just applies to the kids. It includes eating a snack (without permission)in front of your brothers and sisters and telling them they can't have any. Nice.

10. Pick up after yourself. I usually turn into a raging maniac at least once a day about this one. Funny, but that doesn't work very well.

Cathy's Tuesday Ten House Rules