House Rules

[JohnDB]

So...
What kind of rules did your parents give you that you thought that everyone had?

Like...
No humming at the table.
Birthday Rules
Fighting Rules

 

[April_Rose]

No having a life of your own.

 

[JohnDB]

No having a life of your own.

Serious rules...

 

[April_Rose]

Serious rules...

Sounds pretty serious to me and you already know what I'm talking about. Honestly, can't think of anything else on the top of my head.

 

[tulc]

My dad used to say the only rule was "No more than one knee on the table at a time during supper". He was only kidding. I saw that guy have both knees on the table when we were having ham for dinner.
tulc(is just sayn')

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

I vividly remember my mother shouting "Don't put the knife into your mouth!" every time I wanted to eat with a knife only.
Usually I had to wash the dishes so I tried to save the fork every now and then...

 

[Occams Barber]

So...
What kind of rules did your parents give you that you thought that everyone had?

Like...
No humming at the table.
Birthday Rules
Fighting Rules

Back in the Stone Age when I was a little kid, my mother would never let me to sit with my back to the fire while eating an apple. She believed it made you sick.

Years later when I was all grown up and she was a little old lady, she pulled me aside one day and, out of the blue, apologised for the apple/fire thing. It seems at some point she had come to realise it was an old wives' tale and was overcome with remorse for punishing me for an inoffensive act all those years ago.

OB

 

[April_Rose]

Oh I got one now,.. no devices at the table during company.

 

[thecolorsblend]

In elementary school, it was make good grades. The definition was intentionally murky to inspire me to try harder, I think. It didn't work but I think that was their logic.

In junior high, it was don't get into fist fights. That definition was a lot clearer. But I had anger management problems back then. So while avoiding fist fights was obviously desirable, it was hard to accomplish sometimes. (Yes, I've dealt with it since then)

In high school, it was to not smoke in my bedroom. I rationalized that one. Because it's not like I was asleep or something when my cigarettes were lit.

So what does all this tell us? Well, for openers, it's that I'm no good at following rules.

 

[Aussie Pete]

So...
What kind of rules did your parents give you that you thought that everyone had?

Like...
No humming at the table.
Birthday Rules
Fighting Rules

Not talking at meal times
No reaching across to get the salt etc.
Home before dark
I'm 69. There were few cotton wool kids in my day. We walked to school rain, hail, snow or sunshine. Anyone who was driven to school was a total dork. Not that we used the word....

 

[April_Rose]

That's odd most people like talking at meal times.

 

[Aussie Pete]

That's odd most people like talking at meal times.

Yes, so did we four kids. Parents not so keen. My mother regretted the imposition years later.

 

[April_Rose]

Yes, so did we four kids. Parents not so keen. My mother regretted the imposition years later.

Really? How so?

 

[Aussie Pete]

Really? How so?

My mother realised that she'd missed out on an aspect of the kids growing up. We rarely hung around the house to chat to her. The dinner table was the one time we were all together, especially if dad was at home.

 

[April_Rose]

My mother realised that she'd missed out on an aspect of the kids growing up. We rarely hung around the house to chat to her. The dinner table was the one time we were all together, especially if dad was at home.

Makes total sense actually.

 

[Monksailor]

If anyone complained about so-and-so getting more of this or that than them, my mother would take some from the complainer's plate and give it to so-and-so, then say, "Now they do."

Added after the "funny" comment: It was not the least bit funny for the one who complained, esp. when it was ice cream. You learned to be content with what you had the hard way.

 

[Bob Crowley]

In high school, it was to not smoke in my bedroom. I rationalized that one. Because it's not like I was asleep or something when my cigarettes were lit.

Reminds me of my sister. She smoked as a bit of a teenage tearaway. Whenever she thought the old man might come into her room to allay his suspicions, she'd open the window and flush out the smoke. She'd then lean out the window and hide the cigarette butt in a join just below the window sill.

Possibly he could smell it but the evidence had disappeared. He was a smoker himself, so his sense of smell was most likely not that good anyway.

One day he was mowing the lawn downstairs just below her window and happened to look up. Underneath the window sill the join in the timber was chock full of cigarette butts from one end to the other!

She'd been sprung.

 

[jayem]

My father was pretty laid back. My mother was the disciplinarian. And being a proper southern lady, she really didn’t like children talking back. Being “sassy” as I recall she would say. Other than that, I actually had a fair amount of freedom. There was no school bus service to my elementary school. In 1st and 2nd grade, my father would drop me off in the morning. Then my folks gave me bus tokens to get home. Every day after school let out, I’d walk a block to the bus stop, wait for the bus going in my direction, riding a few miles, getting off at my stop, then walking several more blocks home. No one ever bothered me. How many parents these days would let a 6-7 year old ride public transportation by himself?

 

[April_Rose]

I also remember no screens during the summer and on Wednesdays. Meaning any kind of screens.

 

[jacks]

My parents were very lenient and I only had two rules.
Don't get anyone pregnant and stay out of jail. My older sister had lowered their expectations...