Everyone seems to have their own set of rules for their house. Some rules may be the same from one house to another while others may be a unique to a house or two.
Here are some rules I have come across in the last couple of weeks:
You have to take your shoes off when you come in the door. I get this rule. It helps keep the floors clean and cuts down on the wear in your carpet.
You have to ask permission to leave the table at the end of a meal. I like this rule too. We haven’t started it with JDaniel yet. His friend Joseph has started to have to ask permission at his house.
If you find a penny on the ground, you have to give it to the closest business or give it to charity. It isn’t yours so, you can’t keep it. One of my sisters has this rule.
Cough into your elbow. Elmo tried to teach us this rule during flu season. I didn’t teach it to JDaniel and probably should have.
You have to put your toys away as soon as you finish with them. Some people wait until the end of the day to clean up toys. I won’t be able to get around my living room if I waited until the end of the day. I am sure waiting until the end of the day works for lots of families.
You have to take at least one bite of everything on your plate. It is called a “thank you bite”. Several families I know enforce this rule.
You can’t take a drink or food out of the kitchen. I don’t like sippy cups out of the kitchen. Most of mine leak and little drops of milk are not fun to clean up all over the house.
If you don’t pick up a toy, it can get a time out. A mom is playgroup shared this rule. She says it really helps her son remember to clean up.
What are rules at your house?
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You know, as I’m thinking about it…I don’t really know that we have many spoken rules. There are things I like my children to do, but as all children “forget”, they don’t get done all of the time.
I do like for the children to look at me while I am speaking to them. I always notice that if I talk to their backs, they never seem to hear what I’m saying. I think it’s good to give one your attention when they are speaking, so this is something we work on.
We also try to follow the Golden Rule ~ Do to others as you would have them do to you!
Most other things are just participations in the daily hubbub of life. I do like the list that you have shared. I might consider implementing some! =)
hahah We’ve told the boys that no one under the age of 30 is allowed to eat in the living room unless Mom is serving you food there. There re some nights, I choose to give them their pizza at the coffee table, while they are watching a new movie.
We do a lot of these. You also have to wait to start eating until everyone is seated. When I was growing up nothing drove me nuttier than my father sitting down, eating all his food and then leaving before you even filled your plate. So I’m a real stickler about table time!
I TRY to have RULES, but I must admit consistency isn’t my strongest attribute. 😮 We definitely make them cough into their arm. They just can’t wear shoes on our cream-colored rug in the living room – our other floor is concrete so we haven’t tried to enforce that. They can’t leave the dinner table until they have permission. They also have to try a bite of everything on their plate. I really want to have those two toy rules, but I always forget to continue it after a day or two. We do try to make them leave upstairs toys upstairs and downstairs toys downstairs – that helps a little. I’ve never heard of that penny rule. Oh, and no toys left on the driveway. Wow, why is so hard to think of our rules?! Apparently, I need to think of some, ha!
Great list of rules. The only ones I can think of right now are:
Be a good listener.
Use nice words (tone)
If you don’t want to pick up your toys, I will but then they go in the closet!
Hmm..we used to have a similar rules when the boys were younger but now either I am more relaxed or they are just doing well that we don’t need ’em as much.
I don’t have any rules at my house yet. Reading your list has me thinking I will be establishing rules soon. I am the parent of a 9 month old.
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if the bears dont get picked up, they’ll spend the night outside. sounds harsh?
thanks for stopping by my blog 🙂
I am ALL about the no shoes..
the coughing in your hands..
washing your hands BEFORE and AFTER a meal…
NO food or drink outside of the kitchen/dining area
we are really trying to work with the picking up toys…
LOL
oooh! A time out for unloved toys left to rot on my floor? Me likey!
If you use mom’s mascara, shampoo, or razor, your bedroom door will mistakenly get left open so that the dachshund will be able to pillage the candy stash hidden under your bed. I have teenage girls.
We take our shoes off when we come in too! I actually feel kind of weird with shoes on after I get home.
We can have food in the kitchen or the basement. The rest of the house is a no-no!
My rules for the kids are..
Make your bed when you get out of it in the morning (they forget if they don’t do it right away)
Brush your teeth after you eat
Bad grade ,no game system
Clean up your mess… ie put dish in dishwasher and make sure its rinsed
We always say excuse me and thank you when leaving the table after a meal 🙂