Old Rules? New Rules? Who's got rules?

Not familiar with any of these, and I love it that most people are more flexible now. But I like the one about setting the breakfast table before going to bed. It sounds like preparing yourself a welcome to the new day!

Of course, we had many rules at my house, too. One of the ones I couldn't wait to never follow again was to wear a girdle every single day, so nothing could "jiggle." Hmm...sounds like that one clothing line on Q, "no more jiggle." Can't remember the brand...

Then there was wearing white, or linen, or patent leather only between Memorial and Labor Day, everyone knows about that.

Leaving the house without making the bed? I don't think so, not when I was a child. Now my daughter makes her bed every day, but not until bedtime. She doesn't care at all about it being made when she's not using the bedroom, but she likes it to be smooth and tidy when she gets in it. That's still a rule, of course--her's. Me, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, which is another way of not having a rule at all.

And everyone had better be at the table when the food was ready. No eating at random times; no eating between meals. Missing dinner had only one outcome: no dinner. On the whole, I think this is still a good idea for families, just not as quite such a hard and fast rule.

We had the bed rule, too, Kay. I got over it, but Dh still adheres to it so 9/10 times he makes the bed. I'm fine with that rule, lol..

We also had to eat when dinner was set and she would shut the kitchen light after dinner cleanup. She'd say, "Kitchen is closed" and no one dared go in there except maybe for a glass of water.

My Mom did not allow us to eat after dinner either - and it still drives me crazy that my DH is in the kitchen making a mess all evening long - every night. I am constantly asking him why he doesn't eat at dinner instead of munching all night.

We were not allowed to eat anywhere but the kitchen. My DH drags food all over the house - spills everywhere. drives me crazy.

I do follow the protein, starch and 2 veggie rule - one cooked and one raw veggie with each meal.

The absolute biggest rule at our house was - no one went anywhere - including my Dad- on Saturday until all the jobs were done. My mom would have repair or paint jobs for my Dad to do (unless he was working somewhere) and we kids all had our weekly chores to be done. She worked full time so everyone had to pitch in and get all the weekly housework, laundry,ironing and repair work finished before anyone went anywhere. All our friends knew not to even ask us to go somewhere on a Saturday before about 3PM because we would not be allowed.

Glad I didn't have the rule (nor when I grew up) about no eating between meals or after dinner. Of course if that was a rule I may have been thinner as a child and teen! Rules when I grew up: always make your bed and dishes had to be done, dried and put away right after a meal. (no dishwasher when I grew up) Laundry was mostly done on Mondays, ironed and put away.

OP ---- are you Italian? Pasta first sounds Italian.

My mother's rule I can add here ..... keep your elbows off the table. There are many more but I've blocked them out.

As a kid:

We had to make our beds every single day. I don't now and I think I'm still rebelling at age 57.

We had to eat what was served even if we hated it.

We had to sit at the table to eat. No eating in any other room. Once a year when the Wizard of Oz was on, we got to get take out food and eat on tv trays in the living room. Boy, that was a real treat!

NO TV while we were eating a meal ever. DH and I watch TV while we eat now. Take THAT mom. LOL

Our dog was never alloud in the living room or bedrooms when I was a kid. She had to stay on the built in back porch that was open to the house. Now our dog sleeps with us in our bed.

DH and I break a lot of the rules my mom had for me as a kid.

I forgot one rule!!!! My brother and I had to clean the house on Saturday. It had to be done before we left the house. My brother would never help because he didn't care if he left the house or not. I was the older one and wanted to meet my friends downtown, so I had to do it all by myself. Talk about NOT fair.

On 4/21/2014 Tinkrbl44 said:

OP ---- are you Italian? Pasta first sounds Italian.

My mother's rule I can add here ..... keep your elbows off the table. There are many more but I've blocked them out.

I forgot about that one. You know, when we go our to eat or eat at someones else's house I do keep my elbows off the table to this day.

At home I can do what I want!