I’VE ALWAYS MADE UP CRUEL AND GOOFY RULES FOR MY FAMILY, as a result we are all pretty happy, noisy and in love with each other. I know it sounds revolting and sappy, but it works.
So, here are three random and possibly cruel rules we’ve enforced and they have helped keep our family tight tight tight.
#1. No child (and I have four ages 22-7) will ever have a television or dvd player in their bedroom. Pretty brutal I know. We have one tv in the living room and Alex and I have one in our bed room that we share with the kids. I just can’t stand the idea of my children disappearing into their bedrooms for five or six years to watch Family Guy, or falling asleep every night with the television on.
The end result of not allowing individual televisions…we hang out together a bunch, I know what they are watching and we all know how to negotiate.
2. We call each other names, all the time. “Hey Poop face it’s time to wake up”. “You won’t eat my spinach, artichoke and feta omelette? You are a big chicken baby cheese cake”. Or I sing Bob Seager’s Beautiful Loser to my ridiculously pretty daughter.
The only rule on name calling is you can’t call someone a name that’s actually true. For example, Alex can’t make fun of my big nose, because I really do have a big nose and that would hurt my feelings.
#3. No one is allowed to text when they are in the car with me. I have to tell all Lexie’s teen-aged friends about the no texting in the car rule before they get in. I tell them I made the rule because I’m paranoid and insecure and I think they are all talking about me , (the text would look like this ‘ur mom suxs’ ).
But the truth is, I just think texting in the car is rude. If you are getting a ride from me or hanging out with my family, don’t spend all your time talking to other kids.
The truth is I make up cruel and arbitrary rules all the time. (When the kids were little, if they said ‘shut up’ they had to suck their thumb, no matter how dirty, for two minutes.)
Hey, if you’ve got any to share maybe I’ll start enforcing yours too.
i still don’t say shut up. i think that one worked. oh, and i always tell people that picking up rocks is worse than pretty much any other punishment. so that’s a good one…..and no hoarding christmas presents. i hate that one.
and sitting in the showe/tubr was a great punishment. you hated that too