Rules

One day, on the way home from school, my mom told me she was going to make up some new rules for me and my brothers and sisters. Before this, we knew she wanted us to be good, but we really didn’t have any rules. Well, Mom took care of that. On Sunday, she started giving us the “house rules.”

Clean your rooms every other day. Be ready for dinner at 7:00 p.m. (that means sitting at the table, with clean hands). If Mom is having a meeting in the house, be very quiet (that means turn down the music and the TV). Be ready for bed at 9:30 p.m. (that means lying in bed, with clean faces). Get up at 7:30 a.m. to get ready for school (that means your feet are on the floor, not just hanging off the bed). Take the garbage cans to the curb on Monday morning before school. Clean the bathroom on Thursday.

Following these rules isn’t too hard, and sometimes it’s even fun. Other times, it can be tough. For instance, if your room is really dirty and you can’t finish cleaning it on that day, you have to finish it on the next day, along with anything else you have to do. That can be hard.

Mom made these rules because she loves us a lot. She wants us to learn how to be on time, be clean and neat, and be polite. Every day, we try to follow her rules.