What Are Some of Your "House Rules"?

Food stays on hard flooring

Doors (except bathroom) must be open all the way if more than one person is in that room (kids need privacy too)

If kids play in the tub together they must wear swimsuits, no naked stuff

Hold hands in parking lots until they show they are aware of their environment

If you need to sit in the basket to stay with me in the store I can find a way to make you fit

lol...

Interesting responses, I won't list duplicated but mention something else. Our kids are allowed to close their own bedroom doors but not if anyone else is in there with them. ALL of our electronics that have internet access are password protected that only my husband and I know. Our kids have iphones but they are kept HIDDEN in our bedroom at night. We found out my oldest was getting up in the middle of the night, going downstairs and getting on the phones that were left to charge as well as sneaking in our room when we were asleep and taking her out, then putting it back. She was also watching cable in the middle of the night and so we have ALL TV's (we only have one in each of the living areas, no bedrooms) blocked from 10:30pm to 6:30am so no one can watch tv after we go to bed or before we get up. My point is don't assume just because your kids go to sleep before you do that they stay there. They can be pretty sneaky! lol

No food allowed upstairs. No drinks other than water in a cup with a lid allowed upstairs. Same rules apply for the backroom that's been made into the playroom.

Chores are shared. There are some that are assigned depending on age. The 4 year old can not carry the trash to the outside cans while the 12 year old can for instance.

Some of the rooms don't have doors at all. In general though doors stay open unless you're listening to music and I don't want to hear it all over the house. This is mostly for the 12 year old. I can already hear it through the wall because his bedroom wall is the common wall with the living room. It used to have an open loft wall into the living room that has a vaulted ceiling until we filled it in. It echoes through the house no matter what. Closing the door helps some LOL

We keep healthy snacks in the house that they are welcome to but if it's almost dinner time it's a no go. Of course you are hungry..it's almost dinner time..working on that.

My kids don't have phones of their own yet so I have no idea what rules we may have for those when the time comes.

We don't have rules about time spent in their rooms. They do need to come down now and again and be sociable and for meals but we don't have a set time.

We eat every meal watching a movie together or some show we all enjoy. Family movie night. It works for us because we are home with each other all day (homeschool and my husband works from home most of the time). Dinner does not need to be our time to talk about how our day was or plan the week or anything.

Use your manners and respect each others personal things. Not everything in the house is fair game.

- We eat in the kitchen and nowhere else.
- If you choose to not eat what we prepare for dinner, you can cook something for yourself and clean up after yourself.
- Everyone clears his or her plate after every meal. I am not bussing tables.
- Chores are a mandatory part of living in our house - big kids clean the kitchen floor and bathrooms, little kids clean the play room and vacuum, all are responsible for regular and seasonal yard work.
- We take the video game controllers on Sunday night and give them back on Friday afternoon.
- No rated M games allowed in the house. T games are for teenagers and are to be secured by said teenager. If little kids find and play a T game, the game becomes mine and no one plays it.
- Computers have parental controls that set who can access what and when. The kids are not to change the passwords (the younger kids don't know theirs and need to be logged on by my husband or me) and we can and do go through the computer histories. Computers are in common areas except that we recently put a desktop in my 16-year-old-step-daughter's bedroom. Her room is off the kitchen so sIhe has no privacy anyway and can only log in after school.
- No giving out the wi-fi password to friends.
- The kids don't know the NetFlix password and can't order any videos on demand without permission.
- Cell phones and social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) are for teenagers only. We know the passwords and go through them at will.
- All electronics are owned by us and are privileges. Irresponsible use means that privilege is removed.
- When the older kids are out on a non-school night, they are expected to be home by 8:30 or to have checked with us in advance about plans to be out later. If they call us at 9 PM to stay and watch a movie, grab a bite to eat or sleep over a friend's house, the answer is no.
- If the older kids make plans to go out, there are no surprises. Calling me at 10 PM to be asked to be picked up at the movies when they said a friend's parent was driving home is not acceptable. I'll pick them up, but there will be a consequence for poor planning.
- In general...our words are kind, our touches are gentle, our thoughts are generous. Of course with three boys who play aggressive sports this hardly ever plays out, but that's the behavior I want to see ( and try to model).

We have four kids ages 10-14 and have some form of most of the rules you listed
1. Phones and electronics have to be "turned in " by 9pm on school nights 10pm on weekend
2. We only eat in the kitchen(we allow them to break this sometimes)
3. No name calling
4. We rotate chores
5. Not allowed in siblings room without asking(same goes with siblings stuff)

We do allow them to shut their doors if they are alone but if they have friends over they need to be open.

My son is six and a half... Besides the basic rules (no hitting, no stealing, no lying... etc) our house rules are simple:

Hungry? Ask a grownup. Other than water, you need to check in. I might need that item for dinner.

Food/drink stays at the table. (Very occasionally we'll break that rule, but I put an old blanket over the couch first.)

Happy to show you the 'grown up' spaces of the house (bathroom cabinets, some other cupboards) if you ask, first.

Certain rooms and the outdoors are not 'free space'; Kiddo needs to ask before going into those spaces as they are not 'his'.

No playing IN the bed. When friends are over, doors stay open (except bathroom.) You may close your bedroom if you want privacy alone.

One person talking at a time. Nothing makes me nuttier than having people talk over each other.

We don't really have any issues with electronic devices at this point. If/when he has something remotely tempting to play with in the evenings, he'll hand it in 30 min. before bedtime.

Talking and asking questions is better than getting mad.

Use your manners and ask, don't tell, others what you are needing from them.

Ask before you start to use someone else's stuff. This means that adults must ask Kiddo if they want to use something that's specifically 'his', if only to model this.

Daily chores must happen for the day to progress. Homework and chores (completed and reviewed) come before tv/media time and playtime.

and no books in the bathroom. We only have one bathroom and three humans--- it can get busy!

No texting or phone calls past 9PM. Only exception - EMERGENCY - which is classified as - fire, accident (car - not spilled milk), life or death. Phones are on my desk at 9PM - I WILL review texts and compare to bill - if they are deleted? NO GO. Lose your phone for a week. As long as I'm paying for it? I get to see it.

Do onto others - treat your family and friends the way you want to be treated.

Manners - please, thank you and you are welcome go a long way - as well as EXCUSE ME, or pardon me.

No closed doors - except for bathrooms. (ETA - if they are ALONE - yes. They can close their door...they MAY NOT when someone else is in the room as well).

Everyone contributes to the household - laundry, trash, dog walking, dog mess clean up, helping with dinner - setting table (silverware, napkins, place mats) and pouring drinks.

Beds made daily. They don't have to be perfect - but I want the bed spread pulled up.

Computer time is "timed" - if someone needs to do homework? However is on NOT doing homework - MUST close out.

What you take out - YOU put away - The "M" stands for Mommy NOT maid.

1) It's okay to shout when there's danger, or you're far away.

2) It's okay to attack someone (hit, kick, bite, be rude, etc.) when you're defending yourself, somebody else, or learning how to fight.

3) "No" is an acceptable answer to any question.

4) Only ask if you're okay with either answer.

5) If you stood up to pee today, you're also washing the toilet today. (Cleaning the toilet is your ticket to stand. Welcome to do both.)

6) Know where your shoes are.

7) If you don't like what I / we cooked, you're welcome to cereal or sammies.

The rest are mostly a matter of routine (like sheets get washed once a week, everyone helps cook, what we do when we wake up or come home, which furniture is for jumping on, what we ask for & what we don't).

Our big one - put away what you get out when you are done with it. No one likes cleaning so everyone helps and part of helping is putting up immediately.

We do toy timeouts for fighting, not sharing and being intentionally mean. Toys are parked on the fridge for a day or more.

It's a privilege to play with siblings. If they can't be nice, then everyone goes to their room for alone time.

If you don't put something away properly and consequently can't find it later, then when us parents find it which happens more often than not, it becomes mine. If it's something expensive, then it goes away for longer. For example a misplaced toy sits on the fridge for 24 hours while a phone or game system goes up there for 2 or 3 days.

I don't care about the food in specific areas but it's a non issue for now. I say develop rules as you go. Situations change, issues come and go, kids change. Good luck.

Mine were:
1. One page of homework daily in the summer months.
2. Breakfast before school.
3. Pray before eating or sleeping.

I don't think you need a bunch of set "rules" just some basic guidelines. Pick the things that are your personal biggest issues and work around that. For me, it's about food and noise. We only eat in the kitchen area. My big thing is trying to eat as a family every (most) night. So even though my husband works kind a late, we wait for him to eat. We don't ever eat in front of the TV unless we do like a family movie night or something.

Since you have a two year old now I think you need to go back to some of the basics, like where does food belong and how to treat others nicely, that kind of stuff. I also agree about the snacking rules. I don't think you need a hard a fast rule (I'm not a fan of saying NO sweets in between meals or one sweet a day because then you can't break that rule and sometimes, well you want to.) But I do think you will need to have a set of general things that are offered as snacks like fruit, yogurt, crackers, etc.

Well, we have O. child but we do have house rules.
• no Xbox Monday-Thursday
• treat each other with respect.
• iPod stays in kitchen at bedtime
• treat everyone else the way you'd like to be treated
• be respectful
• .25 into the swear jar per offense

Most of our rules were pretty basic. Things like no running or screaming in the house. Get yourself up and ready at an appropriate age - no constant reminders or maid service. Clean up after yourself - we don't leave our shoes or other things all over the house. Dinner was at the table, not in front of the tv and no answering the phone during dinner or toys at the table. Once you've left the table, you are not welcome to come back.

We were also big on privacy. Everyone knocks on doors before they enter, from a tiny age. Kids were not welcome in our room when we were not in there; there was nothing in there for them. They were not allowed to go into each others' rooms and touch each others' things when the other person was not in there.

Hmmm....

We don't have many, and ours are mostly food related right now. My kids are 5 and 3.
These are the basics:
1. If you do not eat dinner, you get nothing else until breakfast the following morning. No snack before bed, no treats. Nothing.
2. You will eat the dinner I serve. I am not a short order cook.
3. It's OK not to like things, but you have to at least try them. If I make 3 things for dinner (meat, potato, veggie)...you need to eat at least 2 out of 3. (I will always make sure that they like at least 2 out of 3 things....I'm not a tyrant. :) )
4. All food must be eaten in the kitchen or dining room.

We abide by a lot of the same rules, but they aren't really called rules. I don't mind if the bedroom door is closed. Our doors don't click when they shut, so you really can't lock the door.

My daughter is a healthy eater, in more ways than one. We allow her to eat when she is hungry. It is rare for her to not want dinner because of a bad snack.

She doesn't have a phone, but all technology and most of her toys are in a spare playroom and mostly has a bed and dressers in her room.

TV is limited to movies or shows and bad mouthy cartoons are not allowed.