Jan at RevGals writes: After a family vacation with our four children and three additional "partners," I am more aware of rules, spoken and unvoiced. Expectations are not always clearly expressed, but are still expected. . . . unbeknown to all unless one is not fulfilled! So how about writing about rules in your families and workplaces? Choose one or more for each category, especially if one seems odd or funny to you now.I’m terrible at this, too intuitive for my own good! I usually need a memory trigger to release this kind of data!
1. Formal rules in family of origin
Hmmm. While eating: elbows off the table, napkin on your lap, chew with your mouth closed.
2. Unwritten and unspoken rules in family of origin. These are the kinds of things that you don’t realize until you encounter a behavior or action than is different from your own expectations. Some (many) seem to be related to etiquette. Others seem to be gender-related. For instance, when I clear my plate from the table after eating I will take with me to the sink anyone else’s plate that is ready to be cleared. Men don’t seem to practice what I consider to be a courtesy. At least in my experience! I’m not sure how much of this is rules or expectations as much as it is a family or cultural norm.
3. Formal rules in current family or workplace.
Don’t feed the dogs from the table. No people food for the dogs. (Until three years ago my family was me and the dogs, just so you have a context).
4. Unwritten rules in current family or workplace.
Don’t hit the dogs as a means of correction (or at all). Can’t think of any others at the moment. See above note about clearing plates!
5. When was a time that you became aware of different rules in different places/families than your own?
At a very early age my brothers and I became joined at the hip with another family with two boys and a girl. Our ages were close enough together that we could play together, and the two families (mostly The Mothers and the kids) practically lived in each other’s laps. It was clear that they had different rules/expectations than we had (one that I remember is that they got to eat TV dinners on trays in the living room on Sunday nights when everyone watched The Ed Sullivan Show, we didn’t), but at the moment I don’t remember what else. Maybe I was five?
I'm sure that my memory will be jogged by other posts!
6 comments:
Ahh.. the Ed Sullivan show. but we never had TV dinners
Your memories prompted many for me. No hitting dogs...or people.
Definitely.
Rules about dogs are interesting, too. In our family, we don't feed dogs at the table, but my husband feeds the cat when she paws his arm! My children's pets do not get people food at all; they're much stricter than their parents have been.
I remember the early, early "TV dinners" (Swanson tiny drummettes with mashed potatoes...blech) and the metal TV trays, though we never had them in our home.
I don't really recall any hard and fast table rules, but I do remember my dad making us eat slowly and chew every bite. We'd plop down and want to wolf down dinner so we could go back outside and play, and it was so frustrating to know we HAD to take our time. :c)
cool new look ya got goin' on!
"don't hit the dogs" - aaaccck! who would hit a dog? they should be burned at the stake... er something.
now feeding the dog from the table... i've gotten pretty lax now that's it the 2 of us... usually tho i don't eat at the table, so it doesn't count right?
we don't feed our dogs from the table - but they do get a few bites of leftovers placed in their bowls when we are finished eating...
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