Breaking the Rules!

I have been having so much fun breaking the rules. Not the big ones. Haven’t killed a man lately. But I am pushing the boundaries on the rules I normally follow.

Last night I ran the dishwasher before it was full.

I am such a rebel.

When the kids were born, I felt suffocated… bound by all the “rules” about having kids and being a good parent.
I felt like I couldn’t curse.
I never used to curse, but feeling like I shouldn’t curse made me want to swear up a storm.
I didn’t think I should have adult television on in front of the children.
And our house is small… there isn’t a place where the kids can’t hear.
So no television.

Add in all the other “shoulds” I was telling myself and I finally broke.
I rebelled.
That’s right.

I threw an aluminum can in the REGULAR trash.

My husband later came along and pointed the can out to me, but it was not pretty as I snarled, “LEAVE THAT IN THE TRASH!”

I’m not so much a badass rebel, but a pitiful, snarling rebel.
A rebel in training.

But I got better at breaking the rules.
Sometimes I let the kids get away with not doing their chores.
I don’t shower just because it’s morning.
I don’t encourage my kids to take the most challenging classes at school.
I have stopped walking for exercise.
I have stopped going to the gym for exercise.

I have been practicing breaking rules.
And writing new rules.

They don’t sound like big rules, but it feels like freedom to me.

The best part is making up the new rules that work for me.
I now only exercise while having fun… like recess in elementary school used to feel.
That’s right. I don’t exercise because it’s good for me.
Ha!

Now I don’t (usually) care what other people think.
And that makes all the difference.

P.S.  – Don’t you just love the magnet on our dishwasher?  (It’s in the photo at the top.)  Whitney gave me the slide to unlock magnet for my birthday.  It’s been on my car and everything metal in our house.  The kids’ friends think it’s real!