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What are your unwritten house rules ?

210 replies

cakeorwine · 09/11/2024 11:13

Need to go to the shops but the washing machine is on. I don't want to pause it and one of the unwritten house rules is "Don't go out when the washing machine is on"

So I've had to wait until it's finished. Luckily it's a short wash so not too long.

What are your unwritten house rules?

OP posts:
Dippidydoppidydoo · 16/11/2024 20:32

Never turn on the big lights except for in the kitchen and bathroom. One day I will rewrite this house and remove them all. Lamps forever.

Also DH is coeliac so there is a bunch of kitchen rules to avoid cross contamination. Gluten products only live in certain cupboards/can be prepared on certain surfaces. Gluten free side had a gluten free toaster and a gluten free cupboard, a gluten free drawer with gluten free baking trays, a gluten free side of the air fryer etc etc etc. If you accidentally gluten a shared thing (pesto or jam or whatever) by double dipping, you stick a red sticker on it to show it's contaminated.

Sidebeforeself · 16/11/2024 20:35

No big lights on.
All internal doors must be shut especially on an evening
Tea and bacon sandwiches must be had for breakfast on a weekend
I have tea mugs and coffee mugs and you need to know which is which
The chopping board must stay in its place.

Gwenhwyfar · 16/11/2024 20:50

I think you don't know what your house rules are until someone comes and breaks them so now I have 'no French bread in toaster' and 'no putting the heating to come on and off every twenty minutes'.

Also, dishes go in the dishwasher, not hand washed. If they must be handwashed, they are to be air dryed.

Obviously, hand towel for hands. It's really awful to use the tea towel meant for dishes for hands.

Toilet seat down, but I don't actually enforce this.

No noise after 10pm including washing dishes. This is the law where I live not something I've cooked up, but guests still break it.

No shoes if possible, but an exception can be made if people have problems with their feet or are very cold.

Window open after a shower, but not left open all day.

No making a huge mess - should be obvious, but apparently not to my guests.

Oven and microwave left on the setting you found them on.

Half-eaten food in the fridge to be covered somehow or put in a tupperware.

Pizza cooked in the oven on a baking tray. I don't care if the instructions say to put it directly on the grill thing!

Gwenhwyfar · 16/11/2024 20:51

Sidebeforeself · 16/11/2024 20:35

No big lights on.
All internal doors must be shut especially on an evening
Tea and bacon sandwiches must be had for breakfast on a weekend
I have tea mugs and coffee mugs and you need to know which is which
The chopping board must stay in its place.

Why no big lights? I think this discriminates against people with bad eye sight. I need the big light.

Sidebeforeself · 16/11/2024 20:59

@Gwenhwyfar I dont really know anyone with bad eyesight so he problem hasn’t arisen

Strawberrydrill · 16/11/2024 21:01

Houseplanter · 09/11/2024 11:38

If you open a window or leave a door open when the heating is on you won't hear the end of it.

Windows and doors are opened often, but absolutely not when the heating is on. I am not paying to heat the garden.

This. Also put your shoes on the shoe rack. Try your hands on a towel. Put the remote back and don’t come in our room without knocking.

Gwenhwyfar · 16/11/2024 21:01

Those who don't allow TV during the day or electronics upstairs - is this just for your kids or for guests too? Because I wouldn't visit with those rules...

Gwenhwyfar · 16/11/2024 21:02

Sidebeforeself · 16/11/2024 20:59

@Gwenhwyfar I dont really know anyone with bad eyesight so he problem hasn’t arisen

More than half the population wears glasses!

OldTinHat · 16/11/2024 21:19

I used to go out with my washing machine on until the time I did and a wire came out of my bra and broke the machine!

All inside doors open for dog to get out through the flap without me having to get up (because I'm lazy).

No lights on unless blinds are down.

Toilet seat down.

Windows open every day unless the heating is on.

Duvet thrown back to air after getting up.

Light switches not to be used at any time as they are voice controlled and it buggers up the settings if the switches are used.

I live on my own, so obviously, when I have guests staying, all of that goes out of the window which probably hasn't been opened

Ayechinnyreckon · 16/11/2024 21:27

Toilet lid down before you flush

If it's not in the washing basket it doesn't get washed.

Ayechinnyreckon · 16/11/2024 21:31

I do got out and leave my washing machine on and occasionally my dryer.

I've had a washing machine flood before (I was working upstairs at the time, didn't realise until I came down at lunch when the kitchen was already flooded). And I've also had a washing machine fire. But I still do it.

Gonegirl7 · 16/11/2024 21:37

Dippidydoppidydoo · 16/11/2024 20:32

Never turn on the big lights except for in the kitchen and bathroom. One day I will rewrite this house and remove them all. Lamps forever.

Also DH is coeliac so there is a bunch of kitchen rules to avoid cross contamination. Gluten products only live in certain cupboards/can be prepared on certain surfaces. Gluten free side had a gluten free toaster and a gluten free cupboard, a gluten free drawer with gluten free baking trays, a gluten free side of the air fryer etc etc etc. If you accidentally gluten a shared thing (pesto or jam or whatever) by double dipping, you stick a red sticker on it to show it's contaminated.

Edited

Im coeliac and bloody hell that’s thorough. Maybe I should be more thorough.

have my own toaster and that’s about it. No baking trays etc. have my own jam and butter

Arraminta · 16/11/2024 21:55

Never go out and leave the tumble dryer on.

After getting up, quilt must be thrown back to air the bed and bedroom window left open for 10 minutes. Yes, even if it's snowing outside.

Every evening, always have a scented candle burning on the coffee table.

Whoever is at home always puts the kettle on as soon as the other one walks through the front door.

LlynTegid · 16/11/2024 22:00

Be on time.

RenoDakota · 16/11/2024 22:02

Never start eating before everyone is settled at the table.

If you put bleach down the loo and leave it there to do its work, always leave the bleach bottle on top of the seat lid to warn others to flush first.

Do not leave the bathroom windows wide open when the heating is on. As a pp said, I am not paying to heat the garden.

Ladybird982828282828 · 16/11/2024 22:04

My main one is never go to bed hungry ( this is for my kiddies ), I was a picking eater as a kid and it was very much you eat what you are given or you don’t eat at all. This led to a poor relationship with food as a teenager.

If my DCs are hungry at bedtime, they are always allowed cereal or toast, then teeth brushed again.

Catsmere · 16/11/2024 22:11

No screen doors left open (my cats are indoor-only).
No leaving things charging when I go out except when it's for a minute to pick up dinner from the community room.
No leaving knitting and yarn lying around where the cats can get it.

Catsmere · 16/11/2024 22:13

Ladybird982828282828 · 16/11/2024 22:04

My main one is never go to bed hungry ( this is for my kiddies ), I was a picking eater as a kid and it was very much you eat what you are given or you don’t eat at all. This led to a poor relationship with food as a teenager.

If my DCs are hungry at bedtime, they are always allowed cereal or toast, then teeth brushed again.

I sympathise, I have GERD and we're told to not eat for four hours before bed - great way to wake up aching hungry in the middle of the night!

ToriTheStoryteller · 16/11/2024 22:16

Two main ones: if you don't want it washed, put it away. I'll happily leave clothes on the chair in the bedroom to wear again, because if I want them washed then I'd have put them in the washing bin...but DH does the washing and includes anything that's out. So if I want to save water and electricity, I've learned to put everything away.
The other one is that any portable electrics need to live on a hard surface. I have a fear of things catching fire, so phones, laptops etc all have to live on tables or bookshelves (even if they are off) to make sure they have air flowing under them!
Oh and another one, unspoken but there is a note on the fridge door - if you buy food to go in the fridge, it goes on the right and you shift things to the left to make room. Then you know that whatever shelf you are looking at, food on the left needs using first.

LovelyDaaling · 16/11/2024 22:19

When the kids were little - No using the bed as a trampoline.

yummyscummymummy01 · 16/11/2024 22:20

Shoes off and hands washed as soon as you walk in. No shoes upstairs.
Kids have to eat the table.
No hitting each other. That last one seems to the hardest to keep to for my kids!

Dandelionsarefree · 16/11/2024 22:43

No shoes in the house.
No food upstairs.
Clean as you go.
No bags/ stuff in the hallway.

Perfectlystill · 16/11/2024 23:01

Reading this I feel very chilled out. We have no rules at all, written or otherwise.

The nearest we get is if you have a dog on you, the others must answer the door or bring you a drink, but I wouldn't say it's a rule - we all just naturally prioritise our four-leggeds.

Dippidydoppidydoo · 16/11/2024 23:42

@Gonegirl7 He gets ill all the time still. Basically anytime he eats out/at someone else's house. It's a minefield but we at least try to control what we can so he can know he's eating safely at home at least.

GreyRockinRock · 17/11/2024 08:25

@yummyscummymummy01 can I ask how many tables you go through a year? 🤔