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Thursday, June 09, 2005

 

Rules to live by

I have recently been accused of being a little uptight. Okay, that's a bit of an understatement. Actually, I have been accused pretty much my whole life of being obsessive to the point of neurosis.

But it was only in a recent conversation with some friends that I realized I have been following the rules of life with a lot more vigour and enthusiasm than some of you. Therefore, I am taking an informal bloggy survey to see just how my own personal neuroses measure up to the rest of you. I'm not (yet) admitting to being neurotic about all of these, but I was surprised at how many little "rules" I could think of off the top of my head. Feel free to answer some or all of the following questions, or add your own peccadillo.

1. The sticker on the package of chicken breasts says it was best before two days ago. Do you cook it up and feed it to your family anyway?

2. Do you bring your car for an oil change religiously every 5000 km?

3. Knowing you will only need 1/2 of the baby food in the jar and intend to put the rest back in the fridge for another day, do / did you scoop the food out of the jar and into a bowl, or just spoon it from the jar?

4. Have you ever tried to pass off an expired coupon?

5. There is a tiny spot of mould on one end of the $6 hunk of cheese. Do you cut away the mouldy spot or turf the whole thing?

6. Would you allow your preschooler to ride a tricycle without a helmet?

7. Do you launder dry-clean only clothes? Do you even read care tags on clothes?

8. How old was your child before you bought your first "not recommended for children under age three" toy? (First child responses only!)

9. Do you throw away mascara after three months and buy a new one?

10. Would you allow a 12 year old to watch an R-rated movie?

11. Did you wait until your child was 20 lbs and one year before turning the car seat? Have you let your older child ride in a car without a car seat?

12. Do you always finish the full run of your antibiotics, or stop when you're feeling better?

13. Do you *always* wash your hands after you go to the bathroom? Play with the dog? Handle raw poultry?

14. Did you wait until baby was one before introducing honey, and five before introducing peanut butter?

15. Did / do you avoid raw eggs, cold cuts and soft cheeses while pregnant?

16. Do you wait 20 minutes after eating before going in the pool?

17. Did / do you put your baby to sleep on his/her back, and avoid putting pillows, stuffies and heavy blankets into the crib until at least age 6 months?

18. Do you use the seatbelt in the stroller?

If you don't feel like answering all the questions, just tell me if on the whole you follow (or would follow) these rules, or whether you're too busy laughing at me to type.