Rules Review

I have one more day to figure out my tax day resolutions. True, it’s self-imposed and I can go past the date with no repercussions, but I’d like to at least have some sort of rules in place. I did come up with one rule yesterday. I have to hammer out the details though. The general idea is that Lion should stand when I enter the room. We’re thinking it’s just good manners. I can’t expect him to follow it until I give him specifics. But I’m hung up on coming up with another rule by my deadline.

I was reviewing the rules that Lion has to follow at this point. I think he has more rules than he realizes:

Each work morning he has to email me before noon. I don’t think he’s ever missed, although he has come close a few times. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. If he’s stuck in a meeting or there is another type of emergency, he’s off the hook.

He has to remind me when it’s punishment day. He has forgotten that one a few times.

He has to be naked around the house except when people are coming over or he needs clothing for safety reasons. He’s been pretty good about this one. I think he only missed once in recent memory. In fact, sometimes he’s too good about it. He is allowed to wear a T shirt when he’s cold but he sometimes sees this as cheating.

If he drops food on himself he gets swats. This is to combat a messy Lion. He jokes that restaurants have to put newspaper on the floor when he comes in. And for a while we seemed to have the only table without a table cloth in a restaurant, as if they knew he’d just mess it up.

Lion is notorious for interrupting me so I instituted this rule to help break him of this habit. I let him get away with it too often still.

Just recently, I added the collar back into the dress code. He has forgotten a few times, but I have not been on the ball with this rule. He remembers before I do and self-reports.

And now the standing when I enter the room rule. When I get that hashed out it will become a real rule.

I’m not much of a stickler for good manners. I try to have good manners, but when among friends it’s easy to let things go. I was just thinking Lion should have to open doors for me, but I think that would annoy me more than anything. I can open my own damn door. So I am still on the hunt for that last rule before my deadline. [Lion — I open doors for her now, when she lets me. I went to boarding school so my manners are generally good. I did get out of the habit of standing when she comes in or when she gets up at the table. So, that rule makes sense to me.]

1 Comment

  1. Author

    The standing when you enter the room is a good rule. You could also insist that he bow or curtsy as well… but that may add too much of the humiliation factor. I would expect that he would perform this rule even when you have friends over.
    My wife likes me to comb and dry her hair. It is long so perhaps he could be required to help with that task. My wife finds it pleasurable though I’m still learning how not to pull on the tangles.

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