I paused before opening the back door. I could already hear the voices of my two boys shrilling through the house and into the garage: “Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!” Something was definitely going on!

Sure enough, I was barely allowed to enter before the human tornado struck. “Uh . . .” I grunted, staggering to maintain my balance. “What’s up?”

With the two excited voices stumbling over each other, I had to really concentrate to understand them: “How much do you charge for a pair of slippers?”

My eyes swept from the glowing faces to the floor where I knew I had left my slippers before going for my walk. Oh no, I thought. It’s backfiring!

I suppose that most moms would sympathize with me when I say that I am tired of finding clothes strewn across bedroom floors and thrown into bathroom corners. But what really gets me riled is the crumpled pile of coats, boots, shoes and mitts I always have to stumble through just to get into the house! This was the inspiration behind the new house rule: Whenever I find clothing lying around, it becomes mine! The owner of the garment has to “buy” it back from me at Value Village (Thrift store) prices, and the money is placed in a special cup, to be used for future clothing purchases.

The new rule has already proven its worth. The house is remarkably cleaner. Whenever anything is left out, there is a flurry of activity, and the offending item disappears. And as a little bonus, the “clothing fund” has already swollen to $20.00.

This morning, as I did every morning, I had taken the dog out for a run before the rest of the household awoke. And as usual, I had exchanged my night clothing for my exercise clothing, leaving my night clothing in a neat pile on the washer. Everything except my slippers, that is! Those I had left in the middle of the floor! And now I was being forced to play my own game! Life can be soooooo unfair!!!

A whole bunch of words threatened to bubble forth. Words like: This game isn’t for me! I’m not the one who leaves my clothes out all the time! But one look at those bright faces made me hold my tongue for a moment, and in that moment, a thousand thoughts flashed across my mind . . .

How often was it that I didn’t abide by the rules I imposed on my children? Rules like No Eating Between Meals, No talking with your mouth full, and You have to be in bed at bedtime—No exceptions!

Then my mind moved on to more important rules. Like No Lying, for example. Didn’t I resort to lies once in awhile? What about the time my husband and I were discussing birthday surprises, and one of them wanted to know what we were talking about? Hadn’t I responded by saying: “Nothing!”? Or the times we were importing goods into Canada, and to avoid paying duty, I lied to the border guard about how much I had spent.

My mind moved on to other house rules. What about, say, stealing? The rule was No Stealing! Of course I never broke that rule! Or did I? What about all the videos we’d gotten from the library and copied? And the computer programs we had borrowed and installed on our hard drive? And what about stealing time? Wasn’t I guilty of making personal calls on the job? Getting to work a few minutes late? Leaving early? No big deal!

Or was it?

Why should I require my children to live by a different set of rules than I, myself, maintained? How could they learn good morals when I didn’t exhibit them? Why should there be two sets of rules, anyway?

All of this took only seconds to contemplate, and when my mind returned to the present dilemma, there were my children’s animated faces, still demanding to know how much I charged the last time I found a pair of their slippers in the middle of the floor. I sighed. Yes, I had to live by the rules, too! But not just my self-imposed rules. I also had to live by God’s rules. No exceptions! I reached for my wallet and pulled out a Loonie (a Canadian dollar).

The eyes sparkled with exhilaration as the boys grabbed the coin and disappeared, only to return a few seconds later with my slippers.

How many sets of rules are there in your life, my friends?

Love in Christ,

Lyn Chaffart