I thought of another unspoken rule I wanted to share with you. And since I didn't want you to miss it, I thought I'd just do another post instead of sticking it in the comment section. Okay here it is:
You have to like kids. If you don't, you are mean, crotchety, wrong. Just plain wrong.
It took me years to accept that this rule is punishing people for having a certain preference in their personality. Take me, for example. I would rather be with adults (anyone over 18 please, preferably 20) than kids on any given day. Does that make me an ogre? I would hope not! Does that mean I think kids are lesser than? or not as important? Certainly not! It just means that my personality is bent more towards adults. That's my niche.
Conversely, there are some folks who would rather be with kids than adults any day of the week. Adults make them nervous or uncomfortable, where with kids they feel right at home. Anything wrong with that? Nope! (Unless you are a child abuser and then there is a LOT wrong with that.)
Okay, now its your turn again...what other rules are unspoken? Let's break them!
I would refer back to your "soapbox" post where you talk about people perceiving introverts as antisocial. There is an unspoken rule that if you would rather be alone that you are unfriendly or stuck up. Some of my aloneness is insecurity driven but that is less the case the older I get. I just really enjoy my quiet time. God really knew what he was doing when he brought my husband into my life. He is on the quiet side too. I think if I were married to an all out there extrovert, it would drive me batty to no end. We are a good match for each other.
ReplyDeleteRhonda
Yes, Rhonda! Absolutely! I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteAnother one I thought of was one I experienced this weekend. Why is that we moms think that when we host a birthday party we need to hand out gifts to the guests at the end? Whose birthday is it anyway? Why are we GIVING gifts when they are BRINGING gifts to our child? We were are at a birthday party this weekend and the gift my child got for coming far outweighed the gift we gave the birthday girl. Made me wonder why....Rachel had fun just being there! She didn't need a prize to go along with it. (And I didn't need a jar full of glitter in my house!)