Family Rules

Carlos and I have talked a lot about how we want to raise our kids. Of course we fully expect them to be PERFECT after how long we've had to wait and what we've gone through. I'm sure that's how it works, right???

Anyway, we've talked a lot about how we were raised, the rules that our parents had, the rules our siblings use with their children, and what on earth we're going to do when we have our own little darlings running around. What rules/traditions will we pass on? Which ones will come from his family versus mine? And how will we come up with our own?

I know my family had a lot of traditions (I say traditions because they weren't exactly hard rules, but we were expected to follow them), that others thought were strange or too strict. But what I'm curious to know is what traditions/rules your families had, and what you decided to continue with your own families. How did you compromise with your husbands' family traditions?

Here are a few examples I remember from my family that others thought were weird:

-Sunday dress: we were expected to wear Sunday clothes all day on Sunday (at least a comfortable skirt), and tights/nylons were required at church.

-No sleep overs. Once in a blue moon could we sleep at a friend's house, or even a cousin's.

-No Barbie dolls. We could play with skippers, but not Barbies.

-Modesty--skirts/shorts did not come above our knees. I don't think I even owned any shorts in high school (which is saying something since we lived in AZ). And I'm pretty sure my older sister had to wear a t-shirt underneath her sleeveless cheer uniform--and I'm not talking a Shade under shirt--I mean a full on baggy t-shirt that looked slightly ridiculous. (I think that one eased up though?)

-Food/Candy. We had as much food/candy whenever we wanted.  I think there is candy in almost every drawer at my parents' house. We were surrounded by it--but because of that, we never ate much of it, still don't (but our friends loved it). Mom's kitchen was never closed. If we were hungry, we could eat. There was never a limit on "only 2 rolls" or "1 cookie each." My mom cooked and baked in mass, so there was never a fear of running out--even with 8 kids, and all of their friends. (Mom always made sure we offered any visiting friends popcorn, brownies, ice cream, cookies, a large drink, AND candy--all in large portions).

Those are just a few of our many quirks from everyday life. I really don't know what I'll do the same or differently with my children. Carlos and I had similar upbringings, but no two families are the same. His family had very different expectations at home than mine, different traditions, different foods, and different ways of disciplining. I'm sure we'll figure out many more differences along the way and have to compromise. I can hear myself already: "why would you do that? Don't do it that way!" (Cue discussion on there being more than one right way).

So, what rules/traditions did your families' have? What did you carry on? And I'm especially curious...how did you learn to compromise with your spouse?