Hawley-isms

Every home has rules, and I would assume, like most, we have a set of unique rules that make perfect sense to us but may be completely weird, or even comical, to you.  This morning I’m sharing some of Team Hawley’s  house rules that are more like random Hawley-isms.

1-Christmas music & celebration is allowed all. year. long.- We absolutely love Christmas and are “those people” that openly and freely celebrate it year-round.  Some people say that the continuous celebration makes the holiday less special, but for us we have found the opposite to be true. For us celebrating year-round is like training for the holidays and a build-up of anticipation.  It only makes us long for the holidays more.  We don’t keep our tree up the entire year because we like a live tree and they die, but we do continue to read Christmas books and listen to Christmas music.  We love it!   2-No American cheese- The Mr. and I cannot stand processed cheese that comes shrink-wrapped.  The idea of it, the look of it, the taste of it is just plain nast-tay! Yucky!!!!   3- Go to bed angry- This rule was a really tough one for me initially because I’m a person who really wants to talk things out.  The Mr. likes to think before he speaks (such a great characteristic that I admire & I've learned to adapt as my own).  When we first got married if there was an offense or disagreement I wanted to really hash it out, but sometimes I ended up saying things out of emotion instead of logic, which I later came to regret saying.  Since our first year of marriage we decided that in our house it is totally acceptable to have the emotion of anger; you are allowed to be mad, but it is how you react that is most important.  Sometimes it is better to think for a while before you say something so that you can cool off, really compile what you’re struggling with, and define your specific issue without flying off the handle.  Occasionally this will require days and you might have to go to bed upset so that you can look upon the situation with a fresh brain.  We're adults who can acknowledge that we are mad yet still go to bed civilly saying, “I’m upset right now, but I’m still processing my emotions and I’m not ready to talk about it yet.  I might be ready to talk in the morning. I love you” This takes patience and grace from all parties, but we are okay with this and it works well for us.   4-No yelling allowed-Like I said above you are allowed to be mad, but how you respond is very important to us.  In our home there is not a single reason to raise your voice.  Yelling is reserved for emergencies only.     5-Diner food can’t be beat- Y’all know that I love to cook, and obviously that means I love to eat too. hehe  I will be the first to admit that we often choose not to go out to eat because food at home is tastier…..however, I am a total push-over when it comes to a good old fashioned diner for breakfast on Saturday or Sunday morning.  I simply can’t resist it; too wonderful to pass up.  The nostalgia alone makes me smile, but add on a filling brunch and I’m one happy camper!    6-No phones at the table- We know that the cells of our society are families and quality time with family is crucial; however, the technology in our world is pervasive and potentially toxic.  Meal times are for connecting and engaging with each other, therefore, technology (e.g. phones, social media, etc.) are not allowed at our dining room table.  We just don’t allow them at the table for any reason so that we minimize distraction and increase focus on each other.   7-No Commercials- This I know sounds super funny, but it's a real Hawley-ism haha We do not watch commercials in our house.  They are a total waste of time.  We DVR everything so that we can fast-forward through commercials.  Our TV viewing is efficient lol   8-Dancing at the table- Please note that I said “at” the table, not “on” the table lol We always have music playing in the background during meals- occasionally it’s Christmas music, as stated above this is totally acceptable ;-).  There are times to be formal and there are times to be comfortable and silly.  We love to dance in our seats during meals.  Dancing is fun and infectious. We just let it happen and have fun being silly! As I look back at this list I realize that I have a lot of focus on food......hahaha I wonder why that is ;-) Have a great Monday y'all!