Alice Haddow’s House for Grownups (AHHG) Rules — The Beginning

Every important task we undertake in our lives needs to have a foundation. The Alice Haddow’s House for Grownup’s (AHHG) rules were founded on a number of premises that clearly outlined why the rules were essential to establish order. Here is Premise #1:

PREMISE I: After 25 years of being a mom who has been completely tied to whatever property she lived in because she shouldered the ENTIRE burden of its upkeep with only small amounts of help from the other occupants (they were, after all, children—and very sweet ones at that!) Alice Haddow is ready for a career change. She is happy to be a mom, but not happy to be everyone’s indentured servant. A move to Yewing Way is the signal that this part of her life has come to an end. It will be wonderful!

Psychologists say that among the most traumatic events in a person’s life, a move ranks among the highest. For me, the move to a new home was the opportunity to start over; to establish firm rules for everyone living in that house; and to free myself from the self-imposed drudgery that I had shouldered for all those years as mom and yes, the “indentured servant.”

Make no mistake, much of this I brought on myself. But that was precisely why I had to take advantage of the move and restore order to my life and the lives of my family.