"Don't put that in your mouth". "Don't touch". Our lives begin with rules and the amount of rules grows as we grow.

As soon as I could walk, I heard, "Don't run in the house". On one occasion, however, my mother ran. Actually, she was chasing my sisters and me with a water pistol; and it was my mother who fell and gashed her leg on the coffee table. That was the first time I heard, "Do as I say - not as I do".

"Don't talk with your mouth full". "No elbows on the table". "Ask for it to be passed - don't reach". There was as much food for thought at our dining table as there were mystery casseroles.

When I went to school I heard "Play nicely". "Share". "Color inside the lines". Obviously, Picasso didn't have to follow that rule.

"Don't speak unless spoken to". "Children should be seen and not heard" - not in the 21st century. Unfortunately, it's the children who are too often making the rules.

Where were the rules when I was a young mother? Where were the step-by-step instructions how to raise a child? There were instructions how to put the crib together and how to use the bottle warmer.

Those who say rules are meant to be broken never had teenagers. You try to teach teenagers that rules are to protect them, which isn't easy to do when lawyers and politicians are constantly in the news because of bending the rules.

As an adult, I follow the rules of the road - most of the time. Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. Drivers are conditioned to stop at stop signs and red lights, obey the speed limit, signal when turning or changing lanes. Humans are conditioned to the sound of a police siren.

I think I follow rules. To be an example for my children, I believe in obeying the rules of others so they'll obey mine. Nevertheless, my younger son delighted in pointing out that operation manuals are actually rule books.

Okay, I don't follow every rule, which might explain why some of my computer files might show up on ABC's "Lost".

The word rule is derived from "to rule". But Americans aren't ruled - we're governed. Instead of rules, we should have "governs". Considering how our government is being run, we'd have lots of opportunity to ask what has "govern meant".