On the way home from work I always listen to The Dave Glover Show on 97.1 talk radio. I only listen every day to that show, the rest is crap like The O'Reilly Factor and The Michael Savage Show, which I only listen to because my mom always told me to keep my friends close and my enemies closer.

Dave's show rocks, me loves it. So anyway, Dave starts talking about how when he was growing up his parents had a room in the house you could never go in. Callers and his co-host decribe the rooms they were not allowed enterance into as well. This got me thinking about a room in my house called the "living room". No one in my freakin' house lived in there. It was like my mom had some sort of silent alarm that went off in her head whenever one of us set a toe in there. There is a white couch, all sorts of antiques, expensive lamps, and other stuff that is worth more than my life (I only know that because my dad would say that everytime the silent alarm went off in my mom's head). People, with four kids is that the kind of upholstery you'd pick? I think the red velvet ropes are still infront of that room, and on Saturday when I go over there...I'm bringing the grape juice and sitting on that damn couch!

So I pose this question to my three or four readers, Did your parents have a "Don't take one more step or your hamster will get it" room. I do not have a room like that in my house yet, so tonight I am declaring my kitchen said room!

nah - we lived in a shitty trailer for twelve years with holes in the floor. I could see daylight through my closet. And even today, now that my parents have upgraded to a 4,000 sq. ft. home in the country, they still don't have any special areas that we couldn't go near. My grandmother, on the other hand - do NOT step foot in their bedroom. Touch her freshly made bed and leave a wrinkle in the bedspread and your life is over. I think she has a touch of O.C.D.

Yes! both my mother and her mother each had rooms like that. My mother's has slooowly become a room to be in. My grandmother sold her house and now lives in an in-law with my mom or she'd still have that room.

My mom was more of a down-home girl, she believed in total functionality and comfort. So she didn't buy anything that couldn't be sat on, eaten out of, worn, or used in some way. But my sister is like your mom--she has lots of stuff that's "just for show," which seems crazy to me. I guess I could understand it if a person just had a huge mansion and lots of space to fill, but if you're living in a house with 2500 square feet or less, this seems like some crazy shit to me.

Our living room was SPOTLESS. We couldn't set foot in it, for fear our footprints would destroy the fresh vacuum marks. Also, my mom kept her Lladros in there, so we weren't allowed to go near those, either. On top of it all, the thermostat was located within the confines of this forbidden space, and my sister and I were threatened with punishment worse than death if we touched it. Seriously. We still don't go in there.

we lived in army housing. they didn't have living rooms. they had weird kitchen areas that were connected to a place where a table and a couch went.

but, we had these really stupid "guest towels" that hung in the bathroom and only "guests" could use. after 12 years, moths ate them and some still had never been used. what is the point?

Tina, just do it. Me and my grape juice are going to start a revolution.