Strict parenting

I was recently asked by a fellow mom if my husband and I are strict.

I told her that we both are at times.

The more I thought about it the more I wondered how strict I am. I let them do whatever they want, at times, within reason. What constitutes strictness?

So I asked my husband. Are we strict? He basically asked me if I was referring to our milk/water only drinking kids who watch only a few minutes of Thomas the Train daily (during neb treatments), don't get to watch movies, and who go to bed at 7pm. 

Then I thought about how we get up, eat, nap, and sleep at the same times every day. I thought some of the different methods we use when disciplining.

I guess we are strict.

Then I thought about how we make cookies or bars a couple of times a week and eat them daily. I thought about how they make huge messes in the house every other day. I thought about how the days where messes don't occur in the house there is a mess just as big on the lawn. I thought about how we go for walks that take us a mile away from home on their bikes. I thought about how Fridays we spend enjoying each other as a family, often forgoing the normal eat/sleep schedule for some family fun at the zoo or elsewhere. I thought about how my kids jump on the couch, all the time (this is not a problem in our house right now, but if we ever get a new couch, that might change). I thought about the glue, glitter, beads, paint, and other messy things that wind up all over the whole house.

If strict parenting means that we have rules that we expect to be followed that are communicated to the children and discipline results from lack of following said rules, then I guess we are strict.

But we have a lot of fun while we do it.