Oughts and shoulds

I've been thinking and talking lately about the "should" messages we receive - things we hear others say about what we ought to be doing. At some point I realized that there are just not enough hours in the day/week/year to do all of them, yet sometimes they still seem to have a hold on me. I.e. I start to feel bad or guilty if I'm not doing them.

Wanna do a bit of an exercise with me? Write down the should messages you have heard and remember. They could have come from anywhere, they might be a good idea or not. The only thing they have to have in common is that they came with an implication that it wasn't just something that you could do, it was something you should do. Put a time in too, if it has been prescribed or makes sense.

You should sleep 8-9 hours a night
You should exercise 1/2 hr to 1 hr at a time, 3 days a week
You should do a quick vacuum of your carpets every day (probably take 15-30 minutes per day)
You should do devotions 1/2 hr to 1 hr a day
You should volunteer/engage in ministry (3 hours a week+)
You should use leather care products on all your shoes and handbags every two weeks (1/2 hour)
You should change your sheets once a week (15 - 30 minutes)
You should read to your child 20 minutes a day
You should eat in a healthy way (as this takes more time to prepare, I'd say it adds 1/2 hour day to food prep and shopping time)
You should handwash your delicates (10 minutes a week)
You should walk, bike or ride a bus to work (extra 1.2 hour to 1 hour more a day)
You should breastfeed
You should wean at 1 year because your husband might get resentful
You should stay at home with your kids
You should put your children into preschool

Those are some of the messages that have been sent my way. What have you heard?