I never want to be the sort of parent who is described as arbitrarily strict.
If my kids want to know the reasoning behind the decisions and limitations that I make for them, I am happy to give them reasonable answers.
In other words, I’m not going to be like my mom. She was the master of the “because I said so” parenting style. I would much rather explain to my kids why I have made this decision and what my reasons are. For instance, when they want to increase the indoor air temperature or utilize the air conditioning system more heavily I’m happy to tell them our financial limitations. They need to understand that energy costs money and all of our bills add up each month. When we use the central heating and cooling system it’s a luxury, not a necessity. They should appreciate the air conditioning system that we have and the thermostat settings that we have created. When they go behind my back and adjust the thermostat anyways, they need to understand why I take the central heating and cooling system away from them. That’s what happened last week when they wanted to turn down the air conditioner much lower. I told them I couldn’t afford to abuse the AC system right now. I also told them they would be sorry if the air conditioning unit stopped working. They went behind my back and adjusted the indoor air temperature lower anyways. That’s what I had to put my foot down and take away the AC system entirely. I told them that the air conditioner unit broke and we couldn’t afford to have it repaired for several days. After we lived without any indoor air quality control for 3 days, I’m confident that my kids will never touch the thermostat without my permission again.