No one told me when I became a parent that the rules would keep changing.

Had I known, I might have given the situation more careful consideration.

Last weekend, I pulled to the curb to drop Shannon at a friend’s house. I waved hello to her friend Faith, who was standing outside with two boys from their school.

“Mo-o-om,” said Shannon, a high school freshman. “Don’t wave.”

I was befuddled.

I knew not to pick her up while wearing a green, moisturizing facial mask and curlers in my hair.

I knew not to create a MySpace account and invite her group to join my Friends list.

I knew not to holler, “Pick you up at 8, Doodlebug.”

I even knew not to spit on my fingers and smooth her bangs in public.

I didn’t know not to wave.

When she was in eighth grade, waving was permissible.

Without a rulebook, how are we parents supposed to keep up?

I tried reminding Shannon that I manage to follow more rules than some of her friends’ parents, like the mom who wipes her daughter’s cheeks and says, “That blush makes you look like a Hollywood streetwalker.”

On behalf of moms everywhere, I decided to start my own list, one we can use to remind our kids they were embarrassing us long before they felt the need to ride to school in the trunk so they can say, “My mom? No, that’s just some woman who tried to kidnap me on the way to school.”

After interviewing a few other moms on the subject, I compiled a partial list: