I am not too sure why you think a sign is needed.  To what purpose.

Signs are for train stations, not loving homes.

Good morning " lastpointe"

Thanks for your comment in the original post and in this one.

I guess the best way for me to explain why I think a sign is needed would be to say that it is a banner of sorts.

My way of standing up and saying to the world this is what I believe in.

You may not feel the need to do so and all the more power to you.

I sometimes do feel the need to take a stand. That way I will not hear the phrases: "Oh sorry, we did not know that is how you feel." or "We did not think that you would mind if we borrowed your ladder while you were gone. After all, we're neighbours." or " ...But your weren't using those old things anyway."

Well you've made an elegant compromise. I don't agree with the premise, but then it's not my home either. Now if i was possessed of all earthly knowledge and wisdom, I might be more poignant. Alas I am somewhat lacking.

Is it just me, or am I sounding more pretentious as I get older?

 How about simply 

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

That might work until you meet a few masochists

Can you give us a few examples of what the grandkids and kids are doing that has brought you to this point?

True, or people with absolutely no boundaries for themselves.

Do people never listen to you?  I don't get it.

Tesla - here is a song about signs

Arthur Thomas)

[Originally by The Five Man Electrical Band)

And the sign says "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I put my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said you look like a fine outstanding young man, I think you'll do
So I took off my hat, I said "Imagine that, huh, me working for you"

[Chorus:]
Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs
Messin' up the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

And the sign says "Anybody caught trespassing will be shot on sight"
So I jumped the fence and I yelled at the house
Hey! What gives you the right!
To put up a fence and keep me out, or to keep Mother Nature in
If God was here, he'd tell it to your face, man, you're some kind of sinner

[Chorus]

Oh, say now mister, can't you read
You got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat
You can't watch, no you can't eat, you ain't supposed to be here

And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" - uh!

[Solo]

And the sign says "Everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray"
But then they passed around a plate at the end of it all
And I didn't have a penny to pay
So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said, "Thank you Lord for thinking 'bout me, I'm alive and doing fine", oh

[Chorus 2x]
 

I don't get it either, Birthstone.

Paul - I am really curious as to what has led you to needing (or feeling the need) to create written rules. To me, these seem like the unwritten rules of life. Stuff that most people just understand. Are your grandchildren that poorly behaved? I would think that written rules aren't really needed, but rather if an issue came up, you would just talk to your grandchild about it and let them know how you expect them to behave next time. I guess I just find this perplexing.

Good day Namaste and thanks for taking the time to comment.

You are right these should be the UNwritten rules of life but what happens when they are not understood or perhaps not applied or not known. Should I not make these unwritten rules available and known?

If one issue arises I, as most people, can probably deal with it yet when the same issues keep appearing I think I would prefer to put up a sign with simple rulesr ather than get really upset and acting mean.

Before you say it, yes if the grandchildren have behaviour problems it should be up to their parents to deal with it but what if the parents, for whatever reasons, cannot see the problems or cannot deal with them?

I do not want to put up the sign but I would rather put up the sign than get upset every time the kids come over.

In my simple mind, telling the kids to go to the door and read the sign each time they misbehave would be a lot better than scolding them.

By the way the "simple Rules of Living" have gone way behond the original post about my frustrations as a granfather and have now become, for me, a darn good idea to tell the world what I believe in:

Don't lie

Don't hurt living beings

Don't take what does not belong to you

Enjoy life

In respect and admiration for clergychikita's wise advise I will revise the "Sign"

Do tell the truth

Do respect all living beings, in acts and in words

Do ask before take things that are not yours

Do enjoy life

 I'm glad you switched it to the positive.  I'm still not sure the sign should be posted by the door, and I can't imagine that you expect it to make a general difference in how they behave.  Instead you'll be dragging them over to the sign saying, can't you read?  
Well, they know the rules.  Kids always do, but they forget them.  

You should read Barbara Coloroso, and how to be a backbone (grand)parent.  She says lots of wonderful heartfelt true things, and one thing is that if our kids finally figure something out 15 years later, we've done our job.

This is a very unfriendly way to deal with grandchildren.

Perhaps their parents are not "strick " enough in your mind.  Maybe , maybe not.

But when they come to your home , supposedly to visit a beloved set of grandparents, how about a little love and compassion.

How about a little bit of modelling of good behaviour.

I cna't tell you the number of times I heard my mom say to my nieces and my kids  " please do do......., grandma doesn't like it"  or whatever.  My kids did lots of things differently at her house.  It wasn't me who told them that, it was something they learned at grandmas house.

No one reads a sign.  and it is incredible bizarre that you would tell a child to go read the sign rather than simply say

"John, at grandpas house , we don't talk with our mouths full" or whatever the issue.

What are some of the issues? Give us some examples, Paul

Hi Paul - just wondering ... are you trying to control others behaviour with rules, or help others to understand your values and how their behaviours might be problematic for you?   If the latter (which I think it might be), I'm concerned that understanding will not come from reading a sign, even repeatedly, and you may actually feel more frustrated. 

At some ages, developmentally, kids honestly can't/don't distinguish between truth and lies in the same way that adults do.   Their brains aren't developed to that extent.  It's pretty normal actually for kids to tell whoppers at some stages - whether or not we adults like it or not.  It's a different thing than untruths intentionally told by adults. 

How people interpret 'respect' is so widely variable - some may feel they're abiding by the 'rule' but you may not - so a difference of opinion ensues, and without discussion cannot be sorted out.  We often assume people "should" understand - but the parameters can be extremely wide. 

Just curious too ... how does Grandma feel about the sign going up?   I'm noticing most of the feedback here is from women ... wondering if there might be a gender difference in how people respond to such things.