This will be my fourth and final year of high school, and with that comes my last and final Homecoming. I’m going to miss the game, the pep rally and the overall excitement but mostly the mums.

During these years, I’ve watched the trend in mums change but what remains the same is the thought that bigger is better. I’ve also noticed that there are certain rules that must be followed if you want to participate in the Texas tradition that is Homecoming. Mums start with a simple flower, and are created by adding bells, ribbons, flashing lights, boas, stuffed animals and anything else you can find in the dollar section.

What the majority of people don’t know is that there is a rule on how many flowers you can use and what colors are appropriate on your mum. It all starts with your grade level.

You use a flower for each year so one, two, three and four. It’s that simple, but I see many getting it wrong. I understand that people like to be creative or decide they want to have the best mum, but you don’t need four flowers your freshman year. You have until your senior year to go all out, so you need to just wait your turn!

Everyone but the senior class should be decorating their mum with school colors, whether that’s the ribbon, stickers, or the flower itself. Seniors get the best option with color choices. The tradition is to go all white and silver, but I know plenty of seniors that will decide to add their favorite color to it, which is okay. A problem I hear all the time is “Well my boyfriend is a senior, so does that mean my mum can be all white and silver?” The answer is no, you still have to stick with your class rules.

If you are at all curious about the garter (the guy’s version of a mum) rules, there aren’t any besides the color because every guy gets one flower on their garter, no matter the grade level. The colors used are the same as mums.

Making a mum should be a fun experience, so just keep these guidelines in your head as your standing in the aisle at Michael’s. If you’re new to Texas or maybe the idea of Homecoming and you never knew there were rules, I hope this helps you. Now that you know, I expect you to follow them. Otherwise, I might be the one chasing you down.