The laws of the clans or the family rules. All families have rules, limits, laws and ways of enforcing family rules.
All families have ways of enforcing rules, limits, and the laws of their clan.
Mom enforced that rule with an iron hand. Rules are limits on what we can and can't do in a family. Every family knows its own rules. They can be bounced against, but they will remain standing. It is these same kinds of boundaries, or limits, that children need while they are growing up.