Son: "that's not fair dad i was never allowed to do that when i was her age"
Dad: "i know, but things are different now"
Son: "how are they different?"
Dad: "because i cared more when you where her age"
Son: "oh"
I know, I know, that sounded shocking but it's true i did care more as a parent when i had my first child.
See the thing is when your a new parent you develop this over protective tendency to want to get things right and make the right choices for your new responsibility.
But it's only as they get older and you have a second child, that you realise that may have been a bit over the top and too protective.
Parenthood changes you whether you want to or not. We as parents learn just as much from our children as we aim to teach them growing up. Sometimes we put them to bed early and other times late, depending on how we feel or how much time we have spent with them between school and work and sometimes ( most of the time) it's because we just can't be bothered.

You are your own person

Each of my children are individually different from one another. Apart from the obvious, there maturity has developed at different rates. Partly because my son who is now a teenager has a developmental disorder and mostly because we where too over protective of him. Where as my 7 year old daughter has been on this earth before. She is the most upfront, tenacious, strong willed and single minded little woman i have ever laid my eyes and ears on. There is nothing that will stop her from getting what she wants.
So obviously as situations present them self's where we as parents need to make a decision, we first ask our self's is this child capable and as you get older and more adept to parenting, the rules you once thought was set in concrete don't seem to apply anymore.
Rules can be set based on a persons ability and rules can be changed to adapt to life. yes it isn't fair but so is life.
I want to treat my children as individuals and guide them through based on there ability's not what i think they are capable of.
There are still rules that both must abide to, like no shoes upstairs, you know the general house rules.
But as for the others well we will just see what comes our way at that moment.

Children are different and we learn as parents learn new things so it is ok to have different rules for different children