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Did anyone else's parents smoke in the house

234 replies

Hernamewaslola22 · 11/09/2024 11:54

I sort of can't believe they did really. This wasn't years and years ago either, 90s and early 00s. How could they be so selfish?

OP posts:
Lincslady53 · 12/09/2024 06:23

Poppins21 · 12/09/2024 04:57

And you could buy candy cigarettes so you could be just like them. Madness

Candy cigarettes. Coloured shedded coconut sold as Spanish Tobacco, liquorice smokers sets for Christmas. I used to love all of these but never took up smoking. Tried it as a teenager but could never see the point of spending so much money on it.

Lincslady53 · 12/09/2024 06:18

My FIL was a heavy smoker. He was born in the late 1920s, did National Service and in those days smoking was promoted as being cool, good for the nerves, and good for you health. A bit like the way vaping is sold today. He lived into his 80s, but his last 30 years were hell. DH grew up in an environment full of smoke, like many people did, in his early 60s he was diagnosed with fairly minor lung damage. It is controlled at the moment, but will probably worsen in time. He has never smoked himself, and is very anti smoking having seen what it did to his dad. A good friend played in a band in the 60s, in venues where everyone smoked, then worked in offices, again where everyone smoked. This year, he was diagnosed with Pulomonary Fibrosis, has lost over 2 stone, needs oxygen to help him breathe, can't walk more than a few yards without becoming breathless. The dangers of passive smoking are very real and cause massive, life changing issues later in life.

soberfabulous · 12/09/2024 06:11

Yes and the car!!!

My mum smoked whilst pregnant with me.

She gets really defensive if I even jokingly mention it. To be fair I am extremely tall and healthy!

Poppins21 · 12/09/2024 06:11

Boxoo · 11/09/2024 14:30

Would you say the same about parents feeding their kids UPF and other crap though? They know it's full of sugar and other bad ingredients. But parents are still feeding them to kids now. People know it causes obesity and diabetes etc and generally aren't doing the kids any good. So are these people also pretty dim or too selfish to care?

yes.

Poppins21 · 12/09/2024 06:08

ThatsNotMyTeen · 11/09/2024 13:25

Exactly

My Mum knew but was unable to give up.

PeloMom · 12/09/2024 05:17

Mine did. Still do. They don’t believe in second and third hand smoking. Just think they stink to others (which is bad enough…)

Poppins21 · 12/09/2024 04:58

CrossUniStudent · 11/09/2024 13:10

Yes and the car! Hell.

And the smoking section of airplanes!!!

And whilst eating at restaurants.

I bloody hate smoking

Poppins21 · 12/09/2024 04:57

queenofthewild · 11/09/2024 20:01

I used to sit at my grandads feet with a tin of golden Virginia and a packet of Rizlas making his roll ups for him. Mad times.

And you could buy candy cigarettes so you could be just like them. Madness

Anisty · 12/09/2024 00:34

Hernamewaslola22 · 11/09/2024 11:54

I sort of can't believe they did really. This wasn't years and years ago either, 90s and early 00s. How could they be so selfish?

Tbf, back in the 70s, the dangers of passive smoking weren't understood. It wasn't just in the house - on the bus, in the cinema, you even see chat shows on tv from that time and they're all smoking.

In fact, my mum in law was advised by her GP to take up smoking!! As he thought it would relax her.

So - no i don't think it was selfish back then, tbh. People just did not know. Many of us grew up in clouds of smoke!!

gano · 12/09/2024 00:10

My parents smoked in the house all through my childhood. I can remember cuddling my mum on the sofa, whilst she was smoking a cigarette! I lived with them until I was 28 and hated smelling of smoke all the time. I'm a smoker myself, but I don't smoke heavily, and always outside. Dad stopped smoking in the house when my mum died, although he's started to smoke indoors again because he's terminally ill and struggles to get outside. It's one of his few pleasures he has left nowadays. I hate taking my dd6 to see him because of the smoke, but she'd never be able to see him otherwise, and he hasn't got a lot of time left. So I have to settle with seating her next to an open window when we're there. It's bloody foul though.

RM2013 · 12/09/2024 00:08

My parents smoked in the 70’s when I was born but both quit when I was a toddler. I don’t ever remember them smoking. DH’s parents both smoked and I remember it being a thick fog when I used to visit. My Mum
even thought DH smoked because his clothes smelt strongly of smoke. DH was hospitalized for pneumonia as a child and put in an oxygen tent.

FIL passed away a few years ago - more than likely the smoking caused the cancer he had. MIL gave up smoking probably a decade ago

TheNestedIf · 11/09/2024 23:53

My father did all the time until he was made redundant when I was about 6, had to give it up for financial reasons, realised how much it reeks and never touched another one.

My grandparents used to chain smoke both when we went to their house and if we ever went anywhere in the car. I hated it. It was like trying to breathe through a duvet, and it made everything, including us, stink.

At the time, I had long hair, so that always had to be washed when we came back from my grandparents', because the smell if it wrapped itself around my face was unbearable and it would linger on my pillow if I didn't. Occasionally, they used to send us home with leftover homemade sponge cake. At their house it was hard to tell in the general fug, but out of that environment it was very obvious the cake tasted entirely of ashtray, was inedible, and certainly shouldn't have been consumed on the premises either.

To this day, the smell of tobacco smoke makes me choke and heave. The upstairs neighbour sometimes smokes weed and the smoke blows into my flat, but I wouldn't dream of reporting him because he'd just smoke more tobacco if I did, and I hate the smell of that blowing into my flat more. It's a habit that affects people who don't indulge in it more than any other habit, and I won't be at all sorry if it's banned.

BurntBroccoli · 11/09/2024 23:22

Yes and in the car with us kids. Child of the 70s.
I absolutely hated it 😞

Tinybirdie · 11/09/2024 22:44

My Dad smoked cigars. Grandad smoked the pipe and Gran smoked fags in a fancy Bett Lynch holder. I was a 70s kid. Smoking was everywhere. It was a rarity not to have a smoker at home where I came from.

VeryQuaintIrene · 11/09/2024 22:26

Remembering the two staff rooms at school, the smoking one and the non-smoking one and our gym teacher (!) who absolutely reeked of it!

LifeOfBriony · 11/09/2024 22:23

Yes, my Dad smoked all through my childhood until I was about 15. He gave up then restarted and gave up again, whet close relatives died of cancer. I developed asthma the year I turned 40; I’m sure that was from passive smoking. Cigarette smoke is a trigger for my asthma now.

Zanatdy · 11/09/2024 22:20

No my parents didn’t smoke but I had 3 friends who had both parents smoking in the house. One was especially surprising as growing up in a working class area, her parents were more middle class which was quite unusual and her dad was a teacher. I don’t think she’s a smoker from what I know (I’d say 99% certain she’s not) and neither is one other friend. Her dad died of cancer when he was 47. Friend does suffer with a bad chest and always gets a bad chest infection with every cold (is overweight too though). Third friend was allowed to smoke inside and in her bedroom from age 15 when her brother tragically died. This was the 80’s largely, early 90’s.

MorvernBlack · 11/09/2024 22:17

My mum used to smoke while cooking too - she’d stand there stirring food with a cigarette in her mouth… I m sure ash used to drop in…..

That was my gran, she'd let the ash get to amazing lengths, we thought it went in the food too 😆

MorvernBlack · 11/09/2024 22:14

My Dad did - 70s to mid 80s, he used to rest them on window sills/ coffee table etc and forget so they'd leave a burn mark. My Mum would go mad at him. Gran smoked in the house too, I'd be sent to the shop buy them, one shop insisted on a note from my Dad.

Cel77 · 11/09/2024 22:03

My mum.always did. In the car too. And a few sneaky ones while pregnant.

Klippityklopp · 11/09/2024 21:41

Hernamewaslola22 · 11/09/2024 11:54

I sort of can't believe they did really. This wasn't years and years ago either, 90s and early 00s. How could they be so selfish?

Yes my DF did back in the 70's & 80's.
I hope there's nothing you are doing now that risks only become apparent in years to come with that attitude.

mamaduckbone · 11/09/2024 21:09

My mum did in the 70s and 80s - she smoked in the bath and whilst she was doing the ironing. It was just different then - people didn't understand the effects of passive smoking. Every house had ashtrays. The same with pubs, cinemas, buses...can you even imagine that it was once legal to smile on planes??

SallyWD · 11/09/2024 20:57

Yep. I was born in the 70s. Mum smoked when pregnant with me. Mum, dad, aunts, uncles, family friends, all smoked around me when I was tiny. I remember coughing a lot!

RamsaySnowsSausage · 11/09/2024 20:56

My parents and grandparents did in the house/ car/ beautiful nature walks, the beach. When all the uncles and aunts got together we could barely see each other.

I have always hated the smells. I say smells became there was fresh smoke, blown out smoke, stale smoke, after smoking breath, furniture and clothing holding smoke, hair/skin smells. All repulsive and disgusting in their own magical way. Saddest was our beautiful pets and school uniforms stinking of smoke.

No doubt they knew it was horrible for non smokers, smelly and unhealthy...it was well known from the 80s and me screaming and crying my mum would get black lungs started in the late 80s.

But they were INCREDIBLY nasty and defensive to any criticism. No concession, no apologies, instant rage if asked to crack a window. If I had said stop smoking or you won't see me or your grandkids, they would have chosen smoking. I didn't dare, just worked very hard to engineer outdoor meetings. They will smoke outside at mine but throw the ends and the ash in the garden...wtf do they think happens to them?

I am sympathetic to addiction but won't get over the attitude and damage.

CumathShep · 11/09/2024 20:29

queenofthewild · 11/09/2024 20:01

I used to sit at my grandads feet with a tin of golden Virginia and a packet of Rizlas making his roll ups for him. Mad times.

Me too ! He had a wee machine to roll them neatly.

My dad smoked freely when I was young. He repainted the sitting room every year because of the stains.