Omg such anality from pil. Come and share your anal behaviour stories (lighthearted)

My parents and in laws are looking saner and saner all the time.

Except my step-mom who is a total fruit loop to the extent she decorates her house in such a way that she has to put throws over the furniture so no one stains the white couches and you weren't allowed to actually go into the living or dining rooms when I was a child.

Once she moved to FL and had a 'great room' she used to fret that one of the grandchildren would dare to sit on a dining room chair.

I was actually shocked when we went to visit for her daughter's wedding and they had a get together the night before with all of the out of town guests and she had actually removed the covers from the sofas and people were eating pizza while sitting on them! Her face was a picture all night long.

I still remember, and I must have been about 10, when my Pops, my dad's dad, spilt a glass of red wine on the living room sofa. You could tell she wanted to kill him but managed to stay polite!

Oh wow I'm not alone. Can relate to so many of these.

The begrudging faffing. Everything is a huge faff to 'be polite' but begrudged so you feel bad for it.

One Xmas the ILs decided to resolve the Xmas dinner faff by having Xmas dinner for Xmas eve tea instead. And you must eat everything on your overloaded plate else it will me repeated to all visitors for years. (One of my ILs friends is identified to me ad the one who didn't eat everything at a meal once). So we were stuffed on Xmas eve, went to bed and couldn't sleep for food sweats, then Xmas day we had nothing to do except stare at each other. It was only us and the ILs. No excited kids who wanted the time to play.

My mother believes tampax and towels and the like should be hidden in the hotpress. She is shocked that we have a wicker thing in the bathroom where they live.

They also possess an encyclopedia from about 1960 that they use to look things up and refuse to use google for such things. Same as yours LRD, the actual printed book is trusted so much more, even if it's years out of date.

Does anyone else have the experience of them being massively impressed by 'how-to' books?

Anything you suggest to my dad, he will try to buy you the book - he has multiple copies of 'what to do when someone dies' from the deaths of all of my grandparents and he treasures a 1950s guide to DIY and a 70s car repair manual which he solemly gets out when he wants to change the oil. Which? is his bible. You are not allowed to suggest you'd just google for up-to-date information: the internet is fallible, but printed books are always right.

He also takes so long finding the right how-to book that he got in touch to tell me he had a five-book shortlist of the best books on how to buy a second-hand car several days after I'd gone out and bought the thing.

Btw, I forget who said about their PIL not letting them leave toiletries etc. in the bathroom, but my mum does this too. You may not leave a razor on the side or a box of tampax by the loo (even if it's in a box that hides what it is which mine are). At my place she routinely comes out of the loo with handfulls of things and a prim look, before telling me I've 'left' these 'out' and where should she put them away?

Love this thread, hilarious

FIL is the only one who can open the stair gate in their house.

They have an upside-down house, so the living room is upstairs. Any time you want a wee (I don't fell comfortable using their en-suite), another drink, to get your book, anything, you get up, he jumps up, opens the gate for you, reattaches it.
you do whatever.
then when you come back up the stairs he jumps up and lets you back in.

Drives.Me.Demented.

I'll often just say I'm tired and go to bed (whilst getting another drink on the way) to avoid the issue.

PIL do loads of the other things too, but they aren't bad really.
My parents aren't anal at all. Which can be crazy-inducing in the opposite way.

Oooh *LaQueen that's minging. Are you tempted to take your own bed linen?

Both mine and DH's parents seemed to have escaped this so far, but my mum found it hilarious when she went on a golfing weekend with her DP and his club. They stayed near some naice towns but the other golfing wives would not go out whilst their husbands were playing in case they came back early. Mum asked why, the answer was that they had to run baths for their DHs! The when DM confessed to never having done this for her DP sounded most amusing!

Love this thread....very nervous that I can see myself already in some of these posts though

Some of these are hilarious!

My mil is anal.

When going out, she puts her coat on, squirts her awful minging old lady perfume and puts a humbug in her mouth. Every time! We cant forget the humbug! Even if she is just coming to mine, a 5 minute scooter ride away, in goes the humbug.

She is very frugal with electricity. Refuses to put any lights on in her house until the street lighs go on. Woe betide anyone who puts the lighs on earlier.

She eats the same foods on the same as of the week, and has cups of tea exactly two hours apart.

This thread is hilarious. My dad is obsessed with anyone potentially losing their mobile phone, so you cannot leave a phone anywhere really without Dad finding you about 10 mins later, phone in hand, saying, 'is this yours?'. It's become a catchphrase in our house. Ironically, their house is a bloody bombsite, counters covered with recipes from magazines, random bags of tableclothes for the village hall, dozens of ancient biros, countless receipts, boiler maintenance manuals etc. My DH boils as their house is 'club tropicana', whereas his parents' house is bloody freezing and everyone is expected to wear two jumpers and a scarf as a given.

And at both of their houses, hot water is only available at certain undisclosed times of the day.

Not a relation, but a friend.

We were visiting and telling him about a new uni course DH was starting. This was a field of interest for our friend too and he said DH could borrow some books.

He then produced an A4 sized fileblock, it had a page ruled and set out:

Name & author of book borrowed.
Date published.
Name of person who borrowed it.
Date borrowed.
Contact detail of person borrowing.

FIL can't throw anything away. Tbf this is because he he had a v traumatic childhood - adoption in the 40's, plus v bad treatment by the natural children of his DPs when his beloved DPs died.

But there are 3 huge chest of drawers, 3 full height bookcases and an enormous brown wardrobe in DH's old bedroom - they are all full of ,stuff', I've no idea what. It's not DH's things - the other 'spare' room, you can't even get in the door. They have a second bathroom that they use to store apples in the bath. Can't be actually used as a bathroom.

Funny and kind of sweet. I have no parents or inlaws and I remember this fussiness with fondness.

"We took them out walking in the Cotswolds and introduced them to the concept of 'going to the pub for lunch instead of a picnic', but it's not catching on."

my in laws refuse to buy anything unless they can get it from an auction. They are deeply upset because monday is auction day and normally the two auction houses ran on alternate Mondays but Christmas has messed things up so they run now on the same day and then they have a two week wait for the next auction. And obv they can't spend the same amount of time at before at either auction.

Talking of beds is having a top sheet under the duvet (in cover) an age thing?

My pils will not throw anything away.
Anything.
There is stuff in their loft that dates from the boer war.
My mil has even kept the stitches taken out of my dh's chin (when he was 7) and her dads false teeth.
Do I win? :)

I love this thread. I love my Mum and Dad and everyone elses and their annoying ways.

I think DH is starting. I went to the car on the drive in my dressing gown and he said you shouldn't go out the front in nightwear.

These are very funny.

MIL keeps everything in a little plastic bag. When visiting my house she will transport her belongings ie slippers, puzzle book, presents for DS in individual tesco carrier bags. Also in a Tesco bag will be a bottle of tap water - from her own home.

do your parents all turn mattresses? sheesh