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Silly things your mother did (lighthearted)

461 replies

RaraRachael · 26/01/2021 13:44

Trying to lighten my current mood and started to think about things my mother did - and insisted that I do - as they were "the done thing" back in the day.

Turning the clothes inside out to put on the washing line in case a bird shat on them
Lining every shelf in your kitchen unit with patterned greaseproof paper
Stuffing the chicken and then sewing it up with a needle and thread

Suffice to say, I stopped these ridiculous traditions when i realised there was no valid purpose to them Grin

OP posts:
CherryCherries · 27/01/2021 18:34

I always remember my mother beating a piece of meat to tendurise it... you don't don't see that nowadays.

ForeverBubblegum · 27/01/2021 18:27

When i was 7/8, DM did a college course which ment she got in after we were home from school. She decided it would be scandalous if we were latch key kids, but completely fine if we "just played in the garden" until she got back. She genuinely couldn't see the difference between kids going out to play (on nice days, with the option to go home) and us sat in a cold dark shed for hours on rainy winter days.

unmarkedbythat · 27/01/2021 18:15

@Stovetopespresso
taking a random pill a youngster left in her house after a party "just to see what it does, do you think its crack?"
regularly having prehistoric visions of how the landscape would have looked (unconnected to the pills)

My first genuine MN lol. I love this so much :)

Gingernaut · 27/01/2021 18:03

According to my dear Mum, you should ... always cut the buttons off a coat before sending it to be dry cleaned...

Leather buttons.

Some dry cleaning fluids shredded some plastics and leathers and cutting buttons off a garment before cleaning it was routine.

Knotted leather 'thong' buttons and toggles, common on Aran woollens, would be cut off and resewn every time the cardigan was washed.

Tedious.

MuggleStudiesResearchProject · 27/01/2021 16:53

My grandmother and to a lesser extent my mother were obsessed with the temperature of one's kidneys. Too close to a fire or radiator and they'd get too hot, any hint of bare midriff or lack of cardigan and they'd be too cold. Quite the tightrope Grin

DailyMailHater · 27/01/2021 16:50

@knittedfairies I can imagine. It just never occurred to me that she did that the any jarred sauces to stretch them I just assumed it what you did,

dottiedodah · 27/01/2021 16:42

HeaviestDirtiestSoul Mine too! If we spilt the salt it would be frightful! Also walking under a ladder ,not cutting toenails on fridays (just why)! The list goes on .Strangely My DGM wasnt at all superstitious though!

Knittedfairies · 27/01/2021 16:41

@DailyMailHater - I'd forgotten that my mum used to add half a can of milk to tinned tomato soup until I read your post; obviously to stretch it. The first time I had unadulterated Heinz tomato soup I thought I'd been poisoned!

Changechangychange · 27/01/2021 16:19

OMG I had forgotten DM’s obsession with baby DS wearing a vest!

I did try to explain he was more at risk of cot death from overheating in his cot, and wouldn’t get hypothermia in our bedroom in a centrally-heated house, in May. She still bought me millions of vests.

boobybum · 27/01/2021 15:57

Sitting on a cold surface - gives you piles
Practically any illness could be cured by gargling with salt water and taking two paracetamol.
If you went out with wet hair you’d get a cold.

moanieleminx · 27/01/2021 15:44

@sleighride5 please tell us about the rest of the events!

I still fold up butter wrappers to grease cake tins like DM and DGM. My fridge door is full of them. DH finds it hilarious...

I was also instructed by DM and DA, to go and 'do my wifely duties' (consummate my marriage) ASAP after the vows and photos, so I could relax and enjoy the wedding.

We also reused teabags. I think that's a northern thing?

My nana would never have any thing from the chippy but used to pinch ours 'because they taste better that way'.

Whenever DM comes to visit for a few days, DF calls her every day, about 5pm and asks her how long he should cook a chicken thigh for. DH and I narrate the conversation to each other as it's been the same for the last ten years! They also call me up, individually, tell me everything and then the second one will call me and I have to listen to it all again.

Mum also uses flannels on the kids. 1 for all four. Then dries it on the side, and uses it again. Makes me Confused.

MIL is another character... insists that kids can't drink water, and always gives them sugary cordial and puts sugar on strawberries? Posh tea every Sunday with nice ham from Morrison's sandwiches and fondant fancies.

ParkheadParadise · 27/01/2021 15:29

Just thought of another one
When I moved into my first house with dd a neighbour stopped mum in the street and told her your daughter hangs out a lovely washing.
My mum was adamant you could tell a lot about someone by the washing they hung out.🤔🤣

Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 27/01/2021 15:28

@Changechangychange My mum cross questions me about if DS has got a vest on all year round!

Just shows you how suspicious they were of the cold and worried about getting “newnaxy” another one of mums words for pneumonia.

JanuaryJonez · 27/01/2021 14:59

When I was a young teen my mum always used to pack a spare pair of knickers in my school bag, saying "Just in case you have an accident".

For years I thought she meant if I was in a car accident I'd have a spare pair for the hospital!!

This probably says more about me than her, but I was hit b a car when I was 10 which is probably why I thought that. She obviously meant if I started my period!

moanieleminx · 27/01/2021 14:55

My grans neighbour used to spit at the grilling bacon rashers. When it spat back at you, it was considered ready.

These are all about my beloved Gran.

I was often given clothes and shoes miles too big, and made to wear them, because I had to get her money's worth, and I would grow into them.

When my teenage smoking was discovered, I was not allowed to smoke on the street or waiting for the bus. I had to go and sit in the toilet for a nicotine fix. I was also told off for my choice of brand...

I wasn't allowed to wash my hair when on my period. I was allowed a glass of cream soda with my Sunday lunch but not the rest of the week as I would get worms. I couldn't watch too much tv as I would get 'square eyes'.Everything was ironed. We never ever washed our tea cups, just rinsed them. Was also told that if you ate oysters, you could feel them move around inside your tummy.

Bath water was used to water the plants.

Tomato plants were grown year round in the bathroom, to act as an air freshener. I always have to sniff leaves whenever I see a tomato plant now!

When I was ill, I had to drink egg and sherry. She always took the egg tread out though because that was disgusting. Grin

She used to walk every day, to look at the notice in the local undertakers, to see who was dead. It was always the topic of conversation.

Mum is late 60's and to my delight, is heading in the same direction... (not that she will have it).

MostIneptThatEverStepped · 27/01/2021 14:49

As well as the sultanas coconut and banana curry situation my mum also used to make a dish which was included chicken and pineapple which was sprinkled with flaked almonds. I think it was a 70s version of sweet and sour chicken? Anyway I carefully ate my way round the pineapple. Then forevermore hated savoury dishes with fruit in.

My mum was actually a fantastic cook so I forgive her these few transgressions. Looking back I can't really think of anything silly she did, she was quite a serious person 😂

She was not from the UK so some of the things mentioned here I can't really relate to but my English Nanna was the hoarder of all rubber bands, bits of plastic, carrier bags etc etc.

DailyMailHater · 27/01/2021 14:31

I was on a video call to my mum the other day whilst making tea, just pasta and a jar of sauce, when I poured the sauce in the pan I then half filled the jar with water and then poured that in as well....mum asked what I was doing. I explained that is what I had always seen her do. She laughed and said that’s because I had 2 adults and 5 kids to feed and we were skint, so she used to water it down to make it go further.....😂 I had no idea and just thought that’s what you did.

Changechangychange · 27/01/2021 14:30

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin

My mum still says “wash your bedding in may, wash your family away” - so basically don’t do the big spring clean and take the heavy wool blankets off the bed till June.

Makes no sense in a centrally heated house though

Mine said “never cast a clout till May is out” - you have to wear a vest until 1st June, regardless of the weather.

Thank god she didn’t actually enforce that one! Grin

Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 27/01/2021 14:28

My mum still says “wash your bedding in may, wash your family away” - so basically don’t do the big spring clean and take the heavy wool blankets off the bed till June.

Makes no sense in a centrally heated house though

Furrybutts · 27/01/2021 14:22

Oh my!
Just thought of some more promoted by other replies.....

Had to wear rollers in my hair to bed on a Sunday night so my hair was curly for school. Never got a wink of sleep that night.

Not my mum, but my grandad. On arriving to collect him to take him shopping one roasting hot day, he looked at Dd2 aged 9 months sat in her car seat and said " that babbie will catch her death with no shoes on!"

All round the supermarket he kept on that people would think we were too poor to buy her any shoes 😂

JudyP · 27/01/2021 14:13

@Shosha1

I still line shelves! Especially the ones that hold food such as oil or treacle.

My favourite of my Mums was after ironing dry clothes, she would then but them in the airing cupboard before they went into into the wardrobes. Why!

My mum always ironed (everything- even socks!!) and then put it in the hot press before putting it away - as an adult now I just can't get my head around it!
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 27/01/2021 14:13

Oh, I keep butter wrappers to grease baking trays/tins. I thought everyone did? How else do you do it?

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 27/01/2021 14:08

@Camomila

My mother used to use old underwear as dusters. Clean, obviously...

I don't use pants but I cut up old vests to do this.

Me too. It's more eco.

My mum taught me a very precise order in which The Washing Up Must Be Done, and The Way The Coffee Must Be Made, and I've never dared deviate from either.

The main daft thing she did was to frequently put us in actually perilous situations either to save money or because she was convinced she "knew a short cut."

Bouledeneige · 27/01/2021 14:00

A lot of recognition and smiles reading everyone's posts.

  • no ITV (she also hated Grange Hill as they didn't speak nicely)
  • only turning on the TV to watch specific programmes then switching it off
  • keeping string, rubber bands, bags and brown paper
  • keeping butter wrappers to grease baking tins
  • airing clothes after ironing
  • keeping leftovers and using a mincer with leftover cold meat
  • roast on Sunday and cold meat and salad on Mondays
  • economising on recipes - so lasagne was mince and onions, pasta and white sauce - ketchup on the table for the tomato sauce!
  • wartime food - spam fritters, corned beef, and very basic salads not mixed together - a piece of lettuce, slice of tomato, slice of cucumber.
  • no eating in the street
  • always use a teapot
  • using a trolley for tea things, hostess trolley, electric carving knife
  • always using cups and saucers not mugs
  • making covers for everything - like the toaster
  • licking a pencil before using it
RedLlama · 27/01/2021 13:47

My Nan used to save the bags that the cereal was in to put sandwiches in when we went on picnics. The lunch box would be a walls ice cream tubs, the old blue ones with the white lids. She used to wash out any ice creams tubs or anything similar and use them for storage. When she died and we cleared the house I swear there were hundreds of the things. Cereal boxes used to be cut up and used to write the shopping list on