Silly things your mother did (lighthearted)

@Fuckingcrustybread

I know my mum's curry was made from scratch but don't know the recipe. My sister reckons it came from a She magazine or Woman's Own or similar (which my mum never bought but my Nanna did and passed them on 😉)

Having bin bags full of cushion covers and lampshades in storage boxes so that she can change her living room every month or so to stop it from getting boring.

My mum is obsessed by hot plates. She can't abide hot food on cold plates.

Also milk not in a milk jug - I dont think I've ever seen her just use the milk straight from the carton.

Her cleaning routines are also extremely complex (although she's given up some things now she's older).

I feel like a right slattern by comparison!

To be told not to strain whilst pooing as it makes your veins pop and then you get big red veins looking like grapes..

I thought she meant in your FACE

Always “be careful you don’t push it out too hard or your veins will pop” ... to a child of 8

For years, I’d study my forehead for piles after going to the loo

I also have an aversion to red grapes

Unplug the hairdryer on finishing using it rather than use the switch to turn it off to avoid ‘wearing out’ the switch. Bizarre.

The lard only got changed when it had gone brown and full of bits from the previous fry ups.....the new lard looked like snow in comparison....

Home made chips fried in lard! Yes, we had this every weekday for tea...egg and chips...a ' spread ' of cold meat, salad and the like on Saturday and a roast on Sunday...repeat ad infinitum...

My dad makes curry with sultanas, apple and potato in, I make it the same way. We call it “dad curry” and it is lush.

I still save butter papers like my gran did, and the fat from a roast so it can do yorkshires or roast spuds.

We all have a rag bag which gets turned into cleaning cloths and yes, DP’s old pants sometimes end up there.

I iron pillowcases but not bedsheets. They just look nicer! And yes, it gets the last of any damp off them, we don’t have an airing cupboard.

My mum is actually very relaxed about cleaning and cooking etc, all my finicky routines and habits come from my grandparents. I’m nearly 50 but freely admit to being old fashioned and a bit make-do-and-mend.

My mum[still alive and still going strong]
Yes to ironing[though interestingly now that she is shielding, has cut back[because no one will see!]]
Yes to salad has everything in it
Yes to strange "dusters"
Yes to sultana curry

Havent read all thread yet.
Thinks that if you dont have a vest in winter you get a bad back. Which to be fair, I do think sometimes if some people do not wear a second layer, she could be right. -so I will give her that one-

My gran used to do all this stuff, keep a spotless house plus work full time and take care of two children. I honestly think she’s secretly Superwoman.

Running around the house unplugging every appliance in a thunder storm, especially the TV. When I moved in with DH and we had our first thunderstorm together, he just carried on watching TV and I was like, “Do we not need to unplug this now??” 🙈

@DifficultBloodyWoman
I should have tagged you.

Sorry, that infamous curry was last made about 40 years ago. Our circumstances have changed so much, it's impossible to ask her now. Quite a few people on this thread have mentioned that curry and I've thought about it quite a lot. I think that it was a Vespa curry and she added the sultanas and side dishes to make it a bit posher!

My Dad is guilty of some of these. He will stretch out a jumper as long as possible and when you point out he's got toothpaste/Branston pickle/soup... down him it's OK because "it'll sponge out".

As kids we used to like to sit on the stone step outside our caravan and he used to fly out the door with a mat fretting about piles every time!

Joking aside, I am looking at slips for under my dresses that stick to tights and I'm going to fetch DDs old tights out of the recycling bag to use as dusters. Genius!

I love this thread! I’m going to make a brew and sit and read it this afternoon

I don't know exactly what she had against America, she had never been there (still hasn't)! I did not grow up in the UK and she always thought of Britain as this highly cultured place and America as of lower status.

My brother was a reluctant eater; our mum used to threaten him jokingly with consequences such as falling through gaps in the floorboards from being too thin, or being locked in a cage like Hansel, to fatten him up. I didn't ask if this happened to girls as well, as Gretel escaped this fate.

My mum also used to leave notes for our au pairs (she'd head out to work really early); she ended one with "he does look very thin!", referring to my brother. He was not pleased about this; he used a pair of scissors to remove the last line, before our au pair saw it.

Oh yes chewing gum. That famous forbidden fruit that you had to avoid because if you swallowed it it ended up wrapped round your tonsils. Made me all the more determined to chew it!

No chewing gum or cartoon magazines because they were "American"