Five normal things in your home that your mother wouldn't have had a clue what to do with

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Excluding obvious tech stuff like mobile phones, Alexa etc. I'll start:

Olives - we always have at least 2 kinds, my mother would have thought they were poisonous berries

Cat tree/electronic cat toys - one did not provide entertainment for cats when I was growing up! Ours have more stuff than the kids

Different oils - extra virgin olive for salads etc, sesame, sunflower. I don't remember mine actually having any, she didn't really cook with oil

Trainer socks - one of my DC will ony wear these. My mother would have been utterly confused about socks which stop at the top of the foot and leave your ankles bare. She was obsessed with pulling your socks up and not getting cold ankles

Sour cream - I seem to get through so much of this for various things. She would have wrinkled her nose and thrown it out!

I know that my mum has never used:

Jarred roasted peppers
Paneer
Sun dried tomatoes
Preserved lemons
The majority of my spice cupboard
Any Chinese ingredients bar hoisin

Pyjamas they were around but could not consider wearing them.

Duvet.

Floss

My mum's up to date with most things, but views dishwashers and Japanese food with deep and abiding suspicion.

My mother was born in the 1960s so not too much stuff springs to mind other than tofu! She called me rich the other day for ordering pizza when it wasn’t a special occasion though so maybe I can also say the Deliveroo app.

@LubaLuca

She wouldn't know how to make coffee though.

I'm sure she could work it out. Rocket science it ain't

My grandmother is in her 80s and knows most of this stuff too... she’s better travelled than me! She’s even got a smartphone too.

My mum's quite modern really but she always gives me the garlic bulb from her veg delivery box as she has no earthly clue what to do with it.

I dontbthink thusvthread is ageist. But more troops do with the experiences of individuals and probably related to income, class, culture and travel.

My mum is 70 this year and yet she does nothing with spices, oil is just sunflower. She eats no cheese but cheddar. No other exotic foods at all. Holidays in UK only until my sibling moved Australia then Canada and only went there to visit.

As much as I love her she is unadventurous in every aspect of her life.

Electric air dehumidifier
My weightlifting equipment- she's not the 'sporty type'
Cafetiere - she never drank coffee
House plants - again never had them, would have killed them in a matter of days

My mother died in 1981 when she was 45 and I was 11. I catch myself wondering what she would have thought of so many things, such as:

*Houses with wood floors ON PURPOSE.

She grew up poor and houses used to have dirt floors and wood and rugs were only a step up. She insisted on having wall-to-wall carpeting as a marker of her moving up in the world.

*People baking their own bread and various other pursuits instead of paying someone else to do them.

She was a firm believer in going to a bakery, having a cleaner, a gardener, a dry cleaner (they also ironed clothes), taking the car to get valeted and serviced or even pumping your own petrol, etc... She believed that doing it yourself kept people from employment.

*She would have freaked out at superstores like Wal-Mart where you could buy everything under the sun and the amount of choice is staggering!

*Pizza and the staggering choice of restaurants and fast food joints of various cuisines

I grew up in the US in a predominantly Hispanic city so most food eaten by the population was Mexican (I am Mexican American) and if there was food to be sold, it was likely Mexican. I didn't have pizza until I was nine, in 1979 at an Italian restaurant and it was exotic and wildly expensive! A pizza then cost $15. Minimum wage was $3.35 in 1979. She would be fascinated that you can buy a whole pizza at a fast food place for $5 and frozen for $2.50 to prepare at home in 2021. Plus, Mexican restaurants now charge a staggering $15 for a "combination plate" in 2021 when it used to cost $4 in 1980.

*That F W Woolworth's went out of business in the US in 1997

She worked for the company as a bookkeeper and later an accountant from 1953 until she was bedridden in 1980. The company rewarded her with shares and she'd check the stock prices every day. She took such pride as an employee. She always remarked that the company would outlive her and even me. If she had lived longer, she would have been devastated at its demise. I'm kind of glad she didn't live to know that.

I'm sure she could work it out. Rocket science it ain't

None of the things mentioned on this thread is rocket science . I just know my mum doesn't know how to make coffee and would never bother trying, and it's not because she's old.

The fact that some people dont get dressed , and wear pyjamas all day

People being obsessed with dogs , treating them like children and putting clothes on them

Having food delivered , whether its a Chinese meal , a pizza or the weekly shop from Tesco

Mum would have been 81 this year and knew all about garlic and olive oil , and I'm pretty sure she had some of the bobble tennis socks !

Corner sofas.

Indoor temperatures above 10c in the winter.

Clothes for dogs and other animals have been a thing since late mediaeval times: www.academia.edu/27942359/_Coats_Collars_and_Capes_Royal_Fashions_for_Animals_in_the_Early_Modern_Period_in_Medieval_Clothing_and_Textiles_Vol_12_2016_pp_61_94?email_work_card=title

Mine was born early 1920s , died in the '70s
Social media
Support groups for those with disabled children.
Ultrasound scans etc
Online shopping.

Is your mother 110?

@Bin85

Mine was born early 1920s , died in the '70s Social media Support groups for those with disabled children. Ultrasound scans etc Online shopping.

If your DM passed away in the 70s there would have been no social media anyway?

Have you missed the point of the thread?

My mum would have 82 this year and whilst we didn't particularly use it growing up in the 80s, was fully familiar with garlic, olive oil, avocado, spices used in Chinese, thai and Indian cooking and pretty sure she wore trainer socks. But not till she was in her 50s/60s maybe. So for her it would very much be the tech - she couldn't so much as play a DVD without phoning me to talk her through it so God knows how she have got on with Netflix etc. I guess she have laughed at some of the stuff I'm doing with my 6 month old too - shed be baffled by tummy time and sensory play and all that ('just them making a lot of mess isn't it? Thought you'd want to teach them to clean up, at least that would be useful')

My aunt is 85, still worked up till last year, travelled the world and eaten every cuisine you can think of, has a tablet, smart phone, laptop, uses social media etc. She was however surprised and delighted on her last visit by those apple slicer things, you know the round thing you just push down on top of the apple? I sent her one for Christmas that year (with other stuff too!) She also doesn't understand why people buy new furniture or decor when the old stuff us still 'serviceable'. The furniture in her flat is still pretty much the same as when she bought it 45 years ago.

My DM is early 50s, but she has no idea how to use:

A cafetiere
A corkscrew
A modern eyebrow pen
A Mac computer
A bamboo steamer

Roughly half of the ingredients in my kitchen are eyed a bit suspiciously too (nothing crazy! cooking chorizo, artichokes, rice paper wrappers, spices, physalis... you get the idea).

Anais are you sure she's not in her 100s?

Crumbs, my mum is mid 70s and solid with all this stuff. Except a Mac, but to be honest I’d be screwed too

Philips lumea
Hive heating
Induction hob
Solar panel controls

Smart tv

Crumbs, my mum is mid 70s and solid with all this stuff. Except a Mac, but to be honest I’d be screwed too.

I think that not being used to a Mac is fine. Lots of people just have no need to ever use one. I only use DH's very occasionally and often struggle finding controls. It's a bit different that saying "can't use any computer".

My mum is an excellent cook so familiar with all the ingredients in my kitchen - and could out cook me with her eyes closed .

She'd work out the dishwasher, but struggle with the iPad (android family).

My 90yo grandma would be fine with the dishwasher, iPad, mobile, computer, plus kindle and Alexa as she has all those things herself.

She didn't know what to do with some homegrown chili's when I gave her some (doesn't do raw chillis), so she used them as a colourful addition to a flower arrangement .

My dad just bought himself a new iPad. He’s 87. If my mum was still alive, she would be on Instagram and experimenting with nduja making sushi. She would have loved an induction hob.