Things you thought were normal/harmless until joining mumsnet

[Antsinyourpanta]

(Lighthearted )
lots of things that I thought were quite normal /fine/harmless before I joined MM seem to be quite abhorrent to a large percentage of posters. I often find myself wondering about whether my perceived normal is actually the minority. Some examples

Home made food or cakes - I bloody love home made cakes and think they are always nicer than shop bought - my first thoughts when offered one is usually yum, a cake! I've never given a moments thought to whether the person owns cats or dogs or has a hygeine certificate.

Ensuite bathrooms - I've got an ensuite bathroom. It's used for any instance where you may need a toilet. Apparently this is very very wrong.

Eating carbs

Bayliss and Harding toiletries - I would not be offended by this as a gift unless it was from my husband

(I'm with you on Thorntons though - they are nasty)

Answering the door to someone - if I see ex criminals selling stuff door to door, I dont answer, otherwise I dont have a problem with answering the door, and i get on with all of my neighbours.

Speaking to and socialising with work colleagues - i speak to, socialise (outside of work) and am friends with most of my work colleagues. I'd count many of them as friends. We buy each other birthday cards and presents and sometimes bring in cakes. (See point 1)

What are the things you've been educated on since joining MN?

@Hen2018

Not everyone can spell you’re.

Ain't that the truth

Afternoon teas. Now I know they’re a bit shit, but I am mortified that I once bought someone a voucher for one for Xmas. I lie awake sweating and wondering whether the scones were dry and the sandwiches were too small.

My fat arse. Until I joined MN, I thought being a fatso was my own business but apparently my waddling around is offensive to the eye and I should aim to get down to six stone at the most. Perhaps they’re worried I might sit on them.

@Nyz9213

Orange squash. I gave my daughter some very dilute stuff when she was little and it was hot to encourage her to stay hydrated. You’d have thought I’d given her heroin.

Agree with the work colleagues thing, some of my work colleagues have become my closest friends!

There have been loads of wedding related things I've read that people have been horrified at and I think eh?! That's entirely normal in my social circle

@Mantlemoose

I have a chiminea. I have a toilet brush. I leave my washing out overnight. I have pink and blue jobs in my house. My work colleagues are just that. I chuck all washing in together. I don't preheat my oven.

I have a toilet brush. My work colleagues are work colleagues. I don't preheat my oven.

@NCBlossom

Step mums are universally hated on mumsnet as I found out when I became one…

No idea why loo brushes are hated. You do have to scrub sometimes, what do people do?!

All children seem to have amazingly healthy food on here, and all eat up that broccoli. Where do these children come from that all happily eat broccoli?

My DNephew eats mostly healthy food but does eat the odd pasta dish and pizza etc.

However at 3 (I'm sure this will change!) he is the most unfussy child I've ever come across - it's rare he doesn't like anything and in fact he's loves his food a bit too much including broccoli. His DP's have fed him virtually the same as him though from when he was weaned and they eat most things. I mean it's not amazingly healthy though!

@SirGawain

I found out that on no account must I offer a repair man a cup of coffee, and that he is the devil incarnate if he should ask to use the loo!

naturally... how dare he use your toilet?! How dare you offer him a cup of Nescafe instant coffee?!

I think trans women are women and trans men are men etc
I have a loo brush
My husband isn't useless or a stinking couch potato
I'm a housewife and entirely financially dependent on my husband
I like having people pop by without 7 months notice and without a risk assessment
I can make a few meals from one chicken

@KeepSmiling89

Oh, eating snacks in Teams meetings/Zoom calls is apparently unacceptable... ...I NEED MY 10AM BANANA!

Tell that to my senior lawyer ex boss who happily chomped away on Bonne Maman petit fruit cakes and me occasionally on a Rich tea biscuit.

@Antinerak

I think trans women are women and trans men are men etc I have a loo brush My husband isn't useless or a stinking couch potato I'm a housewife and entirely financially dependent on my husband I like having people pop by without 7 months notice and without a risk assessment I can make a few meals from one chicken

what size chicken though?!

My DM always popped in on people with no notice, we had it done to us as a family when younger and I do the same too. No one died...

@idontlikealdi

Toilet brush Dog bowl in the dishwasher Not washing towels every day / clean pyjamas / changing bedding every day

I will NEVER leave my washing outside overnight though not because it'll get 'darked' on but because it wont dry or if it does it'll be damp with dew again in the morning

What?! People wash towels every day??!??!

Oh I've remembered others

Celebrating my birthday after the age of 16 - how very dare I, my husband and family even buy me gifts!

Family Christmas jammies, Christmas Eve boxes, Easter egg boxes - clearly just copying from America, so common

If others don't like it, cool. I do, my friends and family do, what's the problem!

@LavenderAskew

I didn't realise people doing things differently or having a different lexicon to me was such a horrific crime.

It does come across that for some posters MN is the first time they come across different people, or possibly just other people.

There's so much that can be wrong, sinful and harmful; from the horrific insult of an evening wedding invitation to pegging out your washing.

I think you have it! That's exactly what I was going to say but less elegantly.

Oh my, this is eye opening. To think of all the times I’ve unknowingly outed myself as an uncouth slob.

@idontlikealdi - my cat's bowl goes in the dishwasher - not every day but every week or so, previous cats it always has done - to give it an extra clean. Bet dishwasher will self combust now!

Meant to mention earlier: I have literally never worn knickers under my PJs. And I don't put on clean PJs daily!

And I definitely don't have 'day' and 'night' PJs as some were talking about during lockdown.

Extendable dog leads.

*"Wearing dungarees as a middle aged woman.

They seem to be absolutely loathed on MN…"*

I don't get the hate either. I've seen a few women out and about wearing them and they all looked lovely. Granted, quite tall and very slim. I wish I could wear them, but I'd need to lose a few stone pounds, or I would just look like a potato

I wore my dungarees to a job once, threw on the only clean T shirt to hand as was a bit late and only realised on arrival (when my colleague started laughing) that the t shirt was yellow.

I went to work dressed as a Minion.

I hang my washing up deliberately in the evening for it to hang over night.
I think dogs should never be off leash unless private property and actually kind of think dogs shouldn’t be pets for the majority of people.
I am a SAHM and only work part time a few hours a week even though all my kids are at school
I love making friends in the playground and have made many over the years
I only wash clothes when they smell or have visible dirt (except underwear) . Sometimes a top or trousers might not get washed for weeks
I forget to change bedding and the kids and I may well have the same bedding for weeks or months
Plenty of mums net / facebook no nos that I’m sure are very common in real life

I'm also amazed on a daily basis how MNers cope in the workplace.

They are all bullied. By everyone. People "look at them funny" or ask them how they are. Or if they're really sadistic - to do their job. There's a lot of women hating women too, especially if your old boss (who clearly let you do fuck all all day) is replaced by A Woman who expects you to actually do some work. Sisterhood huh.

If they're not being bullied by management, they're either being asked to put 50p in the kitty for a biscuit run (add carbs to horror) or even worse are invited somewhere. Or not invited somewhere. Or Denise had 45 signatures on her card and I only got 44.

Everyone seems to expect the workplace to revolve around Junior's nativity play or dental appointment. I mean, it's GREAT that most workplaces offer some flexibility these days, truly. But there are some serious piss takers on here.

Your own kids are always treated worse than their cousins. Only by MIL obvs. Except that kind of falls down when same MIL buys too many presents. Or something made of plastic.

Beauty- Botox, or a scrubbing brush and a bit of carbolic. No middle ground. Same with perfume. It must almost be a condition of subscribing to MN to get migraines if anyone so much as washes their hands in a perfumed soap, let alone have a quick spritz of Chanel at their desk. Coming into work in perfume is akin to going into work wearing Lady Gaga's corned beef frock.

It's not just mumsnet - I wanted to buy a pair of dungarees and my teen pointed out that on middle-aged women "they just scream straight tory cottage-core" - not what sure what that means but it didn't sound good

I own a toilet brush and don't change the bedsheets every other day.

Ironing in real life I know nobody who's doesn't own an iron and doing the ironing is a normal thing
Calling someone love , flower etc is rude where I'm from in the north everyone calls each other something nice and nobody rginks you are rude or insulting
Being a sahm, absolutely nobody has ever cared that I am or asked what I'll do when my husband fucks off or thinks less of me as a person

And I own a loo brush

Dungarees seem to be popular with Uni students… I’ve seen loads of them wearing them during Uni visits with DS.

I’m not Tory but I do actually quite like cottage core ( just being cosy and slow living to be honest ) and I’m vegetarian… do I get marked down ?