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Original poster

Things that would apall your grandmother?

155 replies

LunaMay · 20/03/2022 08:38

Lighthearted - just missing my nanna thinking about this.

I was making a quick dinner while my mum was over and hovering about while chatting. The plan was some homemade chips and i grabbed a small knife and began peeling potatoes, next thing i get a playful slap on the shoulder and a reminder that my nan would have been appalled at me 'wasting so much potato' by not using a peeler.

Made me smile because i had that conversation with her plenty of times when she was still around. She never clicked on that i don't reuse teabags, that the clothes dryer wasn't just for emergencies, that i use fresh oil and dont have a frying pan in the cupboard with fat/oil older than me in it...

OP posts:
LethargeMarg · 20/03/2022 09:19

Swearing and blaspheming

Bramshott · 20/03/2022 09:20

That I wash my hair every day. She never did stop trying to get me to give up that 'dangerous' habit!

Fernandina · 20/03/2022 09:23

Eating in the street.

Wearing trousers, and (God forbid) jeans.

Getting divorced.

Being a 'career girl' instead of giving up work immediately on marriage and devoting my life to being a housewife.

Not scrubbing the front step to within an inch of its life every week, and as for the skirting boards...

zafferana · 20/03/2022 09:24

Walking down the street carrying a cup of coffee - she'd think that was awful. You should always sit down to have a cup of coffee and she'd never use a mug either - always a cup and saucer. She had a hatred of mugs!

And swearing/blaspheming - she always told me off for 'taking the Lord's name in vain'. She'd be appalled that my DC aren't christened too.

Drinkyourweaklemondrink · 20/03/2022 09:26

My grandma also hated dr martens and leggings as she said they made me look like max wall.

Things that would apall your grandmother?
zafferana · 20/03/2022 09:30

Oh yes and doing anything on a Sunday. Sunday was 'the day of rest' and the only things that were acceptable were going to church, making lunch and doing quiet things like sewing, reading, etc. Shopping for anything on a Sunday except the paper was a big no-no.

Fluffruff · 20/03/2022 09:31

Eating in the street (my mother doesn’t like it too), I once asked her why and she said a) it’s vulgar and b) if there is someone nearby who can’t afford to buy food it’s not very fair on them - be discreet etc.

Granny would have been appalled at elbows on the table and also my kids jumping up and down from the table. I try to get them to stay seated but it is hard!

doodlejump1980 · 20/03/2022 09:34

Visiting the cemetery. In our family (that generation) only the men-folk should go to the graveside at funerals. 🙄

romdowa · 20/03/2022 09:34

Not using coasters for your cup, not setting the table , using the milk carton instead of a jug and not using a butter dish 🤣 she liked meal times to be proper.

WellNotReally · 20/03/2022 09:36

Not standing up when the Queen came on TV.

Doing anything on a Sunday.

Not wearing an overall to clean in.

DoraSpenlow · 20/03/2022 09:38

My lovely Nan, born 1894, had such a hard life. Her mother died at 23 and her father at 31. Both were dead before she married. Farmer's wife, lost her first child at a few days old, another at 12 and a son killed in WW2.

What would she be apalled by?

Doing anything more than feeding people on a Sunday. Certainly not doing any like washing and (gasp) hanging it out.

Not dressing in your best clothes on a Sunday.

Not getting properly dressed as soon as you got up. No lolling about in your pyjamas unless it was bedtime.

Children and teenagers answering their parents back.

Girls going to school with their arses hanging out of their skirts.

My lovely Nan, I miss her. She was strict, didn't stand for ANY nonsense but loved us all dearly, as we loved her.

Roselilly36 · 20/03/2022 09:40

@zafferana

Walking down the street carrying a cup of coffee - she'd think that was awful. You should always sit down to have a cup of coffee and she'd never use a mug either - always a cup and saucer. She had a hatred of mugs!

And swearing/blaspheming - she always told me off for 'taking the Lord's name in vain'. She'd be appalled that my DC aren't christened too.

Yes, always, always a China cup & saucer, never a mug.
Grenlei · 20/03/2022 09:40

My nanna was very much live and let live so I don't think much would have appalled her. Other than people being low carb. Bread and butter was her staple diet, she definitely wouldn't have got people not eating either/ both.

She would definitely have struggled with the concept of the internet, she was baffled enough by decimalisation.

Grenlei · 20/03/2022 09:44

Oh yes, a pp has reminded me of another - kids answering back to parents or any other adult, generally pissing about in public/ on buses etc. Nanna smacked all her children regularly and would be appalled that smacking is not a thing now. I'm sure in her mind that would be the cause of so many children behaving badly.

This thread has really made me miss her, the angry tiny Italian that she was.

Dollyparton3 · 20/03/2022 09:49

I remember my gran being in awe of me getting my first flat when I was 21 (rented but she was still gobsmacked by it)

I wish she was here to see me married for the 2nd time, both of us retaining our own financial independence to a degree and me definitely wearing the trousers

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 20/03/2022 09:55

The thing that came immediately to mind is eating in the street. TBH I don't do it, I'm not co-ordinated enough to eat and walk, but it is sooo common place now she would have been horrified.

Eating with your fingers. She went into a McDonald's once in her whole life and couldn't eat anything due to the lack of cutlery and crockery. Mum stopped her from complaining.

Eating in front of the TV.

Living with my husband before we married.

I think my Mum had already appalled her with things like not wearing a hat, not wearing gloves, not having her children baptized etc. She wore trousers so didn't mind that (although not for church or smart occasions).

DisplayPurposesOnly · 20/03/2022 09:55

I remember in the 70s/80s my nan (born 1909) that my mum (born 1949) didnt wear a girdle. Now lots of people wear 'shapewear', she'd be happy with that Grin

Justsaying22 · 20/03/2022 09:57

That my bedroom is messy…

LemonsLimes · 20/03/2022 09:58

Hanging washing on a sunday

furmumma · 20/03/2022 09:59

Both of my late grandmothers were very open minded and adventurous. think the only thing they'd be appalled at would be if I ever stayed in an unhappy situation, they'd tell me life was too short for that. So taking on their advice I'm in a very happy marriage and in a job that I love.

MinglingFlamingo · 20/03/2022 10:02

That I wear nail varnish and got my ears pierced.

How much time people spend using phones and technology it was really a thing when she died.

MayMorris · 20/03/2022 10:05

@RosieposiePuddingandPi

That I went to uni instead of getting married and having kids asap. That I work full time instead of staying at home. That I sometimes swear in general conversation. That I let the DC have 'picnics' on the living room floor for tea. That I only have two DC! She would be very disapproving if she was still about Grin
Gosh the bit about uni is sad My grandmother (I’m in my late 50s) passed the test to get into grammer school. Her father would not let her go. She had to leave school at 14 and go into service. She was a very sharp cookie, never moaned that she was deprived of an education. But when I got my degree, she cried. Literally never seen her cry before. Wasn’t necessarily close to her by that time- I was talking to her on a pay phone and could hear her sobbing . She was so proud that finally a girl form the family had been able to get a full education and got to uni. Both my elder brothers had got degrees, but she didn’t respond to them in same way,
user1493494961 · 20/03/2022 10:06

Bad spelling.

Squiff70 · 20/03/2022 10:06

The amount of dust on my TV stand. I can virtually hear my late grandma tutting every time I look at it.

0blio · 20/03/2022 10:07

I saw that one of the big DIY shops were selling brand new, pristine white cloths for cleaning garden furniture and knew for sure my grandmother would have been appalled by that - but then so was I!

Also, me wearing jeans, not wearing an apron, not wearing a vest all year round, not putting curlers in my hair, not wearing lipstick when I go out - a pretty endless list really.