Things that would apall your grandmother?

[LunaMay]

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...

@Roselilly36

Aww my nanny was so lovely but yes she wouldn’t have liked tattoos on women, they were only for men serving in the Navy, drinking alcohol, I don’t think she ever did, not even on special occasions. I miss her loads, she was always so supportive.

In fairness, I don’t like tattoos, hate them. Women or men. I’d be pretty “ugh” to find one of my kids had them so I don’t ask . I’m in my 50s . I don’t think I’m that unusual. It’s a relatively new thing in course of my lifetime.

@LadyGAgain

My Nana was fabulous. Gentle. A true lady. Traditional - family first. Came from nothing and appreciated everything she and my grandpa worked for.

She would hate my hoop earrings "only gypsy rose Lee wears hoops".

Some of my knickers have seen better days. If I was wearing said pair and needed to go to hospital she would be appalled. Best underwear every day was her motto... in case you need an ambulance.

From my early to late teens part of my Christmas present from nanna was a bunch of new knickers and fancier toiletries! Embarrassing opening them in front of uncles etc. but i did love it. She would say 'what if you got hit by a bus' in relation to old/no undies

My nan wouldn't have been shocked by much, she was laid back, cleaned in pubs until her 80s, so wouldn't be shocked to see women working, drinking or in pubs. She was a terrible cook, bless her.
But...she would have been horrified by me letting my silver grow out in my 40s, as she wore a black wig from 50 onwards. It was only in her 90s she stopped and we saw the most beautiful thick head of silver hair.

That I’m 29 and still not married

That I earn more than DP.

I’m sure she thinks women still all work together in a typing pool. She’s always asking me if the “girls” I work with are nice. And if we go on holiday or something nice she’ll say “oohhh DP does treat you well”. Actually I lead a team of men and pay for the majority of our holidays but she’s too old and too far down the line with dementia to understand what the world is like nowadays.

My mother would have made exactly the same comment about the potato peeler!! Brought up in WW2, waste not want not was the mantra, and it still applies today. I'm horrified and appalled at the stuff some people waste and throw away, especially foodstuffs. "People are starving in some countries " was another of my mums regular pronouncements, which again, is absolutely true!!

I don't think she would have been appalled by anything, to be honest. I had my first child at nineteen, which raised some eyebrows, but she had hers at seventeen. She was a bit wild herself. She drank, smoked, rode a motorbike, listened to rock music and, not something to be proud of, but had a couple of affairs. I wish she hadn't died so young because I'm the black sheep in my fundamentalist religious family and I would have loved to have somebody non-judgemental to talk to. She still did more typical nan things like knitting and sewing. She made her own clothes and accessories and I still have some of the things she knitted for me. I did learn to knit two years ago and I'm pretty good now. Wish I'd had her here showing me but I think she'd be proud.

My other nan is still alive and is a racist homophobe. She refused to see a grandson she hadn't seen for twenty odd years because he's gay. She hadn't seen him for twenty odd years because he and his mother had to do a moonlight flit to escape my abusive uncle. Her violent son is fine though - her pride and joy. She was over the moon when Donald trump was president because there was finally a real Christian in charge. I avoid her as much as possible.

Going out looking scruffy. My gran would curl her hair and put a full face of makeup on before nipping to the post office.

Eating in the street was a definite no no.

@Grenlei

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.

My nan had a piece of bread and butter before bed every night. Not sure if that was just a her thing or something others did

My Nan was a terrible cook and peeling potatoes was about the only thing she did in the kitchen, so the potato peelings wouldn’t have fazed her!

She would however have been appalled that I haven’t worn a slip for at least the last 32 years. She was adamant about underskirts 🤣

Going out with slightly wet hair
Not 'airing' the beds properly

My grandma (born 1915) was obsessed with catching a chill and damp!

Going bare-legged anywhere other than the beach. A lady wore shoes and socks or shoes and hose at all times to all events. A true lady also wore a girdle/corset out in public.

Snacks that I give to my children.

She loved cooking mainly with was with animal fats and lard. My nan lived until 94 and my granddad is still alive at 96!

Going out with wet hair, or not immediately drying my hair with a hair dryer.

My hair is really heat sensitive and no matter how much heat protection spray I use, one or two blow dries seem to frazzle my hair or make it completely untameable until my next cut, so I wring it out, comb it, and let it air dry. If it's still wet or damp when I need to go somewhere, c'est la vie.

My nan thinks id catch my death of cold, and it's a cardinal sin, and people can't see me with weeeet haaaaiiir

The amount of food waste probably from restaurants and homes these days would probably shock her and rips in jeans, she always patched mine with fabric from behind, felt uncool at the time but I never removed the patches and I wish I'd kept some jeans that she did for me.

Lovely thread. My grandmothers were both very particular about their own lives but very tolerant of everybody else's. I used to think though whenever I was watching 'Rich Bitch' by Die Antwoord, which at one point I did a lot, how literally everything about it would be so alien and horrifying to my grandmothers. Or my mother tbh.

Granny:

Smoking in the street. She smoked like a chimney but only in the house. I don't smoke but my brother did and she'd not be happy....

Playing cards on a Sunday. Devils work (remarkably unreligious except for this).

Not cooking everything from scratch

Grandma:

Not making the best of myself every day. She was a plain woman but immaculately dressed with real flair. Great use of colour, face of make up and costume jewellery every day. She was very arty (played in an orchestra, painted, photographed) and expressed herself through how she looked so my crappy harem pants and hoody would upset her.

Both of them - my utterly appalling language.

I've thought of another - she would have been appalled that I don't do any ironing. She used to iron everything, even socks and pants!

The way some parents treat teachers. One of my grandmothers was a primary school head teacher.

My grandmother was a nurse during ww2 and i would say she saw just about everything there was to see, i imagine she would probably be shocked that dd's girlfriend is staying over in her bedroom tonight, but i never met her so can't be sure.

My dad's mother - not going to church, two of her grandchildren not baptised, not having home made fruit cake and cheese in the house to offer guests.

My mother's mother.

When I learned to ride a motorbike I found out she had ridden one too, even though she didn't have a licence, believed every day should start with a swig of brandy and wasn't appalled by much.

My Granny would have had a fit at me buying just roll out frozen pastry. She made mouth watering pastry and I still miss her sausage rolls. She would never in a hundred years buy ready made or frozen ones.

Being out after dark.
My grandma was always very clear that only certain types of people left their homes after dark.

Nothing. My nana was warm and fun and open minded with a wicked sense of humlur and an open mind. She was married to a grumpy man and so am I. I hope I am like her.

Interesting to hear about the potato peelers! My grandma never used a peeler but she had one specific knife she used which she sharpened on a regular basis.

She was born in 1901 so lived through both world wars & understandably hated waste.

She was appalled by knickers that covered less than your belly button & had been known to pick up a thong in M&S and very loudly say "what's the point of this? This is what yuppies wear I suppose? (1980's I seem to recall we heard a lot about those yuppies from London.)

On the whole though she was a nice person. Mum was her only child, born at 42. Partly because she had "married late" having chosen to have a career first & then because WW2 intervened & grandad was sent to war shortly after their wedding.

Nothing. She was way ahead of her years. Born into barefoot poverty, she had a great career (pre-marriage), never stopped learning, smoked, drank, took Valium and back when other people had limited clothing she had seven wardrobes busting at the seams. She rode a motorcycle across the Sahara and travelled the world.

Although I’m a single parent who’s made questionable choices, she’s have shrugged, offered me a g&t, b&h and a rifle through her wardrobe.