Page 17 | Things you didn't know weren't normal

Applescruffle · 2023-08-08T17:43:07+00:00

What are things you thought every one or every family did until you became an adult or entered a new relationship? I'll start. I thought that everyone ate the leftover yorkshires after a roast dinner as desert eg: fill them with cream and fruit or custard or something, basically use them like you would a pancake... no? I thought everyone peeled mushrooms, I didn't know that not only do people not peel mushrooms, lots don't even know they have peel!! 😱 I'll probably think of more. Nb: I'm not meaning to trigger anyone's childhood or relationship trauma, I just mean lighthearted things x

Wacadu · 08/08/2023 23:03

I had no idea until I met my first husband that not everybody puts milk in tinned tomato soup.

My mum always used to tell me that eating more than 1 yoghurt a day would give me a really sore stomach.

katseyes7 · 08/08/2023 23:05

DropCloths l'm like you, l've gone completely the opposite way. I don't have children of my own, but l have stepsons, and l tell them l love them every time l see or speak to them, and they tell me.
My best friend (the same one from all the time ago) and l tell each other 'l love you' every day on the phone.

Even when l've had pets, l've told them l love them every day. And hugged them.
I remember my mam telling me that after her cousin had died, the cousin's son had rung my mam, and he must have been pretty upset on the phone, because he blurted out "My mother never told me she loved me!" My mam replied with "l've never told katseyes that l love her, l don't need to."
But she did. Need to tell me. Still never did, though.
And I'm very much a hugger. My friends and l at work even hug each other if we're having a bad day, or we've had bad or good news. It's just nice.

SuperGinger · 08/08/2023 23:05

I thought the Austrian artist Egon Schiele was called Egg on Shell. Dh has never let me live this down

RampantIvy · 08/08/2023 23:06

Not me but a friend. I am originally from London, but have lived in Yorkshire for many years. At a formal dinner dance held by the Yorkshire branch of a trade association one of the people giving a speech said how lovely it was to have Yorkshire pudding as a first course with onion gravy (which is very much a Yorkshire tradition).

My friend told me that she had no idea that other people didn't have Yorkshire pudding as a separate course before the meat.

DropCloths · 08/08/2023 23:06

SuperGinger · 08/08/2023 23:05

I thought the Austrian artist Egon Schiele was called Egg on Shell. Dh has never let me live this down

I can’t stop laughing 😂

DragonScreeches · 08/08/2023 23:07

inappropriateraspberry · 08/08/2023 23:02

That's not a banana split! It has to have ice cream in the middle then whipped or squirty cream on top. Then a sprinkling of chocolate chips, sprinkles, fruit or whatever you like.

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I know! It was the seventies and we were pretty poor and I knew no better at the time. It was a teatime treat that my lovely dad invented in lieu of the sort of dessert you describe.

CaramelMac · 08/08/2023 23:07

I didn’t realise that other people didn’t eat the whole apple including the core and the twiggy bit on top until I did it at work to my colleagues horror!

Summertimesunshineandfizz · 08/08/2023 23:08

DropCloths · 08/08/2023 19:11

Having butter and peanut butter on toast. Totally normal in my family, every time I've done it in front of someone else they've reacted as if I'm eating like late era Elvis.

How else would you have it?? Totally normal!

DropCloths · 08/08/2023 23:09

katseyes7 · 08/08/2023 23:05

DropCloths l'm like you, l've gone completely the opposite way. I don't have children of my own, but l have stepsons, and l tell them l love them every time l see or speak to them, and they tell me.
My best friend (the same one from all the time ago) and l tell each other 'l love you' every day on the phone.

Even when l've had pets, l've told them l love them every day. And hugged them.
I remember my mam telling me that after her cousin had died, the cousin's son had rung my mam, and he must have been pretty upset on the phone, because he blurted out "My mother never told me she loved me!" My mam replied with "l've never told katseyes that l love her, l don't need to."
But she did. Need to tell me. Still never did, though.
And I'm very much a hugger. My friends and l at work even hug each other if we're having a bad day, or we've had bad or good news. It's just nice.

Totally agree ❤️

Tulipvase · 08/08/2023 23:09

JudgeJ · 08/08/2023 22:32

I was about 15 when we realised that I use my left hand for slicing, peeling, buttering even though I write right handed, I've since realised that my left hand is dominent, if I am picking something up I use my left hand and so on.

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I am right handed but can only wink (in a manner of speaking) with my left eye.

katseyes7 · 08/08/2023 23:09

Theblacksheepandme Oh bless you, I'm sorry!
I'm not in a relationship now, but l have my stepsons and amazing friends who l love, and vice versa.
I still have my 'best friend' from 50 years ago, and every time we speak on the phone, or we see each other (we lived hundreds of miles apart) we tell each other "l love you." And we hug. A lot.
I'm so grateful to have her. And that l had her family back then.

bluebeardswife7 · 08/08/2023 23:11

DropCloths · 08/08/2023 19:11

Having butter and peanut butter on toast. Totally normal in my family, every time I've done it in front of someone else they've reacted as if I'm eating like late era Elvis.

Like the last days of Rome

budgiegirl · 08/08/2023 23:11

coloursofthewind9 · 08/08/2023 20:32

I used to think hairbands were called "pretties", and remotes "zappers". This i just what we called them in my family for some reason.

We called the remote a 'doofer' when I was a child. I assumed it was a word my dad had made up, until I saw it as one of the top ten answers on Tenable last year!

Loveduvetdays · 08/08/2023 23:13

RubyFlint · 08/08/2023 20:35

That sheep had two shorter legs on one side for walking around hills.

Cheers Grandad

This gets the prize! It's made me laugh so much 😂

Wanttobefree2 · 08/08/2023 23:14

DropCloths · 08/08/2023 19:04

What are "leftover yorkshires"?

My exact question :-)

terrywynne · 08/08/2023 23:14

This thread has made me remember that there was a relative we used to visit who served these oat pancake things. You soaked oats overnight with milk, then added an egg and mixed. You then fried little pancake/griddle cakes in oil and ate with salt and pepper (or honey). I have just tried googling them and cannot find anything similar - they weren't oatcakes because you are them when they were hot and soft not dried out. Was this just some personal invention or has anyone else come across this?

Mirabai · 08/08/2023 23:15

Were they “Staffordshire oat cakes”? Not like a Scottish oatcake - ie a dry biscuit - but a pancake made from oats. They’re delicious I found them in Sainsburys.

Tinker766 · 08/08/2023 23:16

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This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

Russooooo · 08/08/2023 23:17

RubyFlint · 08/08/2023 20:35

That sheep had two shorter legs on one side for walking around hills.

Cheers Grandad

This one made me spit out my cocoa. Brilliant!

It also sounds exactly like something my grandad would have said 😂

cheers grandad x

Ilovetea33 · 08/08/2023 23:17

I also eat bread with butter and paté.
And when I eat a kiwi, I cut it in half and scoop it out with a spoon. I would never eat the skin.

Coinicon · 08/08/2023 23:17

Not me but my friend thought the festival “Party in the Park” was called “Pie in the Park” for the longest time due to people not pronouncing the “T” 🤣

TeenLifeMum · 08/08/2023 23:17

@UncleRadley yes, savoury pancakes. Although ours had baked beans not kidney beans because dad won’t eat tomatoes so that was the compromise. Love them still.

distinctpossibility · 08/08/2023 23:18

Acquaintance at uni had moved from overseas, living in a freezing cold shared house and finding it hard. We suggested a hot water bottle, only for her to report the next day that she didn't understand the fuss - the water didn't stay hot, and it tasted rubbery. We hadn't explained it very well!

I thought jitties (alleyways) were called "sneaky legs" until my mid 20s.

FrostieBoabby · 08/08/2023 23:19

That spaghetti bolonaise has beef mince in it and is sprinkled with parmesan.

We only has pasta and dolmio sauce as my Mum had an absolute mad cow disease phobia, it was the 90's and parmesan was too cheesy.

First time my now DH made spagbol I was so confused...

SmoothSeasDoNotMakeGoodSailors · 08/08/2023 23:20

bringthecactusin · 08/08/2023 22:01

The first Christmas after my brother got married we went round for the day and his wife says "Do you do that weird thing your brother does where you take your presents away to open them in a separate room by yourself in silence"....YES I DO BECAUSE WE THOUGHT THAT WAS NORMAL!

I have idea how this came about. We weren't a very social or close family when we were growing up. Mum would just hand me a pile of presents then disappear off. Dad would be out at church or in the pub or still asleep. When my brother woke up he would be handed his presents and Mum would again disappear back into the kitchen or wherever by which point I'd usually be in another room. So opening presents alone in silence was the norm. I did this for so many years it now feels really sort of vulnerable opening them in front of others because they see what you got, and your reaction.

I only realised in my thirties that this wasn't normal when I stayed with friends. I was handed my pile of presents and cracked on opening them quietly and discretely. Then 5 minutes later we were all made to sit in a big circle and open them in turn, with her Dad filming each of us. And we have laughed about it, but it's all like Uncle Dave opening his jumper and saying "Thanks Mavis" and getting to walk across and circle to give his SiL a peck on the cheek, etc etc, and then the camera turns to me, and its very clear I just want to crawl underneath my chair and all I say is "I already opened them. Thanks everyone" and then the camera moves onto the next person. 🙈 🤣. Its just so EXPOSING opening presents in front of others!

My Brother has joyfully embraced the normal way of unwrapping presents at Christmas and birthdays and makes us all gather round, but it still makes me itch so given the choice I'd still rather do it alone in solace and silence.

Oh @bringthecactusin this hit me like a punch in the stomach. DF cancelled Christmas one year when I was in my early 20s. I'd travelled 7 hours to be home for Christmas, had all their presents wrapped up and mine from friends waiting to be put under the tree. I got home, no tree, no decorations, nothing. He said he couldn't be bothered that year (it was because my sister had decided not to spend it there that year, the fact that I had didn't seem to make a difference). So I sat on my bed at the stroke of midnight with a glass of wine and opened my presents on my own. I gave my parents theirs the next day and had nothing in return, not even a card. Poor mum was upset but he didn't care about that either. We had stew for dinner.