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Original poster

Things you didn't know weren't normal

1000 replies

Applescruffle · 08/08/2023 18:43

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

OP posts:
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Samlewis96 · 09/08/2023 15:52

EmmaEmerald · 08/08/2023 19:22

Spaniel "insurance not compulsory for vehicles and a LOT cheaper for fully comp"

driving without insurance is illegal.

I didn't know anyone peeled mushrooms!

In nz its not necessary to buy car insurance . Think the 3rd party covered by road tax

StellaAndCrow · 09/08/2023 15:53

FreeRider · 09/08/2023 00:08

@BMIwoes The no hall/porch thing really freaked me out when I first came to the UK...I still don't like it to be honest.

I also hated twilight (not the films, never seen them, the actual 'thing') when I first came here as a 9 year old. I was used to it being pitch black by 6.30pm all year round...it still being light at 10pm freaked me out!

That's really interesting about twilight FreeRider. I found the opposite when I went to work somewhere near the equator - the surprise of it getting so suddenly dark at 6 pm, with no warning! So different from anything I'd experienced before.

BarrelOfOtters · 09/08/2023 16:03

TabbyM · 09/08/2023 15:31

Have just realised that I actually miss waving madly at departing guests, all my family (now deceased or far flung) used to do this

Me too, I don't really know anyone else who does this. Certainly not my husband's family....

BarrelOfOtters · 09/08/2023 16:04

On the fairy bread theme, my mum used to have bread and butter with sugar sprinkled on it as a snack. - Scottish.

JudgeJ · 09/08/2023 16:07

DropCloths · 08/08/2023 22:44

Oh this is sad. 🤗 My parents are like yours- I’ve told my kids I love them more times just today than my parents have told me in five decades.

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Just because they didn't glibly articulate it twenty times a day didn't mean they didn't love you, sometimes today's fad for saying 'Love you' sounds false to me, virtual signalling of how good a person is. My parents never did, I'm one of those awful boomers, but I never for a moment doubted their love.

floribunda18 · 09/08/2023 16:08

Wear PJs for a couple of nights then wash them.

I wear mine for a week. Though I often shower before going to bed.

JudgeJ · 09/08/2023 16:09

OnTheRunWithMannyMontana · 09/08/2023 09:42

Re the savoury pancakes thing.

On pancake day we always have savoury pancakes with either corned beef hash, mince in gravy or chicken casserole. Then the twat of the pancakes are dessert with chocolate spread, sprinkles, lemon juice, sugar, golden syrup etc etc .

It's only very recently that I found out savoury pancakes aren't "normal"!

Savoury pancakes are wonderful, I love seafood pancakes baked with a mild cheese sauce.

JudgeJ · 09/08/2023 16:15

Applescruffle · 09/08/2023 12:03

I could never do the bread and butter in the middle of the table thing. My kids would just fill up on it and not eat their dinners.

I recall eating somewhere in the south west US and we were given a huge pile of buttered bread with our meals, we never touched it and the waitress asked if there ws something wrong with it. When we said no but we didn't eat bread with a meal and asked if their guests really ate all that, there were about 8 slices. She said Oh yes and usually ask for more!

RampantIvy · 09/08/2023 16:16

Applescruffle · 09/08/2023 11:26

I think the rhubarb thing was pretty common for your generation. My mum did this as a child (she was born 1958) and lots of people born within 10 years of her talk about it online.
She used to make rhubarb and apple crumble too.

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I wS born the same year as your mum and a stick of rhubarb dipped in sugar was a treat for us.

BarrelOfOtters · 09/08/2023 16:22

Yes to the rhubarb dipped in sugar. I was born in 1968 and we were offered that as a treat.

And we used to have bread and butter on the table for 'the boys' my very tall teenage brothers, to eat.

StellaAndCrow · 09/08/2023 16:26

chicjen · 09/08/2023 14:20

I thought this too. I remember being told about it being a secret ballot and I must've taken it to heart. Same as you I remember being shocked when someone started casually discussing their vote and asking about mine!

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Ah, thank you chicjen, nice to know I'm not alone :)

ShelfObsessed · 09/08/2023 16:27

I was born in '84 and I often had raw rhubarb dipped in sugar. I loved it.

GotMooMilk · 09/08/2023 16:27

Switcher · 08/08/2023 19:18

At children's parties in Australia, it was traditional to serve white bread with the crusts cut off, liberally spread to the edges with butter, and covered in 100s and 1000s. It was one of the things I was most excited about at my kids 5th birthday and not only did nobody eat them, all the parents were absolutely horrified and looked at me like I was a heathen!! Oh well.

An Australian family made fairy bread at their daughters party (in UK) and the kids LOVED it! All demand it everywhere now!

StellaAndCrow · 09/08/2023 16:31

JudgeJ · 09/08/2023 16:07

Just because they didn't glibly articulate it twenty times a day didn't mean they didn't love you, sometimes today's fad for saying 'Love you' sounds false to me, virtual signalling of how good a person is. My parents never did, I'm one of those awful boomers, but I never for a moment doubted their love.

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That's nice of you to say JudgeJ, but for some of us we can be pretty sure that our parents didn't love us, and were different from friends parents.

Manchestermummax3 · 09/08/2023 16:32

JudgeJ · 08/08/2023 20:54

My brother spent a lot of time finding where Random was, the place where they went to draw the winners, 'the winner was drawn at random' though he was only about 6.
A friend once spent ages looking for her car in our town in Germany, when we met up with her she told us she'd parked in on Einbahnstrasse but couldn't find it on any map. It's one way street not a street name.

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🤣

vestedinterests · 09/08/2023 16:38

Washing eggs before using them. My mother would even dry them with a tea towel before boiling them or whisking them into a cake butter Confused

Barold · 09/08/2023 16:43

MerryHen · 09/08/2023 00:04

Are either of your parents Irish by any chance?

Warm 7-up is an Irish mammy cure-all that we had all the time when we were sick. I still have it now if I've had a sickness bug, DH thinks it's bonkers but it works.

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Both Geordies! But it’s good to know my mother isn’t alone - and that there might be method to her madness! 😂

Barold · 09/08/2023 16:46

ArthnoldManacatsaman · 09/08/2023 15:36

@Barold my grandfather used to make a delicious cold remedy using warm lemonade and a big splash of whisky (not given to me as a child, I hasten to add). Best if the lemonade is slightly flat so when I have a cold now I leave some lemonade out on the side ready to pop in the microwave in the evening, provided DH hasn’t drunk it or otherwise got rid of it because he never seems to work out what I’m doing!

And another one! She’s clearly gotten it from somewhere then!

I think it’d be more effective with whiskey…

inappropriateraspberry · 09/08/2023 16:48

Just because you can peel a mushroom, doesn't mean you should! It's like peeling grapes or peaches. Mist things have a skin that is perfectly edible - like mushrooms! I've never seen a recipe that calls for peeling mushrooms.

MrsMarzetti · 09/08/2023 16:50

BarrelOfOtters · 09/08/2023 16:04

On the fairy bread theme, my mum used to have bread and butter with sugar sprinkled on it as a snack. - Scottish.

A sugar piece as it's know in Scotland but even better was a tomato sauce piece

MrsMarzetti · 09/08/2023 16:52

Barold · 09/08/2023 16:43

Both Geordies! But it’s good to know my mother isn’t alone - and that there might be method to her madness! 😂

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In the 80s when my friends little one was in Great Ormond Street for treatment, she was given 7up as it seemingly has 7 essential nutrients for poorly child.

winebreeze · 09/08/2023 17:01

Manchestermummax3 · 08/08/2023 19:31

I believed until last year (mid 30s) that Scotland Yard was in Scotland.
I always wondered why when they did press conferences they weren't Scottish & seemed to only cover stories that happened in London 🤦‍♀️

I'm 42 and only now know this after reading this thread 😂

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 09/08/2023 17:07

Mirabai · 08/08/2023 22:45

I didn’t realise that Birds custard was still a thing, I thought it had been left behind in the 70s along with Smash and Bisto (which we were never allowed), tinned fruit and spaghetti hoops.

I don't like birds custard powder - but bisto, spaghetti hoops and tinned fruit are still a thing in my house .

Peanut butter on its own or with jam or marmite - never with butter . Although - I only eat butter on cold toast as I don't like it melted .

Growing up we used to have weetabix with butter and honey on instead of milk .

People mentioning the bread in the middle of the table growing up - I think this should be reinstated today with everything being so expensive . We used to have bread with gravy at the end of our meal if we were still hungry .

ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea · 09/08/2023 17:09

Ejismyf · 08/08/2023 22:45

I'm baffled that whole families will use the same towel to dry themselves without washing it. So dry yourself, face and bits then hang it up to dry and the next person uses the same towel? What if your daughters are on their period? Or do you mean use it and then wash it after its been used and anyone can use it next time?

Separate towel for face . If the towel is dirty then it gets washed - if it's clean it doesn't .

RampantIvy · 09/08/2023 17:12

But doesn't everyone in your house have their own towel @Ejismyf?

I don't like sharing bath towels. Don't most people have their own?

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