What’s a weird thing your In-Laws do?

[FirstFallopians]

I was thinking there about how my BIL maintains that all families are a little bit weird to someone else.

Thought he was being flippant but then I remembered that my in-laws keep their family toothbrushes and toothpaste in a drawer in their bathroom. If you need a bit of floss after Sunday lunch you need to stick your hand into a sticky, damp mass of plastic and bristles.

What slightly weird things do your in-laws do?

My ex in-laws used to offer medication round as if it were sweets or biscuits. So, ex-MIL would have a headache and would go and get a packet of paracetamol from a drawer, and would then offer them round to everyone else, holding them out like a box of chocolates. "Would anyone else like a paracetamol? Son, do you want one? Manatee, would you like one?"

Ex FIL used to do the same with Gaviscon. 'Would anyone like some Gaviscon?' Nobody in the room would have indicated that they had indigestion or anything. It wouldn't be after a heavy meal, even. You could pop for half an hour mid-morning on a Saturday and get offered Gaviscon simply because ex FIL fancied some. I assume he suffered from reflux or something but why would he think everyone else would?

They also used to offer Lemsip as a standard hot drink. So, you'd be offered tea or coffee, and if you said no thanks, they'd say 'I've got Lemsip, if you prefer?' The first time this happened I said 'Oh, I haven't got a cold or anything?' and they didn't see this was any bar to refusing Lemsip.

I do all of these things

My nana used to do the same with lemsip. I had completely forgotten. In cold winters nights she would have a lemsip before bed instead of a cup of tea.

FFS, this is a lighthearted thread. Nobody's 'judging' you, just saying that sometimes things other people's families do seem slightly odd to people who aren't from that family. Nobody's saying there's anything WRONG with it, just that it seems slightly weird TO THEM because it's not what they're used to.

Not wanting to spend every single birthday with every single family member doesn't mean someone doesn't love their bloody family for god's sake.

My in laws had a set time for coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. The first time I visited they offered me coffee mid morning and I asked for tea instead. They looked a bit taken aback, but made me a tea.

My parents got very regimented after they retired. It wasn't until my mum died I realised that my dad had early dementia and the regimented routine helped him cope. I have no idea if that is why it was put in place.

Omg I love this 😂
This thread should be a sitcom

Fil died a few years ago, I didn't know him well but he used to eat porridge with salt and pepper. Then come out with the no true scotsman fallacy.
Man I dont care, eat your porridge however you want. But it was his thing.

Mil seems ok, but refused to sit for hours on Christmas day. She came about 12 ish and didnt sit down til 5pm. Shes nearly 90 ffs. Just sit, I'm fine, I got this dinner thing sorted.

My parents been gone a long time so DP never met them. But I'm sure they had some batshit things they did. I just dont remember them.

One sil wont let us in the kitchen. I've never seen her kitchen. No idea why.

I realise we might seem odd to others. I always use a plate and cutlery for takeaways such as fish and chips. I also never go downstairs without showering and dressing first.

My in-laws have the extraordinary knack of connecting dots that simply aren’t there and presenting the new story as ‘truth’. I’ve twice come off the phone to them where they have relayed something that happened to me that week based for example on something as simple as me sharing a local lost cat poster on facebook. None of the rest of the story happened. I didn’t know the cat, the owners, help organise a search of the towns garages or take the day off work to do so! They had told family and friends about my acts of civic duty too. I now restrict their view of my posts on Facebook.

Both in-laws and parents do the weird not quite a bin thing. I get their reasoning but we have a proper pedal bin.

Oh the hot plates juggle too. Be careful, they’re hot! Except they never are and I cannot fathom the performance.

@cancany174 Haha, I love this! Outstanding nana-type behaviour.

When I stayed at my nan's house, she would get us to clean our teeth before bed... and then would immediately give us a cup of very sugary cocoa and a Penguin biscuit to take up to bed with us afterwards. No idea what she thought the purpose of brushing teeth actually was!

I do this! I don't sit at the table to eat it, but I do usually heat the plates (hate cold pizza) and eat it with a knife and fork as I'm too messy otherwise.

@Aquamarine1029 Nope, she's never needed a plate. She stays in hotels and eats our or with family who provide meals (and plates). When asked she just says 'just in case' and looks at us as though we're bonkers.

She'll come and stay for a week and forget to bring socks or something but the plate is never forgotten

I love the lemsip before bed story 🥰

What utter heathens! I can't abide a "dry" dinner.

Your MIL is a Legend.

My FIL keeps his bread in the fridge and eats it in strict date order: oldest first. Only, there’s often a 3 or 4 loaf backlog and he hasn’t eaten nice fresh bread at home for 40 years. I have tried suggesting that he throws away all the old bread and just eats the newest loaf but he can’t throw food away because he remembers the war.

He also breaks down his ablutions into such a lengthy process during which he must wash his face first and some time later he goes for his shower. He complains about his long it takes for him to get ready in the morning but when I suggested he washed his face whilst he was in the shower, he was horrified.

My auntie's parents were like this, except there were scheduled times for ALL hot drinks. My uncle always takes great delight in telling us that people would visit them and would have to sit there unrefreshed until the designated time for hot drinks. When he'd been there a couple of times (and was engaged to their daughter at this point) he'd arrived at 2pm (so, after lunch) and after an hour or so he decided he knew them well enough to offer to put the kettle on himself, and said 'Shall I make us all a nice pot of tea?' and his future MIL said 'In this house we don't have a cup of tea until 4 o'clock, thank you.'

@Mochudubh I wish I could live that life. Sounds fab! I am gaining weight just reading it. Topping it off with ciggy mwah👌

It is a bit.

Mushy peas on Christmas dinner (which was brought to the table already served up so I didn’t even get the opportunity to say I didn’t want any).

Plus MIL and FIL never sit to the table when they have guests. They’ll invite you round for a meal, but won’t join you at the table… it’s very odd. FIL eats his in front of the TV and MIL insists that she has a teeny tiny appetite and is so full from her breakfast that she can’t fit anything else in. Except she sneaks food constantly so obviously is hungry, she just doesn’t want us to know that she eats?

My in laws won’t eat unless they’ve got a cup of tea. We’ve had them turn up at ours after a long journey completely starving because although they bought a sandwich to have on the way, they couldn’t eat it because they couldn’t get any tea.

Also my MIL wouldn’t let my husband have a glass of water if lunch was soup, because soup is enough of a drink. Should probably ask if she still had tea 🤣

That is really sad.

That is fucking WILD. 🙃

Yuck my Exh did that. So gross

My BIL won't let any of his family into his flat. I asked him once that if I just turned up, would he let me in. He said no! Nobody has been in there. I am convinced he's got a sex dungeon.