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 inlaws washed raw chicken breasts in the same water as washing up their bowls and spoons!

Eww that's grim! 🤢🤢🤢

Another only child here with a DM like Hyacinth Bucket. Can relate to eating in silence & please pass the salt, etc.
As a young child my DM would ask me every day ‘Have you evacuated your bowels today?’
and on the bus ‘Would you please moderate your voice’.
All very strange.

My ILs are pretty normal but my parents are / were quite odd.

My Dad died in 2022 but he used to email me to ask me to buy two copies of the Radio Times if I was going to come and visit. He and my Mum didn't like sharing their copies with each other. The thing is, my Mum never watched telly - she might watch the odd thing on player but that was about it.

My Dad used to have sport on the telly in two different rooms. Then he would pace between them, taking a drag on the ciggie that he had lit in the ashtray in each room.

My Mum GUARDS the kitchen sink. She gets very upset if someone else uses it, even to get a glass of water.

My dh guards the kitchen sink. If I'm using it he'll come across to find out what I'm doing and I can't get to it at all if he's in the kitchen. It's so weird.

When the in laws were alive they had a really old kitchen and the sink pipe had a problem with it so fil had inserted a narrower bore plastic pipe down it thus reducing the rate and ability of the water to drain down it. I was instructed never to allow any water or bits down it. The washing up bowl had to be carried through to the scullery to empty. Washing up took forever and I was used to washing up under the hot tap running and no bowl so it made me feel sick to be expected to wash dishes in lukewarm, greasy washing up water. They were confused as to why I kept emptying the bowl.

They weren't poor and fil had been an engineer so quite why they put up with this stupid malfunctioning sink was beyond me.

Oh I like the sound of that. Non negotiable time to pause….

I’m totally with your OH’s family on this! I can’t stand the whole “I was just passing, I just thought I’d pop in…” business. What if I don’t want someone “popping in”? I could be blitzing the housework, or having a lazing in my pants day… I don’t see how it’s like making an appointment with the dentist. Surely it’s just checking if it’s convenient?

My sister is the same. It feels wrong to walk past her house and not knock and say hi. But we need an appointment. Even phone calls are not answered.
DPs family are totally different.

Staying at the ILs house while they were away. Listening to all the clocks ticking (five in one room) we were laughing about how they all told a different time. Bearing in mind the ILs took five or six holidays a year all over the world, we labelled all the clocks with "London" or "New York" or "Paris". We thought it was hilarious but when they came back, they never mentioned it to us ...so that was a bit flat.

I don’t want to hijack the thread, but why does it “feel wrong” to walk past her house when you know that’s what she’d prefer?

@StockpotSoup because it feels like walking past her in the street. I mean if she told me to walk past her in the street I would do it, but it would feel very wrong to do so.

My ILs put soured cream out with pudding. Please someone tell me why and if this has ever been a thing? Is it retro? 15 years and I still can’t get an answer as to why they think soured cream goes with banoffee pie, Christmas Yule log, birthday cake, scones (yes I know! Scones! It’s practically criminal)

DH and BIL ask every time “mum where’s the normal cream?” So it’s not like it’s a thing they grew up with. When MIL is asked why she put soured cream out she just giggles and brushes it aside without an answer. And they never have an alternative, my BIL had started bringing a stash of double cream to family BBQs 😂 This year though everyone forgot on Christmas Day and there it was, 2 tubs of soured cream on the table next to the Yule log. I must know why! It keeps me awake at night! 🤣

@Avocadot0ast does anyone have the sour cream or does it just get put away again?

My Nan is 100 and still does this now. We always have lights on, so I struggle with sitting in the dark.

@DuploTrain no one touches it, it just goes back in the fridge. It baffles me every time.

That’s barmy @Avocadot0ast. It almost feels like a puritanical kind of punishment! Does your MIL disapprove of people eating desserts? Does she secretly want to spoil them? 😂

Sorry but this complete overeaction made me laugh.
I wash my cat don't ask in the kitchen sink.
Still alive

@Jellycats4life I have come to the conclusion that my ILs, while wonderful, are batshit crazy 😂 It took a solid 5 minutes to explain why my DD, who has never liked meat and refuses to eat it, wouldn’t eat the Quiche Lorraine they had served her. Even me then clarifying it has ham in it didn’t get the light bulb moment I was expecting.

@Avocadot0ast there is something about a little bit of soured cream or natural yogurt with a very rich chocolate pud, not convinced about banoffee pie though!

@Klingfilm I did think it might be a sort of substitute for natural yogurt and thought it might also go well with fruit and I’ve used it in baking. The banoffee pie stumped me the most too, as it has whipped cream on top so mixing soured cream with that sounded vile! I still haven’t recovered from it being put out to go on scones though.

I was going to say this, it does go well with some rich, sweet usually chocolate desserts.

Some of these posts are absolute gold.

It reminds me of my nan, who kept trying to sell me on the value of Cod Liver Oil capsules, despite knowing I was vegetarian. She just kept saying “But there’s no taste”, no matter how many times we spelled it out that people who don’t eat fish are not going to swallow tablets literally made from their livers.

No they don't...I wonder if they just leave it out all night? Theor bedroom's probably pretty chilly!

I was today years old (36 🙈) when I realised cod liver oil was made from the oil of cods livers. How on earth did I never realise?!?!

Messages in Ireland too.