what does your MUM regard as normal household practice that you DONT

[WilliamGray]

washing rice

turnign matresses

[themoon66]

Was going to type up a long list of stuff, but after reading through this thread it seems to be all covered. Apart from ceiling washing. Ceiling washing is done monthly in my mum's house... a household of non-smokers I might add.

[WilliamGray]

yes what is this AIRING thing

[maidamess]

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about the manic storing of original boxes. And keeping receipts. GOD the receipts!

[FAQ]

oh folding washing when she takes it off the line, to then take inside to iron, then hang on the airer, then refolded and put away?

[maidamess]

And don't even get me started on petticoats.

"You're wearing a skirt...with no petticoat?"

[maidamess]

My Mum writes the dates people died.

So she can look on her calendar and announce "Do you know, its 12 years tomorrow that Horace died"

[WilllamGray]

lol @ petticoats

I haven't seen a petticoat in years

I used to have nice cotton ones from M&S when I was little. My Mum thought we were posh

[NutterlyUts]

My mum has the tv on constantly and is unable to do anything outside of adverts

Microwave meals are normal in her house too

[mistypeaks]

I'm waiting patiently for someone whose mom has a sofa still in the protective plastic .
My mom has towels that are just for show. And you're not allowed to close any curtains in the house (including shower curtain) lest you mess up the 'drape'

[lazarou]

NU, my mum also has both tv's in her house on constantly, as well as every light it seems.

[Psychomum5]

oooh......we started clearing DH's grandma's house the other day (died in may)....

we have had to giggle at her household ways tho.

she wraps all her 'best' undies in tissue paper.

she has many many nighties, for 'best', but we suspect she never used them.

in her drawer in one of her bedrooms (she still lived alone, at 96 (wow), in a 2bed house, all her belts were curled up neatly, with any accessories that may go with them, gloves etc.

her larder was chock full of her baking ingredients in tupperware (and the real deal tupperware, not the cheapie stuff you now get)

she had a winter wardrobe and a summer wardrobe, and in her airing cupboard was flannel sheets all wrapped nicely, but un-uses too.

[heymammy]

Yes mmj, changing curtains with the seasons...wtf! My mum does this...simply barmy. I don't even OWN a spare pair of curtains.

[Psychomum5]

misty.....my MIL still has her lovely cream dining chairs still with the plastic wrap on the seats

she has had the suite for 8yrs!

[mistypeaks]

hooray!!!

[Carnival]

I haven't read the whole thread, but surely my mum is a loon, she does all of her windows once a week - that's not right, is it?

[heymammy]

Cooking e.g. mince then not fancying it and throwing it in the bucket

[cazboldy]

hoovering under the cushions on the sofa every time

not allowing the dog to eat what dd2 chucks on the floor from her high chair

ironing everything - even flannels and underwear

my favourite has got to be her comment the other day though....

dd2's face needed a wash after lunch, so picked up a flannel she had just gotten off the washing line, and she said " It isn't aired yet!" pmsl

[sakurarose39]

cupboards and cupboards of years-old spices, pickles, crisps, rice crackers etc.
My parents are awful for buying food which they never then eat until it is rotting (well, they DON'T eat the rotting food, just bin it)
Kitchen floor left until it has half an inch of dirt, dust, fluff, cat hair, crumbs.
We went to stay once and the kids noticed woodlice crawling around and looked under the bed, to find hundreds of them, mostly dead....absolutely fascinating!!

I am def. more clean and tidy than she is, but then again, their house is about 50 times larger than our flat. I can hoover almost the whole flat with the hoover plugged into just one socket in the living room. So its not surprising she doesn't hoover very often - not to mention that their ancient hoover weighs a ton and they refuse to buy a new one.
She does iron, which I NEVER do....

actually in our house, my DH is the fussy one - he is at this very moment on his hands and knees under the kitchen table with a soapy cloth, wiping up the apple juice that the kids spilled at dinner this evening. I got the kids to mop up the worst of it when it happened, knowing that DH would finish the job properly...and he has! I used to feel guilty and thank him profusely for wiping down doors, hooving every morning etc. but now I just let him get on with it....he loves it, obviously

[Bink]

Now that people are doing MILs too - my MIL is EVEN MORE RELAXED than my mum.

What my MIL does that I don't do is have a repertoire of dinners (for any number of people) that take no more than 10 mins preparation & thus leave her free to go and write another book. No kidding.

I realise with despair that I am going to become the in-contrast-with-next-generation compulsive mother/MIL that you lot are all describing.

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

FOLDING the clothes before washing them, or putting them in the tumble dryer. I don't know what that's about.

Washing her one pvc door with special pvc door cleaner.

Washing up as soon as every meal is over (I'm terrible, leave mine for ages) BUT not rinsing anything so everything is covered in a greasy bubbly film with clods of food adhering to it.

Keeping eeeeeeeeverything except tins in the fridge. Oh no wait she does keep tinned tuna in there. Cold ketchup, cold bread, cold oxo cubes, cold chocolate which hurts your teeth...

[piratecat]

not cooking

lol

[madamez]

My mum is a routines/knickknacks/spotless house type too. I think housework is a waste of time and never do a scrap more than the minimum, life is far too short and women, in particular, are fed so much crap about how the more housework you do, the better a person you are, when the truth is that housework is shitwork and the whole of human progress is about getting someone else to do it for you.

[12345678910]

my mum doesnt iron her pants, but i do well i iron my daughters

she does however fold her pants in perfection? why i dont know.

[piratecat]

my mum always used to iron everything then put it the airing cupboard to air for days, and only then were we allowed to put it away/wear it.

Dampness, you see.

[cyanarasamba]

Not putting things in the dishwasher as they are used, but waiting till the worktops are covered and then loading it "properly".

Wiping bone-dry dishes as when they come out of the dishwasher before putting them away.

"Airing" any clothing to be put on a baby on the radiator immediately before use.

When using the clothes airer, hanging clothes over dry towels so as not to leave marks from the rails.