Silly things your mother did (lighthearted)

[RaraRachael]

Trying to lighten my current mood and started to think about things my mother did - and insisted that I do - as they were "the done thing" back in the day.

Turning the clothes inside out to put on the washing line in case a bird shat on them
Lining every shelf in your kitchen unit with patterned greaseproof paper
Stuffing the chicken and then sewing it up with a needle and thread

Suffice to say, I stopped these ridiculous traditions when i realised there was no valid purpose to them

My MiL used to have winter curtains and summer curtains. She's the only person I ever knew who did this. She only lived in a tiny bungalow and I never worked out how or where she stored the excessive number of curtains she possessed!

@Fuckingcrustybread

She used to make curry with sultanas and serve desiccated coconut and chopped hard boiled eggs on the side. I'm sure that the recipe came from one of those 1970s "exotic" cookbooks.

That’s the sort of curry my mum made too. And I really miss it! Any chance you could get the recipe from her? 😁

My mum used to make a lot of our clothes 'much better than shop bought', put sultanas in curry and a random boiled egg or two in mashed potato. It was weird you'd be eating sausage and mash and come across a hidden boiled egg.

We always had to wait an hour before we swam too. Even after a small snack.

Men used to get served more food than women - my MiL still does this.

I'm 30 and I serve men more food. I mean men do need more calories than women don't they?! They are generally bigger and taller. I guess it depends if we are talking about a rare visitor or a close family member though.

@Gingernaut

According to my dear Mum, you should ... always cut the buttons off a coat before sending it to be dry cleaned...

Leather buttons.

Some dry cleaning fluids shredded some plastics and leathers and cutting buttons off a garment before cleaning it was routine.

Knotted leather 'thong' buttons and toggles, common on Aran woollens, would be cut off and resewn every time the cardigan was washed.

Tedious.

I love finding out where these things originated!

Still won’t bother to do it though. 😂

@unmarkedbythat

My mum calls things by the same name as everyone else and then adds "as I call it", as if she was the only person to do so. Like, "for tea I'm cooking cottage pie, as I call it". She got really cross with me last year for insisting that everyone calls the holidays where you're all on a giant floating hotel boat "cruises" and she was not unusual to do so. Bizarre.

Is your mum Peggy Hill?!

- men should have approx 50% more food on their plates than women.

I'm guilty of this in a way, I cook for me and two teenage boys and do three chicken breasts chopped up. I have maybe two or three pieces of chicken and they have about eight. I make sure they never notice though.

My mum used to put both saltanas snd apple cubes into curry

My friends mum told her, and subsequently me, that you can't have a bath on your period, so spent the first few years sitting on the side of the bath washing myself when I got my period

My MIL irons fitted sheets too so they're perfect - god knows how

Not really silly, but this thread has reminded me of my mother's 'chip pan'! She had a special frying pan which was filled with, I think, lard of some kind. She would make her own chips from scratch, peeling and cutting the potatoes into shape then drying them in a tea towel before frying them in the, now melted, lard. They were admittedly absolutely fabulous chips but I do wonder how often the fat was changed, and more importantly, now realise how dangerous the shallow sided frying pan full of fat was!

N

@scentedgeranium

My MiL used to have winter curtains and summer curtains. She's the only person I ever knew who did this. She only lived in a tiny bungalow and I never worked out how or where she stored the excessive number of curtains she possessed!

I used to do this; the "winter" ones were a heavy terracotta fabric, and I changed them for floral ones in the summer. I've now got some lovely leaf patterned ones from Dunelm, and leave them up year round.

No chewing gum or cartoon magazines because they were "American"

Oh yes chewing gum. That famous forbidden fruit that you had to avoid because if you swallowed it it ended up wrapped round your tonsils. Made me all the more determined to chew it!

My brother was a reluctant eater; our mum used to threaten him jokingly with consequences such as falling through gaps in the floorboards from being too thin, or being locked in a cage like Hansel, to fatten him up. I didn't ask if this happened to girls as well, as Gretel escaped this fate.

My mum also used to leave notes for our au pairs (she'd head out to work really early); she ended one with "he does look very thin!", referring to my brother. He was not pleased about this; he used a pair of scissors to remove the last line, before our au pair saw it.

@theDudesmummy

No chewing gum or cartoon magazines because they were "American"

My mother had a things against all things American too.

It has rubbed off on me to an extent as I immediately dismiss a programme or book if I find out it's set in the US.

I don't know exactly what she had against America, she had never been there (still hasn't)! I did not grow up in the UK and she always thought of Britain as this highly cultured place and America as of lower status.

I love this thread! I’m going to make a brew and sit and read it this afternoon

My Dad is guilty of some of these. He will stretch out a jumper as long as possible and when you point out he's got toothpaste/Branston pickle/soup... down him it's OK because "it'll sponge out".

As kids we used to like to sit on the stone step outside our caravan and he used to fly out the door with a mat fretting about piles every time!

Joking aside, I am looking at slips for under my dresses that stick to tights and I'm going to fetch DDs old tights out of the recycling bag to use as dusters. Genius!

Sorry, that infamous curry was last made about 40 years ago. Our circumstances have changed so much, it's impossible to ask her now. Quite a few people on this thread have mentioned that curry and I've thought about it quite a lot. I think that it was a Vespa curry and she added the sultanas and side dishes to make it a bit posher!

@DifficultBloodyWoman
I should have tagged you.

Running around the house unplugging every appliance in a thunder storm, especially the TV. When I moved in with DH and we had our first thunderstorm together, he just carried on watching TV and I was like, “Do we not need to unplug this now??” 🙈

MagicSummer My mother had a pie dish full of lard that was put in the frying pan, melted and then when she's finished cooking with it, poured back into the dish. And so on and so on. Revolting.

The thing about men getting bigger portions - when you go to a restaurant, men don't get bigger portions, everybody just gets the same size.

She used to darn ladders in nylon tights or put clear nail varnish over them as a quick fix.

My gran used to do all this stuff, keep a spotless house plus work full time and take care of two children. I honestly think she’s secretly Superwoman.

My mum[still alive and still going strong]
Yes to ironing[though interestingly now that she is shielding, has cut back[because no one will see!]]
Yes to salad has everything in it
Yes to strange "dusters"
Yes to sultana curry

Havent read all thread yet.
Thinks that if you dont have a vest in winter you get a bad back. Which to be fair, I do think sometimes if some people do not wear a second layer, she could be right. -so I will give her that one-

My dad makes curry with sultanas, apple and potato in, I make it the same way. We call it “dad curry” and it is lush.

I still save butter papers like my gran did, and the fat from a roast so it can do yorkshires or roast spuds.

We all have a rag bag which gets turned into cleaning cloths and yes, DP’s old pants sometimes end up there.

I iron pillowcases but not bedsheets. They just look nicer! And yes, it gets the last of any damp off them, we don’t have an airing cupboard.

My mum is actually very relaxed about cleaning and cooking etc, all my finicky routines and habits come from my grandparents. I’m nearly 50 but freely admit to being old fashioned and a bit make-do-and-mend.