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

Dad's big cotton y-fronts were used as dusters, and even now Dad is long gone, she still has his pants neatly folded in the cupboard under the sink, ready to do battle.

She also did the curry with sultanas and boiled egg - I might try that, it was lovely if I recall correctly.

She's very fond of backing up one of her bonkers theories (about covid at the moment) by telling me 'they' said so. When I ask who 'they' are, she waves her hand in the direction of the TV.

Oh and she still calls the radio the wireless and has a proper old record player for her vinyl LPs, even though my brother and I have bought her a CD player and a pre-loaded MP3 player - its not proper music if it isn't played on the gramophone.

I love this thread.

Lost my mum years ago and so many of these she did but I'd forgotten. You've made me all teary. In a nice way.

@souvlaki
Yes your right, we also had a drawer full of old, brown paper bags, pieces of string and perished rubber bands. I guess it was caused by shortages during the War (WW2).

I have an uneasy feeling that it may be genetic as I think about what my own kitchen drawers contain

Another vote here for no ITV allowed! Also, no soap opera (even on the BBC) because "it's just people arguing" and would encourage us to argue

Smiling mistily at this thread. I lost my mammy 6 years ago and I miss her everyday: she was an absolute angel and so clever and funny and modern but did do things the way she was taught. I definitely do loads of what she's passed to me: I wouldn't dare put the milk bottle/ jug of gravy/ tub of butter on the table, it's common; if anyone comes for a cuppa it's napkins, teapot, cake and 2 types of biscuits; curtains closed in the day = common house; no curtains/blinds at night= common house; i don't really ask my kids to do chores because " they'll have their own house to organise soon enough "; leaving your washing out overnight is tantamount to shame; the house has to be very tidy and clean if anyone visiting; before holidays house super clean to come back to and last thing before leaving is change the beds.

She also did things I wouldn't dream of doing: ironing bedding; cooking every meal despite not really liking it; baking for us kids coming home; babies need to be in white/cream for the first 3 months (she never said anything about my.multi coloured kids, though, she was too lovely); the classic Billy Connolly line of turning the TV off when the priest visited (I don't do religion); never speaking to other people on holiday, except for a good morning and a smile, despite being very sociable as ' you never know who they are'. I loved her so much.

When you used to buy cheese or ham or whatever (at the counter in British Home Stores) it would come in a smallish plastic bag, the crinkly kind.
We used to have to wash these up and dry them so they could be used for our sandwiches in our school packed lunch. I can remember trying to dry them.
My mum always used to save every tiny bit of left over food. It would be wrapped in clingfilm and stashed in the freezer. Recently when my mum was ill, my sister and I had a clear out of the freezer and took great delight in throwing away dozens of little non identifiable clingfilm wraps.

@unmarkedbythat, have you ever watched Miranda? Her mum does that.

I salute magpies, don't put new shoes on the table, chuck salt over my left shoulder...I don't iron underpants and flannels though.

Our sandwiches were never wrapped.

They were just put in a Tupperware box with a slice of cake (homemade) and were eaten covered in cake crumbs.

Don't think mum ever used cling film.

And yes to chucking salt over the shoulder!
I think the obsession with ironing everything was to get it properly dry so it would smell damp.

Frequently refers to people, places and things by the wrong name, and still does. She wouldn't ever "um" or "er" over a name: she'd just brazenly say what she thought was the name. It sounded silly when she was nagging me about doing my homework, misquoting the book's title.

She also lined drawers with paper; she would use wrapping paper for this, so it looked nice.

She told me that if I wore shoes without socks, my toes would disappear. But I was a very sceptical child, and I actively sought to disprove this, so she didn't bother with myths after that.

@Crankley Your story with the socket reminded me of my grandmother's approach to electricity: her house was an artefact of ancient wiring, and had an assortment of sockets, some of them round 2-pins. She believed in making things last, and flatly refused to have anything rewired; instead, she had loads of adaptors, some of which she had made herself (she had an aptitude for DIY). However, she did once admit that she cut through a live wire with metal-handled scissors, which were never the same again!

@Eleoura My Grandma (97) maintains to this day you shouldn't eat tomato pips because they give you appendicitis...my Dad has still never eaten a tomato as a result of this claim and he's 62!

@polkadotpixie- hehehe, as a result of my nans 'advice' to my mum (mum is now 74!) she still gets anxious eating cherries or apples incase she swallows a pip!!! Mum is well aware it wont grow a tree or cause appendicitis, but was so ingrained a child, she used to sweat and chew every bit with such cautious tension, she now hates cherries and apples!

Not my dm, but re. underwear as duster.

When very young i had a cleaning job in a solicitors office for pocket money. The owner asked if I could please do his house too.
First thing I was presented with (by his wife) was his very worn (clean) underpants . So I've dusted with a supreme court laywer's (in my country) undies . Never, never seen that before or after.

Not my dm, but re. underwear as duster.

When very young i had a cleaning job in a solicitors office for pocket money. The owner asked if I could please do his house too.
First thing I was presented with (by his wife) was his very worn (clean) underpants . So I've dusted with a supreme court laywer's (in my country) undies . Never, never seen that before or after.

Sorry double post

My Mammy would wrap my da's pieces in the bread paper from a Plain loaf. She would go mental if he didn't bring it back to re-use it the next day😆😆
She also sent us to the shops with a note and money inside for 10 Benson n Hedges for her.

Always said if I look at dog poo I'd go blind, still to this day I'm shit scared of looking at it haha

@ParkheadParadise

My Mammy would wrap my da's pieces in the bread paper from a Plain loaf. She would go mental if he didn't bring it back to re-use it the next day😆😆 She also sent us to the shops with a note and money inside for 10 Benson n Hedges for her.

Do many people here won't have a clue what a plain loaf is!

Is the paper still waxy?!

Or a piece 🤣

OMG- I just remembered my aunt sending my cousins and me out to buy her cigarettes. We were 6-9 yrs of age in the mid 1980s and shop keeper always obliged!

@missrm
I still buy a plain loaf when I go the messages😆😆😆. Yes the papers still waxy😆😆

Making coffee before bed for all of us compulsory

@Knittedfairies

My mum always cut Brillo pads in half; it gave me the heebie-jeebies.

I do that!

I remember people having their pieces in the plain bread wrapping! We had proper 1980s Tupperware- yellow with a clear lid for our pieces, with a glass bottle of soda stream. So healthy!

Curry with sultanas in is bloody lovely, don't know why everyone's knocking it