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Original poster

Why do older people always...

129 replies

UnquietDad · 01/12/2006 13:43

... go on about the fact that they had no central heating and no washing-machine, and "we certainly didn't have a car until we were 35, and do you know, a LOT of people weren't on the PHONE" etc, ad nauseam, ad infinitum, yakka yakka yakka.

I think it's to make us feel guilty that DW and I both work, and a hint that if we were prepared to give up these 'luxuries' we could live on one income. Oh, ho ho bleeding ho. Merry Christmas.

OP posts:
joelallie · 01/12/2006 14:32

Because it's true? I think that older people sometimes look at the world as it is and find it amazing....my parents were born just before WWII and their lives were so different, so 'deprived' compared to us. Our priorities are very different and many of us are quite materialistic let's be honest. But FWIW I think it's the cost of housing that forces so many people to have 2 incomes, not the desire to have everything NOW!

MrsSpoon · 01/12/2006 14:37

Yes, I had my Mum over last week and I mentioned that I was feeling a bit guilty because DS1 and DS2 had been spending an awful lot of time on their own playing upstairs, then I said although I suppose at their ages I was out and about playing in the street so maybe it's not so bad. My Mum (64) then pipes up, "Yes, I suppose that's why you feel you have to buy them so much" !?!?!?!?

WigWamBam · 01/12/2006 14:45

My MIL does this - I don't mind her pointing the fact out, because it's true, but what I don't like is the attitude that goes with it. She seriously believes that because she had to do without washing machines and the like, that everyone ought to do without them ... particularly me. She's allowed to have hers now, of course, but I ought to take my knickers down to the stream and bash them on rocks to wash them.

Someone will say "Oh, I couldn't do without my [insert name of preferred product], and she'll start with the sarcastic "Well I wonder how I managed then?" with that martyred look upon her face. She can't bring herself to be thankful that at least her children and her granddaughter have some things easier than she did.

MrsSpoon · 01/12/2006 14:51

LOL WWB, is this the same MIL that gave you the elastic?

You've reminded me of my Mum when we got our dishwasher, she made loads of comments about never even having to do as much as wash a dish in our house, blah, blah, blah. Then got her kitchen refitted and a dishwasher put in and now raves about how fab it is.

WigWamBam · 01/12/2006 14:52

That's the one ...

Rhubarb · 01/12/2006 14:53

We don't have central heating, we have a coal fire that we have to clean out and faff about lighting, we only recently got a washing machine and freezer, we lived without for 2 years. So when they moan about having to live like this years ago we can actually say "We still live like that granny! And actually it's not that hard - you lot were exaggerating!"

trefusis · 01/12/2006 15:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

notagrannyyet · 01/12/2006 16:34

We'll all be doing it to our own DC in 20 years time.
I fact DH doing it already. DS 26 & GF recently bought their first house and have spent the last few months decorating & furnishing it. DH actually told them how fortunate they are.....we managed with second hand stuff for years!

zippitippitoes · 01/12/2006 16:38

I can't see how being a parent can be harder now then a generation or two ago?

People do expect more these days though

VeniVidiVickiQV · 01/12/2006 16:41

OH gosh I get this from my mum and she's not even 60 yet!

When I was at quite a low point, I'd said I was tired because she asked how I was doing I already knew not to volunteer information to her because, of course, she had four children, and my dad worked all the hours, and she had no washing machine, or car, or tumble drier etc.....

Yes, thats all true, but, like with a lot of families - her mother (my nan) lived with her 5 days a week, and my mum rarely stopped moaning about how irritating it was that her mum was always cleaning/doing things.....

I see my mum once a week - if I make the effort to go, because - she still doesnt drive. I can only go at weekends because I work pretty much full time - after being with my children most of the day. How tough she had/has it.....

MossletoeAndWine · 01/12/2006 16:49

WigWamBam, my mil does this sometimes too!

The other day I was talking about pain relief in labour, and what I was thinking of having. "I had nothing, was on my back with my feet up in stirrups. And I managed three of them!"

Then later that same day I was talking about getting a sparkly maternity frock or top from the Asda maternity range, for Christmas. "You already have 2 maternity outfits and all those size twenty clothes your sil gave you! When I was pg, I had two outfits. That was enough for me!"

I do love her to bits btw!

ClementClarkeMoore · 01/12/2006 16:53

Oh yes, very irritating.

shazredredrobinbobbobbobbing · 01/12/2006 16:53

We'll be saying to our kids - when we were your age computers weren't invented and there were only 3 channels on the TV,etc!!

expatinscotland · 01/12/2006 16:53

I often ask myself that question, Unquiet. B/c I'm always sorely tempted to quip back, 'So?' or 'Well, sucks to be you, then,' or 'And your point is?'

bran · 01/12/2006 17:00

I'm getting old. I was visiting my parents recently and I looked out their window and reminisced about all the houses used to be green fields. I won't be long before I start thinking of myself as living history and providing a public service by educating the younger generation on how life used to be.

lorina · 01/12/2006 17:01

my MIl was always going on about washing machines and (drumroll) ...carpets! I dont really think it was moaning ,it was astonishment that we all lived in such luxury now.

To be honest I am only 39 and when we first got married we couldnt afford a washing machine and I did it all by hand for a few months. It does give you a different perspective.No doubt I will be droning on about it to my kids in twenty years time.

Try not to think of it as moaning ,its sharing information

Lilymaid · 01/12/2006 17:02

My father (in his 80s) has few good words to say about the "good old days". He likes having a car (rather than his parents' motorbike and side car) television, washing machines etc etc.

ProfYaffle · 01/12/2006 17:04

Lol bran, when i go home I reminisce about when it was all factories, they've all been knocked down now to make way for even more housing estates.

2shoes · 01/12/2006 17:05

i get stories about how mil had to get water from the well

2shoes · 01/12/2006 17:06

shazredredrobinbobbobbobbing I remeber the excitement of bbc2

VeniVidiVickiQV · 01/12/2006 17:06

Oh god yes - I had an epidural when in labour with DD because, apparently I "cant cope with pain that well".

Would have been nice to have had a 5lb baby like I was, but unfortunately she was 9lb 13oz and didnt want to come out. But, then again, she said "if you had smoked during your pg's maybe she wouldnt have been so big?". So, my fault really.

Mercy · 01/12/2006 17:10

Bit of a sweeping generalisation there unquietdad.

(although I understand joelallie's point re the cost of housing, and I agree, some of us are far more materialistic than previous generations)

HappyMellowmas · 01/12/2006 17:10

My mums best line is "Well I have been married for 40 years, and you haven't"!!

This was in answer to why she has 2 fancy bins in her kitchen(1 for normal waste 1 for recycling)

bundle · 01/12/2006 17:13

Unquietdad
what a terrible strain for you, to have to listen to other people's conversations.

Original poster
UnquietDad · 01/12/2006 17:17

bundle:

EH???

Lay off the sarcasm. I was talking about my mum and MIL.

OP posts: