Do you do things just because your Mum did?

Noctu

Scrape every last bit out of tins etc. We don't really need to (& it doesn't result in much more out of the tin to be honest) but I don't feel right unless I do - waste not want not!!

ibizafan_2

Tinned fruit and evaporated milk, anyone? Actually, I don't think I've bought much tinned fruit since I left home!
Also, my mum (bless her. she's 81 now) still says "I'll open a tin of salmon" when it's a special occasion. Glad I started this thread as it's made me feel very nostalgic. I can smell the Vosene as we speak. She was also obsessed with cod liver oil capsules for us all, and we also were give regular spoonfuls of Virol (?) which was a kind of molasses. Very good for you! Anyone remember that stuff? Also remember having "Kunzle" cakes on VERY special family get togethers.

Any

Lucy_Lastic wrote: »

I clean the house before going on holiday, it's just nicer to come back to, not something I remember my Mum doing. Besides - what if you never came back - what would people think of your grubby house when they had to clear it out?

This reminds me - never ever wear old underwear/socks no matter how comfortable they are or who you think will see you in them (or rather not), if you get knocked over by bus on the street what will they think of you when they need to undress you..

DUKE wrote: »

Just had a thought - I do leave the oven open until it goes cold,

Me too!!

ibizafan wrote: »

Tinned fruit and evaporated milk, anyone? Actually, I don't think I've bought much tinned fruit since I left home!

Tinned fruit makes me very nostalgic, sometimes I just have to buy some and eat in front of the TV to get the comforting feeling..

valk_scot

LutonGirl wrote: »

Wipe the tops of tins before opening them. She was convinced dirt went inside the tin as you opened it if not wiped.

An hour after she died I found a letter she wrote to my sister and I. The PS was "don't forget to wipe the bl00dy tins". It made us laugh and guess what, I always wipe a tin.

I love your mum even though I never met her. Great sense of humour!

I wipe the tops of tins too btw. Think of all the dust and vermin in warehouses...and the dirt does go into the tin when you open it, yes. There was some sort of goverment food hygiene study done on it.

Morganarla

There are plenty of things that I quite deliberately DON'T do that my mother does, but I do:

- Only condition the length of my hair, even if the top needs some attention.

- Fill the hot water bottle from the kettle.

- Rinse dishes after washing up.

- Never say no to an animal needing a home.

Faerie

I also spring clean the house and change the bedding before we go on holiday so that it's nice to come back to.

I peel mushrooms too, I thought that was a normal thing to do?!

Like mishmogs, my mum and her parents do the tradition of letting someone with dark hair out through the back door and in through the front on new years day. They have to bring coal, bread and money for luck for the new year. My siblings were allowed to do it but I wasn't cos I have ginger hair My nanna throws my grandad out of their flat at just before midnight and then he has to press the intercom to be let back in after the bells have rung midnight! Poor man hates doing it!

I also salute magpies for luck like my mum does. If a magpie is alone you have to salute it and say "Good morning/afternoon Mr Magpie and how's your wife?" My boyfriend thinks it's hilarious, I never thought it was strange until he pointed it out. I do it when I'm alone too, I just do a small salute with 1 finger and mutter it under my breath

meg72

sweetme wrote: »

My grandad, god bless him, got himself barred from Somerfield when he was in his 70's. He would take the stalks off the mushrooms in the shop so they wouldn't add to the weight and he didn't have to pay for them. He had a number of warnings and they finally barred him

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I thought of your Grandad this morning . There was an old chap in front of me at the veg stall in the market,he pulled off several outer leaves on a cabbage, telling the the stallholder he wasnt paying for rubbish, they were 50p EACH. The lady smiled at him and when he had gone said to me "Bless him he does it everytime
but God help him if he starts on my bananas."

shegirl

Tiglath wrote: »

My Mum has also always been obssessed with pulling out plugs every night (except the fridge-freezer obviously). I'm beginning to think she was right, given the cost of keeping things on standby, but she never had a fraction of the electrical items a typical household has today - she had a cooker, twin-tub, TV, kettle and immersion heater, and that was it.

DH and I got a second freezer as we had one when I was growing up to be filled with stuff grown on the allotment; we seemed to eat runner beans every day for years when I was a kid. In the years when I manage to grow stuff, we chop and store it as well.

It would never occur to me to buy pastry; I always make my own, as Mum and Nan did, half fat to flour. I've gone back to childhood foods as well - plain meat, spuds and veg, for the most part, with the occasional home-made pudding. My sister was so pleased when she found oldfashioned lidded tupperware for boiling jam and treacle puds that she bought me one as well; it's so nostalgic.

We both make trifle the way we had it as a kid - Swiss roll, chopped bananas and hot custard. I always do roast potatoes in beef dripping. Certain breakfast cereals have to be had with hot milk and some with cold; I found it so strange when a friend had hot milk on her Rice Krispies.

One habit I wish I'd continued was to always ensure the washing-up is done and put away before bedtime - can't seem to nail that one. On the plus side, we don't automatically have the TV on at 6.00 and off at 10.00 every single night, as my parents.

Possibly the most consistent habit I learned from my Mum was never say no to a cat needing a home.

:eek::eek::eek:That's not a trifle:eek: HOWEVER,it sounds lovely so I'll be making it for pudding after roast on sunday

shegirl

daisiegg wrote: »

Why would you not bath or wash hair during a period? I don't get it!

My 'mother' went with that and tried to force it upon us too.I never understood it or anything she did tbh.

The only things I'll ever do that she did are eat, drink, breath and sleep

meg72

shegirl wrote: »

My 'mother' went with that and tried to force it upon us too.I never understood it or anything she did tbh.

The only things I'll ever do that she did are eat, drink, breath and sleep

I never have understood why you couldn`t wash your hair or have a bath whilst on a period,neither my Nan or my Mum could ever explain. Would love to know the reasoning behind it,but a bit late now I suppose since I ignored their advice for 40 years.