What are your weird family idosyncracies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my DH is standing next to his mom while she's sitting, she'll put her arm around his waist and he'll sit on her lap sideways. The first time I saw this he was in law school, so like early 20's, and I, who came from a very WASPy home and couldn't recall ever hugging my mother let alone sitting on her lap, freaked out.

After we were engaged she tried to get me to do it once and I walked away.

Wow.

[Anonymous]

My parents love clocks. They have 2-3 clocks on every wall. Large clocks, wall clocks, cuckoo clocks. Most of them have a song every quarter hour. My dad is able to turn off the songs at night, at least.

[Anonymous]

My father was very anti waste. My crayons would break and instead of buying me a new box, he would melt crayon pieces together and would sell it to me as a “magic color changing crayon.” I grew up composting and stitching holes in my jeans together. The worst lol. This is the same father that bought a bmw station wagon because he said the Germans made cars to last forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom puts the eggs away (she doesn't keep them in the carton) so each egg is next to one it was next to in the carton so they don't get lonely.

I love your mom!

I used to really love clocks. But I had a college roommate who berated me for my love of clocks and sucked out my joy.

[Anonymous]

My dad will stand at the kitchen sink, run the water til it gets hot, put his mug with a few spoonfuls of instant coffee under the tap, stir it once, drink the cup of “coffee”, rinse the mug out and put it in the sink. Whole process takes just a minute or 2. That’s how he had his coffee daily.

[Anonymous]

My mother, who lives alone, sets her place at the table after every meal. Fresh placemat, paper napkin rolled in a little ring, and one salad sized plate (which always gets returned to the cupboard because she makes her meal on a different plate).

[Anonymous]

We share all of our food. If we go out to eat at a restaurant, we are all passing bites of our dinner around the table to each other. I've come to understand that this isn't completely normal, most people eat the dinner they ordered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking about small, Seinfeld-ish things, like George's parents getting bent out of shape when they are served coffee without cake, or in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the dad thinks Windex is a cure-all for every ailment.

I'll start -

My mom collects dinnerware/plates and has them hanging all over the house (and in cabinets too), but when we visit, she only serves meals on paper plates and styrofoam cups. Even for Thanksgiving or a birthday! It's so weird to be surrounded by all this beautiful dinnerware but eat off of paper, haha!

When we visit DH's family, his entire family eats the same thing for breakfast every day, all at exactly the same time. It freaks me out! They all have a bowl of cereal, something like bran or Weetabix, then walk over to the sink, empty their bowls, and sit down again with a cup of coffee and toast with jam. It never varies - never a poached egg, a piece of fruit, cheese. For 35+ years.

Your turn. Hope we can keep this lighthearted.

Are your in laws from the UK? Sounds like mine, but sub the coffee for tea.

[Anonymous]

My mom eats a LOT of peanut butter but doesn’t let like to touch it or smell it when she rinses off the knife. The dishwasher never gets it all off so her solution is to buy plastic knives for peanut butter only and discard them after each use.

[Anonymous]

My FIL has never hired a professional except once recently when he had a plumbing emergency and only because it involved city sewer connection. No lawyers, accountants, handymen, electricians, painters, landscapers, window installers, roofers, HVAC, mechanics. Not even AAA/tow truck. Once repainted the family car in their garage with rented equipment. Towed MIL’s car with a rope. He’s completely redone their kitchen twice.

FIL had golf clubs stolen from his car parked in his driveway (garage is full of stuff) and refused to file a police report - claimed it would “bring down neighborhood” so just let it go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If my DH is standing next to his mom while she's sitting, she'll put her arm around his waist and he'll sit on her lap sideways. The first time I saw this he was in law school, so like early 20's, and I, who came from a very WASPy home and couldn't recall ever hugging my mother let alone sitting on her lap, freaked out.

After we were engaged she tried to get me to do it once and I walked away.

Wow.

I know! They're completely normal aside from this ONE thing. Totally lovely people.

[Anonymous]

This thread is hilarious! A special shout out to your mother and her plate obsession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My father was very anti waste. My crayons would break and instead of buying me a new box, he would melt crayon pieces together and would sell it to me as a “magic color changing crayon.” I grew up composting and stitching holes in my jeans together. The worst lol. This is the same father that bought a bmw station wagon because he said the Germans made cars to last forever.

The crayon thing is fun. Patching jeans and composting is normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking about small, Seinfeld-ish things, like George's parents getting bent out of shape when they are served coffee without cake, or in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when the dad thinks Windex is a cure-all for every ailment.

I'll start -

My mom collects dinnerware/plates and has them hanging all over the house (and in cabinets too), but when we visit, she only serves meals on paper plates and styrofoam cups. Even for Thanksgiving or a birthday! It's so weird to be surrounded by all this beautiful dinnerware but eat off of paper, haha!

When we visit DH's family, his entire family eats the same thing for breakfast every day, all at exactly the same time. It freaks me out! They all have a bowl of cereal, something like bran or Weetabix, then walk over to the sink, empty their bowls, and sit down again with a cup of coffee and toast with jam. It never varies - never a poached egg, a piece of fruit, cheese. For 35+ years.

Your turn. Hope we can keep this lighthearted.

Are your in laws from the UK? Sounds like mine, but sub the coffee for tea.

yes I've read the Queen also has (had) breakfast similarly. I've had dreams about an entire nation all eating their Weetabix in unison, zombie-like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dad will stand at the kitchen sink, run the water til it gets hot, put his mug with a few spoonfuls of instant coffee under the tap, stir it once, drink the cup of “coffee”, rinse the mug out and put it in the sink. Whole process takes just a minute or 2. That’s how he had his coffee daily.

this cracks me up. very utilitarian.