Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

That's my father's pet peeve! He doesn't want to eat with people who do that. He wants to eat his dinner and be left alone. No sharing whatsoever.

I hate sharing because as the youngest in a large family my food was often taken. My mother was the worst about it.

Our family idiosyncrasy is that we all have music in our heads all the time and it comes out as whistling or drumming on chest/steering wheel/anything at hand or just constant humming. I hum and drum but even I find my parents’ constant whistling excruciating sometimes.

This is a fun thread!

Anonymous wrote:100% even the raw batter

I love it raw.

God this one story came to mind where all the family weirdness was revealed with just one question. My BF (now DH) was visiting/meeting my family for the first time. He's american and black and my family are white/british. (it's relevant).

My mum was very welcoming- anything you need- let us know- tell me what you like/don't like- etc etc and she offered to pick up any sundries he needed from the market. So the first night, he said "I was going to take a shower upstairs- where is your lotion and washcloths?" and my mum went silent- then bright red- still silent... as finally whole family burst out laughing when she looked like her head was going to explode and stayed silent. My poor damn DH- why were we so weird? He joined in laughing likely because we all looked so nuts. It wasn't even awkward, it was just hilarious.

1- like a previous poster- hall/guest bath issues- typical british bathroom at the time- it had a tub which came with a low- mounted sprayer- but had no shower curtain/no door/no wall tile and was not in any way a shower= mum was panicking at how to explain to him that he needed to bathe OR be very careful with sprayer.

2- being white, we didn't even OWN lotion. I get that lotion seems to be a thing now- but it's not something we ever used in our family- skin naturally oilier I guess as lotion just sits on our skin- doesn't rub in. So she was in a panic about how we didn't own something as 'normal' as lotion- but also was wondering why he needed it if he was showering. Anyway, she got him lotion at the market that night- just got the brand name he suggested then watched later fascinated as he showed her how it 'disappeared' into his drier skin, whereas it sat on ours all wet and wouldn't rub in. She literally put on her reading glasses, clasped her hands together and said "excellent!"

3- washcloths? didn't use them/didn't own any after were older than toddlers. So she was frozen wondering how to explain to him that we just didn't own any. He then had to explain washcloths to her (he'd already had to explain them to me along with the lotion needs) and she was SO fascinated.

She learned a lot that weekend, lol. She also bought washcloths (not burgundy). I swear DH could have pressured her into buying anything with a good reason and she'd have gone for it. But that one request from him revealed three weird facts about our family that we stil LOL about.

There is probably more weirdness if I think about it....

I’m enjoying this thread. I’ll have to think of something to add. Or ask my husband.

I grew up with a family bed. My sibling and I slept with our parents until we were around 10 or 11. It had no + or - long term effect on us whatsoever, but I remember finding it comforting at the time. My kids have not wanted this, but I would allow if they did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up, once my brother and I were old enough to take showers instead of baths, we were only allowed to use the one in my parents master bathroom (shower only, didn't have a tub in there) so that my mom didn't have to clean the hall bathtub anymore.

In high school, when my friend was staying over for several days she went to take a shower in the hall bathroom and the water came out brown from the pipes never being used. I was so used to our way of doing things that my reaction wasn't "oh no I'm so sorry!" It was "what are you even doing taking a shower in there?!" Like doesn't everyone only use their parents master bathroom to bathe?

I find this concept puzzling. Why didn't your mother teach you and your brother how to clean a tub so you could clean it after your showers or at least once a week or once a month or whatever.

I don't understand it either, that's why it's "quirky!" She had us cleaning the rest of the hall bathroom by ourselves. But cleaning the tub was always just a huge ordeal for her so maybe she didn't think we could handle the job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most people or kids lick the beaters as a treat after mixing something? Ok maybe like whip cream where you won't get salmonella and not front of company. DHs family never did this. I guess we were uncivilized.

100% even the raw batter

Yeah, PP, don’t pretend you’re not eating the raw egg brownie batter like the rest of us! 😀

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My entire family, if complimented on any sort of item, will proudly respond with how cheaply said item was obtained.
"I love this big salad bowl." "Thanks! Got it at a garage sale for 25 cents." All of us. Always.
My husband thought this was insane at first because his family doesn't talk about money and wouldn't be caught dead buying used items. Now he's all in.

My family does this too! Especially my mom.

My family too.

I'm East coast and love a deal. I had someone figure out if I just said 'thanks' after a compliment, I probably paid full price.

This is hilarious and true! My mom complimented a dress and I said thank you and trailed off. There were a few awkward seconds and then she said "So ...I guess it cost too much."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL has a second dining room table with chairs she never uses (it is a large open concept Texas-sized dining room).

On special occasions when it would make sense to put the two large dining tables together, she doesn’t. Instead she adds two card tables to the regular dining room table. One of the card tables is incredibly heavy and she stores it in the attic and brings it down and that is a whole dangerous production every time. The tables aren’t even heights or shapes, either.

And she won’t even use the other dining tables’ nice chairs, either—she brings out folding chairs. So there we sit, crammed around this makeshift stupid table on wobbly chairs, while this whole other never-used dining table just sits there. Madness!!

omg, that is insane!

Thank you for acknowledging how odd it is! Every year someone suggests pushing the two big tables together, and every year MIL pretends not to hear. Since nobody wants to make and host the big family meals, we pretend we don't care, either. At this point, we've all adapted to the Frankentable, although one year there was a memorable incident with a giant platter of deviled eggs that slid into the gap and went EVERYWHERE.

The "display-only" dining room table continues its vigil over the family's major holiday meal events, wishing and hoping that someday, it will be promoted to the big leagues.

My husband's aunt had a display-only dining table! It was in an alcove on the other side of the family room. But she didn't go to any lengths to have everyone sit together... if we didn't grab a seat at the main dining table, we had to pick anywhere else but the second table. Couple of seats at their cluttered breakfast nook table, couch, Lazy Boy recliner. Outside in the cold.

My family is very quirky, because we grew up in Appalachia on a subsistence farm.

My dad saves things like bent nails he might straighten and use again someday.

He refills bullets after we shoot them. We put down a tarp and collect all the spent shells. Ammo is expensive.

I can cook about anything, and will eat everything. Down to poke greens you have to boil and drain 3 times before you eat them because otherwise they are poisonous. Darn good meal with some bacon fat added!

I drive my vehicles into the ground. My truck is 14 years old and has a variety of small problems I call “quirks” because they don’t affect the structural integrity. I never get small dings fixed, they give her “character.” We have plenty of money but I just don’t see why I would want something else. It works fine.

I don’t get rid of clothes. When they wear out after 10-20 years, they become rags.

Anonymous wrote:Growing up, once my brother and I were old enough to take showers instead of baths, we were only allowed to use the one in my parents master bathroom (shower only, didn't have a tub in there) so that my mom didn't have to clean the hall bathtub anymore.

In high school, when my friend was staying over for several days she went to take a shower in the hall bathroom and the water came out brown from the pipes never being used. I was so used to our way of doing things that my reaction wasn't "oh no I'm so sorry!" It was "what are you even doing taking a shower in there?!" Like doesn't everyone only use their parents master bathroom to bathe?

I find this concept puzzling. Why didn't your mother teach you and your brother how to clean a tub so you could clean it after your showers or at least once a week or once a month or whatever.

My ILs get a huge, fat Christmas tree, and their preferred chairs are on either side of it. For about 6 weeks out of the year, they sit in their chairs and can’t see each other. As their hearing declines, they just keep shouting “WHAT” at each other instead of, you know, sitting on the couch directly across from their preferred chairs.

Anonymous wrote:Growing up, once my brother and I were old enough to take showers instead of baths, we were only allowed to use the one in my parents master bathroom (shower only, didn't have a tub in there) so that my mom didn't have to clean the hall bathtub anymore.

In high school, when my friend was staying over for several days she went to take a shower in the hall bathroom and the water came out brown from the pipes never being used. I was so used to our way of doing things that my reaction wasn't "oh no I'm so sorry!" It was "what are you even doing taking a shower in there?!" Like doesn't everyone only use their parents master bathroom to bathe?

This was us too!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is a great idea for Nutella. My son loves Nutella on bagels. Sometimes he plops a spoonful of it onto a plate or bowl and dips pretzels into it. And I hate the cleanup. It doesn't rinse off so I have to use paper towels to wipe it up and it's just messy and icky. Your mom is a genius, I'm buying plastic Nutella utensils.

(Your mom needs a dog - I put peanut butter knives in the dishwasher and my dog steps in to lick them clean (before I turn on the dishwasher of course).

Y'all might want to consider a new dishwasher. Mine gets peanut butter and nutella off with no issue whatsoever. I don't even rinse stuff before I put it in.