List a few things that were part of the routine in your family growing up, that you discovered later on other people simply did not do.
Two things come to mind for me.
First, my family never put bread in the fridge. We had a bread box, and we used it. 'Course, we had eight people in our family, so bread never had a chance to go bad.
Second, we only used bath towels once, then tossed them in the laundry. This was particularly odd as we had eight people, and already had heaps of laundry. Guess my mom just wanted the extra work. I remember staying at a friend’s house for the weekend when I was around 15, and being shocked that they expected me to use the same towel twice.
Who the hell puts bread a fridge? Then your bread is cold!
The only thing I can think of that my family did that was a little unusual (in America) is that we didn’t eat many sugary snacks. My mom is diabetic and has always been something of a food fascist*. When I was a kid my sweets were yogurt-covered raisins. Ice cream was a special treat. I was shocked when I reached sleepover age and was allowed to indulge in all kinds of junk food my mom wouldn’t have let me near.
Of course today I have a terrible sweet tooth, so she failed miserably in trying to provide me with lifelong good eating habits.
*occasionally she is undermined by my dad, who does stuff like buy huge boxes of Milky Ways at Costco.
We had a breadbin, in fact I’ve still got one. And I always wash my towels after one use - otherwise I’d never get a full load of laundry to put on at that temperature. Common sense to me, that’s not odd.
My family did the things **SuaSponte **'s family did too. I don’t think they’re odd things to do though. It was also expected that one would spray down and scrub out the tub, *immediately * after showering. When I got my first college apartment, I thought my friends and roomates were disgusting, and they thought I was a germophobe (and told *every * vistor that day about my crazy idea). Surprisingly, no one saw it my way.
For Bosda: My family does it too, and none of us are from Pennsylvania.
Growing up we also used a towel only once and had a breadbox. Not odd at all. However, as an adult using a towel just once is a total waste of my time and electricity so that no longer happens. Perhaps it was a certain generation that did this.
I am trying to think of something my family did when I was growing up that was strange but I can’t think of a thing. Although I will confess I thought urine was green for the longest time since my mother put those little blue tablets in the toilet tank. :o
In my family the tooth fairy only came once - for the first lost tooth. We got oranges and apples in our Christmas stockings like we were pioneer kids or something. My mother never taught us to wash our hands after using the bathroom or before eating and it came as a surprise in kindergarten.
We had a spot on the back of the counter for the bread. Nowadays, I put the bread in the fridge because it last longer and frees up limited counter space. But I don’t feel bad about it being on the counter as long as it’s closed up properly.
We used towels more than once.
I can’t think of weird habits per se for my family, but we did have strange events that became part of family lore. We liked to take embarrassing pics of each other while sleeping. There’s a great one of my mom with a goatee, mustache and eyebrows made of stringbeans. Once, when I got back from college, I noticed that there was one of those little two-pack envelopes of aspirin stuck to the wall leading into the kitchen. It was exactly as far up the wall as my dads fully raised arm while standing. When I asked him why there was aspirin stuck to the wall, he answered, “Well, where else should it go?” That was good enough for me as well as for Mom and Sis. And it was the same answer we gave anyone else who asked.
Bread in the breadbin (bread box) and towels used more than once here. It’s the way it’s always been.
Our family had this thing about Christmas presents; they would all be heaped in the middle of the room and someone would pick one at random, read the tag aloud and give it to the right person (it wouldn’t necessarily be a present from them, and if they happened to pick up a present addressed to themselves, they would put it back and pick another). The recipient of the present would then open it while everybody else watched; the recipient and onlookers would comment a little on it, then the recipient would select a present from the stack for someone else, and so on, until all the presents were distributed.
Thought of another one. In my family all of the Christmas presents came in early December. Even the ones from Santa. December 25 was still the day they were opened though.
You can’t put your bread in the fridge, I firmly believe. Top of fridge or the freezer, and then you toast the slices when you want them. But what’s the point of putting it in the breadbin? Either your bread takes up room or the breadbin takes up more room. Is there some more advantage to doing that?
Another household that keeps bread in the fridge chiming in.
I was raised by a single father, and it shows. In our house everything was washed in cold water, no separation by colors. Then, once its dry, the clothes were kept in a big pile. You pulled out what you wanted.
Mouse_Spouse introduced me to separating clothing. White t-shirt, it gones in this pile right? No? The design makes it a different kind of white? You’re making this up aren’t you? And folding them. You fold clothes, put them away, just to yank them out and unfold them? Sounds like a waste of time to me.
When I was in 7th grade, a friend gave me a little plastic Rudy from Fat Albert figurine. I took it home and put it on the light fixture in the dinette.
That was 23 years ago. When my mother a couple of years ago was looking for a new light fixture, she told the salespeople that it had to be one with a place for Rudy. They thought she was insane, but her new light has a place for Rudy.
No, I really can, honest, I just prefer not to. I can prove it with photographs, if you remain skeptical.
toast made directly from frozen bread isn’t the same as toast made from fresh. Bread served from the fridge (for use without toasting) will be cold - not everybody likes it that way.
It doesn’t seem to stay fresh longer in the fridge anyway - quite the contrary in my experience, regardless of how well it may be wrapped.
I find that processed white bread like wonder bread doesn’t seem to benefit from refrigeration. But “fresh” breads from the bakery last longer if I keep then cold.