General Chat

I think so...it must have some sort of bearing on what we do as adults. I'm the youngest of three and always had hand-me-downs for toys and clothes but mainly I had very little and for christmas and birthdays I would always get soemthing new to wear so I cherished what I got but was always embarrassed when other's asked me what I got coz I'd say new skirt or new jumper and they were like big deal we got the latest game or whatever and I eventually stopped saying what I got.....but now I panic when I ask my hubby what he wants and he says a t-shirt or jeans or whatever and I refuse to buy them as presents I won't even give my son clothes as presents coz to me it reminds me of how I felt back when I was wee and I can't bring myself to do it :-( My niece asked for clothes for her birthday coming up in August but I can't do it......she's 14 and of course clothes are everything but I still can't do it...so I will give her vouchers from various shops and she can pick herself what she wants....but then even giving vouchers I hate......my mum would always buy vouchers for my friends as birthday presents and I always would say sorry it's just a voucher......it's kinda ingrained on me that vouchers means no effort and no thought goes into buying them but I'm gona have to get over that one for my niece as I refuse to buy clothes as presents.....daft to some but it's sumat I can't get past :-( RDA.x.

Im just like my mother in every way, its really weird now because as I get older its much more obvious:-))

I can't think of anything my Mum did that has made me that different. I have inherited both my parents' love of gardening, and hubby has inherited his Dad's love of gardening. Mum cleaned the house obsessively, always polishing, I am not like that but don't think that is a 'gut' reaction, more like laziness and dislike of housework on my part. I also inherited my Dad's love of photography, anything to do with family history and writing about things. Ann Glos

Just read your point about wearing clothes once, Guinevere, I do this too, When my Sis and I were young, we were always short on underwear and socks, and now both Sis and I have loads of underwear, socks and tights......and my washing machine is in constant use........so that could go back to childhood....... I just wished I had inherited their love of gardening. I'm all lawns and trees......they could make anything grow.....

I'm like you Kris - parents renting all their lives. I didn't even have a bedroom - had to sleep on a bedsettee in the lounge, so always made sure we owned our own house and my son had his own bedroom. Stella

You've made me think, Jess. I only ever wear most things once before putting them in the wash and Mum was the same. OH thought this was odd when we got married as his Mum said a shirt should last 2 days. I don't have any complaints about my upbringing so maybe I've copied my Mum's habits without thinking. Gwynne

My Mother always cleared the table as soon as the meal was finished and washed up straight away. I am not like that,tend to leave it much too long and then moan to myself 'why couldn't I be more like Mum' when I return to the kitchen much later!!!!! This will make you laugh, we had a cleaning lady for some years, Mother would clean the house before she came!!!!! and then help her to do it.!!!!! Bless her. She was a wonderful mother and I miss her terribly.R.I.P Mummy Sunny R

My parents lived in rented accomodation all their lives - I vowed to buy a house as soon as I was able to. As for their parenting skills they were fab and I hope that I am carrying on that tradition !

I don't want to look back, but I am grateful to two parents who gave me as much love and attention as it was possible for them, considering the lack of money, health and the long hours they worked. All I can say is that I know I was loved, and love my family to bits, I am positive, confident and happy, and I think that comes from, partly my inborn nature, and partly from learning lessons early on from a very wise Mum........

My mum didn't know what the word clean meant and hence now I refuse to wear anything twice, even if I have just tried it on and decided not the thing I want to wear. And yeah I'm a bit obsessive about my washing too!! ;o) xx

Not sure if this counts......im very optomistic and practical......both of which my Mum wasnt (sorry Mummy if your reading the threads today). If my younger brother had an accident, as he often did (im 13 years older than him), it was me who delat with him, Mum would panic.

my biological parents were travelers. i spent a lot of time in a care home. i like to have my own home and surroundings now.

I can't think of anything different that I do to them-but my mum was an obsessive cleaner, she always had a cloth in her hand, now I'm a bit like it, so she passed it on to me. catherine xx

of course it does, Lisa! jess

Jess i am a non smoker as my parents chain smoked for years and i swore i would never have to decorate every year due to cigarette smoke. Does that count... Lisa xx

When i was young, although we always had 'clean everything', top to toe every day, my mother wasn't too fussy about the way she did the laundry.The old twin tub used to come out everyday and everything got washe and hung out to dry. hung out all higgeldy piggledy , brought in, and shown the iron, up the front if you were lucky. Its made me quite obsessive about the way i do my laundry. is it because i so hated the T-shirts that were 4'' shorter at the front than the sides, where she pegged them out by the bottom? is there anything you do, completely different from your parents, because of something you remember? Jess

see first reply.