A Nostalgia Thread: What is Something Your Mother Did

[DonnaLeah]

I remember my Mom's vegetable garden. She grew green beans, corn, tomatoes and cucumbers. I think she hoed every day. I am NOT a gardener!!

 

[minkydog]

Oh right, the shoe polish! That stuff stunk, and I bet it got us high but we didn't know it. I think she was a little like Tom Sawyer with it. "Look how much fun it is to rub this on my shoes" and then we'd be begging to do it.

Now when you go into a hospital, nurses are wearing scrubs and crocs instead of the pressed white dresses and stiff caps. Having grown up with that, it just seems off to me to go into a hospital these days. How about you?

It FEELS off to me. I'm a nurse and when I graduated 29yrs ago, I wore Clinics and my own starched white cap. Now, your cap would be considered a germ vector and nurses are discouraged from wearing it. I still love those white uniforms--my DH swears he fell in love the first time he saw me in uniform. There's nothing like an angel in white support hose

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

My mom cooked a full meal w/ meat and multiple side dishes every night, and my date ate and left the table, plates and all.

My idea of cooking is Hamburger Helper and a bag o' salad. If I'm feeling goumet, I might do Chicken Helper.

 

[DVC Sadie]

My mom used to sew all the time. She even made Barbie clothes! When I think of her when I was a child, the first image that comes to mind is of her sitting at the sewing machine with a cup of coffee. She drinks coffee all day long. I couldn't even begin to know how to use a sewing machine.

My mother did the same thing too!! She not only made my dolls clothes but made mine to match. Oh, how cool I thought that was. My mother also had a pot of coffee on all day long ,which she drank continuously.

My mother bought one of those fancy, dancy, sewing machines that had every stitch, button hole maker and would not let me touch it, so now I don't know how to sew.

Thanks for the great memories!

 

[DVC Sadie]

What is something your Mother did, when you were a child, that you as a Mother today do not do?

For me, it was ironing. My Mom would sprinkle the clothes with water. She used a pop bottle with a special top with holes. Then she would roll the clothes up and put them in a big bag and stick it into the refrigerator for a few hours before ironing them.

I rarely iron anything, unless it's something that was hanging in the back of the closet and I want to wear it but it has a few wrinkles. But as far as ironing all shirts, sheets, pillowcases, etc. I don't do it!! Thank goodness for material that "needs no ironing!"

My mother did the same thing but with one variation. She put the sprinkled clothes in the freezer instead of the fridge.

My job as I got older was to iron all of the sheets and pillowcases weekly. I HATED that job. Now I miss the smell so I do iron my bedding. How crazy is that?

 

[barkley]

she and her friends from the neighborhood were constantly in and out of each others homes where they would sit at the kitchen table and drink gallons of that nasty percolated coffee while they chatted. i see and visit the neighbors when we're outside but there is'nt the " constant comraderie" that i recall between my mom and the other mom in the neighborhood of my youth.

my mom (mid 80's) gets a kick out of the fact that many of the things she did when i was younger child, but stopped doing for convenience purposes i now CHOOSE to do. i enjoy canning, cooking/baking from scratch and the like. i will tell her about something i cooked and she will laugh and say "good lord-all of us were so happy when that became available in the frozen foods section-it was such a tedious, time consuming act to make it from scratch" .

i get a kick out of asking her how to prepare certain dishes and hearing her say "oh, i could'nt stand eating that, but your dad loved it so i made it" (so many of the dishes that i enjoyed growing up she realy did not care for).

 

[Keli]

My mom used to came in our rooms every night and sit on the edge of our bed, listen to our night-time prayers, and then talked to us for a few minutes. It was the time of day that it was easy to talk to her about things. I can remember having something weighing on my mind and thinking "I'll tell mom about it tonight".

She sewed us clothing (and our barbies! ). She used to sew late at night after I had gone to bed. Once at bedtime I said something like "I wish I had something new to wear tomorrow, I'm tired of my clothes" and I woke up in the morning and she had made me and my twin sister a new outfit to wear while we were sleeping.

Honestly though, my mom was wise and wonderful (still is!) and I could go on and on about memories of her during my childhood. But in kindness to all of you I'll stop now, lol.

 

[bevtoy]

My mother did the same thing too!! She not only made my dolls clothes but made mine to match. Oh, how cool I thought that was. My mother also had a pot of coffee on all day long ,which she drank continuously.

My mother bought one of those fancy, dancy, sewing machines that had every stitch, button hole maker and would not let me touch it, so now I don't know how to sew.

Thanks for the great memories!

Hey doll cloths matching little girl cloths is still cool. Ever see an American GIrl doll? They are expensive as are the matching girls clothes.

 

[smilingmouse]

My mom still is a VERY talented seamstress! I have no talent in that area, so sewing is not in my future

 

[wdw4us2]

For me, it was ironing. My Mom would sprinkle the clothes with water. She used a pop bottle with a special top with holes. Then she would roll the clothes up and put them in a big bag and stick it into the refrigerator for a few hours before ironing them.

That was a perfect description of how my Mom ironed my Dad's white shirts that he wore to work. Except she always ironed them while watching "Genereal Hospital"!

The other thing my Mom did that I could never do is sewing. I did not own a store bought dress until I was in Jr. High. She sewed dresses, shorts, pants, and just about anything else you could think of. I remember one Easter outfit I had - dress, reversable coat and reversible Granny hat. It was amazing! I'm lucking that I can sew on buttons and repair things by hand, I could never do what she did.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I just wanted to say thanks to all that posted on this thread and I am not the original poster! The memories for me are (lets say) priceless. The polishing of silver, cooking from scratch, sewing during the night consist of such great memories. Dab nab it, I sure miss my mom! This thread helped me bring her back for me, so thanks!

 

[hucifer]

She used to bake cakes for birthday celebrations. Ugh, I don't bake.

Sometimes, as a special treat, she would make "money cake." She wrapped coins in wax paper and put them in the batter. As a kid, finding coins was quite a treat, especially the quarters. I guess she didn't worry that they were major choking hazards back then.

 

[WL Fan]

Such a fun thread to read, it reminds me of one of my favorite funny stories...

A newlywed couple is fixing one of their first meals together. The new bride takes the roast, and with her biggest, shiniest, new knife cuts both ends of the roast off, and throws it away. Her new husband asks, "Why did you do that?" She shrugs her shoulders, and says, "I'm not sure, mom always did that before she put the roast in the oven."

So, to answer his questions, she calls her mom. "Why do you always cut the ends off the roast?" she asks. Her mother pauses, then says, "Well, I guess because grandma always did, so I did too."

The new bride soon has her grandma on the phone. "Grandma," she asks, "why do you always cut the end off the roast?" Surely, it must be some kind of gourmet secret, and the new bride can hardly wait to hear what it is.

"Well," Grandma answers, "because my pan was always too small!"

p.s., sorry if you've heard that one before...

 

[Caradana]

My mother made chocolate pudding in martini glasses, and she'd stab a maraschino cherry with a toothpick sword and add it as a garnish. She's great fun.