Little quirky oddities between in-laws...

[KelNottAt]

First, let me say that I’m very lucky when it comes to my in-laws. We get along great. And DH gets along great with my family. (We’ve been married for nearly 14 years.)

But, even tho we all have great relationships, we often discover little quirky differences between our families that make us wrinkle up our noses, tilt our heads and ask “huh?” “Why did you think/say/do that?” or “That’s a weird custom/habit/philosophy, etc.”

I’d be interested in hearing what little oddities DISers have discovered among their in-laws. I’ll start off with a few I have come across:

My family: Santa Claus leaves his gifts by the Christmas tree unwrapped.
DH’s family: Santa Claus wraps the gifts and leaves them at the foot your bed.

My family: Dine with your napkin on your lap, whether it’s paper or linen, and cut your food one bite at a time.
DH’s family: Only linen napkins should be placed on you lap. Cut all your meat up into little bites before you eat any. (Adults and kids)

My family: We celebrate birthdays with cards, gifts and phone calls.
DH’s family: Maybe maybe maybe you’ll get a phone call.

My family: Baby boys who are given the exact same name as their fathers also get the suffix “Jr.” because “Jr.” *means* you’re named after your father. “II” (the second) means you were named after another male relative, perhaps an uncle or grandfather.
DH’s family: When baby boys are named after their fathers, they should get the II suffix because that is “classier” than Jr.

So…what have you discovered about your in-laws?
Kelley

PS: This thread is for fun. It’s not meant to be a debate about who’s right or wrong in the way they do things.

 

[nkjzmom]

Interesting....DH and I only have one major one that we've really discussed. And it has to do with Christmas also.

My family....Santa comes in the middle of the night (leaves presents unwrapped) and we get up in the morning to find them.

DH's family....Santa comes soon after the kids go to bed then rings a bell to wake everyone to go open presents....then everyone goes back to bed.

 

[JC2]

What a fun thread! Does anyone have anymore to add?

 

[disykat]

Towel rules in the bathroom have always been hard for us.

In my family everyone gets assigned a towel, uses it a few times and then gets a new towel - but we each always have one in the bathroom. Each overnight visitor gets a clean set of towels.

At dh's house there never seem to be any clean towels just a bunch of wet ones hanging on the shower rod. DH claims he just uses whatever - I haven't really figured out what the "rule" is. When we used to go there, I would just claim a clean towel and keep it in my room and take it into the bathroom with me.

 

[WDWLVR]

My family - Christmas presents are passed out and we take turns opening one present at a time so everyone can see and enjoy.

DH's family - all at once so you just see paper flying and you never get to see if the person liked your gift.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My family says: breakfast, lunch and dinner

DH's family says: breakfast, dinner and supper

When my MIL invites us over for a meal, I have to make sure I know when to show up.

Lori