What do you NOT do because your Mom/Dad did?

[katiesue]

My sister and I were talking about this the other day. All the things we specifially do NOT do because our Mom did and it drove us bonkers.

Neither of us iron. Anything, Ever. My Mom irons everything. Jeans, sweats, sweaters, underwear, towels, you name it, she irons it.

We don't bake stuff. Not that we can't but we just don't. My Mom bakes for every occassion, usually starting at about 1 AM making godawful noise and being a complete phycho about it all so we just don't.

We don't stay at the checkstand after checkout to not only record the amount of our check/atm but also balance the checkbook. It's embarassing and it holds up the whole line. We also don't stay parked at the gas station and figure out our mileage after every fill up.

We don't do leftovers. My mother saves every little bit for later. I've seen her save a single stem of brocolli. I hate leftovers.

We can go to bed if there are dishes in the sink. Doesn't bother us a bit. My mother literally can not go to bed if there is a spoon in the sink.

We hate apricots. Hate the taste, hate the smell, hate. Our jobs as kids were to pick them up off the ground when they were all runny with ants crawling through them. Gross.

Anyone else?

[Alex]

I don't have children because my mom did and they all suck. I think everybody should follow my example.

[katiesue]

No children would solve the whole problem, Alex has a point.

[Capt Jack]

Originally Posted by Alex

I don't have children because my mom did and they all suck. I think everybody should follow my example.

Originally Posted by katiesue

No children would solve the whole problem, Alex has a point.

count me in.

I can still have dogs, right?

[Not Afraid]

I don't go to church and my parents were VERY involved in the church.

And, I agree with the children statement. I'm not sorry we don't have any.

[Alex]

Sorry, my mom had dogs. She also had cats (and at times rabbits, birds, chickens, hamsters, fish, and salamanders), but I'm willing to take a principled stand on allowing cat pwnership.

[Capt Jack]

Originally Posted by Alex

...cat pwnership.

PWND!

[Alex]

I made a good typo! Cat pwnership about describes it.

[Disneyphile]

The biggest thing - I don't litter.

Yes, sadly my parents would litter all the time, and they tried teaching me to do the same. My father still litters to this day. Yet, he complains when he sees a dirty roadside, saying, "What the hell are my taxes going to if they're not cleaning this up?"

They finally learned to never litter from my car, because I'd pull over and make a big deal about having to pick it up. Parking lots were their favorite place to empty car trash. So, whenever we were in their car and they'd park, I'd watch to see if they were chucking anything out of the car. I'd stop and pick it all up and loudly say, "Hold on! I've gotta grab the trash you threw out." Then, they'd get pissed at me for "embarrassing them".

Karma's been biting back though, because to this day, my father is always picking up littered trash in his front yard, totally bitching about how other people are so inconsiderate...

I also won't listen to talk radio, especially news. During family road trips, my dad would always turn on KNX 1070 News Radio (the jingle is forever burned in my mind), even from 300 miles away. So, I'd be forced to listen to static-laden constantly repeating news reports during a 5-6 hour drive, with my father constantly interjecting his opinions about all the horrible things in the world. I endured that up until my mother gifted me with a Walkman in my teen years.

And, I don't like politics and negative news. That was also shoved down my throat since I was very little. Imagine being a 4-5 year old child and seeing images of sensationalized war reports and/or stories of murder and sexual predators, and then being told "It's real kid. You need to wise up to the world around you." And, considering most little kids don't know geography that well, I assumed it was happening very close by, and was constantly scared to go outside unless other kids were out also, and told me it was safe. I was forced to watch news about kids who died climbing trees, riding their bikes, etc. It instilled a lot of fear over trying things, believing I'd "crack my head open and die like the kids on the news" if I ever went skiing, climbed a tree, rode my bike outside of the neighborhood, among many other things. It caused a lot of social problems for me when growing up, because I wasn't allowed to go on most outings with friends, even when supervised by their parents. To this day, I still struggle with climbing ladders, riding a bike near any traffic, hiking near steep areas, etc.

[tracilicious]

I don't clear my throat repeatedly or walk around with my arm bent at the elbow and my hand in the air.

I don't say things like "watchamacallit," "thingamajig," or "doohickey."

I don't treat retail employees with disdain.