15 Family Members Who Turn Ordinary Days Into Extraordinary Adventures

You don’t choose your family, although many people probably wouldn’t mind having this option sometimes. You have to put up with all advantages and disadvantages of your relatives, and sometimes they can make such a mess that you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

• When my parents were young, it was considered proper to starch clothes and iron them. So, my mom did the laundry. Then she starched and ironed everything. All in all, a good homemaker.
  Dad went on the 24-hour shift. He came home angry as hell — it turned out that his ironed and starched boxers rubbed his skin. He was mad long time afterwards. © Overheard / Ideer
• My husband goes to his parents 20 miles away from the city to clean the barn for half a day every second day. His parents are not disabled and did fine on their own while we were at the sea for 2 weeks. I was patient, but one day my patience came to an end.
  I rang my mother-in-law and told her that they could manage on their own and I wanted to be with my husband. So, she told my husband that I had spat in their souls with this call, and they began to hint to him about divorce. I wish I didn’t call her. © Overheard / Ideer
• My mom will call me immediately after she sends me an email. I’ll pick up the phone, I’ll answer “Hello,” and all I hear on the other end is “Did you get my email?!” © septo****work / Reddit
• My in-laws have arrived. I’ve spent the entire day at the stove, I wanted to please them with a good dinner. They ate everything, but then they said to me the most ambiguous compliment in my life, “It’s amazing how hungry we are, everything seems so delicious!” © Overheard / Ideer

• A friend told me that her sister divorced her husband, and he left her for someone younger. But when they lived well, he was a very good husband and father, and my friend perceived him as a brother, as a relative.
  And this once close, very good man came to visit her with his new girlfriend. She kicked him out, and he was surprised and offended. © Natalia Borisova / Dzen
• At Christmas, we all give each other a set of underwear, which once you receive you have to say, “Ooh, thank you” really loudly, stand up, then put the underwear on your head to show everyone. The underwear must remain on your head, like a fancy crown, until all presents have been given out, and all members of the family were wearing said crown. I had to have a serious conversation with my wife after her first Christmas with us. © Hashtagbarkeep / Reddit
• Showed my in-laws where the clean towels are in the bathroom, but in vain. They searched under the sink, then in the cabinet, found the only towel that was there, and I wipe the cat with it. I didn’t say anything. This will be a lesson to them not to dig into other people’s stuff. © Olga Mikhaleva / Dzen

• I am young, I have a fiancé, my first and only man. The wedding day is set. My grandmother says every time, “Serge, come in, come in.” My fiancé, “I’m not Serge.” Grandma, “Oh, granddaughter, did you and Serge break up?”
  She says different names every time. And she gives me a sly look. And neither her memory nor her mind failed her. She just wants to have fun. Can’t say I have fun, though. © Tueri / Dzen
• One day my mother saw a door, without a box and handles, near a dumpster and paid the local hobo to take it to her home. The door stood idle for a couple of years, leaning against the wall in her room. Everyone who passed by was sure to scratch at the broken handle. Then she paid the same hobo to take the door back. © lu72 / Dzen
• My dad is a stereotypical-bearded physics professor and also very frugal. When I was in high school, he would use whatever lotion we had in the house as a facial moisturizer, which was normally fine because it was unscented/colored.
  One time, however, my mom bought a big tub of cucumber melon lotion to put in the bathroom, which was a lovely shade of sea foam green. My dad used it without noticing and, no surprise, it dyed the white portions of his salt-and-pepper beard rather noticeably green as well.
  Once the damage was done, he refused to waste money by throwing away the bottle and continued until the lotion was used up. Yep, my dad rocked the green beard for over a month — like a boss. It makes me laugh every time I remember it, but I still wonder what his students thought... © roslein / Reddit
• I decided to deep clean the flat and collected a bunch of junk to throw out. My husband took it to the trash dump, and I noticed that he didn’t take the old pillow. I don’t know what was in my head at that moment, probably vacuum after cleaning, but I took it and threw it out the window with a shout, “And take your nest away.” My husband laughed, but I still remember the eyes of the neighbors who were standing at the entrance. © Overheard / Ideer

• I know a family where the husband is a long-distance sailor. When he comes back from a voyage, he demands potatoes be fried in perfectly even pieces, otherwise they go into the trash. And the table should be fully set like in an expensive restaurant. Here are a few reasons why he refused to eat: the sauce boat was from a different set; the fork and knife were mixed up; they put sugar in the tea not from the crystal bowl and stirred loudly. © Marina M / Dzen
• My aunt is always ridiculously and inappropriately dressed. Without fail, she will show up totally overdressed for casual events. Watching her try to walk in high heels across the lawn and all around the garden area is always my favorite spectacle. She knows well the gathering is going to be outside, and she absolutely refuses to take her impractical shoes off every time. © TBeIRIE / Reddit
• My mom was invited to an anniversary party by her aunt. It’s a long drive, but it’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other. Mom decided to go. She arrived, and nothing had been cooked yet, they didn’t even have groceries. It was 2 hours before the party.
  As a result, all the relatives who arrived rolled up their sleeves and began to work: some went for groceries, others started cooking and cleaning. After that all relatives refuse to come to anniversaries, they communicate via video calls. © Svetlana Zhiznaprekrasna / Dzen
• When I was 8, I had a stomach ache. My mom took me to different doctors, only a gynecologist was left. We went to him for ultrasound, he says to my mom, “Children grow up so fast, your daughter is a big girl now.” And my mother proudly replies, “Yours!”
  The doctor turned gray and barely squeezed out, “Mine?” And my mom said calmly, “Well, you delivered her!” At first, she didn’t notice his reaction, but then they laughed for a long time. © Overheard / Ideer

And one woman kicked her stepson out of the family party. Check out this story.