Q Hi Auntie, help me, please. I have this totally ridiculous problem with my hubby’s family.
They seem to think it’s okay to use my house as a public toilet.
They live a couple of blocks away from us, and at least once or twice a week they will be in our neighbourhood, stop in to say hi, and then use our bathroom.
I don’t have a problem with them visiting, maar Auntie hulle los altyd ‘n gemors in die bathroom! Puddles of pee on the floor and on the seat, smears against the toilet bowl… you get the idea. It’s nasty.
The other day my father-in-law was visiting a friend of his who lives two houses away from us. The next thing I knew he was knocking on our door because he “has to take a massive dump” and he “doesn’t want to drop it” at his pal’s house.
I mean, WTF, right?! As if that wasn’t enough, again the bathroom was left in a horrible state.
I don’t even know how he manages to make such a mess. And it’s not just him, it’s any of the in-laws when they “stop by”.
My husband knows what’s going on, but he has not done anything even though he knows it freaks me out. So Auntie, how do I handle this situation?
A Oh my goodness, talk about a crappy situation! This is a real mess you are in. If only you could simply flush all your problems away.
Okay, okay, sorry for the jokes. Auntie knows this is serious.
And while Auntie could say that you should just chill and let your in-laws use your facilities, the manner in which they are doing it is making me turn around and say, hell no!
This situation is unacceptable, and your in-laws are taking advantage of you. What Auntie is wondering is whether your hubby is okay with what is happening.
You say he does niks about it, but how does he feel about his family making a vieslike gemors in your house?
Does he even help clean up after their abolition pollution? If not, then it’s time you tune him that if his family comes over again with their crap, then he has to be the one to mop up afterwards.
Once he realises how nasty the situation really is, he’ll deal with his mense, of that Auntie is sure.
On the other hand, if you are already too gatvol of dealing with their mess, then you are going to have to say something.
It’s going to be moerse awkward, but there’s no other way. It’s not like you want to hide in your own house and pretend nobody is home anytime the in-laws decide to drop by.
And don’t try and sort this out when one of them is standing at your door, ready to burst. Do this immediately, sommer over the phone.
Tell them straight that they can’t come and use your toilet and gooi ‘n lange, leaving you with the mess.
They are welcome to visit, but the loo stop-overs are going to stop.
If they kick up a fuss, give them an ultimatum: if they do have an “emergency” and want to use your house, tell them they had better leave the bathroom spotless, otherwise, the ban will stand!