To be annoyed at DMIL for putting a wet towel in the dustbin?

Irritated - YANBU as long as you made no more than one comment like I could have washed it.

YABVVU to be "irate" or to say anything more than one mild, polite, comment.

If you want free babysitting you accept it wont be exactly how you,d do it.

What on earth did you do with years of DS's nappies - you know, those wet urine covered things - if not put them in the bin?

I can't believe that you were so wound up by this that you felt the need to post. Was it a fancy pants bath mat from Harrods, steeped in sentimental value or something?

Fish it out of the bin, wash it and get on with your life, grateful that you have in-laws who will babysit and deal with toilet accidents.

🤣🤣

It’s a very weird thing to do, just assuming you’d throw it out rather than wash it like a normal person.

I’m loving the idea of a special bathmat! Does anyone have sentimental attachment to a bathmat?

if you don’t want to lose a bathmat, you may have to engage a professional babysitter for future outings.

Even if you did, there’s no guarantee that the babysitter wouldn’t do exactly the same thing! Yes, I would probably have bagged it up and put it by the washing machine, but everyone’s got their own way of dealing with unexpected occurrences! She must have thought it was for the best at the time.

It isn't what I would have done but it's the kind of thing I'd just think was a bit weird and be a bit annoyed while retrieving it from the bin.

I would never mention it to someone who was clearly trying to do their best and didn't know what I would want done in the circumstances. People have different standards, I'd just let this one go.

Thank her for her kindness for babysitting. Go out and get the mat and put it in the wash. Stop fretting.

DH is telling me I'm being needlessly irate and should 'just' be grateful for the babysitters - he is right.

Agree with your dh. Unless there's a backstory about your mil (which we obviously don't know about), you just say 'no problem', inwardly roll your eyes and retrieve it if you feel the need.

I would be puzzled at her actions rather than irate.
I would wonder (for a few hours) why she wouldn’t want to simply wash the bath mat and re-use it as normal to save the expense of a new one. I would want to avoid it going to landfill, preferring to wash it and donate to charity. I give old towels and bath mats to the local dog rescue.
And I agree with you OP. Damp/wet towels are bad news and need to be aired or washed and dried asap, not put stinking in a plastic bag for days to generate more germs.

It’s a slightly odd rewatching from someone who was being kind and helpful and who no longer routinely manages pissy towels. It’s an endearing story about granny - a woman who looks like a good candidate to have a loving relationship with any grandchildren. Generally I try to save ‘irate’ for stuff that matters and won’t damage relationships. Don’t expect people to do things your way. Embrace difference and enjoyment and gratitude and be happier.

It isn’t what you would have done but to get so angry about it is just nasty. Poor woman.

Where do wet towels go?

If one of my GC had peed on the bathmat I'd have dumped it in the bath to be washed later. The idea of throwing away a dirty bathmat appalls me!

Just get it out the bin ffs

Yep!

And the fact that she’s pretended she’s worried about bacteria in an outside bin is very telling as she’s just looking for things to nitpick over.

I wonder how she gets rid of nappies or sanitary towels with actual human waste on them.

To then start a thread complaining about it says a lot about her.

I’d be slightly irked that she’d binned it rather than bagging it up and putting it next to the washing machine, but this thought would last approx five seconds and then I’d move on.

Was it a very expensive or special bathmat?

I would have been a bit irritated but would have kept it to myself. Just not with falling out over a bath mat.

CoalTit · Today 04:52

Something similar happened in our family once; sister-in-law from a very wealthy background threw away towels that had mopped up kiddie vomit, to the amazement of the sisters-in-law from more humble backgrounds, one of whom was the owner of the towels. They talked about it for months afterwards.
I actually get your sil’s thought process- vomit different to pee in terms of just sticking it in the washing machine. I like the way you assume it’s just because she’s wealthy, it’s more likely there were chunks on it and a) she wasn’t willing to shake the particles into the bin or b) she was assuming she’d clog up the washing machine in which case it would be ‘wealthy sil broke our washing machine!’ 😅 Op like everyone else I’d say ‘what?’ but being angry seems very ott!!!

🤣

Surely the MIL wouldn’t be banned from seeing DGS just because she won’t babysit!

Babysitting is absolutely a privilege and not a right expected off grandparents and no one should be using their child as a weapon and threatening to cut contact completely if they don’t agree to babysit.
That’s awful.

And yes I would absolutely refuse to babysit if I gave up my evening to do so and the parent nitpicked about me putting a wet towel in an outside bin incase bacteria grew (even though it would have had nappies and sanitary towels etc in there for years).

I wouldn’t want my bath mat thrown away but the mould/bacteria argument is just ridiculous and sounds like OP is looking for problems.
Most people would know MIL did it out of kindness and not even mention it.

I can’t believe you would even consider criticising someone over something so minor, especially when they had done you a massive favour.

Ok it's a fucking bathmat not the crown jewels.

Your just doing this because you want to be annoyed at her.

You know when your going to get this from your own daughter in-law.

Try and imagine your trying to help your daughter in-law and she throws a fit because you threw a bathmat away that was covered in wee because -Gasp- you were just trying to help her!

And why isn’t FIL getting any grief? He couldn’t have been the one who threw it away

I think you are over reacting - it can be easily replaced.