Not sure why but I am feeling really angry with my mother this morning.
She lives with me and two of my children. She has some mild chronic illnesses and mobility issues.
Ive posted about her before - she is generally unhygienic and careless with other people’s things around the house, yet insists on taking over when it comes to household chores - heaven forbid I try to use my own washing machine!
Generally, for the sake of peace, I let her get on with it, although I have been noticing a decline in the level of cleanliness around the house - to a point where I’m not happy. If I try to do a deeper clean of anything, she becomes really nasty, mocking me and saying I’m in a ‘cleaning frenzy’ or that I am a ‘neat freak’.
Today, I decided to take the bin inserts out and clean them thoroughly as they have been smelling bad. I added bleach and water and left them to sit outside for a short time to start lifting some of the dirt, intending to then scrub them all thoroughly before leaving them to dry. In the meantime, I scrubbed all the inside of the cupboard. All the time, mum was watching over my shoulder, making comments like, ‘I do clean that, you know’ - which she does, but only ever a cursory ‘wipe’.
I stopped for a drink and to make a phone call.
Came back to mum putting the bins back in the cupboard.
Told her I’d not finished and she said ‘I’ve done it’ - she’d dumped the bleach water on the lawn, brought them straight back inside and put new bin liners in.
So, no proper scrub and still wet.
I had to walk away, as it made me so bloody angry! I don’t know if I’m being ridiculous, but this is just one similar example. Why shouldn’t I want my home to be properly bloody clean, tidy and smelling nice?? It’s not like I’m criticising her - I’m happy to do these things but she just cannot let me get on with it, has to interfere them do a sub-par job and I’m meant to suck it up and be grateful for… in lots of ways it would be better if she didn’t do any of it.