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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask lodger not to leave dirty towels on my son's high chair?

58 replies

Girl33 · 18/02/2015 09:05

That's it really. Friend staying with us for a little while and leaves his dirty towel on my sons high chair after a shower. I've tried to explain to him how disgusting it is but he just says germs are good for babies. Am I too precious?

OP posts:
hoppus · 18/02/2015 09:08

YANBU, he needs to respect your things even if he thinks you’re being odd. I wouldn’t like it either.

PureMorning · 18/02/2015 09:10

Yanbu.

'Put the towel elsewhere of fuck off out my house'

pictish · 18/02/2015 09:10

It's only a towel. So far as I know the death rate relating to tots contact with a damp towel tends not to result in dire illness or death.
I'd be more annoyed that it was a bit messy, but not so much as I would bother complaining about it.
Yes you are being quite precious imo. Sorry.

pictish · 18/02/2015 09:12

Pure if you spoke to me like that over something so trivial, I'd be more than happy to go. And not come back.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 18/02/2015 09:12

In assuming the high chair is in the kitchen/your living areas, so regardless of it being on the highchair I wouldn't be impressed with him leaving it lying around like that! Surely dirty towels should be confined to bathrooms/bedrooms? I would be livid with DH leaving a dirty towel in our kitchen or living room!

TheCatAteMyTaxReturn · 18/02/2015 09:12

YANBU

He's a guest. He should behave like one.

Davsmum · 18/02/2015 09:13

I would be bothered about the friend being messy more than it being a terrible danger to my child ( which it isn't)
Does your friend KNOW where he is supposed to put the towel? Have you told him?

Goldmandra · 18/02/2015 09:13

Tell him to forget the germs and stop doing it because you've asked him to and to continue would be rude and inconsiderate.

Yes, babies need to come across germs but how that happens to your baby is your call to make, not his.

pictish · 18/02/2015 09:13

Livid? Really?
I wonder how some of you make it through the day, truly.

Original poster
Girl33 · 18/02/2015 09:14

All i can picture is him wiping his balls and bum with it and it being where my son eats Confused

OP posts:
Original poster
Girl33 · 18/02/2015 09:15

He has a bedroom and there are hooks on the bathroom door too

OP posts:
Longdistance · 18/02/2015 09:15

Yanbu. He's probably wiped his arse with it.

pictish · 18/02/2015 09:17

We used to drape damp towels over the back of the high chair because it sat in front of the radiator, so was ideal for drying.
If course, we miss the kids since they all got ill and died as a result of it, but hey - thems the breaks.

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 18/02/2015 09:18

And I wonder why people are so rude Smile.

Yes I would be livid if it happened regularly. I am at home with a non sleeping 15 month old, I'm 20 weeks pregnant and I'm also doing a masters so keeping the house clean and tidy is a feat in itself. If someone left dirty towels around the living areas when there is a bathroom/bedroom/dirty washing basket/washing machine available I would be pretty pissed off. If you don't mind mess then that's up to you.

LuluJakey1 · 18/02/2015 09:18

YANBU at all. Dirty bastard. Why is he leaving his towel anywhere but his bedroom? Sounds like he isn't respecting your house.

Just pondering........does he get dressed in the kitchen/ dining room/ where the highchair is? Why does he bring the towel there at all?

SoMuchForSubtlety · 18/02/2015 09:21

I think perhaps your mistake is approaching it as a logical conversation that he can counter. It is your house, he is a guest, it is very impolite of him to ignore your house rules. I think you're being a bit precious about the germs issue tbh but that's slightly irrelevant - he's being rude to tell you he can do what he likes in your house.

IShallCallYouSquishy · 18/02/2015 09:21

Even if he didn't know where to put his towel, surely it's quite obvious it wouldn't be the baby's highchair?

pictish · 18/02/2015 09:24

I wouldn't say I don't mind mess, but I'd not be 'livid' about a towel. And I am busy too.

Just say "please can you leave your used towel in your room, thank you" - no need for drama.

Original poster
Girl33 · 18/02/2015 09:25

We have a ground floor bathroom adjacent to kitchen where high chair resides. Just to clarify I wouldn't be bothered if it was mine or hubby's but his makes me feel sick!

OP posts:
pictish · 18/02/2015 09:25

Somuch I must have missed the bit where he told the OP he can do what he likes in her house. Can you point it out for me?

pictish · 18/02/2015 09:27

Ah fuck....back up back up - you HAVE asked him not OP, and he has waived you aside. Ok, I don't agree with the whole germs thing and personally I don't see it as a big deal, but if I were the guest I would comply, no question. My apologies.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 18/02/2015 09:27

Wet towels should be hung to dry in a towel rail in the bathroom, surely?

I wouldn't be livid but it would form the basis of a "list" if this guest went on to do more annoying things, which I would guess he probably will if he's leaving wet towels around your house.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 18/02/2015 09:27

Is he a friend or a lodger?

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 18/02/2015 09:29

"Germs are good for babies" WTF? I can't see how that's a licence to leave his dirty towel on a high chair.

You could get into the whole "when you have a baby feel free you wipe your dirty towel all over its belongings and maybe you could get a few strangers to join in for extra germ spreading powers" but I think "I've asked you not to do it so just stop it. If you continue to be so rude then you will have to find somewhere else to live" is the way to go.

Pagwatch · 18/02/2015 09:31

He should do as you ask. It's very rude of him to dismiss your request. It doesn't matter whether it is silly or not, you have asked him to move it.

Can you start routinely moving it and draping it across the bin?
Maybe a cat litter tray?