AIBU to issue my 14yo DD with ONE bath towel for the week to teach her lesson

[Slowdecrease]

I went out for a couple of hours last night to visit a friend. My DD said she was going to give herself a pamper night. When I came back DD was in her bedroom and on the bathroom floor were four, that's FOUR wet scrumpled bath towels (freshly washed yesterday). My face felt hot. I went into my bedroom and there on the floor in front of my bedroom mirror, was a further wet, scrumpled bath towel. My face was now purple, my eyes were starting to blur with blind fury!!! Five freshly washed towels left wet and scrumpled on the floor. She does this EVERY TIME she has a bath (though five is a record it's normally one or two).

AIBU to issue her one towel for the week (and hide all the others) so she learns to use it, put it on the radiator if it's usuable again the next morning or put it in the wash bin? Yes I know by the end of the week it will be minging but to prove a point that other people live in this house and would like a dry towel occasionally without washing the whole lot every single day, is this a fair and good way of teaching a selfish 14 yo a lesson??

[Rezolution123]

The most expensive part is getting the washed towels DRY, particularly in winter. Not so bad in summer as I can put them outside. We do have a system of spreading wet used towels out on the rails at the top of our stairs to dry them off. Works well in winter when the heating is on. But if they have been washed, then they go in the tumble dryer. Two teenagers here so frequent baths/showers.

[ThinkPinkStink]

I use one or two a week (depending on how reliably I've dried them in between showers).

I fully agree with Katharina: or show her where the washing machine is (however the wastefulness of washing five towels after approx. 30 seconds use each is gut wrenching).

And who needs a towel to stand on, surely that's what a bathmat is for?

Oh and try hammam towels, they are excellent for quick washing and drying, and far less cloying in the summer.

[MrsLupo]

I'd be delighted if my teenage sons would wash themselves so thoroughly that 5 towels were needed...mid-week as well! Give thanks and get the laundry on. (Or have her do it.)

[maizieD]

Once again astounded at how anal some people can get about cleanliness

1 towel a week sounds fine; possibly two at a pinch.

Though sometimes early influences can have unintended consequences. When my children were small their inevitably dirty 'outer wear' (e.g T shirts, trousers etc.) went straight into the wash after one wearing. I was a bit shocked to find that as they grew older and less messy they wouldn't wear anything twice, however unsoiled it was. Then realised I'd made a rod for my own back

Perhaps the OP used multiple towels when DD was a toddler and she just thinks it's normal.

[Bringiton2016]

whois I just nearly choked on my chewing gum!

[Jw35]

Yanbu and I can totally relate to this post! My 12 year old I the same, never puts the bloody towels back in the bathroom
In my house there's a big towel and hair towel on the towel rail and they get changed whenever they feel too damp/smelly. I always hang them back up after use so really does my head in when they're on Dd's bedroom floor!

[WeAllHaveWings]

One bath towel each a week here too unless someone doesn't clean their arse properly specifically needs another one. Everyone has their own towel and hangs up so it dries between uses.

If she's having a special pamper session she might need one more towel to put her hair up in.

We only do one bath/hand/bath mat/flannel/tea towel washing load a week (flannels and tea towels are only washed once a week, but changed more frequently!) ds(12) helps with this and/or bedding washing/changing if he's around.

I would allocate her one towel and also put her on towel/bedding laundry and changing duties for a while.

[EvansAndThePrince]

I can't physically think how you could use 5 towels in one sitting. So YANBU to hide all the rest of the towels, and tell her to pick her own damn stuff up.

YABU to think that one towel a week is a punishment. Give her none

These threads always make everyone think everyone else is a weirdo. We have a towel each. They get washed every week or two, hung up outside (or near radiators if it's raining) and back in the bathroom for the next shower.

I also clean my arse, so have no problem using the same towel over and over I also don't er... Delve too deeply into my crevices when drying.

[AliceInUnderpants]

I like to use the same towel to dry my dirty arse as I do my face. It saves on perfume.

[RichardCliff]

I love threads like this that give you a glimpse into a really mundane part of other peoples' lives.

Here, me and DH have two towels each per week. One bath towel each for bodies and one hand towel each for faces. We don't use each others bath or face; bath towels because DH is a pube monster and my creams make him sneeze and face towels because DH is anally obsessive about the face that his face towel should only ever be used to dry his face whereas I'm not that bothered.

Towels to stand on though- do you people live in places that don't have bathmats?

[FuckFaulknerILikeTheGruffalo]

I second getting her to do the laundry for a week. At 14, if she doesn't have respect for effort that goes into running the home, she better get it quick! She's old enough to work in 2 years and is a legal adult in 4! I was a teenager not all that long ago, and feel lucky I had an urge to be independent and could see how much my mother did on my own - my mum would have just told me off for something like using 5 towels if I did that and not explained anything or pointed facts of running a house out and I'd have left at 18 to go out in the world totally unprepared.

[splendide]

All this talk of dirty towels reminds me that DS actually did shit himself between getting out of the bath and getting into his pyjamas. He was only about 8 weeks at the time. I definitely did not hang that particular towel up to dry.

[Whathaveilost]

We end up doing a towel wash everyday. The two DSs' have two or three showers a day and towels are always on the go and a fresh one everytime.

It used to bother me but I pick mt battles. Everything else about them is good so it's a small price to me.

[angielou123]

I'd give her 2 towels. one for body, one for hair. Tell her they are hers and she's only to use them. What she does with them after that is up to her. If she has to use a wet towel, she might start hanging them!

[bilule]

i don't specifically dry my bum
and after a shower its clean anyway surely??

I change towels once a week unless visible signs of mank

[AlpacaPicnic]

One big towel, one smaller hair towel. Definatlay (I cannot spell that word, I've tried several different ways and they all look wrong!) hide the rest.

I would pile the scrumpled wet towels on her bed/pillow/clothing as a further punishment!
I am a bad person...

[MrsJayy]

I stopped the washing of towels and showed them where the machine was Dd1 could use 4 towels in a single shower bugger that

[MrsJayy]

Dd1 trains 3 times a week that was a tonne of towels she whined one day about there being none I blow up like a loon had the towel tantrum and she does hang them up to dry now

[Leopard12]

Whathaveilost, two or three showers each day!!! that's insane I understand maybe two, one when they get up the one after sports but three?....

[bilule]

three showers a day is a bit weird
and a waste of water

[WhitePhantom]

Madness!

But someone has ds's that have 2 or 3 showers a DAY??? Wtf is that all about?!

And Alpaca - it's definitely

[LittleFishEds]

Splendide I really thought that said DH, I had to re-read it, I was so relieved it said DS...

WhathaveIlost they do what?!

[papayasareyum]

I must be very weird then because I wouldn't ever use a towel 5 days on the trot ubless I was camping and had no washing machine

[LupoLoopy]

Have her do the laundry and only issue one towel next week. Hardly constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and will communicate your disdain that (on this occasion) she has treated you like hotel hospitality staff.

Do offer her the chance to apologise first though. It's could be teenage oversight/ingnorance shed be embarrassed of if explained to her.