For this married couple, switching off cooking responsibilities was the easy part.
However, handling the mess afterwards was a different story.
As their cleaning styles began to clash, one husband finally reached a breaking point, leading to a reckoning in the kitchen.
Read on for the full story.
AITA for implementing a “you cook you clean rule” and leaving her to clean up her dishes after she made pasta
My wife and I switch off cooking.
Both of us cook twice a week and the days neither of us cook, it’s a leftover night or takeout.
They used to have one system, but their vastly different cooking styles soon caused conflict.
We used to have the person that didn’t cook do the dishes after the meals.
I clean as a cook, so when it is my night there are very few dishes for her to clean up.
When she cooks, I swear she uses almost every single dish or pot for her meals.
It is a disaster in the kitchen and takes me a long time to clean the whole thing up.
The husband tried to nip this in the bud, but his wife was set in her ways.
I have had conversations before about this and have asked her to clean as she goes to reduce the mess.
She refuses and claims that is just what happens because she likes to make elaborate meals.
She does make more elaborate meals than me and spends a while in the kitchen.
I prefer to make more simples meals like stir fry.
So finally he puts his foot down.
I brought up last Thursday that I won’t clean up after her cooking anymore.
She left a huge mess and I was over it.
I said I would clean up my dinners and she can clean up hers.
On Saturday (my cooking night), I made beef tips over noodles and cleaned it all up.
But his requests appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Sunday was her cooking night and she made homemade pasta and red pepper sauce.
We ate and she didn’t clean up her mess, and later the night, she asked me to clean it up.
I told her no and reminded her what I told her and pointed out I cleaned my stuff up.
This brings me to this morning.
Finally, everything came to a head.
I didn’t do the dishes and when she woke up, there wasn’t much room for her to make her coffee and breakfast.
She ticked I didn’t clean it up and we got in a huge argument before I left for work.
She thinks I am a huge AH so I am asking for an outside opinion.
AITA?
It’s looking like this couple has more to clean up than just the kitchen.
What did Reddit think?
This commenter agrees their first arrangement wasn’t equitable for the husband.
With such different cooking styles, it’s only fair this couple clean up their own messes.
The system seems to work well enough for other couples.
This commenter is a strong proponent of the “clean as you go” method.
As dishes piled up, so did their frustration.
This couple needs to find the recipe for compromise, and stat!
If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.