Years ago there was a really strangely-toned movie called Mouse Hunt.

It was supposed to be a farcical comedy, but I remember seeing it as a kid and feeling it was weirdly dark.

The things that mouse put those people through – the things those people tried to do to that mouse…it was just a lot.

Still, it was a better story than this mouse story. that’s actually happening in someone’s home.

Let’s see why husband and wife are not working together to solve the mouse problem.

WIBTA if I turned off the WiFi until I can’t smell or hear mice anymore?

For context, my spouse and I are both neurodiverse, and live with chronic pain.

Keeping the house clean has always been a struggle, and it’s a sore spot in our relationship.

We also have different standards for what is a liveable amount of clutter/mess.

I can handle clutter to a point, but I cannot tolerate mess that creates health hazards or attracts pests.

There’s a weird division of labor here:

We both work full time, but most of the household responsibilities fall to me.

Keeping house sucks for everyone, but it especially sucks when you’re disabled, but I’m forced to push through my limitations while my spouse refuses.

As an example, I have severe low back issues that make washing dishes painful at best, but often excruciating.

My spouse has sensory issues and doesn’t like touching dirty dishes (nevermind that if they just went in the dishwasher right away, they wouldn’t have time to get gross).

So her ‘yuck’ outweighs my pain.

I think she has washed the dishes <10 times since we’ve been married.

Then came the rodents:

Because of new construction nearby, our entire neighborhood has had mouse problems this year, but everyone else has been able to get rid of them.

Not us.

If you’ve ever dealt with mice, you know that the only way to get rid of them is to take away any food sources that aren’t in a trap.

As long as you continue to leave your taco bell trash with a half-eaten burrito next to the couch where you finished it, the mice aren’t going away.

It is to the point where I am immediately greeted by mouse smell when I come home from work or open the bedroom door in the morning.

And hearing them in the basement or behind the stove makes my skin crawl.

And now the ultimatum:

The only way I have found in the past to get my spouse to pitch in with cleaning is to kill the WiFi and refuse to turn it back on for the day–which is also how I motivate the kids to do their chores/homework.

I’m at a point where I’m ready to turn it off until I can’t see, smell, or hear mice anymore even if it takes weeks.

Would that make me the [jerk] to treat my spouse like I treat the children, and take away her Wi-Fi?

Might be time to hire an exterminator.

Let’s see what the comments on Reddit think:

It’s not the WiFi that needs to be shut down.

There are solutions to these problems.

Is this an example of “weaponized neurodivergence?”

Personally, I’m just shocked by the idea that someone wouldn’t finish their Taco Bell.

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.