Every summer, the same chaos returns: vanishing cutlery, moldy mugs, and a sibling who thinks being family means getting a free pass on responsibility.

This year, one household member finally decided enough was enough.

Read on for the story.

AITA for leaving a family member to deal with their own dishes?

Hello all. I live in a 3-person household (usually 2).

With the arrival of summer, my sibling is returning home and I am very aware that I do not have the bandwidth to keep up with all the missing dishes and cutlery and mysteriously moldy mugs that come with this time.

I am going into this with pre-existing frustration that is likely to make this seem more dramatic to me than it really is.

Fair warning.

Within one week of coming home, the majority of our cutlery has disappeared.

While the following does inconvenience me, I have made it a point to not retrieve the dishes from their bedroom (which is also likely making me more emotional–eating spaghetti with a grapefruit spoon is truly a maddening thing! Do not recommend!!!).

The stealing of our kitchenware is a recurring problem with my sibling, and as the youngest, I have very little authority in my household, so the only thing I can really do to make my point is stop carrying the extra weight.

So? Stop!

I have told them that I expect them to return their own dishes and soak them appropriately in hot water to loosen the debris that has crusted on.

My sibling has asked why, as family, I do not want to help them and make their life easier.

I am very frustrated by this. I do not think I am expecting too much, but again, I am very emotionally invested in this, haha.

Clearly.

I unfortunately have a short fuse once it’s lit, and my sibling has PTSD, so we make a poor pair in this situation.

I do want to clarify that dishwashing is my responsibility. However, I believe that I should not have to retrieve hidden, dirty dishes from around the house throughout the day despite everyone in our household being physically equally capable.

I do expect people to place their dishes in the sink when they are finished.

Fair.

This is something everyone has agreed to do.

Again, if this is something I am being too harsh about, PLEASE TELL ME.

It will be a lot easier for me to stop feeling resentful if I’m blowing this all out of proportion.

Leaving spaghetti stains and crusty coffee cups scattered around the house might not seem like a big deal—until someone’s forced to eat dinner with a grapefruit spoon.

Reddit agrees.

This person is completely on OP’s side here.

This person thinks the family sounds lazy (not OP).

And this person has a suggestion.

One person’s boundary isn’t betrayal.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.