and what sucks is i CANNOT bring any of this up to...
Yeah, in terms of boundaries, discussing the particulars of their nonsensical cleaning methods isn’t the way to go. What about something like “I know that you’re preoccupied with these things and you feel distressed, but this is my space too and I’ve gone as far as I’m willing to accommodate your preferences. I’ll clean as I see fit, taking your preferences into consideration. If that doesn’t work for you, we’ll need to make other living arrangements in the future”
thing is, this Very Reasonable suggestion is a nonstarter for them, i’ve tried, i told them i’d find scent free bleach cleaner or something but was told no, that that list and protocol would do.
i thought one of them getting staph and being forced by the doctor to buy bleach for the first time in the year i’d lived here would convince them to consider what i said when i first moved in, that with a windowless bathroom and a shitty vent like that, three adults in a house meant for two and a child couldn’t be cleaned with just vinegar and melamine sponges, some kind of disinfectant would be needed.
and their big compromise with the doctor - THE DOCTOR THAT TOLD THEM THEY GOT STAPH AND HAD TO DISINFECT COMMON AREAS MORE THOROUGHLY - was getting bon ami and hydrogen peroxide.
the latter they don’t buy anymore and the former i’ve had to buy more frequently as of late since that was never part of their routine or whatever. oh yeah, they insist on buying cleaning products themselves so ‘the wrong ones’ aren’t picked. i once got laundry detergent that was unscented, since they hadn’t bought a new one before leaving out of town, but i guess it was the wrong kind of unscented because that wasn’t a permissible detergent and i had to throw the rest out.
