r/AskDad • u/PinDear310 • 13h ago
Family How can I ask my parens (specifically my dad) to talk to my little brother about hygiene.
I (21 F) live with my parents (50M and 46F) and three siblings. Me and my little brother (20M) share a bathroom. I am very grateful that I can live with my parents since the price of houses are so high, it is impossible to buy a house or to rent a place.
I am also grateful that I have a bathroom which I don't have to share with everyone...
However, I am so deeply upset at the state of it.
Like I said, I share a bathroom with my little brother. My little brother is an absolute SLOB. Look, I do have some OCD-like quirks and I do become paranoid about germs... but I am not crazy!
This man does not wash his hands after he used the toilet. He never ever cleans the bathroom. The only reason the bathroom gets clean is because I do it. He doesn't even get new toilet rolls when we are out. If I don't grab a new bottle of shampoo he will not wash his hair... If I don't get new hand wash he in general won't wash his hands. He does not wear deodorant and does wear the same clothes for multiple days.
It drives me inside. I literally don't even want him to bump into me because I am freaked out (I know that is dramatic and caused germaphobia... but it just feels uncomfortable to sit next to him.)
Today... I was just so upset. I have been studying for days because I had these exams. Today I was exhausted so I was already at my limit. I went to the bathroom, right after my little brother went (which was right before dinner mind you). He didn't wash his hands... ON TOP OF THAT he peed OVER the toilet. Then later he unloaded the dishes...
I was just so upset and freaked out by it.
I am so sick of being in a space with those kinds of things. This is our SHARED space! I don't care what he does in his room, I just want him to keep it clean. This is where I want to clean myself, but every time I step inside I feel like I am more dirty than before... Sometimes he doesn't even clean the tub and I see PUBIC HAIR!! Even just seeing his toothbrush makes me uncomfortable because it is literally has brown crusty bits...
Today I just couldn't handle it. I am holding it in but it hurts a lot. I feel like I am absolutely spiralling and now I feel the need to clean the entire bathroom while I am actually too tired to do so.
I have asked him multiple times to clean up after himself but he gets angry at me. On top of that when I do ask him to please clean the bathroom and that I think we should share the responsibility of the bathroom he says 'well you never tell me when it needs cleaning'... So basically in his eyes it is my fault that he does not clean...
At this point (as irrational as it is) I just want to lock him out of the bathroom...
Of course I won't literally do it, but I really wish that I would stop being so upset, and on top of that I wish that he would learn some basic hygiene (cuz I mean... washing your hands should be the bare minimum).
I am not his parent... and quite frankly I also feel quite uncomfortable to discuss bodily hygiene with my brother... Especially considering the pubic hair and such... I really wish my parents would say more about it, but my dad mostly laughs at my brother's 'stupid attitude towards cleaning the bathroom'. I feel very invalidated.