My Cheapskate Mother-in-Law Is Imposing Her Disgusting Habit on My Home. I'm Losing It.

"I grew up in California, where there was a drought in the late 1980s and early '90s and my elementary school classmates and I were taught the water-conservation mantra "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." I also remember a special lesson on how to brush your teeth using only an ice cube (run the toothbrush over it to wet it and then pop the entire thing in your mouth to rinse)."

"I remember not flushing pee being so normal that if you went to a friend's house, you'd casually ask "Do you do 'If it's yellow let it mellow?'" before using the bathroom. But that's exactly the thing. We asked! Because the civilized thing to do is to let people decide how much stagnant urine they are willing to tolerate in their own homes."

A person writes to an advice column about their mother-in-law Lynn's habit of not flushing toilets to save water, which she now encourages in their five-year-old son. The husband suggests tolerating the behavior and checking toilets before guests leave. The advice columnist acknowledges experiencing similar water-conservation practices during California's 1980s-90s drought, when children learned the phrase "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." While understanding Lynn's perspective rooted in environmental consciousness, the columnist emphasizes that households should establish clear bathroom expectations through communication rather than assuming shared practices.

Read at Slate Magazine