Do I put up with someone who is targeting me instead of focusing on themselves?
My housemate seems to come after me when she's happy AND when she's sad.
If she's happy she'll condescendingly point out how she's superior by pointing out how many chores she's done (aka plants she's planted and op shop furniture she's acquired - we don't need either, we live in a rental).
If she's sad she'll aggressively point out how she's superior by pointing out how many chores she's done and say "we really need to have another talk about what you're contributing to the household".
What I want to say is "mate I vacuumed, dusted, watered the garden, gave the bathroom a wipe down and did some weeding on my days off from work. THREE DAYS AGO. It just appears my efforts weren't up to your standard and you didn't physically witness me doing it (she was at a music festival) so in your mind I didn't do anything.
Should I keep trying to meet her standards or just move out? I don't even eat dinner anymore because heaven forbid there's ever any unwashed plates left out for more than one minute (that sent another housemate away - she got constantly reprimanded for kitchen mess).
We've been friends for so many years and I know she's a good person but I'm 33 and she makes me feel like a 10 year old when I'm literally doing my best. My perceived lack of house chores has never been raised with me over more than 10 years of share house life. I wanted to work through this so we could maintain a friendship but I'm done being made to feel like a failure every night I go home.
Posted Feb 11, 2026, 10:18 PM UTC