Celebrities
Harriet Brewis
Mar 19, 2021
Nenad Stojkovic/Flickr
A mother waged an elaborate war against her cleaning-shy family and, after days of struggle, was victorious.
Lily Potkin, known as Miss Potkin, documented her struggle to get her partner to lend a hand with the housework – a struggle that is all too familiar for many of us.
Alongside a photo of mounds of dirty crockery and cutlery, she tweeted on Wednesday: “Two days ago, I decided to stop doing the dishes.
“I make all the dinners and I am tired of having to do all the cleaning too. SINCE THEN this pile has appeared and at some point they are going to run out of spoons and cups and plates. Who will blink first? Not me.”
Two days ago, I decided to stop doing the dishes. I make all the dinners and I am tired of having to do all the cle… https://t.co/MJcufufLPh— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616019504
Her message of defiance clearly struck a chord with Twitter users – earning more than 130,000 likes within two days.
Over the hours following that initial tweet her live updates on the battle continued, with videos and, of course, plenty more photos to illustrate what she was dealing with.
“Let me know when you want to talk about the fact that I stopped doing the laundry too. It’s getting a bit post-apocalyptic. The piles are everywhere,” she wrote in one follow-up.
Let me know when you want to talk about the fact that I stopped doing the laundry too. It’s getting a bit post apoc… https://t.co/8Z4vxVSeOd— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616059999
“There is a pan on the cooker with a single sausage in it. It’s been there for two days,” Miss Potkin reported on Thursday. “I can’t look at it because it’s turned the color of the man that washes up in ‘Cast Away.’”
“SOMEONE JUST FORGOT THAT THERE’S NO TOILET ROLL IN THE DOWNSTAIRS LOO. Omg this is exciting,” another tweet reads.
SOMEONE JUST FORGOT THAT THERE’S NO TOILET ROLL IN THE DOWNSTAIRS LOO. Omg this is exciting.— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616064765
And another video shows her partner “discovering the joy of scraping rock hard old cereal off a bowl”.
Someone just discovered the joy of scraping rock hard old cereal off a bowl. Big day, BIG, huge. https://t.co/gitNEI55xz— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616077193
Finally, on Thursday evening, she revealed that “the dishwasher is now on”.
The dishwasher is now on. https://t.co/jBEl10JZGe— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616091704
Three hours later, at 9.15pm, she tweeted pictures of an immaculate-looking home, commenting: “Well it’s happened.”
Well it’s happened ❤️ https://t.co/2Xzt2DtYhe— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616101626
In a string of separate posts, she added: “WE MADE IT! (I’m not doing that again).
“3 days. 3 days of not washing or picking up or tidying.
“You’re gonna have good days, bad days, and a lot of f*** it days, but people don’t like being taken for granted, especially by the ones they love the most. Period.”
WE MADE IT! (I’m not doing that again) https://t.co/3UK3mSD59A— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616102131
On Friday morning, and delighted but dumbfounded Miss Potkin, from east London, whispered in a video: “Do you hear that? It’s the sound of the hoover happening downstairs.
“It’s now gone fully the other way and there’s so much cleaning happening that I can’t find things.
“New problems,” she laughed.
Where is my stuff? https://t.co/GarwoErqsE— Lily Potkin (@Lily Potkin) 1616147746
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