March 11/11

So, in the last week or so, I've done an experiment.

I have left the dishes to be done, and not done them from the last time that I did them (wherein I had done them the previous three times, in a row, regardless of whether or not I had cooked which initially had been the agreement I had with the bf about cleaning the dishes. He who cooks the meal does not have to clean after. Seems simple, right?)

So, I've not done them. It's been since last Sunday, when I had people over, so I cleaned them again (even though I wasn't supposed to based on the aforementioned agreement).
My counselor says that sometimes it might be because I have not straight out asked for them to be done. So, each day I have specifically requested that the dishes be done, except for last night, because we now have no plates to eat off of; we have eight dinner plates altogether and not one to eat off of now because of how long its been since the dishes were last done.

Note: I cooked on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so far this week.

Here is what happened to the kitchen:

And the front room: (which I tend to lump in with the dishes since we eat there and the dishes end up there constantly, even when I ask that they be brought out before the dishes are done daily):

So now what? I'm going to just do the dishes; it's the easiest way to go and I'm sick of not having them done. I hate having them build up like this. I just don't think it's fair that I am always the one who has to do the dishes, regardless of whether I cook or not. It's not very equitable.

The funniest part is that if I start them right now, he will say: "What are you doing? They were mine to do. Do you want me to do them?" But I have to actually start them, at which point my answer is, "No, because I'm already wasting my time doing them, I might as well continue. You do them next time".

It happens constantly.

So how do I beat this? I live in an apartment, so I can't get a dishwasher. I hate food sitting in the sink. It's such a health hazard, AND it makes the house smell. Plus, I like my kitchen being easy to work in. I live in an apartment; I can't just shut the door of the kitchen. I don't like nagging because then he just gets fed up and slams things around while doing them to make a big show of how inconvenienced he is by having to do the dishes.

What do I do? I'm confused and frustrated. This is, however, getting to be one of those issues that I really do not know how to deal with.