Aliens in the guest room

Make space: If you do have an extra room to offer your guests, lucky you. And lucky them.

If you don’t, try to carve out a bit of private space around the futon in your living room with a curtain or fold-out screen.

Make up the guest bed before your guests arrive and, please, use the good linens and the nice matching towels that you’ve ideally set aside for just these occasions. Clear out a drawer or two or set out a small table so your guests can unpack their things. Stock a bedside table with useful stuff, including an alarm clock, box of tissues, reading material and a lamp.  And while your house is not a hotel, a nice touch in the bathroom or the guest room is a bowl filled with extra toothbrushes and toothpaste, new combs, shower caps, fresh bars of soap, razors, and other goodies your guest may have left behind.

Your house is still your home: Of course, while guests are about you shouldn’t ignore them, eat your meals alone in front of the TV or walk around naked. But your guests can’t expect you to totally disrupt your household routine to entertain them every moment of the day.

Set aside some quality time to spend with your guests and, if you can, join them out on the town for an activity or tour.  A friend who lives near Washington, D.C. who regularly opens her home to friends and family visiting the nation’s capital says, “We love houseguests and understand if they’re really not coming here to see us. But if people want to see the D.C. sites, it’s helpful if they arrive with a list of ideas before they get here.  We can give suggestions and directions, but to get the most out of their visit some preparation on their part is appreciated.” 

Hold your tongue:  I’m still sort of grossed out by the houseguest who sat down in the middle of my living room to floss her teeth and polish her toes. And I’m sure my friend’s not-really-so-angelic four-year old put one of my antique toys and a fresh dent in the dishwasher.

But I kept mum.

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Why? These people, after all, were invited visitors in my home. And, according to the timetable we’d all signed and joked about posting on the refrigerator, I was confident they’d soon be on their way.  

And, I kept reminding myself, when that four-year old grows up she may have her own dishwasher and her own beach house. And I might need a place to stay. 

Have some tips to share with other about how to be a good host or a great houseguest? Or perhaps a story to share about a good or bad guest?  

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