. Make Your Company Comfortable

If you are expecting company this week, may I offer a bit of hard-learned advice?  Get ready now to make their stay a pleasant and more “uneventful” one.

First, put up or away anything and everything that is of great value to you!  I come from a large family and often we gather for extended family gatherings.  As the host or hostess, there is no way you will be able to watch everyone in every place in your home.  So prepare beforehand for the inevitable possibility of something important or sentimental being broken.  Walk through your whole house right away and simply put those items up or away!

Second, if you have computer, stereo or other electronic equipment, unplug these items so they cannot be manipulated by young, eager hands when you are not available to supervise.  This will keep you just a little bit more in control when you need to be.

Third, walk through your house and remove everything below your waist which might be potentially dangerous to young children.  Get the cleanser out from under the sink, the bleach up and off the floor of the laundry room, and your change off that low bedside table.  Even put the toilet paper in the far corner of the bathroom counter to save a potential call to the plumber because some youngster thought the paper “looked pretty” being deposited in the toilet.  It is easier to save yourself these potential disorders than to have to clean up after them and restore order to your home.  There will be enough excitement without encouraging it.

Fourth, get out puzzles, games, and toys (both children, teenager, and adult level) which can be fussed with.  Put a book of Christmas music on the piano so the “pianist” in the family will be occupied.  Put bubble bath next to the tub so young children can linger at their baths.  Buy some aerosol shaving cream and plastic table knives and have a shaving cream party (one of the funniest, least expensive traditions in our family).  Have the children put on adult t-shirts to protect their clothes and take their place around an empty table.  Give them each a plastic table knife and a “hill” of shaving cream.  Let them put it on their faces and then shave it off.  It will keep them occupied for a while, be a great time to take pictures, and offer a chance for some “Santa” beard-making practice.

Finally, just before your company comes this week, walk through your house and yard one more time to make sure that everything is ready for them.  Good luck!  I hope it is a good week with your family and friends.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Find more helpful ideas in “House of Order” Handbook.