I enjoy having guests drop by without a lot of notice, and that happens often.
Surprise guests are easier because you don’t have to clean much ahead of time. They get what they get. It’s real-life living.
On Friday last week one of Doug’s work associates stopped by in the morning. (We live in a location that’s really convenient.) It was breakfast time so my kitchen was messy, but at least the kids were dressed, so I fixed him a scrambled egg and a few slices of fresh tomato, and they had a meeting at the breakfast table.
Later that afternoon my daughter invited a friend to play, and then in the evening we had some friends stop by and visit. The weekend would be busy because we planned to have a whole bunch of house guests on Saturday.
I don’t mind last-minute overnight guests either, like the time I met a traveling Chinese student and invited her to come stay with my family instead of at the youth hostel. She agreed she would like to, and it wasn’t so very unusual because this was when we lived in Florence and I met new people all the time. She got on the bus with me, pulling her wheeled suitcase behind her. I was surprised that she would be willing to stay at a stranger’s house, but I guess my two little kids made me look safe and trustworthy. Doug was not surprised when I showed up at the door with a two-night house guest. I am glad she stayed with us.
Planned guests take more work because you don’t have that excuse, “Oh, what a nice surprise to see you. Come on in.” You have to clean more ahead of time, and it’s especially hard when you have little kids who work against you to undo your cleaning efforts.
Planned overnight guests require even more planning efforts. I’ve lived in many apartments that I never had more than one or two house guests at the same time.
Last weekend was the first time we had so many people stay with us that the ratio of people to bathrooms was 12:1 and that, my friends, required careful planning.
