Company’s Coming!
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Homemaking on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 12:00 PM
My mom is arriving today for an extended visit. She will be with us until June 6th to celebrate Adam’s 8th grade graduation, visit with my brother and his family, and just generally be a source of love and support in my home.
I hate the fact that she lives so far away in Mississippi, but love that these long visits give her plenty of time with my boys, as well as time for she and I to simply “hang out” together.
What I don’t love is that I’m a lazy housekeeper, and that my guest room (Mom’s room) tends to be my everyday “dumping ground” for books to be reviewed, items to be donated to charity, laundry waiting to be put away, and other miscellaneous messes. It means that Mom’s visits cause me a week of scurrying around trying to do major housekeeping to get the place ready to welcome our special guest.
When she arrives, I love to have fresh flowers in her room, a very clean guest bathroom, and a general sense of order in my home. She knows me well enough to sense the fact that I’ve run around like a crazy woman for three days to accomplish a few hours of cleanliness, and that my having done it is a sign of my love for her and my excitement for her visit. She always tells me, “Don’t go to any trouble!”. And I always tell myself, “Next time, I’ll be more organized!”
The sparkling clean atmosphere will last a few hours until the boys arrive home from school and dump backpacks in the kitchen. By then, Mom will likely be helping to cook dinner and folding my laundry! But these hours of preparation in anticipation of her arrival are precious reminders that this time with her should be a priority during her visit. There will be shopping trips, evenings spent with a glass of wine chatting, and possibly even a mother daughter pedicure. Since I can’t spend time with my mother every day, I want to make the most of the times that she is here in our home.
Do you regularly welcome guests or relatives into your home? If so, what lessons can you teach me about keeping my house “guest ready”? Are there any steps you take to prepare for a special visitor? How does having a long term house guest impact upon your schedule and family life?
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