Hospitality & After My Coffee Link-Up

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We just had friends from New York visit with us for five days. What a treat!

Hospitality, especially having overnight guests can be challenging if you don’t prepare your home and yourself ahead of time.

Here are some suggestions that might make your next hospitality opportunity more fun

- Plan ahead –
  - I make lists of what I need to prepare, what I plan to cook, and anything I would like to offer to do with them.
  - After I make up my lists I separate the things on each list into what can be done ahead and what will need to be done last minute.
  - Then I determine who can do what.
  - Sounds simple right? It really is. A little planning will make the time more enjoyable for your guests and for you. It also helps when you are interrupted with two very necessary car repairs a couple of days before they arrive.
  - Realize you probably won’t get everything done that you want to get done, but that’s ok. You do want to enjoy time with your friends and not be all out of shape about what didn’t get done or what you should have done.
  - If you are out all day doing something with them don’t be afraid to order pizza or other takeout for dinner.

Make them feel welcomed
- I like to tell overnight guests, especially if they will be here several days, that the first night they are guests, then they become part of the family and will be given a “to do list”. I say this a bit differently depending on who is visiting.
- This puts everyone at ease, and opens the way for them to lend a hand with cooking etc. I find that I’m uncomfortable with a hostess that wants to do everything herself and I have to just stand around and watch. Working together seems so much more companionable and fun.
- In this article Rejection and How to Deal with it I talk about some things I wish I had done differently with my mother-in-law.
Show them around
- The first night I show them their sleeping arrangements, bathroom arrangements, breakfast ideas, and whatever else I think they might need. I check back with them in the morning to make sure they have everything they need and that they slept well.
Don’t try to be super hostess
- This last week I had inquired ahead of time about what they liked for breakfast, were they coffee drinkers, etc. Then I provided appropriate breakfast items and told them that we would be having breakfast on our own. It took a lot of pressure off me to be able to shower and have my own cup of coffee and quiet time before getting together. One morning my son got up and made scrambled eggs and bacon for everyone, which was a nice surprise. It’s always better to offer less and be able to give more, that to offer more and find you aren’t able to provide what you said you would.