How to Prepare a Home for House Guests With Children

They're coming. Soon your home will be host to houseguests with children. You want your company to feel welcome but you're not sure how to start preparing for the kids. A few simple ideas can help you get your house in tip-top shape, making sure everyone has a memorable visit.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Organize early and write it down. Hosting children needn't be hard if you take some simple steps to accommodate their interests and needs. Make a list of "to do" items that include your menu, sleeping arrangements and safety necessities if the children are very young.
2. Plan your menu around easy to make foods and pre-made items. You can buy frozen entrées or make them ahead of time and freeze. Stock up on a few boxes of breakfast cereal. If the kids are picky, they can always have a bowl. Purchase, or make, some healthy snacks, too. An assortment of raw vegetables with dip is kid-friendly and the parents will approve.
3. Decide where the adults and children will sleep and organize the areas ahead of time. Younger children should be in the same room with their parents, and older kids can bunk just about anywhere. If sleeping room is scarce, try sectioning off an area of a bedroom or living quarters by hanging a sheet as a divider and let an older child sleep on a cot or even camp on the floor. Provide a night light and some age-appropriate magazines in the cubby.
4. Protect your valuables from small clumsy hands if your houseguests will be bringing small children. Remove fragile vases, figurines and growing plants, putting them up and away until your guests go home. You need not childproof your entire home, but walk through each room and carefully look for hazards to eliminate. Thinking ahead now will save anxiety when the visitors arrive.
5. Include the children in your daily chores. Kids get bored easily and if your houseguests are old enough to help by taking out the trash or walking the dog, just ask. It can save you some time and entertain the kids.
6. Visit the library before they arrive. Local libraries stock many puzzles, games and movies that can be checked out for a week or two. Ask the librarian which ones are appropriate for the ages of children coming to your home.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't assume your guests will remember all the necessities. Purchase a few cheap toothbrushes from a dollar store, along with toothpaste and shampoo.