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Starting in about a week, I'm going to have to move out of my house for two weeks while some people who I don't really know live there. Don't ask why.
But here's my question: Suppose, just suppose, that you, your spouse and your three kids, ranging in age from about 4 to about 10, were going to be staying at someone else's house for two weeks while that someone else was not there. What would you think would be reasonable to expect your absent host to do in preparation for your arrival? Empty the refrigerator? Clear out space in the closets or dressers? Do something else I haven't thought of? Or would you just be so happy to have a free place to stay that you wouldn't really expect anything more than an empty, reasonably clean house?
And please, please don't ask why I ever agreed to this. Believe me, I'm regretting it already.
22 comments:
We sublet our place to EXACTLY this format of family in between our two academic years in Madison. That was ten weeks, not two, and they were paying (but not much!) but we cleaned the fridge, vacuumed the dog hair, locked away any valuables, and left them adequate drawer space.
Wow. You are a brave woman indeed. I think you should put up what you do not want broken or lost, and otherwise, I am sure they are grateful to have a place to stay for free. Very kind of you to offer your home in such a way.
I am pretty low maintenance myself, so I'd be happy with some closet and drawer space and some instructions on when to water the plants, if applies. And putting stuff that you don't want 4 year old to get too curious about up or away is definitely good, I think.
Hmmm...I think I would expect that people had put away things that were truly special, and I would want a place to put my clothes and food (not an empty fridge/closet/bureau necessarily but space), and perhaps a note about anything unusual I should know about the house/laundry situation.
Good luck!
Make sure you store away your human skin collection. For some reason, people tend to get really freaked out by that.
I can't think of anything else.
but i want to ask why. :)
i think empty and reasonably clean are primary and all you really owe them for your end of the deal...but you owe yourself the putting away of things you really love, and the leaving of instructions for anything it would bother you to come back and find undone.
i hope your own two weeks are somewhere nice and relaxing...maybe with cabana boys and free drinks?
Store the valuables and hide anything that might be..er.. embarrassing. A drawer or two would be nice and a little space in the fridge. Also, post the "take-out" numbers in case they want to order in. I'd clean up a little, but not too much. You don't want it to be too inviting. They may find a reason to stay longer. Where will you be staying? Just curious.
I would agree that a little bit of space in the fridge and some hanging closet space would really be all that would be expected, and of course, for yourself, moving some things up and out of the way you don't want damaged, although a four year old should be fairly good about the average stuff around a home. A nice extra thing might be some tips on what to do in the area - we just keep a drawer full of brocures and maps and such for when people are visiting us (but always with us around - you are a brave and kind woman, indeed)
I am not sure if these are friends of yours or total strangers but I would ditto what ever one else said above. Hopefully, they will leave it as clean as they found it, but with kids that may not be likely. Again depending on the age of the kids, I might do a little childproofing of the house. Hopefully you will be able to greet them and do some orientation of how thing work that they may be using like the TV, laundry, dishwasher and the like. Then there are always the emergency numbers to get a hold of you, and you them.
i'd clear a shelf in the refrigerator and a small space in the closet.
i can't ask why, but can i ask you
if you are also into s&m? (if so, you should defintely hide whip & chain!)
Everyone's already given such detailed and appropriate suggestions.
I'll echo bon's question -- where do you get to go? Do tell.
(And, if you want, e-mail me the name of your mom's school! If not, it's all good.)
I'd be happy with a reasonably clean house, availability of clean sheets and I suppose nothing mouldy lurking in the back of the refrigerator. Of course I would also bring you a pretty nice present or two to say thankyou. Maybe a little closet space, but to be honest would be happy with a rail and a few empty hangers.
Leave a treat for them. LIke a bag of coke.
If they're going to be arriving late at night for some reason, a couple of breakfast staples would be really useful - otherwise, they'll probably just want to do their own grocery shopping.
Excellent suggestions. I'm going to have the cleaning woman continue to come in, so she can take care of things like vacuuming, keeping the bathrooms clean, watering the plants, washing and putting away the linens and changing the sheets.
After reading Monica and Painted Maypole's advice, I spent the morning collecting business cards and menus from kid-friendly neighborhood restaurants, which I'll put in a folder along with a list of local attractions. This may seem thoughtful, but I have an ulterior motive. The more time they spend eating out and doing touristy stuff, the less opportunity they'll have to destroy my house and possessions.
I'll be staying at my brother's house. The major drawback is that it'll involve a commute of about an hour and a half each way. Which I know is shorter than many people's daily commutes, but which seems long if, like me, you're not used to it.
3 hours of commuting each day! That seems rough to me. I hope to never have to walk more than 15 minutes work again, or at least to have a convenient bus/train trip of no more than 30 minutes door to door. Doubt that'll happen.
I think this all sounds very kind. I can't imagine taking on all that extra work. I think a little space in the closets would be fine. I would just be overjoyed to have a free place to stay.
The commute might not be so bad. I had to drive an hour and ten minutes each way to the University last year and I found that i actually appreciated the time to plan the day's activites and go over a list in my head about what I needed to accomplish for the day.
I AM renting someone's house at the end of the summer for 10 days, so I'm reading this with interest.
This person regularly rents their lakeside house as a vacation cottage every summer while they go away. So they have experience at it, but we don't and I'm praying they do put away anything irreplaceable or expensive, y'know? Or anything really private?
I mean, if there was a locked room, or closet or trunk, I wouldn't give it a second thought, but if they just leave stuff lying around it may get looked at or used? Just cause kids don't always follow orders, sigh....
I expect to buy our food btw, but I am hoping they leave some stuff behind like spices or condiments or baking powder etc. or other things I won't use a lot of.
When we have borrowed a house for free in the past, I have left it scrubbed so sterile & so perfectly you could operate in it. (exhausting btw) This time we are paying rent to strangers so we talked about leaving it tidy, but they will get a cleaning lady or do the heavy cleaning themselves.
As others said, keep important, personal, breakable things in safe places (ideally out of reach for kids). Maybe you should also leave a note with important phone numbers (electricity, water, gas company or anything where failure might cause serious problems) -- since I find myself in a place where I don't know all these things "everybody just knows" I am slightly obsessed with that, perhaps it is not necessary at all.
3h of communing sounds like a lot! I hope this family appreciates how lucky they are.
The way I feel is that I would already feel bad for putting you out I would not expect you to do anything else. I would think that you leaving for two weeks would be enough.
Leave a sheet of instructions if there's anything idiosyncratic about your house. And phone numbers!
Will you have to drive for an hour and a half? Or train? If train, think of all the reading you'll get done! That's my favorite thing about my hour and a half commute.
Magpie: Unfortunately, I'll be driving. In nightmarish rush hour traffic. That starts at about 6:30 am.
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