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The welcome mat
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This is the right time to prepare yourself and your children to be the kind of houseguests where your host will be happy to extend the invitation again in future. As such, there are rules to follow so that the stay is stress free and enjoyable for both the host and the guest.
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THE MUCH-AWAITED vacation is here at last! After the rigours of your children studying hard for the exams and you going through the anxiety with them, it is nice to look forward to lazy summer afternoons with nothing more strenuous than vague plans for reading, catching up with unfinished projects, travelling etc.
Of course travel means you might be staying as a houseguest with friends or relatives. This is the right time to prepare yourself and your children to be the kind of houseguests where your host will be happy to extend the invitation again and again in future!
However close the relationship or the family ties, when someone opens his or her home to you, it is a privilege. As such, there are rules to follow so that the stay is stress free and enjoyable for both the host and the guest.
After all this is not a hotel with a 24 hour doorman to open the door whenever you choose to come and go, neither is there full time maid service to clean up after you or a chef to whip up delicacies to suit your palate.
First of all, make sure your host and hostess are very clear about your arrival and departure date and time. You certainly do not want to put them in the awkward position of asking you discreetly when you are leaving!
It is a nice gesture to take a little gift as a token of appreciation for their hospitality. A good houseguest is accommodating and adjusting of the lifestyle and time schedules of the host. Remember that only you are on vacation; they still have to continue with their day-to-day routine.
For instance, if they are in the habit of having their meals at a particular time, you need to adjust to that. If you are planning to be out most of the day, inform them well ahead of time so that they don't have to stay up and wait for you, wondering where you are.
It does not matter what you and your children do or don't do at home; while staying with someone else, offer your assistance wherever possible - with the cooking, setting the table, cleaning etc. especially, if they do not have household help.
If your hostess has been slogging away in the kitchen cooking for you everyday, take on the duties from her for a change. Your plan should also include taking them out for dinner or lunch one day to relieve her of the kitchen duties.
Make sure that your room and bathroom are tidy and that you don't leave your belongings all over the house for someone else to pick up after you. Let your children understand that they do not take anything that does not belong to them.
If you have to use their telephone, get permission before you place the call. Any long distance calls made from their telephone must be reimbursed.
One of the cardinal sins a houseguest can commit is to overstay the hospitality. While leaving, a small gift, monetary or otherwise, to the household help will demonstrate your consideration for the extra work they had to put in because of your stay.
Last but not the least; send your host and hostess, a personal note thanking them for their kind hospitality. In fact, have flowers delivered along with your "Thank you" note and you know their doors will always be open for you!
CHITRA DANGER
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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