For us, having house guests is nearly as much fun as traveling ourselves.  I enjoy opening my home and sharing our life for a week or so with those we love.  I also love the way I can teach my kids about being a gracious host, and finding small ways that they can please others.  This spring we are expecting a houseful, and I’m helping my daughter to be the kind of hostess I can be proud of.

Our first item on our to-do list was to ask our friends about their food preferences.   We made sure to ask about allergies, and anything that they don’t like.  Then we had a great time planning our menus for when our guests are in town.  My daughter was sure to include foods that she remembered as being favorites of our guest.  Next we found out soap and shampoo presents and made sure to have them available, the same goes for toothpaste too!

Next on our list was towels.  We have a set of white towels that we save for our house guests.  I like white because they match any decor, are easy to find if they need to be replaced, and you can always bleach them to get them clean.  When we bleach our towels I always do an extra rinse cycle on the washing machine and add some distilled white vinegar.  The vinegar softens the towels (who doesn’t love soft towels?) and helps to get rid of that bleachy smell.

On the day our guests arrive we will put all  of our clean towels on the edge of the guest bed, so they know where they are.  If you want to be a touch more fancy, you can just leave a note explaining where they can find everything.  Either way, you will have happy house guests, and the opportunity to show your kids hospitality.

-Stephanie Wright