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Chapter 47
BEING A
CONSIDERATE
HOUSEGUEST
As you’re growing up and are more independent, you’ll probably have invitations to spend a few days at someone’s house. Your friend might invite you to come to her family’s lake house or mountain cabin for the weekend. Your parents might go on a vacation and make arrangements for you to stay with your aunt and uncle or with a family friend.
Being a houseguest is a little different from spending the night or attending a slumber party at your friend’s house. The stay is longer, which means you’ll need to adapt to your host’s habits and routine, while also being mindful of the regimen of the house you are visiting.
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YOU DO
Bring a small token of appreciation with you to give when you arrive.
YOU DON’T
Arrive lugging only your suitcase or purchase an expensive or unsuitable appreciation gift.
Why
Bringing something everyone can enjoy always makes a good impression. A loaf of good bread or a box of homemade cookies for everyone is thoughtful, and something your mother or father can help you with. An expensive piece of pottery is unnecessary and a DVD of a movie that is too mature for every member of the family is not suitable.
YOU DO
Follow the routine of the household.
YOU DON’T
Sleep in until noon if everyone else gets up at eight, expect breakfast when everyone else is having lunch, or stay up watching television alone in the den hours after everyone else has gone to bed.
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Why
Your hosts have already gone out of their way to make you comfortable; don’t disrupt their household in return. It is your responsibility as a houseguest to blend in with the order of the home.
YOU DO
Make your bed in the morning, pick up your room, and keep all of your bath and beauty products in a toiletry bag.
YOU DON’T
Bring along sloppy habits from home, leave your things lying about in common areas, leave a clump of hair in the tub drain, or wipe your eye makeup off on the hand towel in the bathroom.
Why
You are not in a hotel with housekeeping service; you are a guest in someone’s home and should keep the space you are using as neat as you found it. Be sure to bring your own eye makeup remover, hair care products, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
A lady doesn’t use her host’s phone or computer without permission.
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A lady doesn’t take anything from her host’s refrigerator or pantry without it being offered first or unless she’s been given blanket access.
A lady doesn’t monopolize a bathroom she is sharing with someone else.
A lady always brings a robe to wear over her sleep clothes and to the shower.
A lady offers to help at mealtime, take out the trash, or pick up the popcorn from the floor in the family room after movie night.
A lady asks her host if she can strip her bed the morning of her departure.
A lady writes a thank-you note as soon as possible after her visit.