Messy house, unexpected guests

[Tiggeroo]

If your place is a mess do you let an unexpected guest in? My place was a mess early this afternoon and my landlord dropped by unexpectedly. She never does this, and is a nice lady.There was an unexpected problem and she needed to get in next door and there was ice on the steps so she needed to cut thru my house to the back steps. There was no getting around it, I had to let her in. I asked her to wait a minute, while I thru a couple things into the bedroom. But I felt awful embarrassed and got very flustered. I had been working on a paper all morning and never got up to clean up the morning debris of 3 kids and a spouse all getting ready for work/school on a Monday. Ya know, clothes on floor, bowls on table/counter, cereal out, a pile where somebody was looking for a book. Oh, yeah we're painting the dining room and the bar so there's a few piles laying around from that. The more I think about the messier it looked. And when she stepped out back there the surfboards had fallen out of their rack and were in the way. Just awful.
I'm a bit of a neatnik normally. I try to keep the place nice, I always clean extra if someone is coming over, even dd's long time bf, or my sisters and their kids.
Now I'm contemplating calling the landlady to apologize for the place being a mess. DH says it's silly and I should let it go. We;re the only people in our building with kids at home. So it always seems like we are the messiest.
If she hadn't been my landlady and it hadn't been an amergency I would have asked her to wait fiv minutes and done the quick straighten up.

 

[DisneyObsessed]

I swear I can keep my house perfectly clean for so long and nobody comes. The one day you let everything slide, that's when someone inevitably shows up I let them in, but I feel like crap, apologizing all over the place.

 

[Tiggeroo]

That's what I was thinking. My place is always clean unless somebody unexpected shows up. Two times ever, the landlady stopped by and both times it was like this. So I'm sure she thinks I'm a slob.

 

[tkd lisa]

I don't get bent out of shape if my house is messy. If they just drop in, they take it like it is. I'll be happy to invite them in, and just make some off hand comment like, "excuse the mess", but in my mind, the time I spend supporting my kids' activities are more important than the time spent keeping the house just so.

Now if I know someone's coming over, I do make sure it's pretty clean. Then I would be embarrassed if it was a mess, cause I'd have no excuse.

 

[caseylouandtyler2]

My house is almost always clean. Unless my MIL drops by unexpectedly. I hate that. It just gives her something to gripe about.

 

[Micca]

I think "mess" is a relative term, and everyone thinks their mess is worse than everybody elses mess. I'm always a little relieved when I see other people's messes.

 

[Pat]

My house always seems to have a little mess or clutter somewhere.

I read somewhere that if you see someone coming to your door, quick grab your vacuum cleaner and a couple of rags, etc. and set them in the middle of the room. Then, when they come in, apologize and tell them that you are just in the middle of cleaning and have been moving things around.

 

[Otto's Doll]

Originally posted by Pat
My house always seems to have a little mess or clutter somewhere.

I read somewhere that if you see someone coming to your door, quick grab your vacuum cleaner and a couple of rags, etc. and set them in the middle of the room. Then, when they come in, apologize and tell them that you are just in the middle of cleaning and have been moving things around.

Oooh, love this idea!

Seriously, most people who come to visit either have a kid, or have been one and do understand that real life sometimes gets in the way.
If you are coming here, better call first!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I like to just tell them they know it's potential! Most of my guests have seen it clean and tidy. Anyway it is best to not worry about the small stuff.

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by Micca
I'm always a little relieved when I see other people's messes.

Glad I'm not the only one!!

My house is so small it ALWAYS looks messy and/or cluttered. When I know it's real messy and, someone "drops by", I say "excuse the mess" and, leave it at that.

 

[Trish5768]

I have a little wooden lady on my door she holds a sign that reads: My house was clean yesterday, sorry you missed it.

 

[Nutsy]

Well you can't exactly turn them away hey? My BIL & SIL called around (very) unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago & the place wasn't exaclty neat as a pin, but what can you do, but let them in.

So, in they came...............then the following weekend we knew that we were geting visitors, these two again, plus my DM & DB, so we had a Spring Clean in Summer

 

[DocRafiki]

FWIW, your house doesn't sound all that messy. If it's just stuff that has piled up in the past 24 hours or less, I'd say you're doing really well.

Of course, my house is completely un-visitable, so almost everyone's house seems clean to me.

 

[battricia]

Anyone that knows me well enough to 'drop by' my house knows that I'm not the neatest person, and there's a good possibility that the house isn't going to be immaculate, so they just expect it.. and I'm not at all imbarrassed.

tricia.

 

[TammyNC]

I used to get very uptight if someone dropped by that I wasn't expecting because of the clutter and all. Well, thankfully I have changed a lot over the past couple of years. We don't live in complete dirt and I figure if they want to visit they can visit. I do say excuse the mess, but also figure if they have a problem with it, they can help me clean or not come back.

I though love the idea of getting the vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies out before going to the door. I may be trying that one sometime.

 

[Serena]

I have unexpected guests all the time. I had to get over worrying about it. Everyone has seen this and me at my best, worst, and everything in between and they keep coming back.

 

[vald1977]

Love the idea of putting the cleaning stuff out too. Might have to try that sometime . I really don't understand how some people are able to keep their houses spotless all the time. I do clean everyday and it seems like within an hour, there is more to do. The way I look at it, I am greatful that I have the people who mess it up in my life. A mess is a small price to pay !

 

[4greatboys]

Having 4 kids I dont think my house is ever clean, lol. I think people would be shocked to stop by and not see toys everywhere and laundry begging for me to fold it

 

[castlegazer]

We have a small house and I was constantly appologizing to people who would stop over unexpectedly and then I started to think after about the hundreth person told me, "you should see my house", that hey, wait a minute, I can't be the only one who has a problem keeping the house clean during the week. So I just had a dinner party the other night during the week which is a feat in and of itself and there were books and shoes on the stairs waiting to be brought up to the bedrooms. I didn't even worry about it and no one even noticed - and if they did I don't care. I just had the same people over for superbowl and the books and shoes had moved and made it to their destination so I am at peace that they know that my house may sometimes look a little cluttered and messy but I do make an effort at keeping it clean and there are rare moments of peace from the clutter.

 

[MICKEY88]

Originally posted by castlegazer
We have a small house and I was constantly appologizing to people who would stop over unexpectedly and then I started to think after about the hundreth person told me, "you should see my house", that hey, wait a minute, I can't be the only one who has a problem keeping the house clean during the week. So I just had a dinner party the other night during the week which is a feat in and of itself and there were books and shoes on the stairs waiting to be brought up to the bedrooms. I didn't even worry about it and no one even noticed - and if they did I don't care. I just had the same people over for superbowl and the books and shoes had moved and made it to their destination so I am at peace that they know that my house may sometimes look a little cluttered and messy but I do make an effort at keeping it clean and there are rare moments of peace from the clutter.

aren't you concerned that someone might trip over something on the stairs...??