House Guests: A Gender Difference

Kristin's brother and his family are coming for the weekend.

So are Mike's friend and his fiancee.

So, what needs to be done when guests come over?

The most important, most memorable and, frankly, the most enjoyable part is preparing for their arrival. Where can we bring them? What can we make for dinner? What beer will we drink? What wine will we open? What stories do we want them to bring home?

Now, the two of us answer these questions very differently. Here's the breakdown:

His Side

Buy beer. Drink said beer. Think of one or two funny stories to share while drinking those beers. Recycle empty beer bottles before the guests arrive. Leave enough full bottles to share with guests when they get here.

Simple enough, right? I thought so at an earlier time in my life. Turns out, I was wrong and since we've become homeowners, that thought is more wrong than ever.

When we bought the house, I took responsibility for the yard, which means I need to mow the lawn. During the summer, this was never difficult. Even if I left it for later in the week, I had sunlight until nearly 9pm. I woke up this week and realized summer's over - the sun's gone 30 minutes after I get home. And that's on a good day. It'll get done. It always does. But it'll be on a creative schedule.

And then there's the kitchen. Kristin thinks she got the short end of the stick when we came to the agreement that I'd do the dishes if she did the laundry. But when guests come, there are a lot of dishes to do - and even more to be done while they're here. And, let's be honest, most guests won't know if we're wearing jeans that haven't gone through a cold cycle.

There's also the fun stuff, which is mostly confined to the basement: The foosball table needs to be greased. The dart board needs to be racked. My Tiger Woods '08 stats need to be padded. And someone needs to check the temperature of the beer and wine that I bought, right?

Despite all this hard work, Kristin informs me that here is so-called real work and real cleaning to be done. I'd call BS. Deep down, though, I know she's right.

Her Side

The first thing that I need to do is make sure we have a clean house. Cleaning is one of my least favorite things to do of all time but having guests come to visit forces me to do it. After sorting through the mail and magazines that have been piling up, I dust off the vacuum and get to work. Wiping down the coffee tables and dusting the ledges helps make the place feel more put together.

Next up, the bedrooms. Since it's just me and Mike, we rarely use the other 3 bedrooms in the house. One is designated our "guest room" and another is our office. The third, which is in the basement, is currently our room for storage - aka the extra crap. I spent Sunday looking through some boxes (said crap) and found many things I forgot we had - a Target gift card, yay - but mostly, crap we don't need. Since we have so many secret places in this house for storage, it's an easy fix. Shove all the crap in the big closet.

Now with clean bedrooms and full closets, I need to make sure there are enough towels and sheets for everyone who is staying overnight. When Mike and I moved in together, we decided to split some household responsibilities. He does the dishes and I do the laundry. I totally got the short end of the stick with that one, no matter what Mike says. However, this means I am responsible for making sure there are enough towels and sheets that are clean and ready to go.

And then there are the fun final touches that always make me smile: putting fresh flowers on the table, buying snacks for our guests to enjoy, placing some magazines (or games and coloring books for kids) beside the bed... And planning something we can all do together.

But, that's enough writing about it, we have to actually get to work . . .