How do you have a polite discussion with guests about cleaning up after themselves during their stay after 2 days of leaving clutter in every room the

Hang a simple framed quote on the wall in calligraphy that says,
"Thank you for keeping this space clean."
Or it could say "Thank you for respecting and taking care of our home"
That way they won't take it personally because it's permanently there for all guests to read.
 

I read that people that are good at social relationships tend to be confidently assertive and address issues immediately. So probably waiting two days wasn't the most successful strategy. I personally don't say anything when I should and postpone it until my resentment builds up and I am angry. I am NOT good at social relationships! But, I know it is my own behavior that makes things worse. My daughter on the other hand is extremely assertive and instant at addressing anything that bothers her, and she is excellent at social skills.
 
Since I avoid confrontations, I would simply not have them over again. If they ask "why," I would make up a reason.
 
LadyEmeraude said:
How do you have a polite discussion with guests about cleaning up after themselves during their stay after 2 days of leaving clutter in every room they use?
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Keep them in one room
Next morning, 'your breakfast is on the floor...where the rest of your stuff is'
Then, go to another room and occasionally holler out
'ARE THEY GONE YET?'

Actually, my woman is a constant cleaner....rather obsessive about it.
So, two days accumulation wouldn't happen.....not even two minutes.

If overnight guests are slobs.....they just get that one night
 
Alligatorob said:
I don't.

Kind of depends on the guest and how much I can tolerate. My solution if it gets to be too much is not to invite them back.

Doesn't apply to grandkids, they are often talked to with varying results, but always welcome back no matter the outcome.
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and you're doing grandkids a HUGE disservice if you allow them to be slobs and leave a mess for someone else to clean up.
 
Previously, we had friends & family often. They usually ask what to do with the bedding when they leave. I suggest they strip the bed and leave the bedding on the bed (DO NOT MAKE THE BED as I will forget to change the sheets.)

The only guests at this time are my daughter, sons & their families and they are "trained" to strip the bed and if the flight leaves later in the day, they will wash the bedding.
 
I wouldn't say anything unless they ask to stay again. And there are certain things I don't expect guests to do, especially if they're only staying for a couple days....they're not going to wash dishes, they can feel free to wash their laundry if they want to, but not ours, and they're not going to scrub their bathroom and change their bedding.

Guests are guests, not room-mates. But yeah, if they leave more work for us than what's reasonable, I'd tell them exactly why the answer is No the next time they asked to stay.
 
Back in the day when we were young and broke and it was "understood" that you'd stay at somebody's house when you were visiting even if it meant sleeping on an air mattress in the living room, that was a matter of concern.

Now, since all our friends are as old and decrepit as we are, everybody stays at a hotel....unless you're visiting close family and in my family, it's a real insult to not stay with your relatives.

So, only family stays at my house and they're all well house-broken. Even the little 'uns know that they can be as messy as they like at home, but at Meemaw's house, YOU PICK UP!
 
I think it depends on the friends.
During the L.A. riot in 1992, I had a married couple & their 6-month-old baby staying with me for 7 days. They were too scared to stay in their home. They didn't make much of a mess.
 
JimBob1952 said:
There's no need to strip the beds, just make them up.
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I know some of the kids never make their beds at home nor while with us. When they leave, they make the bed. That’s so pointless because I’m going to strip it wash the sheets. It makes me worry if they haven’t washed the sheets prior to a visit by us. Actually we stay in a hotel, so it’s not a concern now.

I took the original question to mean the mess was in the central areas like the living room, dining room, and kitchen. I haven’t had any issues with this.
 
Murrmurr said:
I wouldn't say anything unless they ask to stay again. And there are certain things I don't expect guests to do, especially if they're only staying for a couple days....they're not going to wash dishes, they can feel free to wash their laundry if they want to, but not ours, and they're not going to scrub their bathroom and change their bedding.

Guests are guests, not room-mates. But yeah, if they leave more work for us than what's reasonable, I'd tell them exactly why the answer is No the next time they asked to stay.
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I agree. We've talked about bad, ill mannered guests but hosts have rules of etiquette, too, and I always bite my tongue over the mess, and never would ask them to clean, do dishes, or pick-up after themselves.


Alligatorob said:
We do our best to make them clean up after themselves, with mixed results. But hey, we're the grandparents, not the parents...
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So right! My parents always thought I was too lax with my son and tried to make up for it during our annual visits. My mother even swatted my son on the rear one time for not minding fast enough and I was not a spanking parent. I was flabbergasted. Now if the paternal grand parents had spanked my son I would have been okay with it because (1) he knew they loved him beyond any doubt and (2) I would have known he must have been really, really, really bad.
Wayne said:
We often have others over ALL ARE TOLD PRIOR to coming you will have a clean area to be in and we expect it to be that way when you leave all told in advance to them, any problems there don't come!
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A good host makes their guests feel welcome, so I would never greet them with a list of rules. We went to a party once where the host gave us and our six year old son a lecture as soon as we walked in. We stayed just long enough to say hello to everyone and then made our polite excuses and left.
 
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I always believed and was treated well by hostesses and do the same now in return. It's part of the job of being a hostess to clean up after guests.This is the way it was in my family. Just never invite them back if it's too much to cope with. Lesson learned.
 
The rules mentioned were the ideas of my best friend as we had to do all the cleanup involved and with her handicapped and can't walk it fell on me, so I agreed easily and still do so, we all by now know what is expected and nobody seems to have any issues with them as stated "if you do not like our home and rules do not come" which nobody has said a word about that. We have the things needed to do this, the room and parking and can handle a stayover if need be, plus hot tub and pools for swimming.
 

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