It's the holiday season - how do you deal with...

[redambition]

...relatives who come over but have no idea of how to make a timely exit?

Admittedly, there is not much I can do as I am living in my parents' house, but if they were in my house I think that when it got silly I'd just whack on Daft Punk's Rollin' & Scratchin' or Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries as I started to tidy up plates etc. Those pieces of music work really well at clearing a room if the people in the room are not fans!

It's not that I don't love my family - I do. It's just that there are some members of it who, once they come over, don't leave for hours and hours and hours. I'm talking like coming over for afternoon tea/coffee, and ending up staying until well past dinner - meaning that the host has to knock up a meal for double the number of people in a fraction of the time with little notice.

How do you deal with these kinds of relatives? Do you have any tips or tricks for the rest of us?

 

[alien21xx]

I've never had to personally deal with this of course, since I live with my dad, and before that I live with my mom, but one thing I notice my mom likes to do is to announce (loudly) to everyone that we're going out. It gets the relatives out faster especially once they see we're all disappearing into the bathrooms to take another shower and dress up.

 

[MACATTAK]

^^ The above is a great idea! Usually when some of my extended family come, I make other plans and go somewhere else...anywhere else. Most of my extended family is pretty crappy, so I leave and let the parents deal with them

 

[Shimmer]

"We're going to bed. Y'all need to leave."

 

[frocher]

Dim the lights, hint that it is late, and thank them for coming.

 

[redambition]

i really like the "we're going out" and "we're going to bed" ideas - and might have to use those in the future when i have my own place again.

dimming the lights would also be a good one...

MACATTACK - I can't use that excuse in my parent's house. I got told yesterday that I was not going anywhere while we still had guests over, because that's rude... but I was allowed to escape upstairs once my guests left to watch TV and sit on specktra!

 

[MACATTAK]

Yeah, I admit it's not the best way to deal with things, but with my family it's very necessary. My parents have said we are adults, and even though they may prefer us to stay, they can't make us. At least you got to escape upstairs

 

[user79]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redambition Admittedly, there is not much I can do as I am living in my parents' house

Are your parents the one who want them to leave, or you? It's your parents' house, and if they want the guests to stay, then there's not much you can do. Just excuse yourself and go to your room or something. But unless it's your own house or apartment, you can't really kick out the host's guests.

 

[redambition]

funnily enough, there were some guests that gave me the inspiration for the thread, but you are right - in my parents house i have no right to try and make them leave, i just have to try and hide myself away once it gets all too much. (hence this thread and a therapeutic drink of baileys to try and keep me sane)

I'm sorry if that wasn't clear enough in my first post - my techniques are more things i'd employ if i was host.

edit: i think this was really apparent to me this time round as i've lived out of home for five years (i just moved back earlier this year). It's hard adjusting back to not being the host and not having the option of going home.

 

[*KT*]

I live 45 minutes away from all of my family. I love a good "buffer zone". Prevents people from staying too late when they have a drive ahead of them and discourages anyone from dropping by unexpectedly. No one wants to drive 45 minutes to discover we're not home.

 

[chameleonmary]

Get drunk and "pass out" in bed!