During his freshman year away at college in Oklahoma, we told DS he could bring home some friends with him for Spring Break. He brought 5. It got a bit hectic, but they were all great kids~ polite, thoughtful and fun-loving. They really enjoyed seeing our New Mexico for the first time . . . and we enjoyed them, as well
Fast forward 9 years and we told DD, also at OU for her freshman year, that she could bring some friends home for Spring Break. She called me today to tell me that she's bringing along 6 of her closest friends ( 2 guys and 4 girls), who are all anxious to see New Mexico for the first time. They'll be arriving here next month for 8 days of Spring Break fun :~O
I've met most of these kids before when we've traveled there for football games and they seem really nice. I'm just kind of in shock that I'm going to have to scramble to get the house ready for 7 eighteen and nineteen year olds arriving in less than a month!
I'm good with kids of all ages, but I could really use some ideas on how to manage it all. Here's what I've come up with so far. Tell me if you think they're good ideas . . . or not.
~ Sleeping Arrangements: the 5 girls are going to have to sleep in her room and the 2 guys will go in the guest room . . . and DS, who will be home at the same time on his move to Tucscon (what timing, eh?), will sleep in the living room. DD's room has her single bed, her window seat bed and we'll pull in the extra single mattress that we store under our bed. It looks like the other 2 girls will be in sleeping bags on the floor. Or, we can forget the extra mattress and there will be more room with 3 girls all in sleeping bags.
In the guest room, there is the day bed and it's trundle for the guys. I thankfully have enough bedding for them all.
~ Bathrooms: this is going to be the most scary part~ 7 teenagers sharing one full bathroom and the powder room! In the full bath, there's a tub and a separate glass door shower. They're all taking showers this trip; no baths! I'm going to put 2 of our sturdy wood tv tray tables in the bathtub to hold stacks of bath towels and washcloths, along with a big plastic laundry basket to hold their used wet towels Although we're an arid climate out here, I don't want them hanging wet towels everywhere to dry. I'll just do a load of towels every day or two instead. DS will use our bathroom with us.
~ I'm making up a first aid box for them in their bathroom that will have things like Tylenol, Motrin, bandaids, Tums, tweezers, Chapsticks, sunscreens, hand and body lotion, etc. They can help themselves if they need anything, although DH, being a family practice doc, can take care of any bigger mishaps. I also plan on laying in a stock of girl necessities in DD's bedroom closet, if needed.
Anything there I'm missing?
Breakfasts:: this has me a bit worried. I guess I'll just set out muffins, butter, jams, cereals, milks, juice, fruit, a pot of brewed coffee{{gwi:807}} and tea bags and let them go at it whenever they get up. Maybe some frozen waffles.
Questions: any other suggestions for breakfast foods? Do you think I should buy some good paper plates to make clean-up easier (for everybody involved, including me)?
Lunches: if they're not eating out{{gwi:807}} while sightseeing, probably lunch meats, cheeses and PB&J, for sandwiches. Maybe some soups, a bowl of apples and grapes. Hummus and crackers?
Dinners with 7 teens, DS and us, I'm wondering if DH & I should just let the kids have the dining room to themselves and we'll eat in the family room. Dinner Ideas: spaghetti & meatballs, burgers, pizzas, make-it-yourself panninis from a variety of set-out ingredients, tacos (and enchiladas?).
I'm drawing a blank on other easy but good ideas. Help! *** Also, your opinions please: do you think we should try to eat any dinners at all with the kids?
Snacks Tortilla chips & salsa, cookies, fruit, large bottles instead of cans of soda, large gallon jugs of iced tea; popcorn. BTW, I'm buying plastic disposable glasses with stickers to write their names on the glasses.
What else????
~ Emergencies Heaven forbid there are any, but I've told DD that we want all the kids to give their families our names, address and home phone #. We also want that info from them when they get here, just in case.
To say that I would appreciate any and all suggestions would be an understatement! Thanks in advance!
Lynn
This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 16:47
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