How to Get Along With Relatives When They Come to Visit

Some people can relate story after story of family harmony and perfect contentment, while others hate to spend time anywhere near their relatives. Some people prefer to be apart from their relatives because of family disputes, clashing personalities or some other reason. If you will be receiving a visit from your relatives, there are a few tips you can use to get along better with them and to show them the proper hospitality.

Find out how long your relatives will be staying

I can only take a house guest for so long. If a relative stays with me for more than a week, I start to climb the walls. I am very fond of my own space. After a few days, I feel that my space is being invaded and I start to count down the time until I can have it back again! The same may happen to you if you have a house guest who decides to visit for a month or more. If you are married, ask your spouse to help you.

Do not go overboard and feel you have to take your relatives everywhere

I have been in more than one situation where I have had house guests who were basically just expecting a ride around to see all the local and faraway sights. It is fine if you do not mind chauffeuring your relatives back and forth, but it may end up becoming very tiresome and expensive for you. Some relatives will offer you money to cover fuel costs and that is fine, if you feel comfortable in accepting it. Then there are relatives who say they do not want to do anything at all, but they mope around the house, so you know they do! They can be just as hard to entertain as those who are keen to get out and about all the time.

If they don't like your cooking, tell them to cook their own meals

Have you ever had a relative visit you only to find that whatever you cooked was just not good enough for them? I have been in such situations. I have gone to the trouble of making a tasty dish, only to have people turn their nose up at it and to not even try it! The solution? Ask you relative to buy their own food and cook their own meals. Some people just like to be fussy and do not appreciate anyone else's efforts on their behalf. So if your food is not good enough for them, show them where the local supermarket is and encourage them to buy food items that they would like to eat.

Ask your spouse to spend time with the relatives too

If you are married, ask your spouse to help you by spending time with your relatives as well, so that it is not all down to you. It can be very tiring if you feel you are at someone's beck and call all the time. It usually starts off with "I hate to be a nuisance, but could you...?" You are treading a fine line here. You want to make your relative's visit a pleasant one, but you still have things to take care of in your own life too. Take time away from your relatives so that you can relax and rest a little.

Taking time off

Sometimes relatives show up at the most inopportune time with little to no warning. Perhaps they had a good deal on a flight, so they decided to come and visit. But it may clash with your work schedule, especially if it is last minute. Do not feel guilty if you find yourself in this predicament. Just spend the spare time you have available with them and make the most of the time you do have together, rather than seething with resentment about their bad timing! That will only create friction in the household.

Saying goodbye on a postive note

Try to make sure that when your relative leaves, they do so on a positive note, however much you felt like throttling them during their stay. People usually remember the last day or hour more than they do the whole of their visit put together. So if you leave them on a bad note, that is what they will remember, not all the lovely sights you took them to see. You can be sure that a bad visit will quickly circulate around the family and you will be known as the one who is inhospitable, cold and grumpy.

Before I receive any hate mail, I want my readers to know that I do not have anything against my relatives... as such! I just know from experience that it can be hard to deal with visits from relatives when people have different likes, dislikes and a different value system. But with plenty of patience on all sides, lots of smiles and bitten tongues, showing hospitality to relatives can become a joy, rather than a chore.