Creative ways to avoid post-Christmas guests at your home
The first thing you will say is that you never turn away visitors because you might be “chasing angels away” and you love visitors.
But see, not everyone is an angel, and not everyone has the social battery to always welcome visitors to their homes.
As it is Christmas time, many people are making rounds in family and friends’ homes in the name of spreading Christmas cheer.
They either show up unexpectedly or coax you into inviting them over even when you had no plans to.
It is frustrating and can be very annoying especially when they know you don’t want to host visitors- but as is African culture, you simply can’t chase visitors away when they show up at your door.
That being said, how then can you go about avoiding these post-Christmas day guests still looking to continue with the merry making? Here’s some ideas for you:
- When they do their best to convince you to invite them over- at your expense, no less- do your best to offer alternative dates, especially if you know the dates will not work for them. It will show that you really want to invite them over and that is the only date you can be able to host them but at the same time, places them in a position where they realize the cannot come over no matter how much they wanted to.
- If they do insist on visiting, charge them. Make them pay for the meals and drinks they will be expecting to partake at your house. This way, you will be able to sieve guests and you will be pleasantly surprised to see how many people will avoid visiting you if it means they have to part with money first.
- Go on holiday. It’s as simple as that. Some guests do not know when to fall back and realise some people need time to recharge after socializing at events, especially on Christmas day where the gatherings resemble crowds. Make sure to let those overzealous family and friends who enjoy visiting that you will be away and won’t be available to host post-Christmas day gatherings if they had hoped for the same.
- Switch off your phone and the social media apps. No interacting with a large majority of people. By going incognito, this is a ‘polite’ way of alerting everyone that you need time away from everyone and everything. Wise people will recognize the significance of this and keep off.
- Designate dates December 26 to 28 as private family time. At this time, make sure it is known that you will not be entertaining any guests at your home because it will be private family time. You can use this time to recover from the festivities in a quiet environment and in comfortable family routine.
Do you have any other creative ways of avoiding post-Christmas guests? Do let us know…