Cathy Classics by Cathy Guisewite for May 06, 2020

Parents or Parents-in-Law, you cannot expect an entire room be reserved for you in case you manage to lose everything—which I don’t believe one bit. On another note, an additional computer or two and boxes of photos are not exactly what I think the room should be used for, but I recognize one thing. It is THEIR home and they can put whatever they want in that room. It is none of my business…I am not paying the mortgage.

Isn’t this the absolutely wrong time to foist yourself off on “the kids,” what with Covid-19 and all. “For Better Or Worse” is having the same moocher problem.

I suspect the garage could be made comfortable. It’s roomy and, if you want, has a great view.

If the photos are already printed, why would you print them again to put them in albums?

My grandmother always used to be aghast that my parents didn’t have a guest bedroom setup when I was growing up. Four bedroom house. Three kids. Parents had a bedroom and each of us kids had a bedroom. She’d keep saying two of us kids should be merged into one bedroom so there could be a guest bedroom. One day I asked, how does it make sense to have a room sit unused most of the time when someone could and wants to use it 365 days a year? She said I’d understand when I had a house of my own someday. Nope…still don’t.

I must admit we have two guest bedrooms – only because both our daughters no longer live at home. Well, not really guest rooms since when our family comes home they are family, not guests. Anyone else can stay at one of our many local hotels. I recall long ago when my aunt and uncle came for a week – they brought their own trailer and stayed in it in our driveway. Comfortable for everone.

Ah, midweek again already. Enjoy the day! (and the night too)

We have a guest bedroom in the basement, which sounds not great, but is actually very nice and peaceful. When we bought this house, I wanted one because I thought my mom and in-laws would be coming a lot. Well, they did for a few years, but for many more years, it has remained empty and is now a dumping ground for extra stuff. For my next house, I will be looking for 4 bedrooms, one bedroom for each of us (even though my girls will be out of the house by then) and one bedroom for an office. If someone wants to visit and not go to a hotel (read: my MIL), they can take one of my daughter’s rooms and my daughter can sleep on the sofa for a few nights if they are home. Hopefully the guilt will mean they won’t stay long, like a good guest. You know what they say about fish and guests…;-)

Hello Cathy friends! Happy Wednesday! Have a great and healthy day, all!

Irving’s parent’s level of entitlement reminds me of my older brother. He lives in another state. We mistakenly gave him a copy of our house key for emergencies. Of course having a copy of our house key gave him carte blanche to barge into our home whenever he pleased. He would ask for time off from his workplace but he never thought to extend the same courtesy to my husband and I. Sometimes we’d have to alter our plans to accommodate his unexpected visits. One of our bedrooms is designated as a guest room but he always referred to it as “his room.” The adjacent bathroom was “his bathroom” and you better not use it. He never thought to ask us if it was okay to bring his pets (our dogs did not get along with his cats). He was nice enough to smoke outside but we’d often find his cigarette butts wedged into gaps in the concrete. He would help himself to our best scotch and saw no problem drinking can after can of my husband’s beer. He never had any thought of bringing his own alcohol or compensating us. He nitpicks every issue with our home (i.e. the bathroom faucet leaks when you push it too far). He would ask us our opinions on political issues only to reply with “Are you kidding Me?” My husband even wrote that phrase on a plain white coffee mug with a Sharpie before one of his impromptu visits. Needless to say we changed the locks and told him if he ever wants to visit he needs to ask first. Apparently we hurt sweet prince’s feelings because three years later he has never has asked us to visit. He still sends birthday and Christmas cards but he never writes anything other than his signature. We worry about him because of COV-19 and he has COPD but he never answers our calls and never replies to texts and emails.

Someday our extra bedroom will be a guest room, but right now it’s where the cats litter box and miscellaneous items live.

Yeah … kind of unusual to have dedicated an entire room to digital photos. As others have said, though, not sure how reasonable it is to show up at someone’s home and expect them to have a room ready to go for you. A two-sided coin, if you ask me.

HI, MOM. Hello, “Cathy” Clan.