Can someone please explain to me why nobody calls before visiting anymore? Everytime I turn around, I have a friend or family member knocking on my door that I wasn’t even expecting. Then comes the mad scramble to straighten up and pick up toys and to change out of the comfy pajamas that I like to wear when I am relaxing at home. The worst part is that they enter the house full of smiles like they don’t even realize or care that they have interrupted your private time without even having the consideration to call ahead.
I never presume to visit anyone’s house without calling in advance and asking for permission. That’s another thing, don’t call me and TELL me that you are coming over, call me and ASK me IF you can come over. It seems like manners and common courtesy are a thing of the past these days. Don’t get me wrong, I love to see and spend time with the people that I care about. However, since our schedules are so hectic during the week, my husband and I really value our private time with our children where we do things as a family. We don’t want or need unwelcome or uninvited guests to tag along or “drop by” when we are spending quality family time.
This rude behavior probably comes from the fact that most people do not have any boundaries these days. They have a sense of entitlement and often think about themselves before they even consider how their actions affect other people. That kind of mentality doesn’t fly here in my home because we consider the time that we spend together to be sacrosanct and we are not very nice when that special time is intruded upon. It’s not a difficult concept to understand if you just stop and think for a minute and have some class.
I, for one, will be breaking away from scrambling to get everything in order before I open the front door to an unexpected guest. There will be no more turning down the volume on the TV, turning off the lights, or shushing the kids. From now on, I will simply not be opening the door to anyone who does not call ahead. That will be the gift that I will be giving myself after working like a dog all week and just wanting to spend some relaxing time with my kids. Go knock on somebody else’s door, we don’t want any…
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