We currently have 2 younger guests whose stay cannot end soon enough for me. They are not doing anything "wrong" but they are not engaging, really barely speaking to us, and they stay cooped up in their room all day - rarely leaving even for short periods to get meals and basically living in their pajamas (we don't allow cooking so meals must be microwavable or cold). They have had food delivered to the house several times (without telling us so the doorbell rings without warning, wondering who is at the door). But, they are following the rules, eating in the kitchen, etc. It's just always a jump to adjust - helping them get napkins, plates, etc or like the time we quickly moved from the kitchen where we were planning on eating so they could eat there (food suddenly arrived) or having to reload the dishwasher because they just put things anywhere - but they ARE putting things in the dishwasher, you know?! I feel like a heel wanting them to get out of my house - go get some fresh air, open the **bleep** curtains, go sight-seeing, if budget is a concern, I could provide many "free" things that can be done - if they only asked. And I've even offered to provide them with suggestions - "Thank you but we're just going to hang out today."
Now, I'm sure they are holed up taking in as much as they can of each other (they have been apart for a year), but even that much sex has to be enough as some point (10 days so far)! When I did a mid-stay cleaning, the sheets were actually hardly slept in - very clean and hardly creased, which means they might not be doing that EITHER (they are both under 22, so it's possible) - so what exactly ARE they doing in there for 20 hours a day - we don't hear movies or music or really even much conversation? If they are reading or watching videos, there are far more exciting and comfortable places to do that, even in our home - like the living room where they could stretch out on the couch or, on some beautiful sunny days we've had, our back or front porches.
At some point, a water kettle has arrived in their room so they can make tea in there. We don't really care that there is tea, but where is the debris going and why not make it in the kitchen? They bring the dirty tea cups and spoon out to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. And even though we provide it, they purchased their own half gallon of milk for their tea (exact same as we provide). Perhaps all the years they have lived in the dorms at school have not allowed them to think about these things, but we'd never really know since we can't get them to chat much with us at all. She was complaining about the price of beef at a restaurant they recently went to and was wondering to her boyfriend, "why is beef so much more expensive than chicken?" and he said "I don't know." To which I replied, "I know you're not asking me but, beef costs more because it costs more to raise a cow than it does to raise a chicken." This was met with basically blank looks and then they went back to talking to each other. It was weird and it's not a language barrier - they both speak English perfectly. Of course, I did just jump in and try to insert myself, so lesson learned with them that they weren't interested in talking with me.
Counting down the days - 5 more to go - and already trying to think about what my review will say. There isn't anything broken, or damaged, or even wrong - it's just uncomfortable for my husband and I who are used to guests being out and about during a stay. They are quiet, clean, and mostly respectful (we have the kitchen lights on a motion-sensor and middle of the night water runs have resulted in the light staying on until the motion-sensor turns off - they don't seem to understand they can turn it off when they go back to bed and our room is right next to the kitchen so we've been woken up by it a couple of times). She goes back to classes this morning, so not sure what he's going to do while she's gone, but I do hear them getting showered so they can get breakfast. They've been so keen on keeping the rules, that when we had to remind them the second day that breakfast was only served until 10:30, they started getting up around 9:30, eating breakfast, then going back to their room until 12:30 or 1pm before we hear them getting ready for the day. Jeff and I just shrug our shoulders and guess what is motivating them. We certainly don't seem to be able to motivate them to do anything else but hang out in their room. 5 more days.
