Originally Posted by electricbaby27

HI
I feel really mean writing this but my friend from Uk is doing my head in. She arrived last week to stay with us and made it clear she was just happy to stay with us and not visit anywhere as she has been here previously.

I am finding it really hard having her around trying to please her and entertain my 2 kids too. She doesn't help with anything to do with meals just sits around reading MY newpaper while i chase my tail cooking washing and stuff. When we go out she has not offered to pay for her meals until the last two times where she has paid for some but not quite the cost of her meal. I have taken her to the bottle shop twice now and I have bought wine, with no offer of contribution from her yet she's quite happy to drink it!!!

So far we have done a few touristy things, vineyards etc, all arranged my me! We came back from Nelsons Bay this am, we were back by 10.30 as she didnot want to stay, I would have been happy to stay on the beach with my kids even though the weather is a bit windy. When we were going to Nelsons Bay she spent 2 hours packing her rather large suitcase ( for 2 nights) whilst I got mine, the kids and all the food for us packed up!

I am just not enjoying it, this is the 1st visitor we have had apart from my parents, and if this is what its like I don't want anymore!!! It is just disrupting our life and I feel like she is judging everything we do!!!!

Feel a bit better gor venting, OH is working away and feel other expats will understand. What am I doing wrong? does anyone else feel like this with visitors?

Originally Posted by sassie

Reading all these stories, I really can't undestand how these people sleep at night. We've just had our first proper visitors stay for a week in our new home, my brother, his wife and their 3 Singaporean lodgers came up from Adelaide, and although we certainly had a house full, we couldn't have asked for better house guests. They more or less looked after themselves, helped with all the housework, etc, and basically all we had to provide was breakfast and an evening meal, which was fine. They took us out to dinner one night to say thanks, which wasn't necessary but a lovely thought and another night we had takeway, which they insisted on paying for. Even when they left, not only did we find little thank you presents all around the house, which we were still discovering days after they left, they even replenished the loo rolls!!

Originally Posted by moneypen20

The only thing you're doing wrong is doing anything for her at all. I'd pretend she's not there. She doesn't want to do anything then fine but you and your family get on and do what you normally do, go out and say you'll see her later. If you all go out for a meal, get the bill and tell her that her share is $xx. Seriously, you're busting a gut and she's not appreciative of anything so give your gut a rest.