Sleeping arrangements for visiting family

[Anonymous]

DH invited relatives of ours to stay with us for Thanksgiving assuming they wouldn't come. They're coming. We are very happy with this development BUT kind of don't have room for them all. Please help me think through options. Our guests are: one older woman (70s), a 40 something couple, and their child. We have five bedrooms, ours, one each for our three kids, and one guest room. Our oldest child is the same age as visiting child and has a trundle bed, so we're going to sleep the visiting child there. The guest room has a queen bed, and we have a double futon in our youngest child's room. We also have couches and air mattresses. ALSO DH's mom usually stays with us for holidays, but he's barely even considering her.

Option 1: sleep visiting couple in the guest room queen bed, sleep visiting older woman on futon in child's room, sleep MIL somewhere on an air mattress (probably in middle child's room).
Option 2: visiting couple takes the futon in the child's room, older woman gets guest room with queen bed, MIL sleeps somewhere on an air mattress
Option 3: give visiting couple our bedroom, give visiting older woman the guest room with queen bed, sleep MIL on futon, and DH sleeps on the couch and I on an air mattress in middle child's room.
Option 4: we get a hotel for some of these folks.
Option 5: ????

Obviously Option 3 seems sensible, but it would be most likely that MIL would wind up getting 86'd to the hotel and she would be very hurt (we can't well separate the visiting child from her parents, or stick the older woman on her own, she doesn't drive). Option 1 makes most sense to me, but I don't want to be a bad host sticking a 70+ yo woman who I am not very close with (she's lovely, just don't know her well) on a futon in a bedroom with a small child.

Other than the issue of not having enough beds, we don't mind having everyone stay with us, so that's not the issue. The issue is just where! Please help.

[Anonymous]

Older woman and couple - get guest room and one kids room. Put all the kids together in one room in air mattresses. Mom can go in kids room. Kids can also sleep on air mattresses in parents rooms.

[Anonymous]

All of those are horrible options.

Bunk two of your children together and you and DH take the futon in that room.. Then put the visiting kid on the trundle with the other kid. Older woman goes in the first room. 40s couple goes in your room and MIL goes in the extra kid room. Kids take the air mattresses if needed and sleep together.

Viola everyone has a bed!

[Anonymous]

Econolodge

[Anonymous]

You guys are so much better at this than I am. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Do *everyone* a favor and pay for a hotel for the 40something couple. If their child is manageable and gets alond well with your oldest, they can still make a sleepover of it and mom and dad can get a little mini vacation.

Either that or put your two non-oldest kids on sleeping bags/cots/air mattress in the master suite with you and DH, thus freeing up their bedrooms.

Do not, do not, do not put adults into rooms with children who are not their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of those are horrible options.

Bunk two of your children together and you and DH take the futon in that room.. Then put the visiting kid on the trundle with the other kid. Older woman goes in the first room. 40s couple goes in your room and MIL goes in the extra kid room. Kids take the air mattresses if needed and sleep together.

Viola everyone has a bed!

This. Except i wouldn't give up my master bedroom. Older woman gets a kids room.

[Anonymous]

Have the kids sleep all in one room, couples get the futon, single women gets the guest room, mom gets one of thee kids bedrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of those are horrible options.

Bunk two of your children together and you and DH take the futon in that room.. Then put the visiting kid on the trundle with the other kid. Older woman goes in the first room. 40s couple goes in your room and MIL goes in the extra kid room. Kids take the air mattresses if needed and sleep together.

Viola everyone has a bed!

This or 21:08's suggestion. The MIL should not be on a futon or air mattress!!! OMG. A third option would be the older woman and MIL share the master bedroom bed, the couple goes into the guest room and you guys take the kids beds with the kids on air mattresses. But it depends on if the older woman and MIL even know each other.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again! I don't know why I didn't think of moving the children. We haven't had to do this before, our youngest is a baby so previously we had two spare rooms available for guests. I think I may share the futon and sleep with my middle child in the baby's room, let MIL have middle child's room, and give DH a couch. Since he doesn't seem to be stressed about this at all :eyeroll:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks again! I don't know why I didn't think of moving the children. We haven't had to do this before, our youngest is a baby so previously we had two spare rooms available for guests. I think I may share the futon and sleep with my middle child in the baby's room, let MIL have middle child's room, and give DH a couch. Since he doesn't seem to be stressed about this at all :eyeroll:

Thanksgiving is months away so summer down. Also, do you just want to torture your husband by putting him on the couch? It seems like in your scenario there is still an extra bed in there. By all means make your DHs life miserable, but figure out how much room you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks again! I don't know why I didn't think of moving the children. We haven't had to do this before, our youngest is a baby so previously we had two spare rooms available for guests. I think I may share the futon and sleep with my middle child in the baby's room, let MIL have middle child's room, and give DH a couch. Since he doesn't seem to be stressed about this at all :eyeroll:

Or, just put air mattresses on your bedroom floor if you have room and give them the kids rooms. My son always gets evicted to an air mattress but he's fine with it.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't give uo my master br either. But if I did, it would only be because *I* was going to a hotel to get away from all these people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks again! I don't know why I didn't think of moving the children. We haven't had to do this before, our youngest is a baby so previously we had two spare rooms available for guests. I think I may share the futon and sleep with my middle child in the baby's room, let MIL have middle child's room, and give DH a couch. Since he doesn't seem to be stressed about this at all :eyeroll:

Or, just put air mattresses on your bedroom floor if you have room and give them the kids rooms. My son always gets evicted to an air mattress but he's fine with it.

My sister does this. Her inlaws always come with her husband's aunt/uncle, and then usually one or two other people. They put all their kids (5) on air mattresses in their bedroom. Then they dismantle the bunkbeds to make into Kings in 2 rooms so they can sleep BIL's parents in one room and his aunt/uncle in the other. The third kids bedroom is for anyone else who comes.

She says it is a tight squeeze in the MBR but she says they actually kinda like it because it has a slumber party feel. She also greatly prefers this arrangement to having the guests in a hotel because the closest (nice) hotels are 10-15 minutes away. However, she gets along well with all the inlaws and she also loves to entertain.

[Anonymous]

I’m mostly joking about putting my husband on a couch, though he does snore like a tractor. But I do think a double futon is tight for two adults. This is why I don’t really want to give that option to our guests who are a couple.