If you’ve ever hosted guests during the holidays, you know how stressful it can be. Sure, the upside is that you don’t have to travel anywhere, but that hardly makes up for the long to-do list of things to finish before the first guest arrives. A new survey highlights why we should be especially thankful for our holiday hosts.
The poll of 2-thousand U.S. adults who plan to host guests for the holidays reveals:
- Time, or the lack of it, is one of the biggest stressors, as 45% don’t think they’ll have enough time to prepare for guests this year.
- Their most time-consuming task is preparing meals (40%), followed by shopping for groceries and necessities (16%) and cleaning the kitchen (10%).
- For 60%, the stress of hosting makes them feel like they need to neglect normal things they have time for, like self-care (44%) and home improvement tasks (35%).
- Cleaning is a top concern, both before guests arrive (55%) and after they leave (64%), as 65% of holiday hosts admit they’re cleaning the house until the second before guests arrive.
- That’s because first impressions matter, especially when it comes to their cooking (58%) and how meals are presented (43%).
- Guests can help lighten the load, as hosts say they most appreciate help with setting the table (35%), washing dishes (26%) and taking out the trash (22%).
- If you really want to stay on your host’s good side, never invite someone else without letting them know, as 55% of hosts say that’s the worst thing a guest can do.
- Not saying “thank you” is also considered rude (47%), as is wasting food (35%), and not offering to help with the dishes (20%).
Source: Talker