Dinner Guests Cleaning List

I've had quite a few dinner guests lately, which means our house (or rather, the living room and dining room) is in a presentable state. I think having a clean and tidy house is part of being hospitable. I mean, you don't want your guests to feel like they can't eat what you've made them from fear of germs. On the other hand, I have to be careful I'm not trying to put on some kind of a show by over-doing it with the cleaning. I find myself tempted to make my house look spotless so they'd think I am some sort of supermum who has it all together.

So this is my bare essentials cleaning list for dinner guests. I find having a list helps me manage the stress of having people over better, because I know exactly what needs to be done and that I have plenty of time to do them. So here it goes:

• Tidy up clutter from entrance to living room to dining room
• Vacuum high-traffic areas
• Dust furniture in the living room
• Wipe dining table
• Clean toilet, basin and mirror

This should take 1 hour, tops. I just have to make sure none of the guests opens the doors to any of the bedrooms. But then, I always have Hazzy as an excuse.

Caught red-handed, rummaging through mum's bag