Hidden Benefits of Being Messy

[Celyn]

Originally Posted by keyhole kate

Wee tip - Always display some get-well cards on your mantlepiece. If unexpected guests arrive, they'll think you've been to sick to tidy up.

Ooh, CLEVER! I like that one. You are sneaky! Do you give lessons in this skill? How much £££?

Babz, if no mantelpiece, and, no I have don't have one either, perhaps the window ledge might do or maybe just in some way "casually" lying on a coffee table.

[keyhole kate]

Originally Posted by Celyn

Ooh, CLEVER! I like that one. You are sneaky! ......

Wee word of warning, Celyn....
...all things in moderation. If you keep the 'sick' thingie going too long, next thing you know, everyone assumes you are terminally ill.
Be prepared for wee yellow post-it papers appearing and stuck on your every possession, with the 'tag' words, "I baggsied this furst"!!
Not a pretty sight...

[Celyn]

Heh, is that the voice of experience there?

Ah well, stick to Plan A - simply don't answer door and let anyone in. UNLESS they come bringing along "get-well" chocolates and chicken soup and stuff, of course.

[Texasmujer]

What, then happens to the messy corner?!? OH NO!!

[Celyn]

When you hear people at the door, you think fast and you quickly paint your face, hands, any visible bits, with red spots (perhaps green would be even more scary) and then you greet your friends at the door, sounding ill and sad, and explain that it would be unkind to let them come in and risk infection.

So you just take all their goodies and don't let them in to see the messy corner.

After you repeat this a few times, the problem will solve itself, as there will be no more friends.

[macklamm]

stall visitors at the door/ corridor and throw everything behind the sofa. i have a messy room and when my niece and nephew come - both 5 and 6 - i hide treats for them in the room and they are so enthusiastic in tidying it up that it gets done in no time at all.and then goes slowly back to its messy state until the next time they come of course

[Celyn]

Heh, I've heard of getting weans of five or six-ish to do stuff like "sort out the video recorder" etc., on the grounds that if it's so simple a five year old child could do it, then for goodness' sake somebody find a spare five year old child, but I didn't realise they could be used to tidy up too.

I sometimes notice one or two of the creatures playing outside: perhaps I should borrow them - entice them home with offers of treats? Hmmmm, then again, maybe not.

That's quite a clever plan you have there, Macklamm: after all, if we're not allowed to send them up chimneys any more, it's as well to find a way to make use of all that energy.

I wonder, though. Have they ever decided that the treats just weren't good enough and just made a bigger mess by way of revenge, or in order to ensure more and bigger treats next time?