Walk through your house to make sure there are no tripping hazards like slippery throw rugs, wires across the floor or dangling down from tables.
Just take all of your tiny or potentially fragile knick-knacks out of the public area and shut them in another room. Be mindful of lamps that are on tables low enough for kids to knock them over.
Check your entertainment center/TV area to make sure that there’s nothing like wires out where they can be yanked, and make sure that your TV is secured so that it can’t be pulled down or tipped over.
If you have cords on your drapes or blinds, make sure that they’re tied up and secured out of the way, so the kids can’t get tangle up in them.
If you have pets, make sure that the pets are put into another room with their food and water and litter box. Pets that don’t live with children can easily become startled and might scratch or bite a kid, plus you don’t want to put any added stress on your pets. Plus, removing the food, water and litter boxes make it less likely that the kids will get into those things.
Try to keep the kids out of the kitchen, especially keep them away from the stove and oven. While you are cooking, keep your pan handles turned inward so that a quick child can’t accidentally grab a handle and pull a pot off of the stove.
Keep knives and appliances away from the edge of the kitchen counters.
If you have any glass tables, either take them out or run out to the store right now and get some of those edge bumpers.
Realize that if you are serving drinks, keep an eye on them, like a hawk, because kids are notorious for grabbing glasses and either dropping them or spilling the drinks onto themselves and your couch and your rug. Have plain seltzer water and carpet cleaner and a stack of rags on hand to deal with that potential situation.
If you have chemicals stored in a low cabinet in the kitchen or bathroom (soap, cleaners, disenfectants, bleach, shampoo or whatever) either put child locks on those cabinets or remove all of that stuff before the kids arrive.
Pay close attention to where the kids are at all times. Do not allow them to go into your garage (because there are multiple hazards in there) and don’t allow them to go into your yard, unsupervised.
Find out from the parents what the kids will and won’t eat. You’ll be a real hero if you fix something specifically for the kids that they will like rather than hoping that they’ll eat what you fixed for the adults. But don’t guess, ask. Kids are often very picky and won’t eat “normal” stuff. Good bets (but not always, so ask the parents) are macaroni and cheese, especially the Kraft from the box kind, cheese pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts cut off.
Your best bet is to set up a little card table that is specifically for the kids (but close enough to the adults so you can keep an eye on them). You really don’t want little kids sitting at your grandma’s antique dining table. Put a plastic tablecloth on their table and assume they are going to spill, so if you can set their table on a tile floor rather than a carpeted floor, you’ll be doing yourself a favor. Feed the kids first, or else you’ll be setting yourself up for a tantrum festival. Designate someone to be the kid’s supervisor. Never leave them alone.
Get a couple of good kids movies like Finding Nemo, Despicable Me, Toy Story 3 or Shrek. And know which TV channels are Disney and Cartoon Network. Have an adult operate the DVD player and channels. Let the kids know that an adult will be handling this. Unless you don’t mind kids fiddling with your electronics. Expect them to whine and cry when you don’t let them fiddle with your electronics.
Find out in advance if the kids are allergic to anything, then don’t serve any of those items. But if they’re allergy free, you can make some cupcakes (both vanilla and chocolate) or simply make some chocolate chip cookies just for the kids. Ice cream is too messy. Juice boxes are a better option than juice poured into cups (unless the kids bring sippy cups) You can also run out to Target and get an inexpensive set of sippy cups to keep on hand. Don’t provide the kids with any any soda. Have some Vanilla and Chocolate milk boxes too.
Make sure you have a nice big bottle of hand sanitzer and a big box of unscented baby wipes on hand. You will be shocked at how much sticky stuff will end up on kids, even when they aren’t eating anything (where does it come from???)
Get an assortment of coloring books and crazons and make sure they have a little table or flat spot on the ground with a plastic covering so they won’t color your furniture or flooring. Also pick up a few kids books from the thrift store. If any of your neighbors have any action figures or dolls that you can borrow, that would be good too (these can also be picked up at the thrift store, but make sure to sanitze them first!)
Again scour your house for anything that is breakable, or small enough for a kid to put in their mouth (you don’t want them picking up a small stone from your terrarium and choking or eating a candle). Keep the baby wipes on the counter in the bathroom so that when their mommy takes them in there, she can use them for the situations that will inevitably arise. And have extra rolls of toilet paper in there for the same reason.
If you have sliding glass doors, get some of those removeable stickers and put them on the glass. Kids are notorious for running through the house and not realizing that there is a glass door there. Make the doors visible.
If you have a pool, do not let the kids go into the backyard at all. Watch them like a hawk. Again, make sure that someone is the designated kid watcher at all times. If that person has to leave or go to the restroom, pick another designated kid watcher. That person, if they’re nice enough, might be willing to read some stories to the kids and watch movies with them.
If you have stairs, block them off! Do not allow the kids to go upstairs, unless they are supervised by their own parents (like if that is where the bathroom is).
And here are a few things that I witnessed last week at my cousin’s baby shower. The kids really like to try to hide under tables and when they get under there, they’ll try to pull the table cloths (along with the food and the crockpot) off the table. They also like to climb over the gate leading to the stairs and when they get on the stairs, they like to jump down to the next level. They also like to grab food off the table and to taste something and put it back (ick!) And they can and will sneeze and cough up snot all over themselves and your furniture, so be prepared with baby wipes and tissue and paper towels. And if you are barbecueing, they are highly attracted to fire!!!
As long as you are prepared for all of this, and are not easily startled or grossed out by sticky stuff, you should be fine. And it would be really sweet if you could give each child an age appropriate goody back to take home with them. Kids love that kind of thing. There’s lots of great stuff in the dollar bin at Target just for this.
Oh yeah, have some superhero bandaids on hand too and some neosporin. Have fun. : )
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