When I was a kid/teen, and we had guests for overnight or longer, I would be given the choice of either sharing my room or surrendering it to sleep on the couch. I chose “couch” so often, my parents finally stopped asking.
Some people mumble and grumble about having to give up their room for company, but I never saw a downside to being on the same floor as the fridge and the TV! Except for the one visit when my sister not only smoked in my room, but used my petri dish of air-freshener as an ashtray :smack:, I was always happy as a clam on the couch, spooning down Ben&Jerry’s while watching Letterman or MTV. What I didn’t like was sharing my room, especially with my grandma, who never shut up. I would answer her with “M”: not “Mmmmmm…” or even “Mm”, but just one “M”, until she finally got the message.
So how did other Dopers feel about overnight guests?
When I was a kid, we almost never had overnight guests. Three-bedroom house with 7 people living there - that didn’t leave ANY spare space. We had a sofabed in the basement, but I just recall that being used when one of us had a friend for a sleep-over.
In our house now, we chose not to make up the 3rd bedroom as a guest room. Instead, we let the Perfect Child[sup]TM[/sup] take it over for her own use. However, the understanding is that when we have guests (either my parents or inlaws) the kid gives up her room and sleeps on an inflatable mattress in her spare room. She has no problem with that, and it’s been over a year since she had to give up her bed.
We never had many guests at my parents’ house - there were just enough rooms that my two oldest brothers could share a room, my parents could have a room, and I could share a room with the younger brother. Even for friends sleeping over - they would crash in the living room along with whichever sibling they were visiting.
Once we got older and were away most of the time, finally moving out on our own, it got a little more complicated. Oldest brother got married, younger brother had a room of his own, and middle brother was living in his own place in the same city. That meant that I got the sofa. No choice about it - especially seeing as how I was usually the last to arrive for holidays.
Fortunately, we had a spare room. Occasionally, I’d have to give up my room, but it wasn’t a big deal. We had a very comfy cot mattress that we used to throw on the floor. More comfortable than my bed for sure.
I don’t care where I sleep. As long as it’s relatively horizontal, I’m a happy camper.
We fortunately had a large house, but not large enough to have a guest room (each of the five kids had their ouwn bedroom). My mother is one of 11 and my father one of 7, so we frequently had aunts and uncles come to stay. The kids got kicked out of their rooms as a matter of course. Usually we’d sleep on the floor in one of our sibs rooms, or share a bed with a sib. Sometimes we’d sleep on one of the couches. It depended on how many were visiting at one time, and if they brought their kids with them.
When I was a kid, I was thrilled to give up my room and go sleep on the sofa-bed in the den. I don’t know why I ws so jazzed about it - the view was much the same, the sofa-bed was not terribly comfortable. But it was an Adventure in my mind.
Nowdays, I give up my bed depending on whether my guest(s) prefer a soft or hard bed. If soft, they can have either my bed or the twin bed that’s also in my bedroom (it’s a huge room). If they like it hard, there’s the futon in the living room.
A few years ago, I managed to squeeze 13 into my one-bedroom apartment. Two sibs with their families, coming from overseas with all their luggage, plus one mother coming from the other side of the country all converged on my small place. We made pallets between the luggage. It looked like Newark Airport during a shutdown. My two rather large dogs had a great time finding someone to lay on during the night.
