When The Family Came To Stay

Do family visits and student living mix?

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When you imagine a student house washing up, mold and broken furniture come to mind. Not exactly an inviting prospect for guests, especially ones that are family! So what happens when the two mix? The Smith Family found out…

Ever since moving to Cardiff, I have wanted to show my family and friends how amazing this city is. At the beginning of November it was my twenty-first birthday and despite inviting my younger sister, she couldn’t come because of work. On that night I walked into my room to find my sister firing a party popper at my face. Needless to say I threw myself at her and may have had a little cry, I was happy she made it here. All thanks to my friends and housemates.

Indulging in my sister’s “selfies”

When my sister announced she was going to be with me until the Monday afternoon I was overjoyed and a little bit worried. After all, we have gone 18 years sharing a room and me moving back in again for holidays does not exactly help. Yes we argue and it is brutal, I even threaten to rip her Eminem posters down…yes so so brutal. Having my sister to stay was going to be an interesting experience. However, I was surprised and shocked. She may have embraced the student alcoholism a little too easily, but she tidied up… That is saying something when you can’t see the bedroom carpet at home! The most gobsmacking thing was that she washed up. Now my sister has never offered to do this for my mum, so I felt special. I was also a little bit concerned at how much Rocket Joe’s Pizza she could eat, it turns out, a lot more than normal students! My sister was a delight and plus, my housemates got along with her surprisingly well. She has now gone home calling Cardiff her “second home”. I think I should be worried!

I swear all she did was take photos at my house…

There was a huge difference compared to when my mum came to stay later in November. In all fairness, she did only come down for a Thirty Seconds To Mars concert. Knowing my mum was an even bigger clean freak than I was, we made sure the house was spotless. The washing up was done, the bathroom and kitchen cleaned as well as the hovering done. After all our hard work, I realised it may have been a mistake telling her a randomer was sick over the sofa. She kept smelling the air like a sniffer dog looking for cocaine. Once finally satisfied there was no Eau de puke, she went on inspect the rest of the house but found nothing to comment on, only how small my room was.

Washing up done in preparation for the clean police

After getting her safely out of the house before anything could be scrutinised, it was great to spend the day with my mum. The concert was great and so was watching my mum enjoy Cardiff. It was even better to see my mum socialising with my housemates, after we hobbled home. She obviously made a good impression, despite being cleaning mad. I got the feeling student living was perhaps the most horrendous experience my mum could ever think of, even though it was clean…this time. My mum would not adapt to this lifestyle, yet I am afraid my sister took all too well to it. Let’s just hope my dad doesn’t plan a visit for a last minute fishing trip to the River Taf…