You know your GC have visited when....

The cd/radio which lives on a low shelf - and which we forgot to move - has had a nervous breakdown and takes an age to re-programme and coax bak to life.
(Can you buy Milton these days?)

There is only one rather soft and lonely pear left in the fruit basket. The recycling box is half full of cordial and soda water bottles and the fridge is all but empty. Oh, and the cats have reappeared on the sofas.

Every window (and there are quite a few) is covered with sticky hand marks, lick marks and nose imprints at about knee level.

So true Gally. I am about to tackle those today as the school holidays have now ended.

Kitty I happened to have a spare brush head for my toothbrush. Knowing those two rascals, I wouldn't put it past them to have cleaned the dog's teeth with it whilst they were sprinkling her with eau de toilette!

There are drawings left with kisses on in surprising places. You find pieces of toy under the sofas for days. You,ve used up half the towels in the house. There,s kiddie yogurts left in the fridge because you bought too many and then forgot to give them to their mother to take home for her fridge. The cushions and throws are in all the wrong places. You can,t find anything that used to be on your bedside cabinet. You don,t care about any of it because you love them far more than any mess!

Oh yes! I find myself drinking Mr Men yogurt drinks when I forget to send them home with the children!

I cant get away from it as I live with 2 DGC , but after taking them to school the other day I walked in through the hall and on the door to the family room there was a postit note from DGD 5yrs 'GONE TO THE WOODS' ........... she was on a school trip just in case I missed her.

when yes I hide my toothbrush, they might just use it to wash the loo.

All my jewellery is spread across the bed and there are biscuit crumbs in strange places.

The coffee table is back in front of the sofa rather than against the wall (room to play)
Yes to the left over yoghurts, yes to the toys under the sofa, yes to the new drawings stuck on the fridge, yes to the finger prints and other things on the patio doors and yes to falling asleep.........with a smile on my face.

Half packets of strange sweet cereals in the cupboard and slimline drinks in the fridge. Fruity smelling leftover shower gel and shampoo. Your own EXPENSIVE magnifying mirror turns up under the bed. The car radio on a different, louder station. And you end up hooked on television programmes you don't usually watch.

Biscuit crumbs, tick, new drawings attached to the fridge and freezer doors, tick, cushion covers in need of washing, tick, rings and earrings removed from their usual places in the jewellery boxes, tick, grubby patches on white towels, tick…and popcorn in all sorts of unlikely localities.

This is such a lovely thread!

Mine are here now, bickering about the Star Wars characters.

'I'm on a mission, so stop talking to me cos I'm Loot Starwalker!'

'He isn't, is he nana? Anyway, you can't talk to me cos I'm arty-doody!'

whenim64 Sounds like you have my grandchildren staying with you.

Wouldn't it be lovely to keep a record of some of these things and hand them over to be included in a Best Man's speech how ever many years down the line?
Loot Starwalker and Arty-Doody for example

We were out this morning and when we got back there were the champagne flutes and 30's china that DD3 had borrowed! And no toys out!

The settings on my camera and tablet have been changed. The problem is I haven't a clue how to get rid of the functions that I didn't even know they had!

I removed all the cushions from the sofas yesterday to vacuum underneath them and clean the covers and found two cars, a whole load of popcorn, a dolly's dress, a pretty hair clip and a pack of love hearts. I felt quite a pang.

Stickers, stickers everywhere! Determined wee things - they don't want to get sucked up the hoover. The only thing worse is glitter!!!

We had all six here over the weekend - the 2 youngest staying and the others in and out all day. (3 to 17) And their parents, of course!

I know they've been because:

Even the mugs right at the back of the cupboard have been used
Every piece of tech. needs charging
There is no milk, cereal, orange squash or chocolate cake left
You re-discover the adhesive properties of said chocolate cake and cereal, grated cheese and baked beans on a ceramics floor.
When you think you've tidied up and are sitting down, you see several small plastic things under the opposite settee
The car is full of sand.

Exhausted but happy.

I find an uneaten crumpet down the back of the sofa!

The interior lights, radio/CD and mirror settings in the car have all been altered and in the back seat I've found a Ben 10 ruler, pirate's eye patch, lost photo that was taken to school, ripped up party invitation from 'a girl' and three acorns!

The printer is out of paper and ink; you find yourself with a small piece of Lego embedded in your bare foot.

Yes to it all and it's half term next week ANDthe week after.