Family moving in

Stay in bed until they have all left the house in the mornings.

Keep their stuff stacked in their rooms or a shed/garage.

Go away for long weekends so that you can have a break.

If you cannot move out then learn to bite your tongue. I know of 3 families that have done this, initially looking forward to having a house full and as it was for only a couple of months it was going to be fine, all 3 resulted in arguments,tears and in one case the house that was going to be ready in a couple of months fell threw at the last minute and the family are still there 9 months later.Good luck, I do not envy you.

Confine all their stuff to their room garage and shed. Just because they don't need running around after that doesn't necessarily mean they'll clear up after themselves. We all live differently with different ideas of what's tidy and what's not.
Who's doing the cooking, taking it in turns, set days, if you all cook for yourselves the kitchen will always be in use and never tidy. Sort out bathroom timetable and stay out of the way while they're getting ready for work etc. Good luck. I have a big house and doubt I could survive it.

I think I would have to let them know in advance what not to do.
Hopefully it would be a friendly and short guideline..

We had daughter, sil and 3 children (aged 10, 10 and 12) to stay for 3 months last year while their house was renovated.
It was amazingly easy and good fun. Everyone mucked in and were very helpful about cooking and cleaning up. They were all out of the house by 8 in the mornings so we stayed out of the way. Luckily we have a big hall and so erected a long clothes rail for all the coats and shoes which made life easier. Quite often people ate at different times depending on evening activities but a couple of times a week at least we had larger group meals. Sense of humour and not being too fussy all helps. Good luck.

Oh thank god for you saxifrage, I was about to ‘abandon all hope’ ?

We moved in with my parents many years ago whilst between houses. We had piles of boxes in our bedroom. My mum was never keen dogs but he had to come too. We had no childen at the time, we stayed 5 wks and it was FINE ! No arguments, and they helped clean and decorate our new house when we moved in.

We stayed with my parents for 4 months, after we were gazumped, with a 2 yr old. I was pregnant with DD2. Luckily we had our own bathroom and interconnecting bedrooms downstairs and managed to keep all our stuff out of sight. My Dad was ex Army & very fussy. We shared the cooking/laundry etc. DH & Dad out all day and my Mum had a ball being with her first GC. I treasured the time we had together and look back on those months as just the best time. No arguments and we had built in babysitters. We went on hols for 2 weeks which helped - they missed us .
I think you'll love it. A bit of give & take on both sides helps

We've done this twice for both my daughters and their families while they were awaiting the completion of "new builds". The first time was for nearly six months and the second was five. Both families included DSL plus toddler and baby.
We found taking turns with cooking a great help, with the use of the slow cooker providing family meals for all. No rows, we just all mucked in, although I did get a little annoyed with younger daughter who would raid the fridge and use real food on the rug for toddler's cookery play ( why not go in the kitchen????). This however was a minor irritation in the grand scheme of things and I did get lots of opportunity for some tiny baby cuddles.
The time went quickly but I was happy to see them move out when the time came.

If there's only one bathroom, I would aim to have your main bath / shower when they are out, or mid-evening. I swim a few mornings a week, so that takes care of me.
I would, if you can afford it / would like to arrange a holiday of some kind in the middle - even if it's just a long weekend, or visit to other family.
Also, if you can afford it, I'd eat out, as a couple, or with friends, once a week.
And I would shell out for storage for as much as possible. When we had to put stuff into storage, we visited quite regularly, putting stuff in and out.
And the main rule I would agree on is the disciplining / care of DGS. It's very easy to think someone else has an eye on the child, only to find that no-one has! Also, if you happen to spot something he needs pulling up on, especially if it involves your house rules, is it OK for you to say something to him?
God luck!

It can be fine! I do suggest a chat about how some day to day stuff might work ...meals; washing up; cleaning etc and maybe about timings etc. But no reason why it cant work if you all muck in and talk as soon as any little problem arises ...if it does!

Move out to a Travelodge?

Me too loopyloo

Good luck Nanna58, bit of tolerance, humour, and lots of love.

My DMiL lived with us for three months while the flat she was buying near us was renovated. It worked so well I cannot remember what we did. She would potter around the house during the day and do any little bits of housework that she thought needed doing, but never interfered with my routines. I was juggling job, children and further education, so organisation was essential. At the end she was happy to be back in her own home and we were happy to be on our own again, but it worked like a dream.

It should have worked when I moved in with DM many moons ago.
It didn't because we upset her routine, burned her best saucepan making some lentil dish which she didn't want but I thought was good for her.
I left with children and dog after about 3 days and landed on a long suffering friend until our house was ready.
I'm sure you'll be fine.

We were the opposite, with my husband and children, i moved in with my mother whilst we were waiting for completion.
I would say try and get yourself out of the way on an evening and weekends. Yes, I know it's your home but I'm sure you want them to feel comfortable so, take the opportunity to visit friends, go to the cinema or, have an early night to watch your favourite programmes. I bet they will really appreciate your efforts

We moved in with my parents-in-law, after we married, and our house wasn't ready for six weeks. I can't remember any bother arising from us being there. We were all working, so just muddled on around each others routines. I do remember doing the housework though as MIL didn't do housework. My mum got a bit upset about that. She said I never did any at home, but there was never any needing to be done

We have had various children here for varying lengths of time. We are all still talking!

Remind yourself it's only 60 days or so and keep counting to ten. Let things slide , everything can be tidied up when they have moved on.

Many thanks ladies, my faith in ‘the gransnetters ‘ is vindicated!

We lived with one of ours and partner between homes. We used the bathroom when they didn’t need it, kept our ‘stuff’ in our room fed and cleared up after ourselves. Did the cleaning as seemed necessary We loved it. They are still welcoming so it must have been ok for them. Good luck, nanna. I’m sure it’s workable and even enjoyable.

Nanna58, you’ll be fine! We’ve had this situation (minus dog and fish, but plus cat) for a 6 month and a 3 month period and we muddled through with no rules, no need for anyone to remove themselves from the scene, no fall-outs. It helped that we’re all pretty laidback and that we all have quick showers (we’ve only one bathroom too). The house seemed so quiet and far too tidy when they’d gone!

DD and her family live abroad and come back to the UK each summer and stay with us, we have a house full for several weeks. I no longer worry about the mess of all the extra stuff, I just enjoy having them around the house. I do make sure basics are done for hygiene and safety, otherwise it achieves nothing to get stressed about something that is unavoidable. We talk through things like who is going in the bathroom and when, the children bath at night, adults shower in the morning, we take it in turns to cook etc and the best help is online shopping getting the food delivered and not trying to lug all the extra home by myself. Nights off and treating ourselves to a take away help as well. Once they leave and we are quiet again there is plenty of time to get the house straight again.

Hello Nanna58 - take heart, I'm another who has had a wonderful experience of living in a shared household. We moved in with my parents in law for almost a year when we first arrived in Devon; the 'we' included our teen-aged daughter, two boisterous boys under 7 and an au pair! It turned out to be one of the highlights of all our lives.

As we were four working adults we loosely planned the 'who would do what' for the week ahead, sharing the household chores and shopping etc. among us. Fortunately we have very similar values and although our interests do differ that simply added to the experience. I enjoyed discovering more about my parents-in-law's careers and they took an avid interest in ours.

I hope your time with your extended family brings you as much joy as ours did.