Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
+1

There have definitely been times when my family of origin's particular brand of crazy was way more than I could deal with at a time when I felt I needed to be nearby, and so I've tried to be polite about staying in a hotel. Other times I've felt strong enough to stay with them. Same thing on my husband's side of the family. Shootingstar, if you can't deal with your sister's household 24 hours a day for however long you're planning on being in the neighborhood, then tell her so as nicely as you can. But I can't see what it has to do with who's a parent and who isn't, IMO.
I don't think this is a 'parent of young children' issue but rather a personal/family issue. As a parent of young children--I'd much prefer visiting guests to stay somewhere else so as not to disrupt the already frazzled schedule. But, that is just me. I know others that would be personally offended if a guest chose not to stay in there home. This is all personal boundaries stuff. I have my own personal boundaries--and I tend to stick pretty closely to them. I had a friend that requested to stay at our home for a few days. Again, I prefer that they didn't. But, this was a good friend and she was in need--so I bent my boundaries a bit for her. But that was my decision and I didn't feel in any way bullied or guilted into it. . . . My 2 cents.