Hosting can be super fun but also very stressful. It seems like the world has set an expectation of perfection when it comes to having people over to your home. Magazines show perfectly cleaned homes with plenty of seating, matching dishes, beautiful linens, etc. Pinterest shows pretty photos of food that is plated like a restaurant. Instagram shows everyone having fun and nothing going wrong.
The reality is that things aren’t perfect. We all have different things going on which may make it difficult to meet that ‘perfect’ expectation. I’ve felt a lot of pressure when I host to quickly vacuum up the ‘tumbleweeds’ of pet hair that accumulate each week and to set the table to perfection. What I’ve realized more recently though is that some of the BEST times hosting have been spontaneous – the times when I don’t have time to clean the house or make sure I have cleaned all the dishes so everything can match. I truly think that when we forget about perfection, it takes the pressure off so we can actually enjoy. We can actually relax and laugh and not worry.
Here are some tips to feel more comfortable:
- Start Small – invite one or two people over at first. Nothing big, nothing too out of the ordinary.
- Set a cadence you are comfortable with – for example, challenge yourself to host 1x a month to start and go from there.
- Have a Go-To Recipe– have a recipe (whether that’s drink recipe, app, or dinner) that you feel really comfortable with. You’ve made it before, you know what ingredients you need, you know how much time it takes. Pick that recipe when you’re starting out so that you don’t have much stress of what to make or how to prepare
- Ask for help – everyone who I have had over to my home has always been more than willing to bring something. There’s no need to put all the pressure on yourself. Ask the people who you invite to bring a side or dessert.
- Don’t Apologize – You do not need to call out that you haven’t had time to put away toys or vacuum. 99% of the time, people WILL NOT notice. I’ve found that embracing the life that happens in your house makes others feel really comfortable coming over. Seeing kids toys around or little fingerprints on windows makes people smile. Having pet hair around is just part of having a pet. You do not need to apologize for the day-to-day things that happen in your home that you haven’t had time to focus on – you have invited people over to enjoy time together and have fun.
I hope this helps! Let me know in the comments if there is anything you do that is super helpful when hosting to feel more comfortable!
xo, LL
Little Libbie 
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