For a long time I had just a one page sheet. I wanted to keep things simple. I included house rules, emergency info, contact numbers, cat care instructions, restaurant recommendations and local attractions all on one page. We had a complicated stereo and internet system at that time, so we had a second page with technical instructions.
What we found is that people who had difficulty getting the stereo or internet to work needed to be walked through the process by phone. Instructions were not going to work for people who were decidedly tech-phobic. We upgraded to much simpler stereo and internet devices and were able to condense our tech info.
At the same time, my collection of recommended restaurants and attractions kept growing. It was time to modify the home exchange instructions.
Recently, I have gone to a new set of home exchange info sheets. I have my old exchange instructions/recommendations on one page. On a second sheet I created two sections. The first is house rules.
Before creating a house rules sheet, I agonized over whether or not it would send the wrong message. I did not want to give the impression that I thought my swap partners were careless or irresponsible.
What I'm worried about is that these house rules will annoy or alienate my swap partners, just as I noted in my previous post that some bizarre home exchange rules made me cancel the swap. I want your feedback. If you were presented with the rules below, would you think them reasonable, too simplistic, insulting, vague or ??? Leave a comment so I can improve my communication with my swap partners. Your help is appreciated.
"We want you to have a great time in our home. There are a few common-sense practices we need you to follow to keep the house clean and safe. Thanks!
* Please remove your shoes upon entering the apartment. New York streets are dirty.
* No smoking or incense in apartment please.
* Blue Le Creuset pans on kitchen wall must be used without metal utensils. Plastic spatula, etc in drawer to left of stove. Pans cannot soak in water and should not be used w/high flame.
* Please take out garbage and empty kitchen sink trap every night to avoid bugs.
* Please do not leave food or dirty dishes out to avoid attracting bugs.
* Please wash all cutting knives by hand, not in dishwasher.
* When leaving apartment on last day, please strip beds, remake w/clean sheets, lock front door and give keys to cat sitter [phone], or my sister [phone]. Please leave cat fountain tank and dry food bowls full. If you do not want to empty cat litter box reservoir before you go, please call cat sitter. Please leave apartment as you found it."
These rules were the minimum we felt we needed to address. But there were two other areas where we agonized over whether or not to add house rules. We did not want our swap partners to feel we were too bossy or paranoid. But based on our experience, we wondered if these unique issues needed to be addressed. I'll let you add your two cents on the subject when I post about each of these issues.
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