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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

not to stock up with all provisions for family housesitting?

13 replies

anonymousbird · 07/07/2010 20:20

I have a mutually useful arrangement this weekend - I need someone to look after my dog whilst we go away, members of our family need somewhere to stay whilst they are between houses. They are currently squished in with friends whilst they complete their renovation so we offered them more space (and a gorgeous garden) at ours for 4 days whilst we are away. They will look after the dog as part of this.

The question is, I am not really intending to "stock up" my fridge etc, though will leave juice, beer and wine which they can help themselves to.

AIBU to expect them to provide their own food? The cupboard will be seriously bare, ie. no milk, bread or really anything other than liquid refreshment....

OP posts:

FakePlasticTrees · 07/07/2010 20:22

you really should have bread and milk in. And eggs. They are saving you the cost of kennels, you should at least have stuff for breakfast in. (And tea and coffee, if I was staying at someone else's house I wouldn't assume I had to bring tea bags)

HousewifeOfOrangeCounty · 07/07/2010 20:23

We once stayed at friends in a similar situation and no way did we expect them to leave us food. We of course left them enough for a day on their return and a bottle or two of wine.

Everyone was happy.

onepieceoflollipop · 07/07/2010 20:23

Personally I would probably leave a couple of pints of fresh milk and a loaf, just because it seems nice. Do you like them? If they are generally reasonable people, then just get a few bits in (if you really can't, then let them know in advance)

scurryfunge · 07/07/2010 20:24

I would leave them the basics out of politeness....bread, milk, cheese,etc.

thisisyesterday · 07/07/2010 20:25

agree with FPT, it'd be polite to have in tea/coffee/sugar/milk/bread/butter etc

Original poster

anonymousbird · 07/07/2010 20:26

There is tea and coffee, juice, beer and wine as well as eggs on tap from the chickens they are welcome to and I suspect there will be some milk to be honest, but other than key basics like that, I just don't have the time tomorrow to do a full shop for other people who have quite different eating habits to me.

Yes, they are dog sitting (I offered to put her in kennel actually, so they could concentrate on their renovation and they insisted I did not do that). But they are getting a flipping fabulous house rather than someone's futon in a hot top floor flat with the run of a great garden, barbeque at their disposal and they are two minutes from their renovation rather than twenty.

Hopefully IANBU.

OP posts:

Nux · 07/07/2010 20:27

Personally I would make sure there was bread, milk, tea, coffee and sugar - the rest they could fend for themselves. The means of making a cup of tea and toast in the morning before while you gird your loins and prepare to go shopping is a bit inhumane to deny someone, to my mind.

Having said that, I would not be offended if I were in their situation and you did what you were planning - I would just be a bit meh at not being able to have a cup of tea.

Nux · 07/07/2010 20:28

X-post - if you are leaving milk too then YANBU. I would definitely not expect a full shop done for me in that situation!

Original poster

anonymousbird · 07/07/2010 20:31

Oh, AND a fully stocked vegetable garden for their delictation!!!!

OK, I am there now, as long as I leave a pint of milk for the morning cup of tea and a slice loaf for toast, I have talked myself round that IADNBU!!!!!!

Just needed to set it out I think to know it was ok, as had a panicky moment earlier!

OP posts:

IWillNotNeverEatATomato · 07/07/2010 20:35

We house sit for family for one week every summer, and we don't expect them to leave us anything except cupboard essentials (i.e. marmite)

They tend to tell us to finish anything in the fridge, and always leave us a bottle of wine.

We take certain things with us, e.g. teabags

we then go shopping the first morning and buy everything else we will need for the week.

during our week we buy them something edible (usually biscuits) as a present to say thankyou for our week, as we see it as a free holiday seeing as they live in a gorgeous old farmhouse, with an Aga! in the Peak District so I get to live my rural fantasy life for one week a year.

Alambil · 07/07/2010 20:52

I've just house/dog sat for someone and got my own food in - I used her left over tomatoes because they were going off, but apart from that, I got my own in... I thought that was normal

MmeLindt · 07/07/2010 20:56

I would not expect anything more than teabags and some milk - and that only because I always have that at home anyway.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 07/07/2010 21:18

I wouldn't expect the cupboards to be full but it would be nice to have some milk, bread, butter, tea/coffee available. Not necessarily unstarted, but something to see them through the first night/morning until they get to the shops.

If you don't have any milk left, it would be good to let them know so they can pick some up on the way over rather than finding out after making a cuppa.

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