Keeping house tidy Christmas Day with 145 guest?!?

[Gemma77]

Providing no covid positive tests between now and Xmas day, I'm hosting Christmas day and dinner for 9 adults and 5 young kids. Oh and they are bring their dogs so 3 dogs too!

Any tips on how to keep my home reasonably tidy during the day? I'll do a big clean and de-clutter before and have my Christmas dinner menu and times all sorted. But I must admit the thought of my house being trashed by kids and dogs is stressing me out a bit. I'm so looking forward to having a proper Christmas with my family, especially after last year, and I don't want my lovely family to feel I'm following them tidying-up! But the dogs will be in and out the house/garden and I have a white tiled floor so I will have to do something about the middle foot prints.

I know I need to just accept the mess and grin through it! But any tips on how to do this or to keep the mess in check a little would be gratefully received!

I honestly think you’ll struggle if you have 145 guests, especially in a normal sized house.

Sorry just seen the type - 145 guest?!? OMG I would need a padded room! 14 guests is more than enough!

Put the dogs in the garden

The dogs would freak me out

Put old towels down by the doorway so the dogs have to walk over them to get rid if the worst of the mud from their feet.

Only opened this to see how big your house was!

I would seriously ask them to reconsider being their dogs; and I say that as a loving dog mum!

Unless they are willing for the dogs to be outside obviously

Don’t have free-flow dogs into and out of the garden. Dogs go out for playtime when accompanied by a human (who wipes paws on reentry).

Adults bringing dogs and kids responsible for exercising said dogs and kids! Everyone out for a walk pre/post lunch…

Do they have to bring the dogs? (Disclaimer I am a dog owner and am taking my dog to my mums for Christmas) Do you have a dog proof garden the dogs could go in? 6 excited small children, lots of chocolate and other food dogs shouldn't have and 3 dogs seems a bit too much like hard work.

I think they'll be an element of grinning & bearing it.
However, things you can do are ensure there is somewhere for them to hang coats and leave bags and shoes, if they're going to be opening presents at yours, provide a bag for life or similar for each person so that they can put them in their (and then perhaps encourage them to put them in their car), leave kitchen roll easily accessible in case of spills, leave some anti bac wipes in the bathroom so that, each time you go to the loo, you can do a quick wipe round, have a supply of towels, dish cloths etc easily accessible and swap them over during the day.
But remember, you're seeing family and having fun. A bit of mess won't matter!

well, the kids presents are going to end up strewn everywhere and mixed up.
So I would buy 5 Christmassy long life supermarket bags, and put their names on them in big marker pens, then after all the chaos, suggest that kids collect their presents into the bags and have them in one place, so they can get out one or two things at a time and have a safe place to put them away.

after present opening, we used to have a massive paper clear up, as a competition, who can fill the black bags faster, that got rid of wrapping.

apart from that, it is regular sweep round with try etc to clear mugs ans glasses

The dogs would be a no no for me.

We will have 3 dogs (9 adults and a 2 year old) on Christmas Day and I'm sure they will be a lot less difficult to handle than MIL (lovely as she is!)
No help on the tidiness though, I see it as family wanting to be together not family wanting to check on my standards of cleanliness!

dogs - it depends so much on the dog.
Our dog is coming with us on Christmas day. We take him out for wees and clean his paws before he comes in. He then mostly will sit by my feet /sleep most of the day.

I would not allow free flow to the garden. I would have pile of old towels by the door. Adults responsible for dogs and clean feet.

Anything you don’t want played with by other children/will cause fights, put away.

In Australia, a game of backyard cricket would be the go. Failing that, a leg stretch out for as many people not needed for a short time.

Lots of toilet paper. Any plastic glasses, plates, feeding spoons you might need (you don’t say how old the kids are) have them easily accessible. And have it easy for parents to clean up their kids with little fuss.

Assign everyone small jobs and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t try to do it all on your own.