If you and your child were spending 5 days at someones houee...

[nappyaddict]

would you give them some money to cover the food you would be eating whilst there or at least buy some food?

Offer to cook a couple of meals and buy the food for the meals you cook.

I would if I believed they would need the extra money, if not I would bey a gift instead.

It would depend a bit for me whether they invited you or you asked to stay iyswim. If the latter I probably would offer to buy food if the former I would just buy a nice gift and help out loads while you're there.

I have the same dilemma when we go and stay at my parents house so i normally take a bunch of flowers and then tend to buy lunch stuff as we need it.

I'd bring lots of wine/nice food

I would take them out for a couple of meals or get a couple of takeaways.

I would offer to buy a big takeaway one night and babysit their kids so they can go out.

oooh yeah definatly a nice takeaway (my parents dont eat takeaway)

On another night that is LOL. I don't mean send them packing and eat the whole takeaway by yourself .

If invited I'd take flowers/wine/chocs and think no more about it.

If I was going for my benefit rather than theirs I'd offer to take them out for a meal, or get a takeaway, or do a supermarket shop for them.

offering hard cash can be awkward

I'd buy some of the food or take them out.

If it were family, I wouldn't. And I wouldn't take a gist either, although I do write a thank you note to PIL .

Friends, I would take a gift and take them out to lunch.

It's friends. They invited me. No kids to babysit, but she is babysitting ds one night so i can go out.

I don't think I'd arrive with food. I think that could be a bit insulting.

I'd arrive with little gifts though, like nice wine and chocs. I'd also cook a few times during my stay. And I'd take them for a meal. Might also pop into supermarket and get some bits for a night in with nibbles in front of tv!

We have just done this, bought them a load of milk/juice and the ingredients for a couple of meals we cooked. We also brought homemade cake with us and something for their ds that we knew he needed.

if they are not family I would just buy them lunch a couple of times.

Can't insult anyone with juice and croissants, can you?

I spent a week at a friends house by the sea this summer. I did a big weekly shop before I went - lots of wine, cheese, fruit and easy stuff to cook......

I have my sister's 3 kids for 3 days.. when she arrived she handed me a bag & said "here, these boys will eat you out of house & home... "

When she left I opened the bag.. in it was 4 tins of beans & 2 bottles of iron bru!!!!!!!!!!

I have been supplementing the beans & iron bru though

Sorry.. I did pmsl when I opened the bag.. how random can one get

I'd take wine, chocs and treat food, and offer to buy a meal out or get a takeaway while I was there. If I knew the friend was skint I might offer money too.

Have good friends we go to stay with as a family, they were really busy - we were going to see her DD in a show - so to help out we did the shop for a picnic style lunch and took it with us, bought a takeaway that night, and took sleeping bags for all of us so spare beds did not need to be made up.