Dealing with Lots of Messy Young Houseguests? Consider a Chore Doc.

Some advice for anyone hosting well-meaning yet obliviously unhelpful visitors this summer.

Ahh, the sounds of summer: a cannonball ka-plunk in the pool, a whoosh down a slip and slide on the lawn. But when your kids and their guests move inside this season, it’s not a pretty sight. There’s more chaos in our homes now than at any other time of the year. They’ll scatter explosions of Doritos bigger than any splash in the water.

Young visitors aren’t always helpful. Ever hear a hollow “Lemme know what I can doooooooo?” from a teen or 20-something? The last part trails off as they run to the pool, leaving behind wet towels limper than their offer to pitch in.

If you have kids who can plot a calculus curve but forget how to clear a table, I have a solution: a Google Chore Doc. It’s a list of all the tasks in my life that I either can’t or don’t want to do.