Father Knows Best: Worn out welcome

Did you ever have that visitor that would never leave until at some point you had to risk being rude to ask him to go?

We had someone that visited our home frequently. At first we really enjoyed his company. He was a great storyteller and would often keep us entertained for hours. He was, however, unpredictable. One minute we'd be talking about football and then out of the blue he would start talking about beer and pretty women. I'm a married man with a wonderful wife and small children so that type of talk made me uncomfortable.

For the most part we enjoyed our guest. In the morning he would often come over and spend time with our children. I think they would sometimes spend all day with him if we let them. The problems arose in the afternoons. I don't know if he just got bored of the kid talk but it seemed that just before dinner time he would completely change personalities. There were topics and words coming out of his mouth that frankly, were not welcome in my home.

Sometimes in the evening, my wife and I would enjoy sitting down and spending time with our guest as well. I guess being adults we did not mind his "grown-up" topics and humor. It's funny though, sometimes after a night spent visiting with him I lost any sense of peacefulness I may have had during the day. I'm not sure what caused that. Maybe I was just tired because we often lost track of time during these visits. Frequently it was much too late before we finally would ask him to leave.

Finally, one day we decided enough was enough. This is my home and I want to protect my family. The stories and the unpredictability of the topics just became too much of a risk. I finally had to ask our visitor to leave and not return.

I do wonder sometimes if I'll ever change my mind and invite him back. I do miss some of the times we spent together. There were often times we enjoyed our guest as a family. Maybe if we let him back he would be more predictable and would not visit for long periods at a time. Besides, I really miss our football discussions.

No, I think we made the right decision asking him to leave and not come back. My family is too important to risk the unpredictable stories. I also do not want my children learning about life based on these stories. I may miss him at times but I know my family is better off without him around.

I'm not worried about our old guest missing us. I hear friends talk about him all the time. He seems to frequent their house as often as he used to visit ours. It's strange; it is almost like he can be in more than one place at once.

If he's been coming by your house too often lately, it may be time for you to consider what is more important. What do you value more, the entertainment this visitor can provide or your family protected from obscenities and provocative stories that invade your home when he is around?