The house is presentable. My dad dropped by over the weekend totally unannounced, and he used to always make me clean up around the house when I was a kid, so I was a BIT embarassed because the place wasn't squeaky clean and he was dressed in his nice Sunday suit, but like I said, it was presentable. I don't have kids, but we do have two dogs, and some days I don't know which would be worse to have in a house: kids or dogs! At least you can make the kids clean up behind themselves. If I tell our pets to pick up their toys, they just stare at me. Of course. Luckily when my dad came by there weren't bones and stuffed animals and doggie treat crumbs all over the floor (these pets are so messy!) but I think he did sit on a dog biscuit. And the puppy had had a good day; no "mistakes" on the floor, which was ALSO good. My dad would have NEVER tolerated that! I didn't grow up with pets at all, let alone those of the indoor variety. It's just the way I was raised, and my parents have different standards when it comes to having "those nasty animals in the house." But when they come to visit us, they're pretty much tolerant. Generally we don't get a lot of visitors here. My BF has had only ONE friend come to the house in the two years I've lived with him, and I've had company over only a handful of times (but never unannounced). And if I know we're gonna have some company, like for a holiday gathering or something, we'll all pitch in and start straightening up the front rooms (den, dining room, bathroom, kitchen, living room, hallway) an hour or two before hand. But the bedrooms are off limits to guests, so we don't attempt to make them "presentable", "kid friendly", or anything else. So I don't worry much about that kind of thing. I'm more concerned with having the house clean enough when my BF gets home from work every day.