When you go to your parents house, do you knock on the door? or just walk in?

[rebcoola]

My parents live one block away, I typically give a little warning knock as I open the door when we visit without warning, which is often.  In-laws are out of state are always expecting us and greet us outside the house usually.

[My4arrows]

My parents have moved away, so they know we are coming are typically are waiting at the door for us. If they weren't, I'd knock, it would probably be locked :)

My ILs live close by, same house DH grew up in...we walk right in. I even have a garage door opener and key of my own for their house.

[fraidycat]

We refer to my parents house as Grand Central Station. It's on a farm, near a small city. Everyone either knocks and walks in, or just walks in. The coffee pot is on a timer in the morning. My parents often wake up to my Dad's two best friends sitting at the kitchen table, on their second cup of coffee LOL. Or if they've been gone to town, often will find that someone stopped by and left them some baking, or a box of chocolates, or returned a borrowed item.

 

I just walk in. :) Unless my hands are full - then I ring the doorbell for someone to come open the door. Being as it's GCS, there is no guarantee that it'll be a person who lives there who opens the door - just whoever happens to be closest at that moment.

[HS Mom in NC]

We walk in to our parents' houses.

My daughters' SOs walk into out hour house because we asked them to.

It's not the cultural norm to show up unexpectedly to someone's house for a visit, including a relative's, but there are exceptions. You're expected to call or text beforehand. You can just drop something off or stop to talk to them for a few minutes if you need to, but you shouldn't expect to stay.

EDITED TO ADD: If we drop by unexpectedly, we knock.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Homeschool Mom in AZ

[cjzimmer1]

my parent's we walk in even if they have no idea we are coming.  MIL we have to call ahead and make an appointment and then knock when we arrive.

[KungFuPanda]

I COULD just walk in. It's not like they lock their doors. I might SEE something that would necessitate therapy.

[sbgrace]

We live next door, so we just walk in. I think we probably knocked when we lived further away, though I'm not certain. I  would knock at my in-laws and they do live much further away.

Edited April 11, 2016 by sbgrace

[Mbelle]

I just walk in.   Usually they are expecting me anyway.  I have a key as well. 

Not just my parents, but also all close family members.  I would knock if they weren't expecting me, but then that would be bizarre for me to just drop by and so it would make sense to knock.

[lanabug]

My parents live 2 doors down from us. If the garage door is up, I go in the back door and holler a hello as I'm going in. The rest of the time I knock, unless I'm expected.

 

Lana

[hornblower]

I have keys but I'd call ahead on my cell. At the very least I'd knock and wait at the door hallloooo'ing. They're retired, healthy & living alone: I'd think teA anytime is a significant perk. 

[aggie96]

My parents house--just walk in, have key, don't have to be expecting us

My in-laws--"appointment" and knock

Our house--my parents and siblings and close friends just walk even with no call ahead, my in-laws rarely come over but knock always expected

All in same metroplex

not childhood homes

[AmandaVT]

I knock and then walk in.  The knock is more of a warning that we're about to barge in.

I do let the know if I'm coming over, and usually give an approximate arrival time.  They don't love surprises.  :)

 

This is what I do - knock and barge in. I think they'd be offended if I waited to be let in like a guest. My dad lives in the home I grew up in and my mom has a different home. All of our family does this - when they come visit me, they knock and then come on in too. 

[MrsRobinson]

Reading all the replies, I realized we usually do call out as we come in with a "hello!" or something. I never thought about it before. My Gram calls out "yoo hoo!" which always makes me giggle. I think I'll adopt the yoo hoo when I'm old. :)

 

I also realized that in our old house I didn't like drop ins. It was so tiny you could see my sink full of dishes and hear EVERYTHING going on in the only bathroom right from the front door. If someone dropped by I'd usually sprint to the door and intercept them in the driveway.

 

Now, at this house we have a separate entry, which is great for drop ins. Even if people wander into the living room, they still can't see into the kitchen. Plus, my mil will text wanting to drop something by and you would think that meant "within the hour." It actually means "some time this week." So you never know when she'll show up. Drops ins never just hang out endlessly unless I suggest they stay for a drink or something. If we drop in at my dad's and they have plans, they'll just leave. They know we don't expect them to entertain us on the spot. We will take the dogs out before we go, and the trash. I'll wash any dishes we made plus anything else already there.

[Evergreen State Sue]

Both sets of parents have passed on.  My parents would know when I was coming since they lived 2 hrs. away.  I would just walk in and say "Hello, Hello!"   My in-laws lived in the area and we saw them frequently.  They were used to people coming in and out, so we just walked in.  I don't think they ever locked their doors!

[Garga]

Knock. And they knock on my door.

[AK_Mom4]

I always knocked.  As my parents got less mobile in their final years, I would knock and then go in - they were expecting me and I didn't want to make them get up to answer the door if it wasn't necessary.

 

In-laws - always knock and wait for them to answer... but they all live 3000+ miles from us, so they were never "expecting" us... even when we were expected.....

[Caroline]

I knock as a barge in. I might holler a Yoo-hoo as I go in. My parents live 600 miles away and not in my childhood home. Not even in my home state anymore. However, it would never occur to me that I wasn't just supposed to barge in and help myself to food. I would do that at my sisters' houses, too, and they would do that here. Maybe we all have boundary issues.

[The Girls' Mom]

If the door is open, I just walk in to my in-laws.  They often have just the glass door shut and the other one open...allowing them to see people pulling into the driveway.  If the main door is shut, I knock.  I don't want any surprises..lol!

 

It is kind of the same at our house.  Sometimes they knock, sometimes not.  ETA: Our dog lets us (and anyone within a two block radius) know if someone even pulls into our driveway, so visitors can't exactly sneak up on us)

 

I would have ALWAYS knocked at my mom's if she were still alive.  Chances would be very high that I'd walk in on something I'd rather not see...lol.  She wasn't real diligent about being fully clothed at home.

Edited April 11, 2016 by The Girls' Mom

[TechWife]

I walk right in. If the door is locked, I use my key. I honestly never thought of doing it another way. Interesting. 

[Meriwether]

I'd walk right into my parents' home. It will always be home. We would walk right into the in-laws' home, too, but they are either waiting at the door or not home when we come.

[Baseball mom]

Mom's -- knock and wait til someone answers door

 

Step mom's -- knock, crack open door and yell -- knock knock.  And generally walk on in.  But usually step mom is yelling "come in"

 

MIL's -- if just me, knock.  If with dh, he knocks and walks in

 

FIL's -- knock and wait

 

Most people know and wait at my house but a few will open my storm door and say "hey" as they are walking in (only if wooden door is open)

[HRAAB]

Both my in-laws and my parents live(d) in dh's and my childhood homes and in the same town as we now live.  We never knocked, at either home.

[SproutMamaK]

I've honestly never gone by either my parents or my in-laws without being expected. Since they always expect me, I just walk in, usually while saying "Hi, we're here!" or something similar.

[Tsuga]

I always knock to be polite unless someone else from the family has already arrived and they are all sitting down (like if I'm late from work). I also knock on my six-year-old's room door out of politeness. It is just what I do.

[Amy in NH]

I knock so as not to surprise anyone, and then I walk in.

[RootAnn]

I always ring the doorbell/knock at my mom's place, but I also have a key in case she's not home. (I think all/most of the kids have a key.)

 

When we visit my FIL, he knows we are coming & is always there. DH would walk in after knocking. Either way, we camp when we're at FIL's place, so we'd just set up the tent. He visits us in the great outdoors.

[RKWAcademy]

We live far away.  They're always expecting us but it would never occur to me to knock on their door.  However, I couldn't imagine NOT knocking on the door to an in-law's house (no FIL, MIL in nursing home, so this is a non-issue for his side).   I'm trying to think if they've ever come here and not been greeted before getting to the door.  Probably not, so I don't know if they'd knock or not.  Again, long drive, never a pop-in situation. 

[Ewe Mama]

As my dad likes lounging about in his underwear, we knock. Always. *shudder*

[Baile]

I live about 2800 miles from my childhood home, where my parents and youngest sister still live. When I go home to visit, it really is still "home", and I would feel silly knocking on the door.

 

Dh's parents live about 5 miles away, and we just walk in. They have teenagers at home, a 22-year-old who drops in for dinner most days, and plenty of other children, nieces, nephews, siblings, and friends who come and go without ringing the doorbell. Dh drops in on them, but I always let MIL know when I'm coming. 

[Arcadia]

Even when we were in the same country, we never drop by parents, in-laws and other relatives without calling first. So we just walk in and grab a seat at the living room when we arrive because the host expect us to. If our kids are with us, the host can hear our kids talking way before we reach the main door and would have come out to greet us.

[Melissa in Australia]

I just walk in. As does DH to his parents

 

 you should have had a poll :toetap05: ( love polls)

[mom@shiloh]

At my parents' house I would just walk in, but probably would have knocked at my in-laws; as in, knock and then go in shouting 'hello'.  

 

My adult kids don't knock when they come home and I would find it very odd if they did. (Actually, it would make me sad if they felt the need to knock.  It's still their home.)  In fact, even our close friends will just knock briefly and then come in shouting 'hello'.  Our house is big and we're not all that likely to hear the knock.  

[Mrs. Y]

My in-laws live right next door. We all just yell, "Knock, knock" when entering each other's houses.

 

My parents, I yell, "Anybody home?" while walking in.

 

My grown-and-moved-out-kids, they just walk in. There are still many siblings left at home, so it would be weird for them to knock.

[Mimm]

My husband doesn't knock on his parents' door. This is the house he grew up in. I do when I'm not expected, but I just walk in if they know I'm coming over. I guess it's a house I feel very comfortable in. I've stayed there a lot, my kids are over there all the time. I have a key to the place because I feed the dog and get the mail when they're out of town. My family just walks into my house. When one of my brothers moved to town and knocked, I was slightly annoyed that he made me get up and answer the door for someone I was expecting. :) He learned to just walk in like everyone else. But I knock on my brother's and sister's door. Because they prefer that. My sister has a key to my house so if she drops by before we unlock the front door, she can still come in. I watch my nephew on days when she has to work and he's got the day off school and sometimes we're just getting our day started when she drops him off.

 

Ok, so one time one of my brothers walked in on a Saturday afternoon when the kids weren't home. My husband and I were in our bedroom, umm, getting dressed (our front door is loud and we know when he walked in.) I walked out of the bedroom and my brother was kind of standing there awkwardly and he said, "Should I come back another time?" So that's one disadvantage to having an open door policy. But that's the only time anything awkward happened.

 

Both my parents live in another state out in the country with long driveways. There's no sneaking up and they are always expecting us when we come.

[shinyhappypeople]

Party or other gathering going on where lots of people are already there?  Walk right in and announce myself, "Mom, we're here!"

 

Any other time I knock, because I don't want to walk in on my step-dad in his skivvies.  

 

 

[ChocolateReignRemix]

I knock as a barge in. I might holler a Yoo-hoo as I go in. My parents live 600 miles away and not in my childhood home. Not even in my home state anymore. However, it would never occur to me that I wasn't just supposed to barge in and help myself to food. I would do that at my sisters' houses, too, and they would do that here. Maybe we all have boundary issues.

Lol

Both my mother and MIL are proud of the fact that their grandkids and kids just help themselves to food when in their homes.

[Liza Q]

I am really surprised that so few people lock their doors! Guess it comes from living in the city. The thought of leaving my door unlocked is kind of crazy!

 

Even though I had a key to my parents' home it was really for an emergency. I always knocked. Even if they left their door unlocked I would still knock. And I would never just show up without calling. I don't think I have ever just shown up anywhere! My Dad lives alone since my Mom passed away and I don't have a key to his new place...I expect that one or both of my brothers do.

 

Our adult daughters still have keys and they know that they are welcome any time, meaning that they don't have to ask permission to come over but to just tell us they are coming. They don't knock unless they have forgotten their keys. I wonder if that will change as they get older!