Entertaining Friends with Mixed Abilities

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Entertaining at home can be a highly enjoyable activity. It’s a chance to show off your “Suzy-Homemaker” skills, bask in the awesomeness that is your fantastic cooking ability, and last but not least, it’s an opportunity to show all of your friends a really good time.

One of the key parts, however, of being the perfect host is to make sure that all of your guests—disabled or able-bodied—are having a good time. And what if the host is also disabled? No need to fret. Here’s a how-to guide with answers to these questions and more.

The Disabled Host
As an experienced hostess of multiple parties, who has had a significant mobility disability for years, I’ve become pretty adept at getting around what I can’t do and still throwing a great get-together. Some tips:

• Prep:  With the food, prep as much of it as you can beforehand. I love to cook and can do it quite well, but when an able-bodied person sees me cooking, they always think I’m struggling and want to help. This drives me mad, so I prep like crazy before the guests arrive. Chose to serve foods that you can cook earlier and put in the fridge or keep warm in the oven (crock-pot recipes are a great for this).
• Tunes:  At every party, music is crucial. Sometimes changing CDs, trying to roll yourself through the crowd to tend the stereo, etc, can make this tricky. I’ve found that using an Internet streaming radio site like Pandora.com, is a super way to keep the tunes going all night, without you lifting a finger. I usually set out my laptop in the living room and plug my speakers into it for maximum effect.
• Serve-yourself bar:  Mixing drinks is definitely not my forte, so I’ve found that setting up a bar on my kitchen’s island is the best solution. Serving punch is a great way to get around this issue too. Also, make sure you set out plenty of cups in the same vicinity as the booze. Putting out cute little signs that say, “Serve Yourself!” is a nice way to keep your guests abreast of the party’s bar protocol.