Going to other kids’ houses is an interesting thing to do.

You expect it to be like your house and you are always surprised.

Some kids use the front door and some people use the back door and some people only have one door but they get to go up in an elevator, which is very cool.

Some kids have a dog that jumps all over you when you come in. Some kids have a cat. Some cats let you pet them; others just look at you and walk away. Watching fish is interesting for awhile. Hamsters are cute, but they can really move if they want to get away.

Kids’ houses can be very tidy or very messy or in between. There can be a lot of books and plants, or boxes if they just moved in.

Some kids have a mom home and a dad home, or one or the other. Sometimes they have a Grandma or a Gramps who lives with them, or a babysitter or a nanny.

The adults in kids’ houses can be very different. Sometimes the adult makes you feel comfortable and sometimes they make you feel shy. Some adults talk to you like you are just normal. Other adults talk to you like you are little. Some seem kind of sad and don’t talk at all. Some are smiling and laugh and hum a lot.

At other kids’ houses there sure are different smells. Food smells, flower smells, pet smells, soap smells, dusty smells, wet smells, new smells.

I find that a lot of kids have bunkbeds and usually stuffies. Some kids play with stuffies, some kids don’t—but the stuffies can still be special. There may be small cars on the ground so watch where you step.

Wow, is food ever different at other people’s houses! Sometimes you get a snack and sometimes you get a meal. It can be fancy or plain. It can be something your parents never let you eat. It can be popcorn, crackers that taste like shrimp, samosas, chocolate cake, bean sprout curry, or a whole jar of dill pickles. There can be a lot of it or just a little. It can be the same thing you eat at home, but it tastes way different.

You usually do different stuff at other kids’ houses. Here is what you might do:

1. jump on beds 2. try out the mother’s lipstick 3. run around screaming in the backyard 4. play a board game and listen to the big sister’s CDs 5. hammer something 6. hang out with the big brother and his friends and talk about hockey players 7. learn how to do cartwheels 8. eat cold spaghetti leftovers in a tent that you built

You may notice that some houses are quieter than your house and some houses are noisier. This is because different people may live near a highway or an airport or listen to loud music or yell a lot or have a baby asleep upstairs.

Playing outside is always a good thing if it isn’t too cold or wet. It’s a good time to relax a bit and play spies or another game with a bad guy. But who wants to be the bad guy? This can be a problem.

Of course, you go to other kids’ houses because they are your friend, or you might like them to be. When you spend time with someone you get to know them better. Do they like a lot of action, or do you end up talking a lot when you are together? I think that sometimes rowdy friends are fun, but not if you keep getting into trouble with them. Quiet kids can be fun, once you get going on a game or something like that.

Sometimes things that other kids think are really important, like their baseball trophies, aren’t really important to you.

Some kids do stuff with their families that make them feel kind of like a club or a team—like watching a video and eating potato chips together on the couch on every Friday night.

Maybe you could do that with your family too. Or maybe that is like when you read the comics together on Saturday morning before soccer practice and ballet.

Sometimes the nicest thing about other people’s houses is going home to your own.