Almost any woman likes perfume, accessories for the bath or little luxuries, which she very likely wouldn't buy for her­self. If you're completely stumped, you can always give her a box of candy.

Or you may decide to give one present for the house: it might be one of the new rubber ice buckets, a copper baking dish, a set of herbs and vinegars, a fireplace brush or any one of the numerous objects householders find desirable.

Money is secondary to the imagination you use in choosing a good present. It isn't necessary to spend much money at all, but it is neces sary to think about the kind of people your hosts are, their tastes and their interests.

gifts for the children?
If there are children in a house where you're going to stay, it's wiser to take their gifts to them. You will have the pleasure of seeing their enjoyment; you will not risk disappointing them.

the time element
One of your first obligations is to discover whether the household in which you're visiting runs on a schedule, guests or no guests. If it does, you cooperate even though you'd prefer, for instance, to lie late in bed and skip breakfast. Your hosts usually have reasons for asking you to do it and whether you think the reasons make sense or not, as a good guest you comply.

a headache is no fun for anybody
Suppose you're week-ending at a house where there's a large party on Saturday night and a few guests stay on until all hours. You have a headache and are utterly exhausted. You then have every right to ask your hostess, unobtrusively, to excuse you and go right to bed. A feeling of obligation which keeps you sitting up, miserable, unable to join in the fun, does not help your hosts so much as a quiet disappearance.

the helpful visitor
When you're visiting for the week end in a household which has no outside help, you ought to keep your eyes open for ways to be useful. You can do some chores without asking-you can make your bed and straighten up your room; in a shared bathroom, you can fold the towels and tidy up the wash basin when your hostess is busy with something else. For other ways to help, with serving and dish washing for example, you offer your services and from your experiences as host, you ought to be able to judge whether your hosts mean it if they turn you down. You can, besides, empty your own ash trays and pick up your clothes and put them away.