DEAR MISS MANNERS: I love to entertain. It is a labor of love to host houseguests, dinner parties, brunches and children’s birthday parties.

One thing that always leaves me stumped is what beverages to have on hand. We don’t drink much except water, tea, wine and beer in our home, and those seem to suffice for casual guests. But for a dinner party or houseguests, are there certain beverages that are considered basic necessities of a civilized home?

Just as an example, we don’t drink coffee, but houseguests sometimes do. Should I continue sending my dear husband to the corner cafe for the guests’ morning lattes, let them fend for themselves, or is it time to invest in a coffeepot (even though it would gather dust the rest of the year)?

And what to do about those quirky guests who only drink a certain brand of cherry-flavored diet soda, which could hardly have been predicted? It seems everyone has their must-have drink of choice. What are good hosts to do?

GENTLE READER: Their best. Reasonable hosts should have basics on hand -- and reasonable guests should politely make do if their choices are not available.

While it is not your duty to maintain a full-fledged bar or packaged goods store, it is, however, gracious to take note of what your more regular guests prefer and stock it when they come. And if a cheap but functional coffeepot is less effort and expense than your husband’s trips to the cafe, then perhaps consider that as well. Miss Manners is particularly fond of her French press, which she notes has many functions besides making coffee -- like brewing tea and straining shellfish. Although probably not together.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My wife and I own a motor home and frequently enjoy camping in the great outdoors at state and national park campgrounds.

The problem I have is with other campers who seem to think (or not think at all) that it’s OK to cross through our campsite on their way to the shower house, a trail, another campsite, lake shore, etc. These are children as well as adults.

As a young Boy Scout, I was taught that a campsite is a rather personal space and that I needed to ask permission to enter or cross through another’s site.

Can you recommend a way to enlighten these “trespassers” without sounding like a curmudgeonly old man telling them to “GET OFF MY GRASS”?

GENTLE READER: While not a motor homeowner herself, Miss Manners has it on good authority that you are indeed justified. Decorum and civility dictate that the parameters of your campsite be considered temporarily yours and should not be trespassed.

Rather than resort to barking at strangers, however, she advises putting a large object such as a picnic table -- or leashed animal -- near the border to help discourage traffic. You could also bring a few strands of rope lights to outline the front area of the campsite.

And if all else fails, you could always resort to staging homegrown theatrics in the form of a big blowout fight. No doubt, that will keep EVERYONE away.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a 39-year-old single father with a beautiful 4-year-old girl. I would like to know what is proper etiquette for taking my daughter shopping for clothes and then having her try them on in a fitting room. Last time, I went to the women’s dressing room, but I didn’t know if I should go in. There were moms sitting down waiting for their children to come out of rooms. My child still needs a little help.

GENTLE READER: Although the 4-year-olds of Miss Manners’ acquaintance are aware that their classmates come in different flavors, they generally attach less significance to this than, to take one example, the distinction between strawberry and vanilla.

The existence of these same children suggests that their parents are more aware of the consequences of gender differentiation. It is therefore the gender of the parent, not the child, that determines which dressing room to use. If your daughter needs help trying on her dress in a shared changing room, the other fathers will accept her presence more readily than the mothers will accept yours. Individual dressing rooms, when available, should cause no surprises for anyone.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband and I live in Florida and have many family members visit throughout the year. Recently, some of our family came and stayed at our house for a few days. Because they didn’t fly, but drove, they weren’t sure when they were going to leave, but told us it would be sometime Thursday.

When we were having dinner Wednesday evening, we asked them if they had decided what time they were going to leave the next day. They said no, and that they might even stay until Friday morning.

When I got up the next morning, they were gone. They had seen my husband in the kitchen at 7 a.m., when he was leaving to go to work, and didn’t tell him goodbye or that they were leaving. When I came out to the kitchen at 8 a.m., all I found was a note saying goodbye and thanks for everything.

When I mentioned this to a friend of mine, she asked if they were upset or mad about something, or if we had argued the night before, but the answer is no. They went to bed early, saying they were tired and would see us in the morning. Is this any way to behave?

GENTLE READER: The behavior certainly is odd enough to warrant a follow-up call, inquiring if everyone is all right.

Note that Miss Manners did not suggest asking if everything is all right. Your purposes are, first, to unravel the mystery and second, if they were merely thoughtless, gently to point that out.

Asking after their health implies that their behavior requires an explanation while showing concern for them. Asking about the more nebulous “everything” sounds like an invitation to air grievances against you, which, if there are any, will no doubt emerge without an invitation.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I find myself stunned at most people’s table manners. For example: breaking bread/rolls and buttering each bite, using a thumb to push food onto a fork, correct utensil usage (using a place spoon for soup), cutting up an entire entree salad at once, serving coffee after dessert, leaving napkins on the table at end of a meal, passing salt and pepper together, etc.

I never say anything, but just wonder if the etiquette rules I was taught, and followed in a very upper-level hospitality position, have been canceled.

GENTLE READER: It is never a good idea to monitor other people’s table manners, and not only because you are apt to spill something all over yourself while you do so.

Miss Manners notices that you are already agitated, because you have mixed up what should and what should not be done, and thrown in some general rules.

Just to clarify:

Bread and rolls should be broken into small pieces and buttered individually; thumbs should not be used as pushers; the so-called place spoon is a medium-sized oval spoon that can be used (as the teaspoon should not be) for soup or dessert; napkins should be put to the left of the plate at the end of the meal, and salt and pepper should be passed together.

That people violate these and other basic rules does not mean that they have been canceled, any more than a rising burglary rate demonstrates that the law now permits it. So no, the Etiquette Council did not say, “Oh, go ahead, plough in with your hands, who cares?”

But it did resolve to refrain from watching.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was invited to a wedding by a family who chooses to have no other contact with me. With the invitation came a bridal registry, most items being chances to finance aspects of the couple’s overseas honeymoon. I added up some of the other small choices on the registry, wrote a check for that amount and sent it with regrets that I wouldn’t be able to attend the wedding.

The check went uncashed for six months. Then I received a thank-you card with my check enclosed, thanking me for my good wishes, but with the suggestion that I donate this money to a charity of my choice. I chose not to respond to the couple in any way. Your response?

GENTLE READER: Well, we can rule out the possibility that these people were insulted by being offered money. Miss Manners despairs of thinking that such delicacy still exists. Certainly not among people who blatantly asked their guests to pay their wedding bills.

Returning a present to its donor is also a traditional insult, although that, too, seems to be forgotten by those who ask their benefactors to try harder to please them.

In this case, it does seem that an insult was intended, which makes it all the more odd that the family should have broken the estrangement by inviting you to the wedding. You were generous to send a present at all, but perhaps they thought you hadn’t given enough money. Miss Manners agrees with you that they seem the right sort of people from whom it is wise to be estranged.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)