August 22, 2002 | 9:00 AM

Tomorrow the family is coming up for a visit. My mom, two sisters (ages 10 and 19) and my brother (aged 17) are going to be staying overnight in my apartment. Then the five of us will be taking off for Cape Cod where we will presumably spend the week relaxing in a rented house on the beach, and then back to Boston where my family will spend another three days at my apartment before driving back home to Rochester NY.

I am beginning to get very nervous about this.

First of all, my apartment is not by any means large. It isn�t tiny, but there�s not a whole lot of space. If everyone is on his/her best (non-whiny animosity-less) behavior, it should be fine. We probably won�t spend a whole lot of time in the apartment anyway and shall instead be gallivanting around town.

However, if people insist on being pissy, the experience is going to be a nightmare.

One thing that sucks is that my mother must have absolute quiet and absolute darkness when she is sleeping. She and my littlest sister will be sleeping in my bedroom, which is off the living room (where me and my other siblings will be sleeping) and which does not have an actual door, but rather a doorway with a beaded curtain hanging from it.

My mother goes to bed at like, 10:00.

So after 10, we won�t even be able to watch TV or have the lights on or anything, circumstances which remind me a great deal of Little House on The Prairie or The Waltons, and which when they occur (mainly in hotel rooms during family vacations) make me feel trapped and uneasy. I know it�s an overreaction on my part, but I can�t help it.

I�m excited to spend time with my family, and I hope it all works out because I really like the idea of having my home open to them and having them up to visit. I just hope nobody goes psycho or anything.