A good friend’s wedding was ruined by a very young niece ( specifically NOT invited and the mother was told NOT to bring her) who chose the moment they were taking their vows to start crying and scream, hitting a Mariah Carey-like high note. Her mother grabbed her, put her hand over her mouth and charged up the aisle to take her outside. It was just awful. Absolutely ruined their wedding and no, it is not funny when you look at the tape of it. My friend almost started crying.
And I can’t STAND those parents who have the attitude the writer discussed, the ones whose kids HAVE to be included in everything. Ugh.
One of the reasons people get so overwrought in this kind of discussion is that there are people like this mother, who have no class and no consideration for others. If your child is not invited, don't bring him. If you've been asked not to bring your child, don't bring him.
Over time I’ve become convinced that some parents revert back to children themselves. They are unable to have an extended adult conversation on any topic and although they appear to be flustered or angered by their little darlings’ antics (which are frequent) it’s actually an excuse to avoid interaction while, as a bonus, drawing attention to themselves.
You’ve seen the type...they cover every square inch of the property in a half hearted attempt to catch their child, all the while calling out the child’s name. Here’s a hint: if the kid hasn’t responded in 5 min he/she isn’t going to respond now. The tipoff is the parent looking at every person at every table as they chase after the kid to see if they are being noticed. All an act, especially when they are perfectly capable of catching up. Munchausen Syndrome.
I think what a lot of people on this thread are missing is that having children at your wedding is not a selective thing. You cannot invite some of them, and not others.
We went through this recently. My daughter was married last weekend. The decision to not include children (under 16) was based on cost, and on the fact that several of the guests had horrible kids. You could not invite the kids from the bride’s side (all perfect angels) without inviting the kids from the groom’s side (several spawn of Satan).
As opposed to the drunk adult uncle with the loud mouth yelling obscenities. Or the adult mother in law who's angry about losing her son to that witch. Or the adult male members of the wedding party getting into a fight in the parking lot. Or cousin Betty walking in on her husband going at it with her adult sister in the coat closet. Many adults are screaming children in large bodies.