Keeping kids entertained????

jmvalli

My FI and I are having a bit of a fight about this.  The other day he came to me and said, "we have to decide what we are going to do if the kids get bored (at the wedding)"  I guess he caught me off guard because I was stunned.  The kids are 9 & 13 and even though they do get rambunctious at times it didn't dawn on me that they would get bored.  I mean they are in the wedding (SD9 is flower girl & SS13 is groomsman), there will be lots of their relatives and some older cousins there who they haven't seen in some time and I'm sure will be excited to visit with and there will be music and dancing.  The reception itself will not be that long (only about 3 1/2 hrs).  Anyway, FI suggested to me that he ask his sister and her family to take the kids back to the hotel early so they can go swimming in the hotel pool.  I am still not sure how to react. I mean in this day and age with handheld games and electronic devices where you can watch movies, etc., why do we have to take them swimming.  I told him I didn't feel right asking his sister (who come all the way from out of town to attend our wedding) to leave early because our kids can't keep themselves entertained.  I can see if they were younger and needed to get to bed early or something, but they're not.  SD will be 10 less than a month after the wedding and SS will be 14.  Also, FI family (parents, sisters, etc) all cater to these kids and I'm afraid if the kids left to go swimming, everyone else would follow.  If the kids do get bored, I would prefer finding some kind of entertainment for them at the wedding.  Any thoughts?

mybooboos

It depends on the timing of your wedding.  If it's an evening affair, that goes til midnight, and there are no other children that age for them to engage with, than it is highly possible that the children will get bored.  You want you and your FI to thoroughly enjoy the evening, and not have to listen to "when is this over?" every 30 minutes.  Planning for the worst is a very logical move.

My wedding is adults only, but my 14yo daughter is able to invite a friend, so that she has someone to interact with throughout the night, that's her age. My oldest daughter will be 18, and there will be a handful of other 18yo at the reception, so she has someone to roll her eyes and commiserate with when the "oldies" music starts playing. LOL.

If there's only 2 children attending, than let them have their Nintendo games to occupy their time when they get bored, or even a bag of travel games. The reception is probably not geared to their interest (rich foods, dancing to "old" music, tossing a bouquet, etc), so having something available for them would be wise and very thoughtful on your part.

Good luck!

Sue-n-Kevin

I agree with mybooboos.

Our "kids" are older, but we will have much younger RB and FG as well. My daughter is 16, and she knows she can bring a friend to sit with (she doesn't have a boyfriend), but she's beyond the age of your kids, who might get bored.

However, I also think that kids today are often "over-coddled" and need to learn patience and discipline. So what if they aren't entertained by your event? Handheld games are fine if they need entertainment. They could also bring friends.

rapunnzzll

Our three youngest will be 10, 13 and 16.  It never would have crossed my mind that they would get bored either.  I think there will be enough going on, enough family they haven't seen for a long time to keep them entertained. 

I agree with Sue, children should learn patience and far too many don't have any.  The handheld games work for some, but I hate to see kids involved in them so much so that everyone around and everything that is going on is ignored.  Not that yours are that way.  Good luck with working things out so they don't leave to go "swimming".  Most pools close at hotels by 9 or 10, so it might not be an option anyway.

krystalstovall

Well I have younger kids. (Mine will be 9, 8, and7. FI's will be 6, and 3.) Plus all my cousins have little ones and my Aunt and uncels have small kids too. So we are going to have a place set up for the kids to play at the reception so the don't get bored. (Its outside and we have the room.) But I am like the others. Kids that age should be fine.

jmvalli

OP here.  I purposely scheduled the wedding so it would be over by 9:30pm (the  youngest usually falls asleep by 9:30 on weekends) and with it being a very busy day she may get tired sooner than that, but I figured with all the attention she will be getting from her older cousins she won't be bored.  There will be another boy my SS's age at the wedding and in the past they have paired up and found something to do.  I just hate the idea of having anyone leave the party early.