Origianlly we did not have room for children. I don't really want children at the wedding excepting the two in the wedding party, but FI wanted his younger cousins there if possible. While we were trying to find an appropriate solution that would work for both of us and work for our space issue, we were reminded many times over that if we didn't invite FI's cousins, the cousins' mother (call her Gina) wouldn't be coming either.
Meanwhile, that mother's sister (call her Sue) told us that her husband won't be coming (no real reason why) and if she can't bring her child (will be 9months as of the wedding) she won't come either.
FI & I have been clear with each other: while I don't want any kids there, I'm willing to compromise on children who are 10 and up. Neither of us want babies there. Also, since we feel this way, we are hiring babysitters who will be on-site so that parents can come and not worry/pay for a sitter.
We communicate to Sue that we'll have babysitters, etc. Sue responds that "she's not comfortable leaving the baby." There aren't words for my frustration with this. Really? The baby is 9 months, not 9 days. My thought is that we're sorry she won't be attending, but that's her choice and not due to lack of trying to accommodate her on our part.
We also communicated with Gina that we found a way to include the kids, but they will be eating dinner in a separate room. (We did not tell her the why: this gives me the child-free dinner I want and allows FI to have kids for dancing.) Gina hasn't responded at all.
These cousins have totally un-ingratiated themselves in my eyes. I just really needed to get this out.
Feel free to share your own daily rant! Thanks for listening/reading.