Suddenly, too many kids at her wedding
I am being married later this year, and Im planning my guest list.
DEAR ABBY: I am being married later this year, and I'm planning my guest list. My cousin "Emily" has five young children who I'm making an exception to invite. She lives across the country, so she's starting to book her plane reservations.
Emily just announced that she's being remarried and her fiance has three children he shares joint custody of. Am I obligated to invite three children I have never met? This is causing a lot of grief between me and my fiance because Emily assumes that they are all welcome. Please advise.
- D.C. in NYC
DEAR D.C.: Call Cousin Emily. Explain that your guest list is limited and that her five children - to whom you are related - are the exceptions. No other children have been invited to the wedding, and you would prefer to get to know her fiance's children under less stressful circumstances.
Emily's wrong to assume she can include anyone whose name wasn't on her wedding invitation. The children can stay with their mother or grandparents during the time their father will be away.
DEAR ABBY: My daughter just got remarried to a man who has a 10-year-old son. I don't know the boy at all. What is the appropriate name he should call me? My daughter already has two boys from her first marriage and they, of course, call me Grandma. I don't feel comfortable having her new stepson call me Grandma. Any suggestions?
- Nameless in New York
DEAR NAMELESS: Is your heart really so closed that you would tell that boy he isn't welcome in it? I urge you to be more accepting of this child, or you may get a name that isn't fit for a family newspaper - and not only will the boy be using it, but also his father.