Mother-daughter wedding planning: A lesson in parent diplomacy
(Read article summary)A mother knows best, sometimes. How not to be the parent "to be dealt with": One mom learns a lesson in parent diplomacy during mother-daughter wedding planning.
Hopkinton, N.H.
The only thing I want more than independent, confident grown children is to be unconditionally supportive when they take their own advice over mine. May I never become the parent who must be "dealt with" when this happens.
Easier said than done, I realized, after a recent phone conversation with our engaged daughter. She had been trying to address a tricky gap between ceremony and reception which would leave guests with two hours to kill, a challenging issue for out-of-towners with no knowledge of the area. She suggested guests could be guided to area attractions.
In a devil's-advocate – but possibly biased – way, because I will be one of those out-of-towners, I counter-suggested that this would never work. I elaborated: She'd lose the guests who might be otherwise engaged at reception time, or, she'd be receiving guests at reception time who were cocktailed out. Not to mention that long after photos were taken, she'd have to hang around for the afternoon in her wedding dress.
"You know, you're making me feel really bad about this decision," she said.
