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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be against my parents having a reconciliation?

8 replies

Loobyloo1902 · 29/12/2011 11:09

My parents have been divorced for twenty years, most of them bitter and acrimonious and frankly bonkers toward one another. They are both remarried to lovely people but there seems to be a lot of unresolved problems between them. Lorks knows why, I'm disinclined, as the daughter, to find out but it manifests itself in outbursts and recriminations to my siblings and I along the lines of, "well I would be happier if your blooming blooming of a mother hadn't ruined my life, the evil bloomer".... you get the picture.....

Fast forward to now, it's my DD's first birthday soon. I was perfectly happy to arrange two occasions so they could both share it-separately-but both are saying they are happy to have ONE party and be...oh the terror...in the same house....at the same time.....

Lovely as it would be to have a functioning set of grandparents, acting in my daughter's best interests, I am frankly dubious that this will be anything less than a screaming match over the cake and candles. Am I being unreasonable and controlling to want to have two parties and ask them to sort out their differences off my turf? Or would it be a good opportunity in a neutral environment to let them scrap it out?

OP posts:
MudAndGlitter · 29/12/2011 11:12

Let them meet at yours before the party and have it all out. Then hopefully they will be perfectly behaved on the day.

Coming from the person who will probably need 2 weddings as no one can be in the same room!

FoxyRevenger · 29/12/2011 11:15

Well, I have no experience in this area whatsoever.

But.

It seems to me that you can't go through your whole life (and your daughter's whole life) having two of every event just to keep the peace.

They need to deal with the fact that they share a family and, frankly, grow up a bit! It's so unfair to have you in the middle of it all. Sad

I would go with what they say; have one party. And if they can't behave then they have chosen that behaviour, and have to accept any consequences you choose.

Flisspaps · 29/12/2011 11:17

Having divorced parents who have been less than amicable over the years I would say go for the one party. They may surprise you. After all, you need to start early - your DD won't have two wedding days in many years time just so they don't ruin it by fighting. Make your expectations clear NOW.

Make it clear to them both that you won't stand for a single uncivil word and that anything remotely snidely from either one of them will result in the person being an arse being told to leave immediately.

FrostyTheCrunchyFrog · 29/12/2011 11:24

My parents have been divorced for 20 years.

Keep the alcohol minimal.

They had a stand-up shrieking row at DB's wedding, but were well behaved at mine and my other brothers' things.

One of them tends to leave early, usually father and his witch wife.

Feel for you, it's a tricky situation.

squeakytoy · 29/12/2011 11:40

You may as well try to let them be in the same room. You wont always be able to engineer two functions for the one occasion, so it would be better if they could at least be civil to each other at the same party.

TroublesomeEx · 29/12/2011 13:12

If you can get them in the same room together now it will save you many problems in the future.

We've had problems with:

my graduation
my wedding
the dc's birthdays
every christmas
my/dh's/sil's/brother's birthdays
school assemblies
school productions
ballet shows
music recitals

the list goes on.

I thought it would be a good idea to pander to their pettiness for an easy life early on. I've since learned that it would have been much easier to nip it in the bud and make them behave like the grown ups they are rather than indulging their petty squabbles at the expense of a normal family experience for us and our children.

My brother and sil are now expecting their first child and so the whole thing will begin all over again for another branch of the family.

Don't do it and save yourself the heartache in the future. Xmas Sad

buggerybollocks · 29/12/2011 19:09

Thanks all, I'll take your advice and have one party. Enough is enough.

At the very worst, i could always YouTube the whole event as they scrap it out then make a few quid off the video....

Deafworm · 29/12/2011 19:29

I have family members who don't get on and invited them to the same event, before the event I made it quite clear to them both that one foot out of place would result in me throwing them out as it was my dds day not theirs, both agreed that that was reasonable. Unfortunately it had to be cancelled for entirely different reasons so no clue yet if they could have done it but I would have stuck to my guns

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