Pepper Spray at a Wedding Reception?
 

From Friday's "Dear Abby"....someone left their keychain, with a small canister of pepper spray attached, on a table where an unsupervised toddler ot hold of it.

DEAR ABBY: I am a professional disc jockey with more than 30 years' experience. I am on radio, and also entertain at weddings and private parties on weekends. Over the years, I have been amazed at the number of parents who take small children to wedding receptions and then proceed to turn the toddlers loose while they kick back and enjoy themselves.
Last weekend, such parental lack of supervision, combined with adult stupidity, had disastrous consequences......


http://www.uexpress.com/dearabby/?uc_full_date=20060826


So, who's to blame? The owner of the keychain or the parents of the child???

Well, the owner of the keychain should know not to leave pepper spray just lying around for anyone to grab. I doubt the 4 year-old knew what he/she wsa spraying. ;)

Of course, the parents should have been watching their child, but its nearly impossible to keep your eye on a toddler every second, especially in a chaotic situation like a wedding reception. Maybe the little one should have been home with a babysitter?

Wow, that's awful!

Personally, I think the larger chunk of the blame belongs to the child/parents. Although I'm really confused as to why a guest would have a keychain of pepper spray at a wedding and leave it, the parents should not have let a 4-year old child run loose.

This is why, if I ever had a wedding, children would not be invited. And even though it might be some sort of wedding etiquette faux pas, I would put that on the invitation.

It was barely the second song of the evening?

a pox on the key ring owner and the childs parents.

The parents are to blame. Who lets their kid run around and grab stuff that doesn't belong to them? Dangerous (knives, etc.), as well as fragile and valuable objects (crystal toasting flutes) are common at weddings. It's pretty common to leave handbags and other personal items on tables at weddings, and I don't think anybody wants someone's goobery kid running off with her handbag or getting into it.

Why is anybody's kid running around during the second song of the evening? It is natural to have pepper spray on your keychain. Even at weddings where there is a large group of people, a lot of whom you don't know. The person with it could have been raped, and felt like she needed it everywhere. It is completely the child's parents fault. Once again, I don't see it being hectic on the second song of the evening. Everyone at the reception must've gotten up to dance really quickly.

I think the parents are to blame. As someone pointed out, it's common to leave purses and other personal belongings at the table while you're dancing and socializing at a wedding. If your kids don't know better than to touch other people's things without their permission, then don't bring them to a wedding. And I agree with ShaedyKD, I too would make my wedding adults-only.

I had kids at my wedding and they were so much fun! I couldn't imagine having to exclude those children because they couldn't behave.

But even if a four-year-old doesn't know what they're spraying, isn't four old enough to know not to grab other people's things and spray them like that? Correct me if I'm wrong on this, I don't have children, but it just seems like if you're old enough for preschool, you're old enough not to do that ...

Agreed.

And I'm with those of you who said you'd have a kid-free wedding reception...I would, too. If you knew the kids in my family, you'd understand, but I don't see a thing wrong with the idea in general.

The kid's parents are at fault.

I went to wedding receptions all the time when I was 4, but there was no way in hell my parents would have let me run around buckwild.

The parents are to blame. So many parents have the excuse "kids will be kids and I can't be expected to watch them at all times". Personally, I think the excuse is lame. As a parent, it's your JOB to keep your eye on your children until they turn 18 years of age. Don't have children if you're not up for the challenge.

I went to my cousin's wedding 2 months ago. My dad's cousin brought her two toddlers. One of them threw a temper tantrum during the ceremony (and she neglected to remove her child from the room when this happened). During the reception, her kids were running around and constantly bumping into people. This is why kids under the age of 8 are not welcome at my wedding.

*This is coming from a girl who had parents that watched her like a hawk. I was not allowed to leave their side if we went shopping or pretty much anywhere. If I did act up, my parents grabbed me by the hand, brought me to the car and proceeded to give me a big ol' swat on the butt.

I totally agree.

valkyrie also made a valid point that leaving handbags & personal items is very common at weddings. But that's pretty much where it should end. You shouldn't leave your kids free to run and get into stuff that they're not supposed to because you can't take care of them while you are off socializing or dancing or whatever.

If you're not going to be watching them, leave them at home with a babysitter.

I'm not an expert in child psychology either, but wouldn't a wedding reception seem kind of dull to them? Those events are not intended for children, so there's nothing there to keep their attention or even slightly interested when 98% of everyone else there is over the age of 25. Kids get bored. Bored kids turn into mischievous kids and then they do stuff to entertain themselves.