<p>My bad “guest” story:
Many years ago my husband and I were strong armed into hosting a baby shower for a couple we did not know very well (J&E). The wife went to graduate school with DH and they basically wanted a house to hold the shower (they lived in a small apartment) and ours was “the perfect location”. After we reluctantly agreed, they sent out MANY invitations , signed our names, and included a list of VERY expensive gifts they would like to receive. We were appalled at their behavior.
The day of the shower we had plenty of food, including 3 large homemade lasagnas, potato chips, salads, finger foods- you get the idea, it cost us $$ and we were poor students at the time. At the end of the party, they took every bit of food home with them, including 1 whole lasagna and part of another. No leftovers for us. They even went so far as to pour left over potato chips into a ziploc baggy and take them. As DH and I were cleaning up the huge mess left behind we discovered they had forgotten the left over cake- woo hoo - I could hardly wait to sink my teeth into a piece. So it’s 10:30 at night and we had just collapsed on the couch exhausted when the doorbell rings. “Who could that be at this hour?” DH asks. " Maybe it’s J&E back for the cake " I sarcastically reply…It was.</p>
<p>Well, maybe “speculate” is the wrong word. More along the lines of “reminisce.” I’m sure it was talked about in great detail after my sister got back. My mother has never hesitated to share her advice on child-rearing–for better or for worse! My memories of that part are fuzzy, though. </p>
<p>It didn’t seem that unusual to us at the time because those kids were afraid of a lot of things. Their parents were very, very overprotective and they projected to the kids the idea that the world in general was scary, and filled with scary things. (That’s my theory, anyway. The kids did get better as they got older, when their parents loosened up.)</p>
<p>Reminds me of a relative whose kids still hide behind parents at events with the extended family. They are now 5 and 9 years old. At least they no longer shriek in terror of us, but still, they are so shy it is painful to watch & discourages us from trying too hard to interact with them. The parents are very outgoing and it cramps their style to have their kids clinging to them as well. I really don’t understand it well, since we all see the kids at least once or more every month & some of the family see them weekly at church.</p>
<p>HImom, we had cousins like that growing up and my mother used to say to us, “the parents need to teach those kids not to cower like that. Its rude, and they need to know how to behave properly, starting with family. We’re not going to eat them!” Fast forward forty years…turns out they were told as children by their mother (an in law) that we were all terrible people. She divorced my uncle when the kids were in their 20’s and she was very peculiar.</p>
<p>^^We have some friends whose daughter is like that. She’s 23-ish and, while she doesn’t hide behind her parents, it is obvious that having any sort of conversation is extremely painful for her.</p>
<p>Ah, Rubytuesday…my guess is that the parents of one of them did that and he/she thought that was what was “done.” What horrible behavior!</p>
<p>I had a friend who took care of her niece and nephew for about a week. The girl cleared the table and threw a plate across the kitchen to the sink where of course it promptly shattered. Turns out she had never eaten on glass plates, only paper, and simply didn’t realize it would break.</p>
<p>It’s odd–they seem more outgoing and engaged with neighbors and the friends of the parents’ kids than they do with the extended family. Oh well, we figure it’s up to their parents to figure it out & help them overcome their painful shyness. They take longer to “warm up” than any of the other relatives & seem to have amnesia about the fun they had with the relatives the next time everyone gets together. I don’t get it but am not going to let it bother me.</p>
<p>On the no one to dance with issue, I was thinking about it and realized that all of the weddings I’ve been to where this was a problem had the type of music where one pretty much needs a partner: Cole Porter, Gershwin, etc. Not rock music where everyone can just pile onto the floor. </p>
<p>I have to admit that I’ve heard of the Electric Slide, but I’ve never actually seen anyone doing it or other line dances. Well, not since the Hokey Pokey when I was a kid. :D</p>
<p>We went to a very nice wedding in July and the music selection was very broad. Lots of group and line dances. Looked like fun too me.</p>
<p>At a Jewish wedding, dancing the Hora is kinda mandatory and that gets everyone on the dance floor - young and old.</p>
<p>The only wedding I ever “crashed” was in New Zealand. The reception was in the private dining room of a restaurant where we had dinner. We walked by and just looked in, admiring the dancing. A couple from the bridal party grabbed us and brought us in just in time to do the New Zealand version of “The Chicken Dance.” The next thing we knew, we were part of the party.</p>
<p>Our neighbors saw my kids having a birthday party & crashed it. Our kids were good sports about it, even thought those neighbor kids had NEVER invited our kids to any of their gatherings, parties, or were even friendly to our kids at the school they all attended. I thought my kids handled the situation very gracefully.</p>
<p>Glad no one was hurt when the plate shattered–folks live such different lives!</p>
<p>Love this thread.</p>
<p>A few weeks before Thanksgiving SIL (lives an hour away) asked if they could spend the night, and, oh by the way, also bring their two enormous Main Coon Cats? We said we’d love for them to spend the night, but would prefer it if they didn’t bring the cats. They decided to not come at all.</p>
<p>RubyTuesday…I’m shocked, absolutely shocked. </p>
<p>(I wish I could have lent you some my big Italian outspoken responses. 
)</p>
<p>Wow…just wow. the entire story is shocking but returning for the cake was incredible. I think I would have smashed it in their faces. Or, told them, “sorry the cat used it as a litter box,” and closed the door.</p>
<p>Week long family reunion, with 26 of us, ages 1 through 75 in one large home on a lake 15 miles outside a very small town. Several days in, one young cousin is scratching her head a lot. One mom, having had some bad past experiences with this, noticed, and checked her head. </p>
<p>Crawling with lice.</p>
<p>Parents of young cousin said, “Oh, yeah, we got a note from her day camp last week about some cases of head lice they had found, but we figured, what are the chances…”</p>
<p>We bought out the entire local supply of RID from the closest WalMart, and had a “Spa Night” and family laundry/ vaccuuming fun fest.</p>
<p>Cousin’s mom was mortified.<br>
I said, “Some day this is going to be a hilarious story.”
She said, “Not yet, it isn’t.”</p>
<p>Every one of us bought another box of RID on the way home, and treated our families again before anyone so much as sat on the couch when we got home.</p>
<p>Ah, family.</p>
<p>"On the no one to dance with issue, I was thinking about it and realized that all of the weddings I’ve been to where this was a problem had the type of music where one pretty much needs a partner: Cole Porter, Gershwin, etc. Not rock music where everyone can just pile onto the floor. "</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding where the dance music was that kind of music! (beyond maybe a father daughter dance) Every one I’ve been to -the music was pop /rock /contemporary, with maybe some Motown oldies thrown in.</p>
<p>Oh God, lice! Okay, this isn’t a bad guest story as much as a bad neighbor story . . .</p>
<p>I was living in an apartment with a shared hallway and as I return from work I notice my next door neighbor sitting in the hallway, brushing her small daughter’s hair and periodically wiping the comb on the carpeting. This seemed strange, but okay . . . I started to unlock my door, just a few feet away from them.</p>
<p>Then the youngster suddenly pipes up proudly, “I’ve got LICE!” And as I stared at her in horror she held the comb up and added, “Want to see?”</p>
<p>I did NOT, in fact, want to see.</p>
<p>We went to a wedding a couple of years ago that was all swing dancing. It was really, really fun.</p>
<p>Raise your hand if you’re scratching your head right now.</p>