Reddit users are having a field day over one posters recent to-do with his brother and sister-in-law, after writing that he was forced to make flash cards to get the seemingly simple message that his wedding would be child-free through to them.
Commenters were particularly thrilled with OPs assertion that ‘[my brother] told me his son is a miracle baby and his presence at the wedding will bring "blessings" for me and my fiancée’ – which, let’s be honest, is quite the claim to fame.
‘My fiancee (F) and I (M) are getting married. We've decided wedding's gonna be childfree. No hate towards children just to keep it more organized and contained,’ explained the original poster.
‘My brother 'Chris' (M) and his wife (F) have a 3 yo son who everyone calls "miracle" or "rainbow" baby. He came after several failed pregnancies that lasted for years.’
After explaining a number of times that there would be no exceptions to the no children rule, OP reported that Chris’s wife had gone on to bombard his fiancée with pictures of their son, but when the answer was still no, threatened the newlyweds-to-be with a ‘rift in our relationship’.
It was here that the flash cards came out.
‘They brought it up when they visited at my home and I knew they weren't going to stop so I'd made flash cards in advance with the phrase "the wedding is childfree, period" and pulled them out and started slowly showing them the flash cards one by one in this order:
‘The wedding (with a sticker of bride and groom).
‘Is Child (with a sticker of a baby).
‘FREEE (with a sticker of a 🚫 sign).
‘PERIOD (with a huge, black dot sticker).’
OP and his fiancée – who reportedly found the whole thing ‘funny’, unsurprisingly – are now in the dog house with his brother, SIL and mum, over ‘the amount of disrespect and mockery I had displayed towards them’ and are under pressure to ‘fix it’ (presumably, by grovelling and allowing their son to partake in the festivities).
WELL. Much like OPs fiancée, most people in the comments found the whole hoo haa ridiculous, with one writing, ‘Heaven helps the child’s teachers. I foresee a lot of helicopter parenting.’
‘“What do you mean he didn’t turn in any homework and he’s failing?! He’s a RAINBOW BABY!”’ joined in another, with one more writing, ‘”HE IS BLESSING THIS CLASSROOM”’.
Others gave more considered insight, with a redditor called thegreatmei writing, ‘I am dying of laughter that after getting the no, the parents started sending baby pictures like that would turn the tide. These people have genuinely LOST THE PLOT.
‘Babies are cute, we know this, but no one is that gaga over someone else's kid. My daughter was an adorable baby. Keeping people from touching her chonky cheeks when we were out and about was a full-time occupation. She even won a full month of free diapers in a Cute Baby Contest (don't judge, lol. Free stuff is awesome.) As cute as she was/is, I didn't go out waving her around like a backstage VIP pass. We're bonkers over our OWN babies so that we keep them alive even when they drive us nuts. The cuteness bubble extends no further, lol.’