Would you take a toddler to a funeral?

[Tuesday's Child]

You could always pick her up after the service to take her to the wake. People are generally less upset there and she can see the family.

That's what I'd like to do ideally. But the funeral is on the other side of town (an hour away) so it's not really practical to pick her up and head back for lunch.

DD is pretty good behaviour-wise. She'd pick up on the sombre vibe and would behave appropriately (at least until someone started playing with her). We took her to my mum's funeral but she was only 8 months old then. But I don't want to confuse her or her to feel upset because everyone else is upset and she won't know why. I'd expect that DH's cousin would bring her DD who is 13-14 months, but she was quite close to their Grandma.

If we do take DD it would be for our sakes and not for hers. That's what make it feel so wrong. On the other hand, I don't believe in shielding children from death either. I suspect DD understands a lot more than she lets on. She's so busy absorbing everything around her that it takes a while for it to come back out again.