Kids at funeral homes?

Okay, I've come up with another place where you just shouldn't take kids: FUNERAL HOMES!!!

Today was a weird day. Two people who I work with (one of them my old boss) had elderly parents who passed away over the weekend. Both had their visitations today (at different times). So I left work early and stopped by the first funeral home. I gave my co-worker and his family my condolences on the passing of his father. There were some children present, but for the most part, they were well-behaved and not getting into too much trouble. I didn't even give it a thought actually.

Then DH and I drove an hour and a half to get to the next funeral home. As soon as we walked in, it seemed chaotic. I couldn't put my finger on it because I was too busy talking with my old boss' family members. But after awhile I couldn't ignore it. The deceased woman's great-grandchild who is around eighteen months to two years old was reeking havoc on the very large funeral parlor. The kid would run from one corner to the next while his haggard mother chased after him. The visitation was to take place from 4:00 until 9:00. That's FIVE hours. And I found out they were planning to keep the kid there the entire time!!! Now, I'm not blaming the kid. I certainly wouldn't want to sit still in a funeral home either. But did anyone think that this might not be the best place for an active toddler?

I do have to say this: his presence made the atmosphere not so somber. Watching him out-run his mother to a large bouquet of flowers and pick some of the prime roses off of the stems and then throw them on the floor was a little amusing. But I had to leave when I saw him running full-out towards the casket. I didn't want to witness the potential crash.