Dear Wonderfully Creative Host,
Thank you for inviting us to your daughter’s birthday party. We had a wonderful time, and the food and activities you had planned for the kids were excellent. Please don’t mistake our gratitude at being invited with the fact that I am complaining about your complete inability to proofread.
Yes, your inability to proofread not only cost me $31.45 and wasted gas (which, at $3.59 a gallon, does not make me happy). I acknowledge that we all make mistakes but when the invitation states that the party starts at noon and you call me as I am 5 minutes from your house to tell me that you made a mistake and it really starts 2, I become quite agitated.
You see, I live on a very strict budget. The gift for your child was budgeted for and I am not complaining about that. But the extra expenses were not planned for and have sent my very strict budget into a tailspin with a kamikaze squirrel piloting the plane. I don’t like it when my money is all out of whack. It makes me uncomfortable, nervous and a little sweaty. It also means that I am going to have to compromise in other areas to account for this deficit.
I know you’re thinking why didn’t I just go home in between. I thought about that option. Unfortunately, with traffic and lights, it takes approximately 25 minutes to get from my house to yours. That is a lot of unnecessary driving. Although I like my car, I do not like spending 2 hours in the car driving back and forth between our houses. With the exception of spending time with my daughter, 2 hours of driving is not a productive use of my time, especially on a Sunday.
I understand that we all make mistakes. It happens. But when you send an invitation to a party a mere 3 days before the actual event, it helps if you make sure the invitation is correct.
I'm guessing you won't be going to the next party she invites your daughter to! I wouldn't.
@another housewife–that's what i would have done, too. but when the host called, she told us we couldn't come over early because the birthday girl was still at church!
@no debt mba–i would have done something similar except i needed to feed my daughter and the party was not exactly in the best part of town.
@kay lynn–i feel so much better after venting.
@money beagle–yeah, i'm glad i got the pet items out of the way but they weren't budgeted for this pay cycle, which is why i need to rearrange.
Well, at least it was (for the most part) on items you were planning on spending money on anyways.
I have a cousin who often sends an invite a week or so in advance, which I always thought was pushing it, but I guess not. And, she's always gotten the time right, so I guess we should count our lucky stars!
Someone who would do this kind of thing (late invitation and then calling 5 minutes before to say the time is wrong) are thoughtless. She won't get that this is even about her.
At least you feel better after venting, right?
That's awful and rude! If I were the host I wouldn't have said anything, just had people show up early and made the best of it. When my SO end up in a situation like yours we sometimes park the car near our destination and go for a walk. Not quite a two hour solution well-suited to a small child, but in a pinch it'll do. I hate driving in circles.
That stinks! I know the in between feeling because we used to live at least an hour outside of town and found ourselves in limbo more times than not. Knowing me, if it was my error I would have bumped up the party to fit the invitation. At the very least apologized and invited you over for lunch and a pre-play date or something similar. Hope you can rearrange your budget.
@messy jessie–we went to lunch and to petco, hence the extra money being spent. the items from petco were all things we needed for our cat, and they were on sale, but i really hadn't planned on spending that money yesterday. very aggravating!
I would be just as irritated as you are. I am sorry you had to deal with that. What did you end up doing during the 2 hours? Hopefully something fun with your daughter!