I've namechanged btw.
I have a friend, who although is great is some ways, does have a habit of thinking the world revolves around her. She has lost a lot of friends in recent years because she places demands on people and is needy. I find that I am able to keep going with the friendship though, as I tell her no and am very firm with her about what I will tolerate within the friendship.
She has two children, and works part time. She relies on a family member to provide childcare. These summer holidays, the family member has moaned a bit about having the children for 3 or 4 days a week and so the friend phoned me and asked if I would help out one day a week for the rest of the holidays (only 3 weeks left and her DC get on well with mine so not a biggie)
On Sunday she phoned me and I asked was I still having her DCs this week for a day, and if so, which day. She said she had been thinking and that it was probably best if I phoned the family member that provides her childcare (whom I've never even met) and liased with them about it. I said that no,I was not prepared to do that. I said I am prepared to help her with childcare but she needs to make the arrangements, and that Wednesday or Friday would be most convenient for me this week, and can she let me know when she has made arrangements with her family member. She thought I was being very unreasonable and put the phone down on me in a temper.
She has done this before when she phoned me at 7am one Sunday morning and asked me to get up and drive her and her DCs to the station as they were going to London for the day, and I refused as I'd been up half the night with my youngest, who was then a baby.
I am half tempted to tell her to get lost and that I won't babysit now.