OK, yes, I probably am, but it's bugged me enormously. Invitations sent out over 6 weeks ago for my 40th - a biggish do, 80's disco, lot of expense and for someone who is not normally an extrovert it's a big deal.
When I told my friend I was thinking of having the party she thought it was a great idea and was full of enthusiasm. Invitations were sent out, and she then said that she didn't think they could make it as they couldn't get a babysitter. She wasn't prepared to ask her FIL who looks after their youngest (2.5) one day a week while she works 'in case' she woke up.
Apparently she couldn't come on her own as she would feel like a spare part (despite the fact that other girlfriends whom she knows are coming on their own) and if she and her dh did come they would be on tenterhooks all night 'in case' they got a phone call from FIL to say that the youngest was crying, and in which case they would have to leave early.
Firstly - it's a 5 minute walk from the venue to their home, so her dh could be back in no time to settle the child and then come back to the party, and secondly, it's all a case of maybe and if. She's 'gutted' they can't make it apparently, but not so gutted that in 6 weeks she couldn't have asked another friend to babysit, and also not so gutted that she couldn't have offered to babysit my 3 (I'm paying a local teenager instead) or indeed help me with any of the preparations instead.
OK - be gentle with me! AIBU to be a little bit peed off?