Fate - this it it...
You're invited to our baby's shower,
There will be lots of games,
Including guess the names,
And plenty more fun to be had.
Being asked to attend is an honor,
So we ask something of you,
It won't take you long to do,
Please buy a gift to make us glad.
Because you see babies need a lot,
And though baby is due early fall,
We still don't have it all,
And this makes us feel bad.
To make it easy we have a list,
Of the items left we need,
Don't buy off list we plead,
We don't want to get mad!
Now the following is most important,
If our gift request does offend,
Then you do not have to attend,
Though this will make us sad.
And finally we simply say,
We hope to see you there,
As then we know you care,
About the future mom and dad!
After reading it several times, I've concluded that no gift = don't attend, and that if you buy "off list" it will make them mad.
Oh and if you are there, you care about them, and if you aren't then you clearly don't care.
And of course, most importantly, the list itself (which I won't post) features items which are NOT baby essentials, like a silver photo frame for $95 (the cheapest item) and a rocking horse. It specifically says "no clothes, no books, no bottles and no diapers, we have all that."
If they have all that, then they DO have what they NEED for the baby, they just want other people to buy the non-essential stuff they WANT for their baby.
I won't be going!