I am going to sound like a horrible person here, I know.
I have a friend I made when our children were at nursery. Our children are now at secondary and are no longer friends. The mum wants to meet up at least once per half term. I found it really hard to deflect invitations for my daughter to meet up with hers, but switched it to the pair of us going out for brunch instead, as my daughter felt obligated, but really didn't want to attend.
The thing is, I dread going for these brunches. She is a lovely woman and has been very thoughtful, but we don't have anything in common. I would never be the one to instigate the meetings and I would always end up feeling guilty when she pushed for them. She'd often comment about how it had been so long, etc. I really am not a brunch kind of person and would much rather spend any free time I have with my nuclear family, sad as that may sound.
We've gone six months without seeing each other, and I've ignored the last few texts, feeling worse and worse each time I do. I know it isn't fair to keep ignoring her, but how can I say that I really don't want to meet up anymore? I've written out a few texts and then not sent them, on more than one occasion. I can't see anything that I can write that isn't going to make her feel horrible.
Please help me write a gentle response that gets me out of having to continue with a friendship I really don't want. Anything has to be better than sending nothing!