Vent

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Chalk it up as an Enriching Educational Experience for you.

And from now on set reasonable limits for yourself - inviting a child doesn't mean you have to invite the rest of the family. They could have ordered their own tickets if they wanted to see the show with their daughter.

I don't want to chew you out, though, because this is the sort of thing I've sometimes done. It happens!

You're right to give the unused tickets back, so they can be resold if there's a demand at the last minute.

Next time an opportunity like this comes up, you'll remember this event and be a little smarter! :^)

$180 is alot of money in this economy . . . that was an extraordinarily rude thing for the other mom to do.

On the other hand, imho you should have been more "up front" with her about the cost as well as the inconvenience of making lots of last-minute arrangements (in a nice way of course). It sounds like you need more work on boundaries in your relationships. You don't have to be everyone's door mat. And you shouldn't be more invested in other people's plans than they themselves are.

You are not alone - plenty of us moms have done things like this (myself included). Just learn from it . . . it will help you in the long run.

I'd let them pay for the tickets. Its the right thing to do. If she asks again I would give her the number to call so she can buy her own tickets and if you feel generous then you can reimburse her at the front gate.

Good luck to you and yours.

Wow, that was so generous of you and they were unbelievably rude to back out and promising they would go. If that happened to me, I would surely NOT be inviting this little girl or her family to anything in the future. They should have just said "no thank you" when you first invited her. There is no excuse for them not being HONEST and upfront with you in the first place.

You have a generous heart. Something far better than a miserly heart. It is too bad but generosity is sometimes taken advantage of or not given the credit it deserves. That said, do try to guard yourself from requests (demands?) that seem to be beyond the bounds of generosity. Your instinct to say "No" to getting more tickets was the right one. Follow your first instinct -- It is usually right.

Why couldn't you get the money upfront? Not to be rude but you put yourself in a situation where you have $180. on you to pay if they bailed. I don't know anyone who gives away a product without getting the money 1st. Something to think on for next time.

I would have commented to her on the position she put you in by backing out of the event. Her excuse was beyond lame. Also, I would have given the tickets back to the seller if she offered to take them back and it wasn't any skin off of her nose. You and your husband shouldn't have to take the financial fall for that bonehead. It certainly was gracious of you to treat a family of lesser means than you, and a great lesson for your children, but it sometimes can backfire. I've learned this, too.

I'm a little on the fence with this. This mom sounds super super rude. so yes be a little mad at her, but not worth holding on to, you learned your lesson. I guess i'm struggling with why you didn't tell her you would be willing to pay for the child but that if they wanted enough for their family that they pay and that it would be $30 a ticket. $180 is a big treat, it's wonderful that you are that well off, but i don't think i would want to owe you that much either. and iwould feeel like i owed you wether you said i did or not. I'm just wondering it you had said that up front it she would have realized this wasn't a little $5 dealio.
Like you said maybe some good will have come from this whole mess.

Okay, I have my rose colored glasses on & I will see things from that perspective....the one in which I often do! I would feel horrible about being out that money and would beat myself up about it, along with feel like a heel for the many jabs my husband would take at me for the rest of my life about it. But you are teaching your children and others about life. In life there are so many people who are going to take advantage of us and you did your best to turn an awful situation into a better on. Just by offering those seats to people at the ticket booth after many others declined, come on. I am 41 & I can honestly say that I will probably wait for it to come back to me or my children for all of the good deeds that they do until the day i die, but that was a wonderful lesson you taught. And to show your daughter that you will hold no grudges, that is even better. Okay maybe you won't go out of your way for the family, but to be civil........give yourself a pat on the back!

Kinda sounds like she was just trying to get her daughter out of a bind she didn't want to be in and thought you would just go on and give the extra to someone else instead of invite the whole family. I'm not sure how 5 out of 5 families are too busy for free tickets for an outing for their whole family. Maybe you should send her a bill stating the 180 for the tickets was meant to go to charity and maybe she will get the hint and do something worthwhile with that money.

I would be tempted to send her a bill for the tickets. That is just well beyond rude. You are out a great deal of money, and this other mom is not only rude, but thoughtless and selfish. I would have as little to do with that family as possible. If someone got me tickets as a gift, and I had to cancel, I would feel compelled to than pay for the tickets. You should not be the one out the money for empty seats.