Dear Queenie,
I like to hold informal family get-togethers like barbecues and I always used to invite both my family and my husband’s, but my family always makes some excuse and never attends, so I have stopped inviting them.
Now they get mifted if they hear about an occasion that I didn’t invite them to, even though I know they wouldn’t have come.
Queenie, I’m just sick of having my invitations rejected.—Offended hostess
Dear Offended,
I would not blame you if you stopped inviting these ingrates, but they are family, so a little patience is called for.
Continue to invite them but take it for granted that they will not attend and do not let it bother you.
And if you should want to regale them afterward with what a wonderful time everyone had who attended, I would not blame you for rubbing their noses in what they had missed.
