Some People

I clearly don't understand people. My neighbor (the mother of my son's schoolmate/friend) from an earlier post has done it again. First, she told me she was having her son's party on the day of my son's party. This would be normal, I suppose, if her son's birthday wasn't SIX WEEKS after my son's. When I said I'd already made the invitations, she backed off and chose another date. The party was yesterday. We got the invitation about a month ago, and Erik and I both looked at it. We put the date and time in our phone calendars and recycled the invitation. We talked about whether we would count the party food as dinner or leave a little early and make dinner at home. The invitation said the party was from 4pm until whenever. It actually stated "until whenever." Ultimately we decided to eat there and didn't plan for dinner. We went swimming, lounged around, watched an episode of "Little Einsteins," and left our house to cross the street around 4:05. Not too early, but not late. When we crossed the street and walked into her little cul-de-sac, we noticed that there were about 20 cars already there. We were pretty sure at this point we had missed at least some of the party. We were greeted by her husband (a very kind, friendly person) who told us that the party started at 2pm. At this point I'm pretty pissed, but I'm also second-guessing myself, wondering if I wrote the time down incorrectly. The party was winding down, and the birthday boy (whose birthday is still a few weeks away) had already opened his presents. We arrived in time for cake and about 30 minutes of playing. At 5pm, the jumpy castle company came to take back the castle, and the family started folding up tables and chairs. So this party clearly wasn't "until whenever." This was my confirmation as my husband and I both remember clearly remember reading those words. So she intentionally gave us the wrong time. Why? Even if she doesn't like me, why would she do that to my kid? The level of calousness is just beyond me.