Amanda Lamb: Evite fiasco

OK, so I admit it. Until recently I was an Evite virgin.

Like many other technological advances designed to make our lives easier, I resisted this one intensely for a number of years. (I also thought CDs were a fad in the 1980s, so I am not a very good guage of what will stick).

I re-buffed the Evite process with statements like, "It's so much nicer to get a handwritten intivation in the mail." But finally, like so many other busy mothers trying to organize a birthday parties in the middle of life's chaos, I gave in to the convenience.

I carefully (or so I thought) copied the email addresses of all of the girls in my daughter's first grade class into the "invite" portion of the website in preparation for her pink Fairy Godmother themed party. People responded almost immediately. I thought, wow, why didn't I do this years ago?

It wasn't until 24 hours before my daughter's party that I noticed several people had not responded. Upon further investigation, I discovered that I had typed in several email addresses incorrectly. As a result, two out of the eleven girls were inadvertently not invited.

When I realized my mistake, I immediately called the mothers and explained the situation. They very graciously understood my predicament and tried to make me feel like less of a cad. But the truth is, I couldn't bear the thought of two little girls thinking for some reason they would not be invited to a party where all the girls were clearly invited.

I will use Evite again, I'm sure of it. But I will also be much more careful and doublecheck who does not respond so that I can make sure this doesn't happen again.