Polite or Honest Answer?

To tell you the truth. I try to always be honest. I believe you can be honest without offending anyone. And if you are being strung along by someone, then ask them to be honest with you. I would not bother with someone after a second time. I would move on and make new friends that want to hang with my kids or me. Maybe another time usually means there is not going to be another time. I have told neighbors kids to give it a rest and come back on a certain day when they were younger. I said it with a smile and we saw them in a few days. Good luck!

Honest is and has always been the best policy. J.

Some people take the hint and others don't. If you have to ask someone 10 times about doing something and they don't want to participate it is obvious that they are not interested so you should stop trying. Should the person you ask the question continue to repeat the answer it is time to move on as they don't want to be bothered associating with you anymore.

Other people want to let the other person down gently and not want to ruffle any feathers in case you might need them in the future and it comes off flaky. Sometimes you just have to be blunt and tell that no you do not wish to be friendly any longer. Yes their feelings are hurt but they do get the message and move on.

You may not have done anything it is just them and they want a way out. Your kids may not have done anything they just want a way out. People are ficke. I call it generational differences or etiquette to be polite.

The other S.

This might not be right, but if i don't like you, i highly doubt you are going to change just because i tell you i don't like you.

I worked with a coworker that gossiped and was unprofessional in my opinion. I started avoiding her and was accused of being mean, huh? But to sit down and tell her i don't appreciate her gossiping and acting unprofessional was just going to cause her to gossip about me and be mean. better to just avoid her. repeating Sorry i'm busy right now, is the best way all around.

I know you are talking about kids and playdates, but if you think you are doing something offensive, i'm guessing if you really look into your heart you'll know what it is and can choose to stop thus accomadating these people or continue to do what you do and find people who don't mind.

In casual aquaintances, i don't feel that honesty is the best policy.

If for no other reason than to live by example to our children ALWAYS be honest! Some may be hurt but being honest, in a nice way, will benefit everyone in the long run.
Best Wishes!

your question seems vauge. i am not sure what the question really is. but i always give an honest answer and am very straight forward. i avoid hurting peoples feelings. and answer " not today" if there is a why " we have too much going on" and if they want to reschedule we do so then. firm. i also try not to break any dates.

I think in most situations honesty is the best policy. However is some cases its best to lie. Use your judgment. If your always telling the truth you wont have to worry what you said to people.

Well I am all for telling the truth as lovingly as possible. I mean I will try to save a person's feelings but hey sometimes you have to break it down. Like if someone wanted to have a play date with me and I felt for some reason it was not ever going to happen I would try to go with the whole "Well we are just super busy and I am not in a place where I can make any dependable plans right now. We are just very absorbed in our life at the moment." If they pressed I would fess up, like let's say our kids didn't actually get along or they did things to my son I didn't like I would just say "well you know our kids don't actually get along, I think it is better if they each go their seperate way" of course I am not sure of the exact situation you are in, but I do tell the truth. When I was working before I had my first child I had to train a new person to do my job. My job had some physical elements and involved tons of driving so my trainee had to start helping me at about 7 months. Well she really bonded with me, but honestly at times she drove me bonkers even though she is a good person. Well after I had the baby she was calling me non-stop. I had a kind of rough delivery and ended up with a massive migraine from a botched epidural and I had this woman blowing up my phone who I was not actually very close to. I finally called her up and said "Look I care about you and I want to keep in touch but you cannot call me more that about once every two weeks, I need time with my family, to recover and to adjust to motherhood." She was hurt, but in the end it was best and we are just fine now and we have a relationship with proper boundaries. I so HATE when I ask a friend what is up and I know they don't tell me. I have had a friend ask me what was going on before and I told her and today we are still great friends. So I said ALL that to say, I think honesty put as nicely but real as possible is best. Sorry to go on and on, this is a bit of a hot button with me I guess!!!! Good luck:)