welcome to pc.  if it were me i'd send a gift, even take it before the event to the child's parents explaining you have a committment that prohibits your being able to attend their event.
i understand about the rug rats too! this would be my solution.
another way is to attend but using the need to leave early due to a previously made committment you must attend.
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Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours..~Ayn Rand
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