The day I learned I can't rely on my parents

Hi, I’d like to tell you a story from my childhood that recently came back to me and has been weighing on my mind quite a bit.

​When I was a child, I was friends with the son of a couple who were close friends with my parents. We always got along well; we had playdates often, and I always thought everything was fine and that there were no negative feelings toward me. One day, I was invited to the cinema by his parents along with my friend. We all went together and had a lot of fun, especially me and my buddy.

​A few weeks later, the event occurred that has been bothering me again for a long time. One day, my parents and my sister were invited to dinner by that same couple—but I was not invited. The reason given was that I had 'already been invited to the cinema.'

​My mother accepted the invitation, of course, because she was a people-pleaser who often prioritized her friends over me; her standing with them was more important to her than I was. My father is more of a reserved type; he didn't really do anything about it, though I know he didn't think it was right either.

​Naturally, I was dropped off at my grandma’s house that day. I can still remember exactly how broken-hearted and deathly sad I was. I cried so much that day because I couldn’t understand why I was being so explicitly excluded. My grandma comforted me, of course, and she was very angry at my parents and their friends, but there wasn't much she could do to change it.

​I know this stuck with me for a long time as a child and likely caused some damage until I eventually repressed it—right up until it came back to me recently. I’d love to hear your opinion on this. Am I perhaps too sensitive about this, or was it truly 'bottom of the barrel' behavior from both my parents and their friends?