i did something i'm not proud of at the family reunion

Anonymous Sheepish Whisperer #896 · General

hey everyone, this is grandma here. so last weekend we had our annual family reunion and it was pretty wild as always. my sister elizabeth's kids are getting older now, she has a son and daughter-in-law who just had their first baby, so that made everything even more hectic with all the new arrivals and excited parents around. so i got there early friday afternoon to help set up the big tent for the food tables and games. when we were done setting things up i went to take a quick nap before everyone started arriving later in the evening. after my nap i felt refreshed but also kinda grumpy from getting no sleep since last night. that's when elizabeth's daughter-in-law comes over all excited with her baby in tow, wanting me to look at him and coo over him as usual. but honestly i just wasn't feeling it then. part of me wanted to be genuine but the rest was exhausted and thinking about how late we were up last night laughing with cousins and drinking too much wine. so when she tried to hand the baby off to me, something in me snapped and before i knew what i said, i blurted out 'i just can't deal with babies right now.' it came out harsher than intended but there was no taking it back after that. she looked hurt for a second then walked away without another word. elizabeth saw how upset she got too, and gave me this look like maybe i shouldn't have said anything. afterwards everyone tried to act like nothing happened but now i'm left wondering if i overreacted or not - is it ok as an older person to just say out loud that you're not into babies? or was this really mean and rude in a way i didn't realize at the time? what do y'all think?