Dear Prudence,
Last week, my youngest brother’s wife gave birth to a little girl, their first child and our parents’ first grandchild. As we were all gathered in the hospital, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the little morsel, my long-term boyfriend thought it would be “funny” to call out during that special moment, “Wait until 18 years from now, when she’s screaming that she hates you and ya gotta figure out a way to pay for college!” This was said to my brother, as he was holding and gently rocking his newborn daughter. I was appalled and let my boyfriend know it later when we were alone. I told him my family would not be amused by that at all, and he answered that it was just a joke and we were all “way too uptight.” I’m upset, both by his comment in the hospital and by his attitude toward my feelings about it. He won’t apologize, either to me or my family, which is infuriating. I’m not asking him to crawl at my feet, just a little acknowledgment that his remark was inappropriate. He refuses to see that there’s anything wrong and tells me to get over myself. Am I being “too uptight”?
—No Joke