Lighthearted, mostly!
My brother's baby was born earlier this week. I have very few friends who have yet had children, and we are currently trying and failing to have our own first. I had carefully read many, many Mumsnet posts about visiting parents of new babies, however, so I knew that it was a fraught, even dangerous business... I prepared myself for not being allowed to visit for weeks, for being considered deeply, deeply selfish if I wanted to hold the baby, and that I should be expecting to turn up and do a deep clean of the house. Imagine my surprise when a) my brother told me to come round as soon as I wanted and seemed genuinely pleased when I said I'd be round in a couple of days b) my offer to make the tea while they both sat down was rejected c) they were hugely grateful when I did a quick spot of washing-up but told me to absolutely do no more d) they encouraged me to hold the baby for as long as I wanted. No one was at all insensitive about our own fertility issues: they both made no secret of their own happiness, but managed to refrain from going on about how they 'now knew true love', etc. It was almost like everyone involved was nice...
So, while I am very happy (and completely besotted with my new nephew), AIBU to feel slightly cheated of my AIBU-worthy story?! I actually think they thought I was being completely daft because I kept asking so many times whether things were ok ('are you sure it's ok for me to keep holding him?' 'can I show this photo to other people?' 'would it be ok if I came back again soon?') - but mumsnet really had me convinced that I was somehow going to do this being an aunt thing all wrong!