I booked a spa day with my granddaughter and had been looking forward to it for weeks. At the very last minute, my DIL begged me to take her son from her previous marriage too. I snapped, “This is family time, and we’re not related!” and left him crying with a babysitter while my granddaughter and I went ahead with our plans.

When I got back, I was horrified to find he had drawn pictures of our family with himself left out. My DIL barely looked at me, and the house was painfully silent. I can’t shake the image of that little boy sitting alone, feeling unwanted and excluded. It has stayed with me ever since.

I love my granddaughter deeply, but I don’t feel the same connection with him—and I honestly don’t know how to build it. I never meant to cause harm, but maybe my words and choices did more damage than I realized.

Was I wrong to keep that time just for my granddaughter? How do I handle this without breaking the family apart? I’d really appreciate advice.