I Feel Guilty Every Time I Need Quiet More Than Company

Dear Delyara, There are evenings where if my husband said, “Want to watch a movie together?” or my child started a long story right as I sat down, I would feel disappointment before warmth. Not because they’re wrong. Because my body is too full. Too handled. Too used by the day. Then guilt comes immediately, because what kind of woman feels let down by love arriving in ordinary forms? Apparently this kind. And I think there are more of us than anyone admits. Still, we hide it because mothers and wives are supposed to be endlessly grateful for closeness, as if nervous systems don’t exist inside devotion. Mine does. And it is tired.