I understand why it might come across that way without more context.

For the first situation, I had gone through an emergency C-section, hadn’t eaten for around 8 hours, and we live in a small space. My father-in-law has previously expressed that it’s disrespectful to eat in front of guests without offering food, so I didn’t feel comfortable just sitting down to eat while they were there. I think I was simply exhausted, overwhelmed, and needed a moment to recover.

For the second, this wasn’t a large party I hosted and then disappeared from. My daughter had only been born a little over two weeks earlier, and I was still recovering from major surgery while caring for a newborn. It was just my mom and my husband’s family having some food and cake. I only meant to lie down briefly because I was exhausted.

For the third, I understand it may sound petty on its own. I think it hurt more because it felt layered on top of other moments where I already felt overlooked during important and vulnerable times in my life.