It was true that I saw danger.

For months, every single thing I had done as a mother had been turned around and used against me — if I checked that the baby was breathing, I was hysterical; if I asked a guest to wash their hands, I was controlling; if I called the pediatrician, I was wasting money we didn’t have.

They had built a whole picture of me, patiently, and I had half-started to believe it myself.

I want to name the trap in it, because it is a perfect one, and I did not see the shape of it until I was already inside.