Now that I (temporarily) have no children at home, I am noticing new and unexpected behaviors . . . and not just leaving-the-bathroom-door-open-while-taking-a-shower stuff. Sleep, for instance: for two decades I have been a very early riser, even in the darkest months of infant sleep deprivation. But for the past several days I have stayed in bed past 6:30 a.m., which may not sound late to you but is unusual for me. I don't feel as if I'm on holiday time: I have editing projects and plenty of yard and household demands. More, it's as if I've shed a carapace. For six weeks, I will have no close responsibility for the food, laundry, schedule, emotions, of anyone beyond Tom and myself. It's like shifting from 3-D to 2-D, and the change seems to require extra sleep.

Another interesting development is music. Tom and I used to play records all the time while we made dinner or otherwise hung around together. That petered out, and now I realize why. When the boys are draped around the living room, casually doing this or that with their devices, talking/watching/sharing what they're watching with me/talking/watching, the ambient addition of Dinah Washington or Stereolab or Booker T. and the MGs or the Ramones is sensory overload. They leave the room, and then our social interaction ends.

But now that I'm in 2-D, I've automatically, without knowing I missed them, started playing records again. It's been a lovely readjustment.