Patch crawls into bed with us in the middle of the night. He does not do it every night, but it is more of a surprise when he doesn’t than when he does. The result is that I end up sandwiched between Howard and Patch’s not-so-little-anymore body. Some days it does not make a difference in how well I sleep, but other times I roll awkwardly in that middle space trying to get comfortable without hitting anyone else.
In some ways my whole summer has been like that. I spend most of my time inside my house which has been full of people for most of the summer. Sometimes I don’t mind but other times I feel a little stir-crazy and want nothing so much as a little space. I want a time and space where I can choose what to do without worrying that I will inconvenience someone else. This is a familiar refrain. I usually sing it toward the end of the summer. This year I already know the answer. Howard and I are handing off the kids a full day before we leave for Worldcon. My house will be empty for that day. And then I’ll have five days of vacation from all my regular things. And when I get back, we’ll work on getting Patch to sleep in his own bed all night.