He was tired of the sight of a wife worn down by them.

And he was about to tell me exactly how he intended to solve that problem, and it was not by picking up a bottle brush.

Chapter 3 — I Needed a Break

Then he told me he had already made plans to go on a four-day fishing trip with his friends, because he needed a break.

Already made plans.

Not asked, not discussed, not proposed as one option among several for how our overwhelmed household might find some relief.

Decided, and booked, and announced, a four-day departure from a home with two six-month-old infants, to be carried out by one of the two adults responsible for them, on the grounds that he needed a break.