Staying at home. A minute in the life.

Listen. I love being at home with my kids. I realize that I am a lucky lady, and I can do without a big house and frequent treats and outings for me and my girls so that I can hang out with them while they're little. Little enough to want to snuggle with me on the couch while we watch Little Bill or Yo Gabba Gabba or any of my current favorite Food Network series, which Bean can really get into, especially if chocolate is a featured ingredient. (Alex Guarnaschelli works for me. She seems genuinely laid back, and I hope she never gets as self-satisfied as smug Ina or annoyingly gleeful Giada. I just want to be her pal. And Nigella, too. I really, really love her.)

But: at home. Where sometimes I cook and sometimes, as mentioned above, I watch other people do it on TV. Sometimes, at home, there is monotony. And I know that jobs occurring in actual workplaces have monotony, too. (Jesus. Could I sound any more defensive?) I'm just saying, here's what goes on when we're not, for example, at a doctor's office. Take the puzzle piece out. Look at it. Hand it over. Take out another puzzle piece. Go slow. Put one back. Over and over again.