At least, I don't think I could. Before the children came along, she and Mr. Trollope liked to spend a week camping and canoeing in the Ontario interior. Those trips are in the past. However, every so often the couple try to have a quiet dinner over wine at home after the children are asleep. Children's demands are immediate and without end, she notes.
Spouses can wait.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Children know what they need and they know how to get it from you, whereas your spouse tends to be reasonable and civilized. Perhaps children understand their needs better than adults understand their own. Olga and Patrick Herrmann Ms. Herrmann reminds herself occasionally to try to carve out a space for herself and her husband. In fact, she made it her New Year's resolution for the year now winding up.