My husband leaves for work in the morning early, before anyone else is up. So each workday it's just me and the kids having breakfast, and we always sit together and share the meal, sometimes by candlelight. We have a long, rectangular shaker-style table in our dining room, cherry with maple accents. We had made for us by a local craftsman when we were married. At dinnertime, we always sit two on a side, facing each other, but for breakfast I don't want one of the kids to feel left out so I always sit on the end, between where the two of them sit. Sometimes I move my placemat from my usual spot, next to Aoife, but lately I've taken to just adding a fifth placemat down at that end so that it's ready and there in the morning when I need it. The obvious result is that it appears, at dinnertime, as if there is an extra placesetting for somebody who isn't there.

Bingo.

I kind of like it for that. It pleases me to see the extra place, rather than to just imagine it.