So, it happened in my household the way people who predict stuff predicted it would: Christmas came, and we got an HDTV. I had heard this was the big item that Americans were getting this year, but I didn’t think it was in the cards for us. My mom came out from California, however, and this was a gift from her.

We hadn’t been together for about a year and a half, so it was a bit of a wake-up call when I saw my mom and my daughter standing side by side. I mean, next year grandma is going to be the little one. Hello.

It was just one of those moments when reality seems to be transmitting a new, clearer signal.

This had also happened the first time my husband and I went out after the baby was born. My mother-in-law came over to baby-sit so we could go to dinner and a movie. It was a strange feeling, and I admit that I sneaked out to the lobby during the film and called home to make sure everything was all right. At the end of the evening when we got back, I had another of those High Definition moments. I looked at the baby, and she was TINY! She had been taking up such a huge space in my life that my perception of her had distorted. To me, she was a giant baby. Just those few hours away had reset my tuner.

The first Monday night with the new TV, I glanced into the living room where the football game was on and was surprised to find my husband sitting on the couch with the type of perfect posture and attentive expression he probably last had on the first day of third grade. I mean, he was really studying.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Without looking away from the game he replied, “It’s just so different, like I’m seeing it for the first time.”

I knew what he meant.