In "Food for the Common Cold," what is the difference between the way the adult narrator David and the child David in the story see the mood in the household during the week that Frick is gone?

As a child caught up in the events, David thought that the mood in the house was much happier while Frick was gone. But now that he is older, the adult David who is telling the story understands that his mother was probably just numb and going through the motions of family life while Frick was gone.