Parliament sat for less than two hours this week, sending condolences to King Charles and giving itself an extension on its budget homework.
Parliament has had an unusual fortnight.
Two weeks ago MPs interrupted their usual business to elect a new leader for New Zealand's legislature, with Adrian Rurawhe chosen as Speaker of the House of Representatives, replacing the retiring Trevor Mallard.
One week on and New Zealand lost another constitutional pillar: the Sovereign.
Oscar Wilde's Lady Bracknell would argue we are beyond misfortune and into carelessness.
The death of an 'MP'
You might think the loss of a sovereign would not impact Parliament but you would be wrong.
Strictly speaking, when the Queen died Parliament lost a member. Or depending on how you count we lost half of Parliament. You might even say the Sovereign is an unelected MP.
We often refer to New Zealand's House of Representatives as Parliament. It's easier to say but it's also not quite true.
The MPs that meet in Wellington are not Parliament, they are the House of Representatives.
Parliament is what we call the combination of the House of Representatives AND the Sovereign. Its members are now 120 MPs and one King.
That is why bills passed by the House are signed by the Governor General (for the Sovereign).
The MPs passing a bill does not make it law because it has only been passed by the House of Representatives. Bills become law once they have been affirmed by Parliament (the combination that includes the Sovereign).
Note that 'The Crown' is different again from any of those entities, but that's a very complicated topic for another day.
An extension on the Homework
With the demise of half of the combo that is Parliament, MPs had their schedule thrown into the air again. The House, when it met on Tuesday did just two things - and then they adjourned for the week out of respect.
Firstly there was a round of speeches regarding the 'ascension' of Queen Elizabeth and the accession of King Charles, and then MPs had a quick vote to grant themselves an extension for the final approval of this year's budget.
Parliament's rules include a deadline for approving the budget and a debate was on the agenda this week to meet that deadline. Suddenly that wasn't going to happen.
But MPs set their own rules and so can also grant themselves a short extension on completing the homework. The Queen ate my homework is not a typical excuse.
The final budget debate will now occur next week instead (so long as the run of historical occurrences doesn't continue).
Consolation and congratulations…