Moms Are Never Off-Duty

I caught up with a new fall sit-com last week called The Middle, starring Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond fame. The show has nothing specifically to do with special needs, but a scene in the most recent episode made me laugh with recognition. Heaton's harried mom, torn between responsibilities to kids and work and elderly relatives, is granted fifteen minutes of alone time by a co-worker who promises to cover for her while she relaxes in the employee washroom. She turns off her phone, reads a magazine, does her nails, takes a nap with a sanitary napkin over her eyes ... and when she emerges fifteen minutes later, her workplace is on fire and her phone has fourteen messages from her kids, who have managed in that space of time to commit social suicide at school, get into a car accident, and nearly run over a sickly dog.

The police officer on the scene makes it clear that everything is the mom's fault, because moms don't get to take breaks. It sure does seem that way sometimes, doesn't it?

I well remember the days when I couldn't so much as go to the bathroom without something getting knocked over or tripped over or spilled. Even now, when I've had ample evidence that the family can survive fifteen minutes and more without me, I still spend that away time fretting over all the things that might happen, and would anybody but me know the right way to deal? Makes it hard to enjoy that fifteen minutes even when you get it.

Are you ever off duty? Do things fall apart when you take a break, or are you the one falling apart? Share your stories in the comments.

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