Between end-of-year work deadlines, school programs, holiday parties, and the emotional marathon of family gatherings, December often feels like one long sprint. And don't get me started on moving that darn little elf. There have been nights I've woken up in a cold sweat thinking, "I forgot to move the elf!" Let's just say that bringing the holiday magic comes with a price for parents.
Just a few months ago, I wrote about how lucky I felt. My husband is a firefighter with long shifts (and overtime), and I'm a morning radio personality who wakes up hours before the sun rises. Though our work schedules can be difficult, we have a village that includes both my mother and my in-laws, and not only are they close by, but they're also dependable.
A busy working mom, played by Sarah Snook, rings the bell of a house to pick up her 5-year-old son from an after-school play date. Her son is not there. Neither is the other boy. And the befuddled homeowner has no clue what is going on. Confusion turns to panic, then fear that her son has been kidnapped. Revealed over eight episodes are the sordid secrets of one of the most dysfunctional extended families in narrative history.
It's a random Tuesday in October, and your kids are home again. A national holiday? Nope. A snow day. Not even a speck of frost on the ground. It's Professional Development Day or Parent-Teacher Conference Half Day or one of the 15 other noninstructional days that appear in the school calendar like little landmines for anyone with a full-time job.
I've spent the last year working a full-time corporate job in Human Resources for a Fortune 500 company while caring for my one year old son simultaneously. No sitter, no help. We can't afford daycare, and this is the only way it's been possible for me to remain the primary breadwinner because my husband works outside the house and we don't have family nearby.
