“Mom!”
A voice carries across the house, past the living room, up the stairs, breaking through the cracked office door. I pause in the middle of reading another email telling us we’ll be back in the office soon.
Back to work soon?
Who has the money for daycare? I can’t leave the kids home alone.
“Mom!” the voice drags out. They elongate the O to drag it out longer, and with it I follow to the crying voice.
The title repeats, the main job title.
Mom.
Always starting with mom.
Mom, the wifi isn’t working.
Mom, I’m bored.
Mom, my computer crashed and I have class can you help?
Mom!
Mom, can you help me understand this math problem?
Things I haven’t done in years.
Online classing is forcing me to clear out that dusty shelf of memories locked shut.
This online stuff isn’t working for them, I can see them falling behind.
Do we have the money for a tutor right now?
I could maybe get a second job?
MOM!
Mom, are you working right now?
When am I not working?
I’m clocked in for the rest of your life kiddo.
Mom, we don’t have those thingies I like can we go to the store and get them? Will we have enough money for groceries in the next few months?
God, I hope we do. I cant see them sad.
MOM!
Mom, the camera isn’t working for class can I use your office computer?
Mom becomes a computer tech, fixing wifi, learning new programs, and understanding how a 7-year-old could get so many viruses on one laptop.
Mom is the live-in chef of the pickest teen the world has ever seen.
Mom the maid.
MOM!
Mom the businesswoman trying to keep a roof over their heads.
Mom is so stressed but she can’t stop. The second she stops the world falls apart. Mom the circus director trying to keep them entertained
A mom that never gets a break, not now, not when the world is struggling.
I have to keep pushing. Not for me, but them.
MOM!
It will get better when the world is back in order.
MOM!
I got this. It’s going to be okay. Right?