S1 • E11 Mar 21, 2004 45m
Between the long hours she puts in at her film industry job and caring for her three young boys, Alysse Leite-Rogers is desperate for a vacation...even a weekend away would be a life-saver for her. Into the breach steps old friend Helen Taraviras, who bravely agrees to be our *crash test mommy*. By day, Helen is a nurse in a cosmetic surgery clinic; by night, a carefree single woman who jokes that she's more accustomed to 'making reservations than making muffins.' After we ferry Alysse and husband Shawn off for a weekend of pampering at a luxury resort on Vancouver Island, Helen is immediately thrown into the belly of the beast called motherhood. Preparing separate meals for the baby, the kids and the family dog, packing the brood off on rounds of shopping and to soccer practice, learning to milk a cow and preparing for a party attended by a group of rambunctious seven year-old pirates, Helen gets a brutal lesson in multi-tasking. By halfway through Day One she's already eager to throw in the towel. But she gets her second wind - the second of about 5 Helen will need over the 48 hour period - and re-enters the fray with pluck and aplomb. By the time Alysse returns, Helen has learned a lot about setting limits on the kids and juggling priorities, although she confesses that parenting 'is harder than work!'
