Ah, motherhood. It is always there, banging on your door, even when you have “important things to do.” Like meetings with new clients. Case in point: I was driving my 2-year-old to daycare and then heading directly to a client meeting afterward, hoping to make it there within minutes of the designated time.

I get to baby’s daycare. It looked eerily quiet.

Then it hit me. It was a Jewish holiday and baby is enrolled in a daycare at the Jewish synagogue. I now had baby in the car with me with no other option but driving to my client meeting.

“Think think think. You don’t get paid the big bucks to not think of a solution,” my professional brain told me.

“Hey, you’re a mom, what do you expect?” said my mommy brain.

I called the babysitter. No answer. Left a desperate message on her answering machine. I called the backup babysitter. No answer.

Maybe I could drop her off at my friend’s office - she works alone in her office. Maybe she could do it.

No, I remembered, she is out of town.

Then I thought of a girlfriend who works from home. Like me. Maybe she could do it. Of course, I felt absolutely terrible asking her to do it because I would never ever want her to think that I didn’t respect the fact that she worked from home. As a WAHM, I know how important it is that people understand that even though I’m home I am indeed working.

“Can I ask a totally inappropriate favor of you?” I prefaced.

She didn’t hesitate. “I’ll be right there,” she said.

I arrived at the client meeting with a 2-year-old who was suddenly a clingy vine in my arms. She refused to let me put her down. The clients were incredibly accommodating about the entire situation, however, I was having a hard time entering my Business Brain. I was being held hostage in Mommy Mode, not conducive to a professional discussion - about social networking and digital marketing, no less.

To say I breathed a huge sigh of relief when my friend arrived is putting it mildly. I think I melted into a puddle on the floor before I composed myself, reprogrammed my brain to access my tech knowledge, and began the meeting again.

Afterward, I headed out to the parking lot to find my friend and baby sitting in the sun, reading a book and blowing bubbles.

“Hi Mommy!” my daughter said with a big smile and outreached arms.

“Hi Baby,” I said as I picked her up. Switch off Business Brain. Switch on Mommy Mode.

Big sigh.