More on "freezing"

This evening as dinner came to an end, my mom looked at the time, and swore. "Shit, if I'm getting to the airport on time to pick up your aunt-" (nope, don't remember where she's coming back from) "-I had better leave right away. Can you kids clean up the kitchen and put everything away?"

And I felt this brief, but sharp bolt of terror. But I couldn't possibly let on - not even to my mother, who doesn't seem to want me to move out in a timely fashion, and doesn't seem to care if she drives me everywhere, despite her words to the contrary - that I was scared of such a simple task.

Clean the kitchen. Put leftover food away. Load the dishwasher. Conclude the meal.

So simple. You'd have to be a complete fucking idiot to screw it up; even a non-domestic guy like me should be able to handle this. Could you admit to being scared?

So I said:

"Sure, Mom, I'll do it." Because, realistically, my sister wasn't going to help much. "No problem."

"Great, thanks. I'm just going to go upstairs and get ready, and I'll be leaving in a minute." And with that, she zipped up to her bedroom and shut the door.

( No problem. Yeah, none whatsoever )