Mom works in a department store, spraying perfume on old ladies, which has clicked her own olfactory sensitivity down a few dozen notches. Which is a good thing, because if Newton burns the toast, then burns the tablecloth trying to put out the burning toast, and burns the lawn trying to extinguish the flaming tablecloth...Mom can't smell it. She thinks "Newton" is Ned's invisible friend, and she thinks that's cute. She's the kind of mom who'll hear "I'm going to Egypt, Mom," and will say "That's nice dear," not wishing to quash his childish creative instincts, but also not suspecting that he is, in fact, going to Egypt.