balancing act
Balancing time between family and work has never been easy for Elliot. His job as a detective has him working long, odd hours. If he is not already working at say, 3:00 AM, he might be called in from the warmth and safety of his bed to a crime scene. I imagine that being a detective is like being a doctor in that it is one of those jobs that tend to pull you away from your family, and often at the most inconvenient times. Elliot loves his family very much and doesn't like to leave them, I'm sure, but there is not much he can do about it when he has to work on a case. If we, the viewer, feel bad about how he has to rush off when his kids are trying to give him a present, then imagine how Elliot must feel.This has actually been a problem for him, because at one point in the series, Kathy leaves him. At first she and Elliot are just separated, but she then files for divorce. Elliot takes months, but finally signs the divorce papers because he knows he is only making it worse by prolonging it. He still sees his kids while he and Kathy are apart, most notably Kathleen. Thankfully, Elliot and Kathy do get back together after Elliot realizes just how much his family means to him and that he is no longer okay with being out of their lives as he has been during the separation and divorce.
Even after this, Elliot still has trouble balancing time between his family and his job. He comes close to losing Kathy again in the episode 'Wildlife'. As mentioned in this section, an undercover job puts him in a position where he cannot have any contact with anyone, not Olivia and not his family. Kathy has no idea where Elliot is and almost leaves when Olivia tells her that Elliot is undercover. On this mission, Elliot nearly dies, but comes out alive. Though he was able to put the bad guy behind bars, Elliot can finally do what is really important to him - be there for his wife and be a father to his son Eli.