'The Office': Is Pam's Mother a 'Cougar'?

Last night's episode of “The Office” was a perfect demonstration of the problem that many older women have when dating much younger men. Of course the term for such women these days is “cougar.” (See related stories for “The Truth about Dating” column.)
Helene Beesly, Pam's mother (played by Linda Purl) is a very attractive 58 year old woman who has been having a fling with Pam's boss, the infamous Michael Scott, ever since they met at Jim and Pam's wedding. Related Stories
As socially oblivious as Michael is, he is not a bad looking guy and has had no problem bedding down various “girl” friends over the course of the show's six seasons. At his core, though, Michael is very lonely and yearns to start his own family. (We learn at the end of the episode that Michael's dream family includes a wife and four kids who play with Jim and Pam's kids outside of his “hover house.”)
So without thinking of the consequences of his actions (which Michael rarely if ever does), he jumped at the chance to start a relationship with Helene. And he couldn't help but inappropriately comment many times over the past several episodes what a great sexual relationship he and Helene were having.
But last night it was Helene's birthday. Naturally Michael went overboard planning her birthday lunch at a ritzy restaurant. The table was lavishly decorated, he had already given Helene an expensive necklace, and he had spent hours putting together a scrapbook of memories from their brief relationship. The scrapbook included a poem in which Michael professed his love for Helene.
When we first met Helene at the rehearsal dinner the night before Pam's wedding, she was depressed, as her husband had left her for a much younger woman. But now, as they sat in the restaurant, Helene was full of joy, smiling at every silly comment Michael made.
But then, the “s__” hit the fan, as after Pam asked “So mom, what birthday are we celebrating, Helene kiddingly said that she was “sticking with 49.” Pam then mentioned that this was the ninth time she was celebrating that particular birthday.
Sharp as a tack, Michael immediately picked up on Pam's comment and added nine to 49 on an envelope and said with a grimace, “So you're 54?” To which Helene responded, “No, I'm 58.”
I believe in a previous episode it was determined that Michael is around 41 and that he very much wants his own children. So from that moment on, he became determined to end his relationship with Helene.
Like a ton of bricks, it hit Michael that the life he would like to live with the things he would like to do (such as participating in a triathlon as soon as he learns how to swim) would be very difficult to accomplish with a woman approaching 60.
And he commented to the ever present camera in his totally inappropriate way that by dating Helene he was “robbing the grave.”
All humor aside, unfortunately this is the eventual outcome of most relationships that cougars have with much younger men. Of course there are many, many very active 58 year old women, and I am sure that some of them have even competed in and won triathlons.
But the one obstacle they cannot overcome is the starting a family hurdle. As Michael stated in his own bumbling way, “Its Mother Nature and even mother has very strict rules about fer (pause) tility.” (I won't bother to explain the pause.)