[curiousity]

When people are stressed and burnt out and come to talk to you about it, you don't need to relate. You just need to listen and be supportive. In my experience, most people don't want advice or stories of related experiences - they just want to talk through their problems and figure it out for themselves. Just ask questions, or listen.

As for the second point, you should probably listen to your wife. The status quo will be here when you get back from your break. That is assuming, you mean break to mean something like "holiday" or "vacation".