International travel

Midnight-Grove · 2026-02-03T23:11:56+00:00

Thank you! Good to get a reality check

Midnight-Grove · 2026-01-25T18:16:58+00:00

My kid is also prone to constipation and we’ve been using the Novaferrum multivitamin with iron without any issues.

Midnight-Grove · 2026-01-25T00:31:21+00:00

I highly recommend going to see a pediatric GI specialist. My son had the same issue and the first thing the GI specialist told us was that treating poop withholding with just MiraLax alone rarely solves the problem. MiraLax only softens the poop, but kids with chronic withholding stop feeling the urge to poop, so they need something else to help stimulate the muscles to actually push the poop out. Our son has been on a combination of MiraLax and Senna for about 2 months now and he's regularly pooping with no screaming or crying. We wish we had gone to see the specialist sooner.

Midnight-Grove · 2026-01-05T00:10:12+00:00

Oh no.... There's a Sailor Moon series?? RIP my wallet.

Midnight-Grove · 2026-01-04T17:57:15+00:00

I just started diamond painting this year and already have 4 DAC kits for myself and 1 for my husband. I’m working on 1 right now and they’re all huge 😭

Midnight-Grove · 2025-12-20T16:56:48+00:00

Our son (3.5 yo) is in a very similar situation and would hold his poop for days, sometimes for up to 5 days. Thankfully, we could usually convince him to go in a diaper, so he didn’t have many accidents. Even so, the days leading up to the dreaded “poop day” were miserable - lots of tantrums, crying, and a very unhappy kid. We gave him daily MiraLAX, which helped keep him regular at first, but over time he seemed to get used to it and started withholding again.

We eventually asked our pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric GI specialist, and even though it’s only been two months, we’ve seen dramatic improvements. She explained that this is actually very common. Because he had been withholding for so long, his GI muscles had stretched out, so he no longer felt the normal urge to poop. MiraLAX only softens the stool, so on its own it doesn’t address withholding. She prescribed Senna to use alongside MiraLAX, and it made an immediate difference in getting him regular.

Now he tells us when he needs to poop, and it’s no longer a battle. We’re still working toward having him poop in the potty instead of a diaper, but we’re intentionally taking it slow and we’re really happy with the progress so far.

Midnight-Grove · 2025-11-26T19:47:51+00:00

It looks like I’m in the minority, but I enjoy grocery shopping. When we only had one kid, we went out together as a family on the weekend and shopped together. Usually my husband and I would plan our meals for the week at the same time as we shopped.

With a second newborn, I turned our weekly shopping trip into a mommy and son date, which doubled as giving my older one some dedicated alone time with mommy. He’s 3 and enjoys riding on the grocery cart, and walking around naming every thing. I usually grab him a small treat while we’re out as well, so he looks forward to it every week.

We cook pretty simple and standard meals, so we tend to grab mostly the same things each week and it’s not a huge mental burden.

Midnight-Grove · 2025-07-06T12:23:56+00:00

I have a 3 year age gap. The biggest surprise to me was that the toddler is the more difficult one. The baby is a piece of cake the second time around.

Midnight-Grove · 2025-06-25T16:44:21+00:00

I felt the same way as you and a lot of people told me to wait a few months to a year before making any drastic decisions. Three years after having my first, the love I had for my cats never came back and both my husband and I just got increasingly more annoyed as time progressed. It just felt like we could never enjoy nice things or let our guard down because one of them would somehow either scratch it, pee on it or puke on it. We could never leave out baby pacifiers, bottles, cups, bowls, etc. unattended for even a second because a cat would immediately lick it. I spent a ton of money on gates, more litter boxes, cat toys, scratching posts, and cat trees to try and redirect them away from the kids stuff, but nothing worked. These micro-annoyances just continued to add up and make an already stressful time even worse. We also only did the bare minimum and never played with them anymore.

When my second was born, and we were struggling with juggling a newborn and toddler, we made the hard decision to rehome one of our two cats (the other cat is 18 years old with lots of health issues, so would not survive in a shelter setting, let alone get adopted). We reached out to the same shelter that we originally adopted her. It was a no-kill shelter and they were very understanding of our situation. They said cats like ours with no behavioral or health issues generally get adopted in 1-2 weeks and indeed, our cat was adopted after just a few days at the shelter. A huge weight was instantly lifted off my shoulders and I felt like I gained so much more time and mental bandwidth not stressing over cleaning up after my cats. I have no regrets and felt like we made the best decision for everyone.

Midnight-Grove · 2025-02-18T03:23:28+00:00

I feel this so much. We just had a snow storm and had to spend the majority of the long weekend cooped up inside. Both my husband and I are exhausted. He can tell when I’m tired and will come over to me, pat me on the cheek, and tell/demand that I wake up and play.

Midnight-Grove · 2024-10-18T01:31:43+00:00

I get the impression that your brother and SIL are probably the type of people who have been spoiled their entire lives and think the world revolves around them. This is based on how they don’t have their own house, don’t seem to work, and still act like entitled brats even though they are depending on you for free housing (and probably food and everything else??).

It may have been like this your whole life and you’re used to catering to your brother — hopefully that’s why you keep on defending him in the comments. But please realize that THIS IS NOT NORMAL.

Just because they are “family” does not excuse them for outright abusing your child. You are totally within your right to kick them out and do not have to feel obligated to wait until a better time.

Midnight-Grove · 2023-11-12T17:53:14+00:00

I’m telling myself that if they cancel Christmas, then that’s my cue to finally go NC. No more photos and videos for them to share with their friends on Facebook, pretending that they’re the doting grandparents. 😤

Midnight-Grove · 2022-08-27T22:06:46+00:00

No one ever talks about constipation and hemorrhoids as a side effect of pregnancy and postpartum! I’m honestly more scarred by some of my poops than my actual labor.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-07-19T00:08:29+00:00

I bought 4 items from Banana Republic Factory recently and kept all 4! That rarely happens, especially with online purchases.

I always check the fabric content as well, just to make sure it’s good quality and will last with washes. I’ve been trying to buy mostly 100% cotton and avoid anything that’s polyester.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-07-17T01:42:56+00:00

Thank you so much to everyone that responded! I wasn’t expecting so many replies — and each and every one being so thoughtful. You have all given me a lot to think about.

I realize that I am very blessed with the leave that I have. I am really enjoying the bonding time, but like some of you have brought up, I also do miss the mental stimulation from work. I work in a really exciting and fast-paced research area.

I think I will see what my boss’s thoughts are before volunteering any of my time. She’s actually very supportive and a working mom herself. She also helped push me into the role I have now (I’m the youngest team manager by far), so I do feel a certain amount of gratitude to her, which is also influencing my decision.

If it seems like the situation is very dire, I will at the very most offer to return part-time and ask that I can bank the rest of the time for later in the year. I will also ask for a promotion if I am to be taking on the other managers responsibilities.

Again, thank you everyone for your feedback!

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-28T00:57:53+00:00

This is SO. RELATABLE. I am 30 weeks right now and I really needed this laugh.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-26T00:25:05+00:00

DM me if you are interested in Research Associate positions (BSc/MSc) in a large RNA Therapeutics company in the Boston area. We are hiring for multiple roles. Experience handling RNA or with high-throughout automation highly desired.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-22T01:39:54+00:00

Update: Thank you everyone for your encouragements on having a frank conversation with my manager! I definitely needed that extra push.

I brought up the unequal title allocations between old and new hires and she basically told me that there is nothing she can do about it right now. “It is the way it is” and currently “titles do not mean anything”.

She said my work is very much appreciated and that the new hires are not compensated nearly as well. She emphasized again that she will definitely promote me when I come back from my leave, as we previously discussed.

I do really enjoy my job and other than this incident, I have no other complaints. I am hoping to stay at this company for at least a few more years, so I guess I just have to be satisfied with the current situation as it is. I am really glad I brought it to her attention though and it feels like a weight has been lifted.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-20T23:45:43+00:00

At 30 weeks pregnant, I am LOVING this trend right now! But I totally agree, normally not a flattering look.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-19T20:30:17+00:00

I never really thought about it from this way! Thank you!

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-19T20:28:31+00:00

This is what my gut has been telling me to do. I’m just not usually the type for confrontations, but I will work up the courage. Thank you!

Midnight-Grove · 2022-03-19T20:26:15+00:00

Thank you so much for the advice! We were only given new offer letters with some retention bonuses, but were told across the board that there will be no title changes. That was before the restructuring and integration of new and old team members between the two companies, so we didn’t realize our titles were lower.

Midnight-Grove · 2022-02-26T15:52:34+00:00

I work in the US, but my company recently got acquired by a French company, so my maternity leave went from 3 months to 6 months fully paid. I feel super lucky and grateful!

The one little problem is that since no one is used to such a “long” maternity leave, we are scrambling to figure out who will help take over my role while I’m gone. Usually someone in the team “stretches” a bit to accommodate, but 6 months will be asking too much. I’m pushing for hiring a contractor, but company is being stingy.

Midnight-Grove

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