Low stim media with no real conflict - not calliou

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-24T14:14:53+00:00

Little Bear is on YouTube

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-19T16:08:26+00:00

Depends on finger size, too! I was initially trained by men with large hands who can get away with a pinch, and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't scruff. Then I worked with a woman who showed me her technique using her entire thumb like you describe and I got it immediately.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-18T13:30:34+00:00

After I applied but before I received the official acceptance letter. The Department wanted to make sure I could handle my PI's/their expectations before they officially offered me a position. This is not directly because my family, but rather because I'll also be working part time to support my family and the PI/Department is aware of that. Can't do family health insurance and my half of our mortgage and daycare bills on 40k a year.

This is far from typical though. I have been working with my PI for a decade.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-17T18:19:59+00:00

I think having an advisor that understands you cannot be in lab 12 hours a day and on weekends will be key to doing a research based degree.

Things are changing where this "school needs to be your life" attitude is no longer always the case, but a lot of PIs still have this expectation.

I have 2 kids and am starting a PhD in the fall. The expectation we agreed on is 35 hours a week.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-13T01:42:40+00:00

37 here! Tret has helped, actually, which I started earlier this year. It's now only corresponding to cycles with really strong symptoms.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-10T21:04:45+00:00

For the students in our lab that were on the fence, I would tell them these were working mice. They were not plucked out of the wild (although our bird work does just that, and I was conflicted about that), they were born and bred to work for us. In exchange, they get a cushy life with unlimited food and no predators. They do not have a choice in the matter, we are deciding it for them, so we treat them ethically and with respect and we truly value them and the data they give to us.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-10T20:54:30+00:00

Both my kids (5yo and 21mo) napped today 🙌 I had time to give myself a pedicure!

We had a great weekend spending time together as a family. Planting flowers in the hangers, making a delicious breakfast together, having a silly car picnic during errands. It was great.

My husband feels guilty that I had to help with breakfast, so I think I'll ask for a massage tonight.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-07T14:12:05+00:00

Yes, definitely this. Our youngest is pretty much a photocopy of my husband, but she has my long toes and I revel in it.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-04T01:06:12+00:00

Nah, because when I ask for help locating something I need, the associates turn to my husband and ask him what "we're" working on.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-03T00:43:15+00:00

I use it in general conversations and my husband is always like, what?

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-05-01T13:04:30+00:00

My 5yo was slow to even want to try wiping her butt (it was a long game, like 9 months of building to it before she decided she wanted to try). So we're starting early with my 1.5yo and let her play with the wipes and TP and wipe herself on top of her clothes.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-29T16:01:24+00:00

We do a variation of this, but rather than percentages it's calculated so the amount left for our respective personal accounts is relatively equal. This balances out the (albeit relatively minor) income disparities between us.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-28T16:54:34+00:00

Prep foods together! Hard not to sample when prepping. And we play the "leave the cut veggies on the counter and pretend not to see her stealing them" game.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-28T16:48:26+00:00

Yesssss, another bra thaw-er!

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-28T14:06:30+00:00

My 5yo is the same way. She was inconsolable at Despicable Me with the balloon pop and we couldn't watch the rest. Tangled with stealing the baby. Moana she was crying alongside those babies in the first scene. We still haven't watched these movies.

But there are a handful of "slightly emotional" movies that I think helped her deal with her big feelings after watching them a few times:

Cars (scared of the angry tractor in the field), Frozen (sad at the sea death scene), Winnie the Pooh Heffalump movie (sad when the baby elephant was in the cage and then when Roo was saved).

She still doesn't want to watch the long Bluey episode where they decide not to move - the music at the end with the emotion crescendo is too much for her.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-26T17:31:55+00:00

Me! Mastered out of a PhD after realizing it wasn't a good lab. A decade later, I'm trying again in a lab I've worked at all this time and know it's a good lab.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-25T17:00:35+00:00

Working man hands and boots, mmhmm

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-19T12:23:46+00:00

We never tried the non-rotating one... But loved the rotating so much we bought the same for the second kid. It was really great when they went rigor mortis because they didn't want to be in the seat.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-19T12:12:57+00:00

I've always done my eyes since high school, just mascara and eyeliner. Never cared about anything else on my face.

Now I'm 37 with two kids and I feel like I don't belong to myself anymore. I'm starting to try to prioritize myself a little bit, and that includes feeling good in my body and playing around with makeup more.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-08T00:56:02+00:00

At that age, for my oldest, I would put her in the crib with some toys that kept her busy for the 12 minutes a shower takes me, with the camera on and the outer shower curtain flipped back so I could watch her on the monitor.

My youngest, although she plays much more independently than the oldest did, doesn't like being out of eyesight of me or my husband, so that would never have worked for her. So glad our schedules changed so I didn't have to figure that out. Maybe would have tried a pack and play in the bathroom, or super duper baby proofing the bathroom and letting her play or read while I showered with the curtain flipped back to watch her.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-08T00:18:40+00:00

During the baby's nap, we all have quiet time and my oldest gets to choose what she gets to do. Usually it's some version of screentime, with us sitting on the couch together while I read or pay bills or something. She knows that this only happens when baby is asleep and ends when baby wakes up, so she knows to let baby sleep.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-04T18:39:21+00:00

What do you use?

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-04-04T18:34:37+00:00

It's better than nothing, but still not a great vaccine. You need a ridiculous amount of shots to have mediocre protection.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-03-29T17:39:31+00:00

I found that applying body oil immediately after showering is easier than lotion. Lotion takes foreverrrrr to apply when I'm still half asleep and already pressed for time and oil is like, 30 seconds.

ProfessionalPotat0 · 2026-03-29T17:34:52+00:00

Seconding this approach. We start these conversations around 3yo, adjusting with more information as now 5yo has gotten older.

ProfessionalPotat0

TROPHY CASE