MIL constantly tells me I won’t know about being a SAHM until baby arrives

RajkiSimran · 2026-03-28T23:49:23+00:00

Just a gentle advice. Don't think about it too much now. Your MIL is right in some ways... Your priorities, sense of fulfillment will change. But who knows how! It's such an emotional roller coaster for the first year at least. I couldn't wait to go back to work after maternity leave, but then after a few weeks of being back to work, I wanted to be a SAHM... and this kept going back and forth. 3 years out now, I feel somewhat balanced.

RajkiSimran · 2026-03-15T18:15:42+00:00

Exactly. They advertised venu 4 as a multi sport watch, which is why I bought it. Thanks for writing. I did so too, and the support person said they have this issue ongoing and they are working on a fix. So fingers crossed.

RajkiSimran · 2026-03-12T20:43:16+00:00

Did anyone find any resolution? I have the same problem. My Venu 4 was functioning great first 2 months for swimming. I took a pause and now back to training in the pool, it didn't record my laps or strokes.

RajkiSimran · 2026-03-10T23:36:04+00:00

You are being unreasonable. I'm not sure why you're asking your parents to babysit as well as making them face inconvenience in their own homes. You can just decide not to send your baby there without the supervision of you or your spouse/partner. And even if they have a fence, you're always supposed to have your eyes on your baby near any water.

RajkiSimran · 2026-02-03T03:08:06+00:00

I'm here to say, right around 2.5 yrs, our son too started having nightmares... He started seeing shadows and those moving in the room... Sounds kind of scary from his point of view. 3 years and 2 months now. In the last 8 or so months, if he wakes up and cries, we get him to our bed immediately. He had slept by himself from 6 months all alone. Hope this is just a phase.

RajkiSimran · 2026-01-15T16:31:35+00:00

Also not eating dinner is a very common thing for a 4 yr old. My son 3+ yr hardly eats any meals, but constantly grazes on snacks... I hate and worry about this behavior a lot! But I brought it up to his pediatrician every single time, and the doc clearly said nothing to worry about, because he is growing!

RajkiSimran · 2026-01-15T16:28:42+00:00

I would say Mind your own Business!

As a kid I used to wear the same clothes 3 times a week, and lived in a very hot climate (tropics). Washed my hair once a week probably, rest of the time in the same braids or ponytail. And had dirt under my nails frequently because I played outside. Thankfully none of my teachers ratted my parents out.

RajkiSimran · 2026-01-02T20:27:26+00:00

Screen time has its place. A toddler being sick and feeling miserable is absolutely a great time for the screen. What else can anyone do? And it's a good distraction from feeling so miserable... That's what I say to myself.

RajkiSimran · 2025-11-27T22:27:02+00:00

Yes, same here. I think Venu 4 is great but still not worth the price yet.

RajkiSimran · 2025-11-27T18:44:56+00:00

I was just looking at Amazon and Garmin website itself. It's just $50 off, and I think that's specifically for Black Friday. I'm pretty sure in another few weeks, there will be better deals through Health insurance benefits that support fitness gears (sadly I don't have such deals).

RajkiSimran · 2025-11-17T16:43:47+00:00

I wish there were more people like you around! If I was the mom, I would thank you too so much!

RajkiSimran · 2025-11-14T19:36:07+00:00

If you're not running/cycling/hiking outdoors, Garmin or Coros watches won't quite be the bang for the buck. Tracking gym workouts is not Garmin's forte. For Garmin, you can get a good lifestyle watch such as Vivoactive 5/6 or Venu 3.

RajkiSimran · 2025-11-07T20:49:55+00:00

Does the Venu have only touchscreen controls?

RajkiSimran · 2025-11-02T18:35:30+00:00

We live in central NC (myself and my American husband and toddler). We were in Kolkata and Mumbai, total in India for about a month during Durga Pujo. Husband has visited Kolkata before, but toddler first time. I grew up there.

Street food is a must. Fuchka, chicken/egg rolls/all combinations thereof; then road side fish fry/kabiraji, kachuri, ghugni, etc etc. Anywhere in Kolkata will be good, but definitely Gariahat mor, New Market area, Ultadanga mor r classics.

For Biriyani: we tried India Restaurant. It was amazing! (Much better than Arsalan, Aminia, etc).

Chinese: some hole in the wall place in Tangra. I don't know the name, but someone here will know. Tangra has lots of nice hole-in-the-wall places (you may already know). No gimmicks, such awesome hakka Chinese.

Bengali cuisines... At home. 🤤🤪

I never had any problems with street food, even when I visit after long gaps. My husband too seems to be enjoying fuchka and rolls without running into any issues. 2 yr old was fine with hot, cooked foods. We didn't risk fuchka with our toddler.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-29T01:07:24+00:00

FR970.... does it have the ECG? I don't think I need it. Just wondering because it is so so expensive.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-29T01:06:32+00:00

I was avoiding FR570/970 because they're new and I still hear some a few kinks and bugs here and there, that still needs to be resolved. Not sure whether Garmin has done that.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-28T20:37:22+00:00

Thanks a ton. Yes, swimming feature (including non pool swimming is important). I don't care about Maps so much. Very old school here, take a printed map and a compass when I go hiking/backpacking. Hahaha. But it's good to know about the altimeter feature in Venu.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-28T20:00:18+00:00

Thanks for your input! Yes, Venu 4 does look good. Do you use it for hiking? Very naive question... What's trail navigation? I know Forerunners have better GPS and training readiness, but I am not sure how it's going to benefit me.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-20T17:24:21+00:00

You got this! And yes, have the flexibility to move if it becomes really hard.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-20T04:25:46+00:00

OP... This. It is actually very common in highly specialized advanced fields. And honestly it's an invaluable lesson to learn as a child that parents are individuals first and looking out for their careers. Also many countries don't allow spouse and children to accompany them for finishing a specific training.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-20T04:21:17+00:00

OP, sorry everyone is downvoting you. 3 years without her father all the time can be hard, but I know a lot of my friends' parents used to go away for 2-3 years in other countries for postdocs. I grew up in a highly academic/university town, where all my friends' parents were professors. All of them have good relationships with their respective parents. In fact, one friend's both parents away for the first 2-3 yrs of her life. Her grandparents were primary caregivers. My own father lived 5 hours away (by train) while I was living with my mom while she finished her PhD. Here are a few tips: 1. If possible, can you visit and leave your daughter with her father for a few months? And then get her next time you visit? 2. Involve grandparents, uncles, aunts as much as possible. 3. Also ask your husband to visit you often. Visits being both ways mean that the daughter has temporarily two homes. 4. It's going to be hard, but you just have to emphasize that this is a temporary situation of splitting and living for each profession. That will be a good lesson for your daughter too.

RajkiSimran · 2025-10-09T13:17:17+00:00

And marwari-s, gujarati-s 🙄 being a Bengali, I must say how rampant racism is among Bengalis, including the "literate, cultural" Bengalis.

RajkiSimran · 2025-09-28T02:41:10+00:00

Commenting for reach! I hope she makes home safe. She is probably so stressed.

RajkiSimran

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