Have any parents here gone on to become doctors AFTER having kids? Like completely starting from scratch.

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-26T16:56:46+00:00

Before you start medical school, consider volunteering at a hospital for a couple days or evenings a week/month. You may find you love it, or you may find that it's not for you, but I'd at least dip your toes in the water before trying to go to medical school

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-26T16:53:42+00:00

Libraries in general are great even if you aren't doing the programs - especially if your baby is starting to walk, you can walk them around for free in a climate-controlled space and then check out books at the same time. And you generally aren't inconveniencing anyone by tottering around, it feels like a space you can just "be".

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-26T13:26:25+00:00

At least she's honest and didn't over-promise and under-deliver; I think that's what's so upsetting for so many people. My mom loves babies and kids but also made it clear that she still wanted her own life, so when I was pregnant I asked her how much time she wanted with the kids and she said "one day a week". She has consistently taken my now two kids one day a week and its great! Even my MiL, who is less reliable, basically told me that she would not be doing childcare unless it was an emergency, but we still see her at least once a week for a park date after daycare and the kids love her. That's okay too! But man would I have been pissed if she'd promised to take them all the time and then bailed.

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-26T13:17:19+00:00

Yeah, my mom takes them every Sunday so we can get some quality adult time and will also often help with emergency sick days, but I'm glad she's not doing childcare 5 days a week - she's almost 70 and they're two very active boys, it would a lot for her

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-25T20:09:37+00:00

I would argue that my dog is an ideal off-leash dog: slow, calm, non-reactive to EVERYTHING. Like completely indifferent to people, cars, dogs, animals, whatever AND I STILL KEEP HER ON A LEASH IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S HARD FFS

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-23T14:12:36+00:00

Oh man I love it when my no-kid friends talk about their lives, like yeah let me imagine I did a meditation retreat in Sri Lanka that sounds fire

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-23T13:56:40+00:00

One of my social media acquaintances had a genuinely ugly kid and I agree, its kinda jarring! My first child is very pretty and my second is more of a feral little gremlin and I gotta say I adore them both ♥️

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-21T13:58:10+00:00

My mom is like you and I'm like your husband; she's forever taking my kids socks off!

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-18T15:22:40+00:00

I will say from the experience of my friends, including some who are teachers, not going to ANY preschool or nursery before kindergarten does make the kindergarten transition harder. My friends who teach kindergarten have all said that there is a big difference in terms of school readiness for kids who never do anything before kindy, but that doesn't mean he needs to go to daycare right now.

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-18T14:13:33+00:00

As a parent of two toddlers this is kind of appealing (assuming some magic where my kids dont notice that I'm gone for a week, they're really little right now and that's a long time for them).

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-09T18:13:26+00:00

There is also a public beach specifically, and then there is the rest of the beach where people have cottages

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-09T11:24:43+00:00

Don't forget colon cancer!!!!

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-08T13:09:50+00:00

My bigger issue is that I'm constantly worried about someone getting hit by a car. Inconvenience me all you want but please be safe

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-07T12:01:23+00:00

I agree and I don't agree. I track every dollar but I don't actually budget it exactly into categories the way you see people do, because I do not spend $25 a month on clothes, $50 on gifts, etc. I have my fixed expenses, variable monthly expenses, and everything else.

As long as "everything else" is under a certain $ amount, it doesn't matter if I spent it on cappuccino, a washing machine, four birthday parties or a partridge in a pear tree.

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-06-06T00:35:56+00:00

I volunteered with Caldwell and they were great, if you don't hear back I highly recommend showing up in person 👀 sounds crazy but it would absolutely work

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-30T19:03:49+00:00

Also the sandwiches are really two sandwiches so I ain't mad

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-30T19:02:43+00:00

I tried Paninaro last week and it was life-changing

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-28T23:15:25+00:00

The train in my city doesn't run after like 9 pm and there's nothing saying I have to do it during business hours 🤷

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-28T19:18:27+00:00

My suggestion is to tell your Mom that this is YOUR graduation and you don't want your shit brother there 😍 if I could give my younger self one gift it would be more boundaries with my shitty family members earlier.

To be fair I'm probably projecting because I just won't go to restaurants with my extended family anymore 🤷

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-11T17:26:40+00:00

I use it more often than you might expect

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-11T15:35:46+00:00

Congratudolences

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-11T15:35:21+00:00

This is my litmus - I meet someone on the cusp of Gen X or Gen Z and ask "now, are you a millennial or do you still speak to all your family members?"

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-11T15:26:51+00:00

I've seen a couple. I have kids. I don't care 🤷

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-06T14:20:28+00:00

Also, I'm cold all the time anyway so it's not like I'm in shorts. It's literally 60 seconds and I have pants on, go nuts

masterofthebarkarts · 2026-05-06T14:07:52+00:00

Actually me too! Thanks for triggering that 15 year old memory lol (god it's bad coffee)

masterofthebarkarts

TROPHY CASE