Ok so like, this is probably gonna sound stupid, or like, super whiny, I guess? But I just can't stop thinking about it, especially at this hour, you know? My kid, my oldest, she's like, twenty-four now, and she's in dental school. And here's the thing, she HATES it. Like, absolutely despises it. She's cramming every single weekend, for exams she doesn't even want to take, and I see it, the exhaustion, the… the deadness in her eyes, sometimes. And me and her dad, we're both doctors, right? So like, it was just always the expectation, you know? Med school, dental school, *something* important, something with a title. And we’re proud of her, obviously. Like, SUPER proud. But it’s not really *her* choice, is it? It's just...what we expected. And I feel SO bad about it. Like, genuinely sick to my stomach sometimes. We talk about it, sort of. She complains about the profs, the endless studying, the sheer boredom of it all. And I just… I listen. And I say stuff like "you're doing great, sweetie" or "it'll all be worth it in the end" – which, hello, do I even believe that? And I know I should say something more, like, "Hey, you can quit if you want." But then what? What would she *do*? And what would our friends say? Or my sister, who’s always bragging about her son, the *brain surgeon*? It's just so… complicated, you know? Like, you want the best for your kids, but what *is* the best? Is it a fancy degree they hate? Or like, something totally different that makes them happy but doesn't have a plaque on the wall? My husband, he just says she’ll get over it. That everyone hates residency, or like, the first few years of practice. "It's just part of paying your dues," he says. But I look at her, all stressed out, skipping dinners to study, and I think, what if she doesn't get over it? What if this is just… her life now? And it's all because *we* pushed her. I mean, we never like, forced her, not explicitly, but you know how it is. Just the general vibe. The constant talk about how "smart" she is, how she's "destined for great things." And now I just wonder if those "great things" are just our things, projected onto her. And I feel like such a hypocrite, because I complain about my own job, like, all the time, but I'm basically doing the same thing to her. What a mess, right? I dunno. Just needed to get that out.