Help Is On the Way

by Mindy Kaling

When she arrived in the United States, she had to redo her entire residency, which is expected and standard for new immigrants, though I would imagine also very frustrating.

This seems ridiculous, but I can see how it would be hard to get an international/universal certification approved with all the myriad governments.

the thought of redoing years of schooling you already did seemed as unfathomable as if I were trapped in a sock-folding loop in some undiscovered circle of hell. But my mom replied, “Not really. I was able to learn some new techniques and make friends.”

Mental models: viewing education as a goal for the piece of paper at the end vs trying trying to make yourself a tiny bit better everyday.

“Never complain, never explain” is the old saying, and my mother completely embodied

I've never these this saying, but love it!I It sounds like what I tell clients, "anything that starts with 'but' or 'because' isn't a reason; it's just an excuse."

I love complaining. Almost as much as I love explaining! If I could just kvetch and give disclaimers all day, I would be so happy.

there are so few things that you get to do that make you feel worthy and tough. Our lives are so easy so much of the time.

It starts to make you feel like a privileged princess.

that’s what I thought maternity leave was: a paid vacation plus a quiet little baby. I could for sure handle a baby by myself.

I feel like every mother reading this is either laughing uproariously or shaking their head at Kaling's naivety.

Lauren is the same age as I am but somehow seems to know so much more about the world than I do. You know your friend who simply goes through life paying better attention? That’s Lauren.

on December 15, 2017, I had the baby. The grisly details of that day I will leave for my first horror film.

The old trope that you can’t believe they just let you drive home from the hospital with a baby is true. In the twelve minutes it took to get home, I had the closest thing I can imagine to a nervous breakdown.

After the 6:00 a.m. feeding, somehow Rose was always awake enough to make a pot of coffee, shower, and put on new scrubs. I, on the other hand, wore the same nursing bra and pajamas for at least four weeks.

In the three months Rose lived with me in Los Angeles, she never left the house unless it was to go to the doctor’s office with me and Kit. I mean literally never left the house once. Not to get a cup of coffee, not to go to CVS, not even for a walk around the block.

When I encouraged Rose to go out, she said, “Why would I want to go out? My job is with the baby, not getting a scone at Starbucks.” I couldn’t argue wi...

She had the kind of work ethic that reminded me of my mother, for whom nothing was more important than being professional and showing dedication.

Rose sounds like Superwoman. Rather than asking Kaling for a written recommendation, she can just use this.

child? In Los Angeles, if you tell people you give your baby formula, they look at you like you just said you force-feed her Sprite through a beer bong.

According to Rose, there was no problem apple cider vinegar couldn’t solve.

She spoke about her husband, Brooks, and her sons, Richie and Rocky. I knew everything that was going on with all of them, from their work lives to their love lives.

marveled at how incredible it all was (Oprah’s home is literally called “The Promised Land”), Rose just said, “She’s worked hard her whole life. It’s good she has such nice things.” It was the most Indian thing I’d ever heard.

we invited Rose’s family over for dinner. They insisted on cooking the dinner and bringing it with them . . . from Long Island. It was a really rainy day, and their normally hour-long trip took two hours, but nobody complained and nobody explained. Damn, I thought, impressive.