I completely understand and see where you’re referring to with having kids being the proverbial straw for some.
It will shake the trees and see if we’re as solid as we think you we lol.
The thought of a cushy corporate job and what it pays compared to the average payout from equity in a startup isn’t too far apart pretty often. I have done stints of consulting when I needed to do market research and it was a nice way to deep dive to find the no brainer things a business would pay for.
Healthcare is no joke. I’m very lucky to be based in Canada from that perspective, even if it’s geospatial further from some tech things that interest me - travel is a fair compromise.
In my case the dip and test didn’t hit until they were 15 months, and it was interesting that I made it over 2 years including the pregnancy before wanting to check in.
I rezzo you have hand keep the itch alive to work on hobby projects. RFID and industrial automation is a cool area that I got to experience alongside someone on a project.
Last but not least happy to receive any parenting advice