Behind The White Coat - Real Talk For Physician Spouses
Being married to medicine comes with challenges—long hours, relocations, and feeling like you’re navigating it all alone. That’s where this podcast comes in.
I’m sharing the things I wish someone had told me—how to survive medical training, juggle parenting, manage finances, and actually build a life you love. We’ll cover everything from making friends in a new city to understanding insurance, finding childcare, and staying connected as a couple.
Some episodes will be just me, sharing real stories and lessons learned. Other times, I’ll bring on expert guests—financial advisors, physician spouses, and those who’ve been through it all—to offer practical advice.
Most of all, this is a place for community. A space where you can feel understood, supported, and even laugh along the way. Because being married to medicine doesn’t mean doing it alone.
So grab a coffee (or wine!), and let’s talk about the real side of life Behind The White Coat.
Behind The White Coat - Real Talk For Physician Spouses
#14| Summer Survival Guide for Med Spouses
Summer as a physician spouse presents unique challenges as we juggle solo parenting while our partners work full-time, but with the right approach, we can create magical moments amid the chaos. I'm sharing five practical strategies to help med spouses navigate summer while maintaining sanity and building meaningful family memories.
• Create weekly rhythms instead of rigid schedules—themed days provide structure without overwhelming
• Involve kids in planning by creating a summer bucket list of activities they want to do
• Document moments through shared photo albums or a "summer gratitude wall" to help include your working spouse
• Schedule self-care time, even if it's just an hour to yourself while trading childcare with a friend
• Lower expectations and prioritize joy over perfection—sometimes ice cream for dinner creates the best memories
• Find ways to include your spouse through shared photo albums and gratitude walls
• Plan one sacred family time each week, even if brief
• Let your spouse be the "fun parent" when they're home instead of loading them with chores
If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another med spouse who could use some solidarity. I'd love to hear your feedback, questions, or suggestions for future podcast topics or guests! You can DM me on Instagram or email me at: amanda@abtnhomes.com
Hello guys and welcome back to another episode, so happy to have you here Today. I want to chat a little bit about being married to medicine in the summer. It's magical, yet chaotic, and it's a sticky season that somehow feels both way too long and way too short. For most families, summer a lot of times means vacations, long weekends and lazy mornings, but for med spouses and partners it usually means juggling all the things while your partner is working full-time, sometimes overnight, and your home running camp chaos. So in today's episode I'm sharing real talk about summer as a physician spouse. I'm going to give you five simple ways to create joy and some ideas of how you can include your spouse even though they're not physically present, but also making the most of the season without completely losing your mind. So if that sounds good to you, let's dive in the reality check of summer as a med spouse. Let's be honest, it's just a little bit different. It hits different as a physician household. While your friends are headed to the lake house for a week, you're wondering if your partner is even going to make it home for dinner. Or if they are home for dinner, will they actually stay awake for dinner?
Speaker 1:One year, when I was home with my kids for the summer. I was like you know what? This is going to be an awesome summer. I am going to make a full-on schedule. I had it mapped out, timed out, I had themed days. I had scoured Pinterest for all these super cool activities. I also was like you know what? I'm going to create a chore chart, make them have responsibilities. And, honestly, you guys, by the second week it was a disaster. I mean, my house looked like a bomb had gone off. I think we were having cereal for dinner. We were just in survival and really the color coding thing as far as like chore charts and theme days just went out the window. So if your summer feels like that you're just in survival mode, sprinkled with some occasional sweet moments and great summer memories then I really feel like this episode is going to be for you. You can learn from all of my mistakes that I made. So I've got five tips or ideas to still make summer magical, even if you are doing it completely solo. The first one like I said, learn from my mistakes.
Speaker 1:So create a weekly rhythm instead of like a very strict and rigid schedule. So, instead of doing it down to the minute, you have this rhythm that gives your days shape but also allows room for flexibility, allows room for you to breathe. So try something like Monday is like library and an errand day, or Tuesday some sort of like water, whether it's the sprinkler, it's going to a neighborhood pool, the YMCA and so forth. I feel like my kids like to know what's going on and they thrive on a routine and a schedule and the predictability of it. But then you also want to have some flexibility for your sanity, because it's really hard to be the cruise director all the time and figuring out all of the entertainment. So have some sort of like themed mapped out for you and your week, but then have that flexibility so that you're not losing your mind.
Speaker 1:The second thing is involve your kids. Give them a little bit of ownership. Let the kids plan some of the summer adventures. Like we created a summer bucket list. Did we get everything done on our list? No, but let them kind of plan some of these mini adventures. Ask them something fun that they want to do in this summer, something they want to make, something they want to learn, and it could be simple, as like a scavenger hunt is one of my personal favorites my kids when they were younger loved, loved construction sites. They loved to watch diggers. We were so lucky because we actually had one in our neighborhood, because it was a newer neighborhood going under construction, so we'd get a Popsicle. We'd sit down the street across the way and we would just watch them dig and my kids could literally sit there for hours. So, no, it can be super simple, but involve them because I feel like they'd be so much more invested.
Speaker 1:The third idea would be maybe like a photo album on your phone or a summer gratitude wall with butcher paper. I think is really fun. So whether you take a quick video of some fun moments and also, I think, sometimes some of the meltdowns and the cries as much as you hate to see them upset, sometimes they make the best videos and they make the best photos and then you could do like a slideshow or a mini book. At the end you could look back at some of the gratitudes or their favorite things they wrote on their butcher paper wall. So not only do your kids love it, but I think your spouse would love it as well. They're able to see some of the fun memories. They're able to scroll through if they have time during the day and then that way they can ask the kids about some of their adventures. They could come home and read the gratitude summer wall and then add their own gratitude on there for the day, and then the kids can see your spouse's gratitude. So I feel like it's still a way for them to participate even if they're not there.
Speaker 1:The fourth thing that I wanted to say is make sure you are scheduling some self-care or mom time. You definitely need it, even if it's for an hour, whether it's walking with a friend. I remember feeling so empowered just to go grocery shopping by myself. So, again, it doesn't have to be anything major. You could swap with a friend to watch your kids while you watch their kids. But in order for you to have a better summer for everyone, you need to have some rest time. You need to be rested. So number five, I feel like, is a big one for you to lower the bar and raise the joy. So let go of some of those Pinterest perfect meals, pinterest perfect crafts, a super clean, organized home. Fun doesn't always have to be perfect and it doesn't always have to be fancy have a water gun fight, run through the sprinkler, dance in the rain with your clothes, letting them stay up late one night to watch a movie, having ice cream for dinner these are your core memories and at the end of the day, that's what summer is all about.
Speaker 1:So I touched base a little bit earlier on how do you include your spouse, even if they're at work. So the one was having some sort of shared photo album that you could put like photos and videos in. They could even take some funny face pictures of themselves at work. They could write a sign saying I missed you or I hope you're having a great day and upload it into the album. And then that gratitude, that summer gratitude wall, I think is really really great. Or even like summer wins, if they don't want to do like a gratitude wall, a summer win wall, where it's like all the awesome things that you've learned to ride a bike, to do a cannonball, to dive One of the kids learned to walk, got potty trained, and then, vice versa, the parents have their wind wall as well. So I think that it helps the partner connect when they're not home and it helps them reconnect faster when they are home because they're able to see those things going on and it's in like a non-guilt inducing way where they still feel really part of it.
Speaker 1:I do think you need to plan one family night each week, and when I say family night, I mean it loosely. It could be family morning, it could be a family midday, it could be for an hour, it doesn't matter what it is, but you're creating those moments. You can keep it super simple, yet it's super sacred. A board game you eat dessert first before dinner and then they go to bed right away. But you still have that fun dessert for dinner moment. You let your kids pick a dinner spot, you do a picnic outside, but that is your moment that you keep sacred. You keep simple, but you're adding to those cherished memories. And then let them be the fun parent.
Speaker 1:Don't give them a load of chores or honeydew lists when they come home, as much as you would like for them to knock through the things. You've been waiting for them to come home and work on. Let them take the kids out for a little bit. Go get donuts dessert on. Let them take the kids out for a little bit. Go get donuts dessert. Teach them a new game build a fort. But then it'll also allow you to have a little bit of that alone time as well. You have carried the ship, so now let them enjoy the crew. So know that you're doing better than you think.
Speaker 1:Summertime and alone time is hard, but it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be real. So if you're solo parenting more days than not, if your living room looks like a tornado and your kids are eating cereal for dinner which, by the way, one of my most favorite dinners you're still creating these memories. You're showing up, you're building a summer story that your kids can remember. Building a summer story that your kids can remember, maybe not in detail, maybe not perfect, but it's a feeling, and that feeling is what's going to carry that memory. So if this episode gave you some ideas, made you laugh, created questions, please send it on to another med spouse. Come back to me. If you have any feedback or any insight.
Speaker 1:I always love to hear, but just share it with somebody who needs a little sunshine, a little solidarity today. Know that we are in this together and I would love for you to send any comments, questions or potential podcast ideas or guest ideas. My way, I'm always looking for somebody new to host on the podcast. So, as always, thanks so much for joining me. Thank you so much for your time and until next time. That's a wrap on this episode of Behind the White Coat. I hope today's conversation left you feeling more understood and supported, and if you enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to subscribe, leave a review or share it with another physician spouse. Your support helps more of us to connect. Keep in mind, this podcast is for you, so let's keep this conversation going. Dm me on Instagram at Amanda Barron Realtor, with your thoughts, topic ideas, questions or even guest suggestions. I would really love to hear from you. Thanks for spending part of your day with me and remember you are never in this alone. See you next time.