9. CALENDARS AND CHAOS: MASTERING THE BUSINESS OF SCHOOL BREAKS AS A WORKING DEFAULT PARENT

Last week, we talked about the "golden window". That magical 9-4 slot where productivity is high and calendars are clean. This week? Reality hit. Between spring break, random teacher in-service days, and the never-ending cycle of school germs, that window doesn't just close, it disappears under a pile of laundry and snack requests.

Join Amanda and Lenicia for an honest conversation about what happens to your business when you’re forced to pivot from professional to full-time activities director overnight. We’re getting real about the juggle, the "tag-along" lifestyle, and how to keep your sanity when your office hours move to the splash pad.

In this episode, we explore:

• The IKEA Productivity Hack: How to leverage 60 minutes of childcare and a meal deal to reclaim an hour of your workday.
• Strategic Screen Time: Navigating the "iPad kid" debate and using technology as a tool for survival. Plus, how we deal with the inevitable mom guilt from opposite ends of the spectrum.
• Professional Transparency: The exact scripts we use to tell clients a kid is in the backseat without losing your professional edge.
• The Power of Trade-Offs: Why leaning on your "mom-munity" for childcare swaps is the ultimate summer business strategy.
• Financial Prep: Why saving for "fee season" and setting a survival minimum is crucial for navigating the ebbs and flows of the school year.

Grab your coffee, your tea, or your kid’s leftover juice box. It’s time for a reality check on balancing a thriving career with the unpredictable life of a parent.

Connect with Us:

• Instagram: @exploresacliving | @leniyourloanofficer

Shoutout to our listeners! Whether you’re in Ashburn, Virginia, Singapore, or right here in Sacramento, we want to hear from you. Reach out on Instagram and let us know what topics you want to hear us tackle next.

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Connect with Leni Lopez (Your Lender Bestie)
Instagram: @leniyourloanofficer
Ready to talk lending or get preapproved? Email her team: leni@hawkinshl.com
Website: LopezNguyen.com
Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS 1366630/225910
Hawkins Home Loans, Inc.

Connect with Amanda (Your Realtor Bestie)
Instagram: @exploresacliving
Email: amanda@exploresacliving.com
Website: Exploresacliving.com 
Curious about buying or selling in Sacramento County or beyond? Schedule a no pressure call: calendly.com/amandafreemanrealtor
Amanda Freeman | eXp | DRE 02150573

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Last week, we told you all about the golden window. 9-4, peak productivity, sharp as attack.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Yeah, we made it sound so organized. 5 30 a.m. starts. Clean calendars, beautiful energy blocks. We were thriving.

SPEAKER_05 0:14

Weren't we? And then the school calendar happened. Spring break happened. That random teacher in-service Monday that no one warned me about happened. And suddenly that golden window isn't just closed. It's been smashed by a baseball bat and covered in sticky handprints. Today we're getting real about what happens to the business when you're suddenly a full-time summer camp director who also happens to have a listing hitting the market at noon.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

We're talking about splash pad office hours, the iPad survival kick, and how to tell a client that you're with your kids without sounding like you've checked out of the industry.

SPEAKER_05 0:48

It's messy, it's loud, and it involves a lot of strategic screen time.

SPEAKER_03 0:52

Grab your coffee or your tea or your kid's leftover juice box, and let's get into it. This is your reality check on surviving the school breaks.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Welcome to Realty Check, the podcast about the real lives of agents, lenders, and moms who do it all. We're here for the honest conversations behind the business, the family, and everything in between. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_05 1:11

What's cracking, Amanda? Well, hello. Happy Thursday. We release these on Thursdays. And it is Thursday. And it is Thursday in real life. Wow. Meta. And oh, what were you gonna say?

SPEAKER_03 1:23

It's meta. Oh, wait, meta? Yeah, it's it means like wait.

SPEAKER_05 1:29

Sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

I'm using cool kids here.

SPEAKER_05 1:32

I feel like such an old millennial. What is meta?

SPEAKER_03 1:36

It's like when something's like meant to be serendipitous. Meta, meaning like uh when when something's supposed to be fake but like it's real. Like we're saying happy Thursday to them, meaning like for them it's Thursday when we're releasing it, but in actuality it's also Thursday. Okay. I don't I think I'm doing a very poor job. If there's a Gen Z person listening, just ignore me.

SPEAKER_05 1:58

Apparently they need to. I I I was about before you took us derivable meta, I was gonna say that we have officially been doing this podcast for four months. We have a solid four months under our belt. Happy four-month anniversary, my friend. Look at us. Ugh, this has been fun. And I feel like it's getting better and better and getting more and more chaotic and more and more um just like Gabby.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

It is. I I'm really enjoying it. I do enjoy the Gabby. Tell everyone about our podcast. Yes, you do. I shamelessly plug it everywhere and anywhere. Grocery store, doctor's appointments on a date. I don't care.

SPEAKER_05 2:40

I'll tell people I'm really excited about this. Uh, you know what? Also, I I can see some of our um like the stats of our podcast. Not everything, um, but I can see like where some people are listening from. And there is someone in, I think, Ashburn, Virginia, that listens to our podcast. Hey.

unknown 3:01

Hi.

SPEAKER_05 3:02

Shout out. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. Uh, and there's a couple other like places that pretty consistently listen in, but I am not, I don't know anyone from that area. And so if you are a constant listener, but you don't know us in real life and you don't live in the Sacramento area, or even if you do live in the Sacramento area, you should really reach out to us because we would love to put a face to the geotag on my data. I'd love to know who's listening and like coming back and actually enjoying our talks.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

That's so sweet. I know. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:42

I know. We can't even properly thank them. I all I can say is like, thank you, random person in Ashburn, Virginia. Oh, thank you. Or multiple peoples. Thank you. Maybe it's a listen party.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Let's think of it as like 20 people who get together and listen to all of the same time. That's what's happening in Virginia.

SPEAKER_05 3:56

And then you've got like we've got like Singapore. Yeah, we've got Singapore all the time.

SPEAKER_06 4:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 4:01

I don't know. It it could also be people who are trying to sell us stuff. Like, hey, I can edit your stuff for this amount of money, or like it could get those emails. It could also be a lot of people. But they're usually those are usually YouTube watchers, not podcast listeners.

SPEAKER_03 4:17

And I feel like it could also be people using VPNs, but I don't think someone that would use a VPN for Virginia.

SPEAKER_05 4:24

Well, it depends. Maybe it's like the the strongest connection and fastest. I don't know. These are all these are all questions. Well, anyways, welcome back. Yeah. We're thus stuff to have you. We're so happy to be here. We should um talk about crying and thriving. Yes. This is so apropos, since today this week we're going to be talking about how do we do it all while on break.

SPEAKER_03 4:49

Oh lord. We just lived it, my friend. We just lived it.

SPEAKER_05 4:53

We did. Uh which we'll get into that. But first, we're gonna talk about thriving versus crying. So how you how you doing, boo?

SPEAKER_03 5:00

You know what? I I think I told you this the other day. I was driving in my car and I was like, I feel really I feel like everything's working out. I feel like everything's falling into place, which is also a really scary feeling for someone who has ADHD because that means that I'm forgetting something.

SPEAKER_05 5:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

And so I've been constantly walking around wondering, what am I forgetting? What am I forgetting? But I think it's just that I'm just really falling into my groove. So I love that for you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 5:29

I also am a little panicked for you because I totally understand what you're saying. Yes. But we're gonna choose to believe that it just means you are a part of your groove.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Yeah, let's live in Lulu space. Yeah. Um, also, my little crying moment was earlier today. Um like just a few seconds ago. So this has happened multiple times now, where we plan on recording. I come here, for said recording, I eat her food, I drink her drinks because I just make myself at home here. And afterwards, she's like, Oh, are you ready to go? Where's your mic? And I looked at her and I said, Oh, it's in my car. And I look in my car and I don't see it. And I was like, Oh man, maybe I'm wrong. It wasn't my car. And I said, Hey, let me go put my dunce cap on and go head back home. I drive home, I throw my house upside down, and then I realized my mic is in my car.

SPEAKER_06 6:20

It was just in a spot that I had forgotten.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

On Monday, I was like, Oh, we're gonna record this week. I'm gonna put this in my car so I don't forget it. And I put it in there, completely forgot where I put it. And anyways, so that's me. If my head was not attached to it, my body probably wouldn't be here either.

SPEAKER_05 6:36

But um, we're here, we made it. Look, it just gave me time to actually set up because now we have like a special light, which is so funny because we get like all of two people who watch on YouTube. So most people just listen, they're not also watching it. But we've been like up in our game of of the stuff that we have that um to to make it more I don't know, official.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

Yeah, you know what, but also that helps us get in the right headspace, right? Yes, like having the camera, having the light, having the mics, it puts us in the right headspace of like, okay, this is what we're doing. Right. So I think it's worth it.

SPEAKER_05 7:13

Yeah, for sure. Um what are you up to?

SPEAKER_03 7:15

How are you feeling? Crying, thriving? Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_05 7:18

I am more crying than thriving. First, just be for all of those who are repeat listeners and are waiting with bated breath in the last two weeks since we last spoke. I have gotten I got my car. I received my Highlander, and it is better than I imagined it was gonna be. It is such it's a nice car. Leather seat. It has some features I'm jealous of. Uh like part of what my car does, like my favorite feature is that the back you can open up just the glass part. It's so cool. It's so nice for like we're in, we're deep in beast baseball season right now. So just being able to put the ball bags and the chairs and everything by just doing that and sort of opening the whole thing. I have accidentally hit the glass with the bat a couple of times, and that freaks me out a lot. But the actual, I don't know, the way that it that it opens that back window is like so nice. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

And it's got three-row seating. Oh my gosh. So that when you have your extra child, aka my child.

SPEAKER_05 8:23

Mm-hmm. We test we test drove that um last week, and that worked out well. Um actually, the car must be a little bit wider because your child fit very well in between my two children, as opposed to on the way to our destination. I I tried out the third row seat, and your poor kid, like it was just like the top of the hair, just like a wave. Like, hello here.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

He's so short. Oh, bless her.

SPEAKER_05 8:53

That's all right. It was good. It was so I put him between the two kids on the way back, and there was plenty of space. So it's just like, ugh, I love it. So that's thriving, but crying, oh gosh. I just, it's never-ending sickness over here.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

I feel like this whole year so far, I feel like it's just been run-on, run-on.

SPEAKER_05 9:15

Yeah, I mean, it hasn't felt I I don't know, maybe I just am forgetting when once they are over. But um my son has been sick. He's been sick for like, well, he was sick before we just had our spring break. He was sick before spring break. I had to keep him home from school. And then on and off throughout all of spring break. And then right the last part of the weekend before coming back from spring break, his fever spiked. And so then we had to like go into the doctor and get on antibiotics, and like it was like a whole thing. And so then he had to, he didn't go back to school once school started backing up. But we are finally on day five of five for antibiotics. I need to remember to give them to him after we're done recording this, and he's back at school, and so that's all good. And so, right when he's all the way better. It's been like what now to almost uh today is two weeks. Two weeks of since his first awful day. And guess who woke up this morning? Who was up half the night and woke up this morning complaining of the same things? My head hurts, my legs hurt, my whole body hurts, my I have a I my I can't all of the same symptoms. And I'm like, sweet, sweet second, second kid in a row. I'm crying a little bit because I am not looking forward. And then my husband woke up sick this morning, came home from work early today. I have a feeling he'll be home from work tomorrow, like working from home, probably taking the day off just to rest. And so I'm just like, uh, I just I just want to break from sickness. And the the okay, the saddest thing is now that I am at a gym that has daycare, which is fantastic, especially for breaks. So we're gonna talk about that. But now that I'm at a gym with daycare, it is like just part of my routine that I am consistently going to the gym. But I have not been able to go because I'm not taking my sick kids there and then getting a bunch of other kids sick. No. So um, I've been suffering by not having my gym routine. So just crying, just crying for all the things over here, but it's okay. I'll get through it. We always do. We're gonna have our gym rat summer, don't you worry. I can't wait. And also, we you discovered that like IKEA has like Heck, yeah, it does. Okay, so for tell people who may have an Ikea, who may have kids and an IKEA somewhat near them. I don't know, is it our IKEA only or is it across the board? Across the board. All IKEA's. Okay, so listen to the case.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

Most IKEA- Most Ikeas. Parent tip. Parent tip here. IKEA, they offer 60 minutes of child care. You have to stay on premises. But on Wednesdays currently, kids get you can get up to two free kids' meals with the purchase of an adult meal. That's so nice. So, so what you can do, this is a great hack, on a Wednesday, if you have the kids, you go and get lunch with them, you get them their food, then after they eat, you put them back in childcare for one hour, and you go upstairs and you just work on your laptop. Yeah. For an hour.

SPEAKER_05 12:39

I mean, it will be hard not to also shop from time to time, but I mean, I guess if we're doing it on a weekly basis, that it'll be we can we can avoid shopping and it's not like we're being awful.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

We we we purchased food. Right. We purchased a meal.

SPEAKER_05 12:55

I mean, part of me has also thought about, I mean, I really do like working out though when I go to the gym. So I it's not like I don't want to work out, but I have been thinking about like, okay, what if I just went and sat in the sauna for a little bit and then took the rest of my daycare time to do work or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

Well, I just found out about a daycare in the uh what is it, Rockland area? Okay. It's like, yeah, in Rockland area. There is a gym there that offers like I think it's from like nine to two.

SPEAKER_05 13:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:31

Daycare.

SPEAKER_05 13:32

Oh, the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

The whole time.

SPEAKER_05 13:34

They're not, they don't, they don't there's no time limit. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

So another real estate agent was telling me about this earlier today or yesterday.

SPEAKER_05 13:41

I don't want to go all the way to Rockland, but that's pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

That was my thought though. I'm like. Is there another one that's closer by? I know, I know. Yeah. We're talking about surviving the breaks. Or apparently just after school. Honestly and truthfully, surviving maybe be too much. We are crawling our way through these times.

SPEAKER_05 14:00

Yeah, what's the what's the level below survival? Like barely a pulse.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Barely sustaining life.

SPEAKER_05 14:09

Well, yeah, I mean, last week we talked about, or two weeks ago, we talked about well, the golden window. And I don't think we used that phrase, but I love the phrase for what it was. Yeah, it is. Essentially the golden window of having our peak hours, using energy blocking, like using time before the kids wake up or after they go to bed, and just what our day-to-day looks like in normalcy.

SPEAKER_03 14:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 14:39

But we don't always get that golden window. No. Right? So spring break, summer, in-service days, sick days, like these are all winter breaks. Winter breaks. These are all times when our plan goes to shit. So today we want to talk.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

What are you gonna say? I was gonna say, and we talk about normalcy, quote unquote, but when you count all of that together, I know. That is still more than half the year.

SPEAKER_05 15:05

Yeah, it's like 30 to 40% of the year. Yeah. Easy. Easy. So it's more of breaking this whole scheduling and we're we are breaking the illusion that it's just this beautiful set schedule every single day, and just being real with you of okay, so last time we talked about ideal and like what we like to shoot for. And today we want to talk about the other.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

The other. Oh. This is the time when we I like what you said before. You said we become full-time camp directors and business owners. I was like, yeah, that is that is literally what happens. Yeah. Um, and you know, thinking of this, you know, maybe I should say this related, but I want to say this now. Say it. I don't know if I could survive my summers if it wasn't for leaning on my community. Yes. I know I bring up community almost every single episode, but I really just want to drive that home.

SPEAKER_05 16:08

Well, if people for for those who are in a similar life stage to us, to a similar workflow to us, that that is the key though. Like when people say, Well, what's the key to success? It's leaning on your community. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

So I think it's appropriate to talk about it now. I just like I I lean on my community like crazy. Like, even just having you, even if we're just co-working together and the kids are just running amok together, yeah, that's helpful.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

And so I I just um the first thing I want to say is neither of us have family. Our fam our parents, our family do not live close by. Right. We do not have like aunts, uncles, grandparents to lean on in that that respect.

SPEAKER_05 16:51

Yeah, I have my father-in-law, but his time is limited and he's living his own life. And you know, so yes, he is available. He took the kids for five hours yesterday, and that was fantastic, but it's not uh a reliable. I think that there are some people who have reliable weekly daycare from family, and that's just not our totally, and and I'm not gonna lie, I get pretty envious of it.

SPEAKER_03 17:16

Yeah. Um, being very real with all of you, um, I was picking up my kiddo from school the other day, and I ran into a grandparent, and I was like, oh hey, and they're like, they're like, oh, they were talking, and I was like, Oh, you're so involved. And they're like, Yeah, we take care of the grandchild, we pick up three times a week, and the other grandparents pick them up two times a week. And like, I mean, to be honest, that's amazing. That is amazing for that kid. It's amazing for that kid that it has like grandparents on both ends that are so involved. Love it for them, hate it for us. Hate it for me. I know. I'm like, is there any like 60, 50, 60 plus older person who's not a creeper that wants to like become my child's grandparent?

SPEAKER_05 18:01

Like, come on, I would love some help like that. I know, it's so true. Um, but that's why we gotta lean on each other, right? Exactly. And uh, like even today, I needed to hop on a call and it was not your pickup day for your child at school, but you still were right there and ready and willing and able to pick up my child for me from school so that uh I didn't have to leave that meeting early or have to deal with like listening to it while driving to school type situation.

SPEAKER_03 18:33

Absolutely, absolutely. It was it was like a non-question when you said that text. I was like, Yeah, I can do it. And then like 10 minutes later, you were like, Wait, I just realized you're not picking up that dance. I was like, I don't care. I that's fine. Yeah, I appreciate you. Uh so anywho, so we have we are smashing the the idea of normalcy and showing you guys what it looks like during the non-normal hours.

SPEAKER_05 18:57

Yeah, and it's messy, right? Like so super messy. And it's it's always evolving. I think that's the other thing is that you can't be super strict on what you expect for it to look like, or you're gonna fail. So, like, you know, you and I have we've started to put a plan together for what is it gonna look like for summertime. Yeah. Because we are kind of the primary community here of like our our little ecosystem of figuring out working with our kids, and our kids get along like siblings, sometimes a little bit too well, like siblings, and and um and so figuring out okay, like this is gonna be our daily cadence, this is gonna be our weekly cadence, taking advantage of community resources. So taking advantage of um, you know, lunches that are provided at the library. I have a feeling doing that. I think that we will be doing the IKEA trick. We're gonna be utilizing the gym and uh and then also like uh a um like um city resources and like using the city resources as far as like pool access or whatever it might be where we can commune together and have some sort of distraction for the kids where we can fit in our work to pockets of time.

SPEAKER_03 20:22

Absolutely, and and even on top of that stuff, I know there's larger scale things that you could look into, right? Like summer camps and things like that. Yeah, but summer camps are so expensive, they're so expensive, and they're only at this age that we have children of, they're only from nine to twelve. Right. So you're telling me that I have to I have to get my child ready, take them to a place at nine, and then I I I am not there, I have to find somewhere to work. So I'm probably having to drive home just to drive back in like less than a few hours. Yeah. And then it's and then it's re-acclimating my child to the to the house. No, and then on top of it, again, these kids get sick. So then I'm just paying for the summer camp when my child's sick. Right.

SPEAKER_05 21:08

No, it's it's insanity. It's insanity. Yeah. And it's really, really expensive. It's so expensive. It is so expensive. And I I get that like that's again, if that's what's available to someone and that's what they can use to get work done, then that's what they have to use. I think that the interesting thing about these breaks is it kind of shows the difference between you and I of I am supplemental income for our family, whereas you have to, like you are primary breadwinner for your family as a single parent. Yeah. Because for me, when I look at breaks, I I want to put this ideal schedule together, this ideal, like chaotic schedule together. And I want it to include the Where we are communing with other families, and you know, you get it, it's like prospecting, if you will, with while built into hanging out with the kids and stuff. But I am not bending over backwards. If my kids are causing me extra stress during the summertime, then I am I am pulling it back. And we are doing you know, calm days at home, and we're not going out and we're just chilling, and and I am following our family uh the energy, again, going back to energy blocking. I'm following the energy ebbs and flows of my family because while I am continuing to build my my business, we our kids are still pretty young. Yeah. And so for me, I am in a privileged position where I can kind of do the ebbs and flows there, which is different from your situation.

SPEAKER_03 22:53

Yeah, I'm I I I am I am mommy. I have to provide. I, you know, I so when I think of summers, unfortunately, like and and and you know, I think it's a mixture of both things, right? Like I want my child to enjoy their summer break, but at the same time, I know I need to bring in money, right? Yeah and so it's finding those things that and how that can like blend together and work well.

SPEAKER_05 23:35

Um and remembering the the three months lead time for prospecting as well. Like you're gonna have a busy summer because you've been able to prospect the three months prior to summer, but you either need to be preparing for things to be a little bit slower in the beginning of the school year, or you gotta power through and find ways to get business and prospect.

SPEAKER_03 24:00

I think the only way to survive in this in this industry is to prepare. Yeah. So you know, um, I think that I usually have really good strong beginning of the year. I would say my my first two quarters of the year are really, really strong.

SPEAKER_05 24:13

Which means that you were going hard your last quarter of the year.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Yeah, or just it's just maybe how my market and my ebb is. Okay. Maybe I don't know. I feel like I go pretty hard no matter what. But that's very true. You don't know how not to. So how my brain works is I have to do it, right? Like, and if I stop doing something, then it falls I I literally will stop doing it.

SPEAKER_06 24:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:34

So um, so I have to I I'm for someone who says that they don't like routines, I am very routine oriented. Um and so if if I don't do it, I will stop doing it completely. Okay. And so I have to feel like I have to continue to do it. But anyhow, when it comes to finances, I try my best to put I I'm a little bit of a penny pincher in the beginning of the year. Like I'm I'm putting a lot of my income away right now to not because like I'm saving for anything, it's just because I don't know what's gonna happen, right? Like I there could just be a time where like the market changes, like even if I'm right right now.

SPEAKER_05 25:09

I uh if you think about what's going on and with the uncertainty in on the global scale, yeah, and the fact that uh rates were below six for a very short, short, short period of time and you were slammed. Yeah, and now we're closer to seven again or you know, six and a half. I don't know. We're I don't we're somewhere around there, somewhere where you're not getting as many people who are knocking on your door.

SPEAKER_03 25:34

Yeah, no, that's absolutely true. And so that's why, you know, if you are in this industry, I just want to remind you like even if the income is going great, please be prepared to put that money away. Yeah. Like for me, finding out what my minimum needed to needed to survive on was really important. Um, I'm a really big proponent of having a year's a year set aside. Yeah. So um, and and and and maybe that's not realistic right now for you, but you should start for three months. Start, you know, start one month, start three months, then go to six months, then go to year.

SPEAKER_06 26:03

Right.

SPEAKER_03 26:04

But having your minimum needed to survive is really important in our industry to have on hand. Um, because you just don't know what's gonna happen, right?

SPEAKER_05 26:11

Yeah, I have a similar again flip switching to someone who is supplemental income. Yeah. My I I do a similar thing, but for mine, it is a um making sure like I have a certain amount that I want for the fees for the year. So that you know, I'm not stressing about fees throughout the year. So my little savings account, instead of an amount to survive, it's an amount to cover fees, like an amount to if that makes sense. So uh yeah. So it's a smaller little uh but still nonetheless preparing yourself. But still same concept of preparing, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:46

Or even like we you and I have talked about going to a conference in October, right? Like making sure we have enough money set aside for those things, right? Right. And you know, I have a kid that I want to give a good life to, and so you know, it's like that duality of like, okay, I want to save money, but I also want to enjoy things, and I want to go to camps and I want to like camp and I want to like go on trips and like making sure that I can afford all those things.

SPEAKER_05 27:08

Speaking of, yeah, can we pivot a little bit? Tell me because you are doing a couple of camps this summer. I am. Uh I I I would love to hear how you use that as prospecting time, or like I mean, you I don't know. It doesn't it just you you in general, just you just open your mouth and it doesn't matter who you're talking about. It is 100% prospecting time, baby. You're going to a family camp. Going to a family camp uh once. Once. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:39

You're going to a family camp once. And while you will know some people there, I will know at this moment, I will know one other family. Okay. But why do I have a feeling that you're gonna come back with like five new clients? I hope so. Yeah. And then also on top of in like a scammy way. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 27:56

Because it's not scammy, it's really just like the way that you do business. Yeah. But on top of it being prospecting time, I see this as a great time for me to get work done. Which sounds crazy to people, right? Oh, I could see that. Yeah. You don't usually think of going to camp as a time to get work done, but hey, if there's Wi-Fi and my kids able to play with other kids, that leaves time for me to get work done.

SPEAKER_05 28:17

And it's a great opportunity as well for you to have that duality, right? Where he gets to see mama is a working mom and I work hard so that we can do things like this, even when we are here, but also we get to have a lot of fun together. And it's your summer break, and we're taking this special time to do this for you.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

And then, you know, I also find time throughout the year to have those things too. Um, I mentioned before that I went on a trip last year uh in December to Colorado.

SPEAKER_05 28:51

Oh, yeah. And the infamous 30 hours without Wi-Fi story.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

30 hours without Wi-Fi. I was not prepared for that. So I will tell you, if it's a trip without Wi-Fi, I'm probably saying no to it right now with like really hunkering down on this like single income lifestyle. Yeah. But um if it's a trip and there's Wi-Fi, you bet your booty I'm going on it, okay? I don't know why. Business always gets way better for me when I'm trip.

SPEAKER_05 29:17

Also, I told you about this October trip, and it was just like we're so we're gonna go to EXP Con. So if you Did you hear that?

SPEAKER_03 29:24

She said we're going.

SPEAKER_05 29:25

So if you are with EXP and you're going to EXP Con in Salt Lake City uh in October, then hit us up so that we can like get drinks or go get get dinner or something. That would be so much fun. But uh, she's coming to EXP Con with me. And um and from the first day where I have said to her, like, okay, if it's in the funds, if it's in the budget, if we can make this happen, like this is what I want to do. And you've been like, We're doing it, bitches. Like day one. You've been like, stop saying if. It's like when. So now we have we've um got we have our hotel secured. Yep. So the next thing, uh, next closing I have, I'm paying for the uh for flights. So that's what we're gonna focus on is flights. Yeah, we're doing it. Yeah, we're going. We are. We're going. Now we've like put it out there. So if we do have any EXPers that listen, we have to and they're like, oh yeah, I'm gonna see you there. So now we're like, we have to go now.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Oh this makes me so happy. This makes me so happy. Um, I wanted to say there's something that you and I talked about. We talked about, you know, you know, we talked about taking uh advantage of the community resources and different free things around us. Yes. We talked about leaning on your community. There's something we haven't talked about, which you and I try our best to be very tactical. Tactical tactful with it? Wait, tell me tactical with it. What? The big old black box that sits in our living rooms, the TV, screen time.

SPEAKER_05 31:25

Yeah, and you and I have different, you and I have different outlooks on using the tool because we have different kids with different personalities. Yeah. Um but we both use it. Yes. Technology, iPad kids, summer kids.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

So I I told I think I mentioned this in our last episode, but I'm very strategic with so I a lot, 30 minutes a day of screen time for my child, and I'm very strategic with it. I usually try and time it to when I need to either get work done or have a phone call. Right. And so during the summer, it gets or during breaks.

SPEAKER_05 32:02

Yeah, what does that look like for you? Do you increase your time or do you just live in misery?

SPEAKER_03 32:08

I do not increase my time, and sometimes I I revoke it.

SPEAKER_05 32:12

Oh god. Is it is masochist the one that like likes to be heard? Oh my god. It sounds like you're a masochist to me.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

It's because I don't want him to become addicted to it. He has the personality of me. Like, he has the personality of me. I'm addicted to my screen. I'm addicted to my phone, okay? I will be the I am addicted to both of my phones, okay? If both if either of my phones are missing from hands distance, I'm freaking out, okay? My child is the same way. Okay. They love TV. They talk about TV so much.

SPEAKER_05 32:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

And I just true. I just it and you've seen how they how he gets when it comes to turning it off sometimes.

SPEAKER_05 32:55

Yeah. Oh, he he so he has days that he comes over after school, and you know, at first it was like, okay, we're gonna play for a little bit and then we're gonna have some TV time. And I like I felt guilty taking the TV time away because I was like, this is like his special, like, this is part of like, you know, being over here. This is why he likes coming over here, and it's like fine, and my kids watch a ton of TV anyway. But I realized uh that we pretty much can't. I mean, it might change when it's cold out, and they I can't just throw them outside. But for the most part, I've nixed TV from our house on the days that he's here.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

Yeah, yeah. So this last spring break, it's it was one week, right? So f like Monday Monday through Friday. Yeah. Two of the days we did not watch any TV because one of the day the day before, if we watched a movie. Oh, okay. So it took extra screen time. So it was extra screen time. We watched a movie and he became a gremlin. He became a demon. He acted like I fed him after midnight.

SPEAKER_06 33:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

Like he just like honestly became crazy. And I was like, all right, that's the attitude. Then we're just gonna, we're gonna cut off TV for a few days. Yeah. So we went two days without TV. Yeah. And you would think that's a punishment for him? No. Because now he gets special time with mom. It's a punishment for me. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 34:12

Yes, I cringe. I see, that's the this is this is the thing, right? Is like I am not strong enough to do that because I get so overstimulated that I'm like, get out of my space, go watch your screens, like get out of here. Uh we are a very screen-heavy house, but and and I could be oblivious, and you're allowed to tell me if you observe otherwise, but my kids are pretty easy to move away from screen.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

They're very easy to move away from it.

SPEAKER_05 34:43

Yeah. So, like, you know, we'll have a show on in the background, or they'll have, they'll watch, like, they've got oh my god. There's this YouTube family. We are in the wrong, we are in the wrong industry. If we could exploit our kids on YouTube, like some of these families.

SPEAKER_03 35:01

I really wish I didn't have a conscience.

SPEAKER_05 35:03

Then we could make so much money. But there's this family on YouTube, and they have a song that they sing about like I'm not gonna say exactly, I don't want to sing the ditty. Well, just like I I I I can't like I I I can hear it in the back of my mind, but I don't have the words to it. But both kids have been playing it on repeat. It's about like being a part of the fun squad. And um, and it's like super innocent, it's super cute, it's you know, whatever, but not cute when you're hearing it 10 times in a row. And then my daughter, she'll just go there and she's watching it on her iPad, and she'll just go, I'll see her lip syncing because she's trying to learn the words to it. So cool. And then my son will will auto will um airplay it from his iPad to the TV, and then they're in the family room dancing along to it, and I'm like, oh my god, get me out of here. I love that. It's adorable, except it's also super overstimulating. That's true. Uh, but no, I I think I don't even know what the point of that was. I think that, you know, they they watch a variety of things on their iPads, and uh, and so I'm just like, you know, we we keep an eye on what they're watching, but uh if I need them, if I need sp like right now, my son was interrupting like crazy when you were trying to record. And I just finally had to be like, you need to go and watch your iPad, and then I will tell you when we're done recording, and you can come be back part of the family. But like, I can't have you like sitting right here right now.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Oh man. See, these are the weird things that I get mom guilt about. I know that sounds crazy, but I get mom guilt about this.

SPEAKER_05 36:48

What are you getting mom guilt? Because I feel like I get mom guilt about it, but we're getting mom guilted for like the complete opposite.

SPEAKER_03 36:55

We are getting we both feel mom. This is we all feel mom guilt. This is so insane. I feel mom guilt constantly. Okay, very vulnerable. Somebody called me a boring mom last week.

SPEAKER_05 37:06

Insane because that person obviously has no understanding of what it takes to have your kids not watch electronics. Because you have to be like, I am the boring mom because all I do is hand them a tablet and say, Go and have You're not the boring mom. But I was called you at seven in the morning are painting with your child and we do paint a lot in the morning. Dancing around the house. Like, that is the opposite of boring, but okay.

SPEAKER_03 37:37

It's called the story. I was called a boring mom. And then it made me feel really guilty. Like, what if my kid is gonna be that weird kid growing up that doesn't understand any of like the sayings or doesn't understand like the pop culture references that it's boring talking about.

SPEAKER_05 37:54

My kids will make sure that he is aware of.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

But you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 37:58

I'm just like, what if my kid's that weird kid who's like, I don't know, my mom doesn't let me watch TV. He only lets my mom only lets me watch educational or low stimulus shows.

SPEAKER_05 38:07

Okay, listen, okay, I've I've told you about Michael's uh growing up, right? Like that he was not really it was like the same thing where they could watch PBS like once or twice a week or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 38:19

And uh ca his We do, I do have PBS passport everywhere.

SPEAKER_05 38:23

No, but you do. Uh so you know, and his mom was a teacher, and so she was very strict with um with the with electronics. And candidly, you know, I I met my husband when he was when we were freshmen in college, and it kind of backfired on his parents as soon as he came to college because that boy was in front of the TV all day, every day in the freshman. That's what I'm worried about. But but that was not the point of the story. The point of the story was um he was missing out on cultural experiences because there was no uh no DVR or anything, right? And all of his buddies at school were watching WWE and like I think it was what is it Thursday night? Is WWE so or Wednesday night? So they're watching WWE, coming to school the next day, they're all talking about it. And um, and he was feeling really left out. And so he had to, he came up with a with like some sort of agreement with his parents to say, like, hey, you know, I'm like, I don't want to get bullied or whatever he said, you know, like I I want, I want to, I'm missing out on peak peer interactions by not being able to watch WWE. And his parents did make an exception and he started to watch WWE so that he could be a part of the school uh community, the the boy talk. And uh I just I see that as you would be very similar, like you are so so tuned in and wanting to do right by your son that if he came to you and was like, mom, all the other kids are watching WWE, I'm the only one not, you would be like, Okay, let's talk about this, let's see how we can make this work. Absolutely. Like you would not be there being like, No, it's only PBS until you're 18 and you leave the house.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Yeah, no, that that'd be crazy. That'd be really funny. Um yeah, instead of my child going crazy at parties, he's just gonna be like binging TV and video games in college, that's sad.

SPEAKER_05 40:19

Um, it's it's it's it's both. Then then my husband joined a fraternity and a lot of partying.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

So um so, anyways, I'm just moral of the story is no matter what you end up doing with your child during spring break, you're gonna have mom guilt, and it's okay. We all do.

SPEAKER_05 40:37

Isn't it insane that we are pretty much exactly the opposites, but we both experience like not exactly the opposites, but there are like when it comes to screens, we are pretty, pretty opposite, and both of us have guilt around it.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Yeah, that's insane. No, it's but it's real and it's true. And but like I said, I I use screen time as strategic time of when I can talk to clients, right? And so you know, talking about and working around that, how do you how are you explaining to clients? Because maybe we're doing it differently, maybe we're doing the same, but like I so when I have an initial phone call with a client, very first first phone call, I try not have any sounds for my child whatsoever. So that's that is a screen time time time. So but during that phone call, the initial call, I say, here this is my direct cell. Feel free to call or text me anytime. Just know that my kid, when you call, my kiddo might be with me and you might hear someone in the background.

SPEAKER_05 41:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:44

And that's kind of how I word it. Yeah. How are you wording that?

SPEAKER_05 41:47

Um, pretty similarly, pretty similarly. I think that the clients who I work with, most of them either because they follow me on social media or they listen to the podcast or they know me from mom groups, like they know I have kids, and that is actually what humanizes me to them. Yeah. And so there's also that expectation, like there's a a pretty clear, if you know that someone has a three-year-old or a four-year-old, it's the chances are high that that person is gonna, that child is gonna be a tag-along. And so uh there's there's a pretty I I have the conversation in the beginning, and um just like you, I try my best to have the kids not uh within earshot, but that doesn't always work. But it's very much a conversation of like just hey, my kid might be at some of the showings, or you know, I it just depends, like for a listing, I'm not gonna have my kid at the listing appointment. I'm not gonna have my kid at the open house because for me, like I can do an open house, my my husband doesn't work weekends. Other people, they might have their kids at the open house on a tablet in the corner. That's fine. That's I just I'm not gonna have my kid at the listing appointment. I'm not gonna have them at the open house. They are tagging along a lot of times at pre-inspections, they are tagging along if we need to check anything uh for the property. Like uh my daughter and I went up to my latest listing this week because the sellers are so cute and they're like, they're they're like the place is immaculate, and they're like, hey, if you're not busy today, I know that we have two two um tours scheduled today. Can you swing by and just make sure that everything looks good for the for the showings? And I was like, they're like, We're probably I'm probably being a perfectionist, and I'm like, I know you're being a perfectionist, I know that you're because like your baseline is like way higher than anyone else. But I was like, my daughter and I, we will zoom on up and we'll take a look at it. And so we went up there and it was great and fine. Um but yeah, that's just I there there is a lot of tag alongs.

SPEAKER_03 44:02

Yeah, yeah. I I ta my child tags along to a lot of things too. I mean, fortunately, the brokerage that I worked for was founded from a working single mom.

SPEAKER_05 44:11

So which go back and listen to interview number one with Lori Hawkins if you want to hear that story.

SPEAKER_03 44:18

Me telling her, hey, yeah, let's have a pipeline meeting or but my kid's gonna come, she is all for it. And so that's really helpful. And it's also helpful that she has six grandchildren around his age. Yeah. So, you know, if she's which she babysits during summers because her she has working kids, um, I can just Throw my child in with the mix of them.

SPEAKER_05 44:38

The funny thing is the harder one right now is my oldest. So like if he if I have a showing and it's after school or during a break or something like that, he's the one that's not listening. If I say, you guys will stay put, you're not gonna walk around during this listing, this showing, like you need to be calm. I need you to on your iPad, sit on the stairs. And he's zooming around the house, like, oh, I want to go upstairs. Oh, what does this light do? Oh, does that and oh my god. Very appropriate for a six-year-old, but very stressful for me when I'm trying to show homes. So again, I I also give choices to my clients. So sometimes I'll say because I to me, sometimes I do want my kids not present for for a showing, but we might also be crunched on we have to see this listing or we have to see this sh uh property now because it might be gone tomorrow. So I give them the option. I'm like, hey, I can we can see it tonight, but I'm gonna have to bring my kids with me. It might be a little chaotic. I might not be able to look over the house as in detail as I would like to, but we can get in, we can see it. Or we can wait until tomorrow when my kid is in school and it'll be a little bit calmer, and then I can send them to the grandparents or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 46:00

So I'm definitely so my kiddo goes to their uh their other parents' house uh every other Thursday through Sunday. And so those are my like peak energy days. That's when I'm trying to get all of my stuff done as much as possible. I would say that I I don't think I have a problem getting work done with my child home, but it's just like the other things, like the errand running that becomes really hard.

SPEAKER_05 46:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

Especially because I have to run all of the errands, right? Right?

SPEAKER_05 46:47

You can't wait for your spouse to get home or your partner to get home. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 46:50

So, like for instance, my kiddo went today to their to their other parents' house. And so that means that tomorrow I'm gonna be making all my grocery runs. Like I'm out of milk right now, and so I've just been out of milk for the past three days. Like I wasn't gonna, there was no way I could find time. Yeah. And so now that they're gonna be there, now I can do all my grocery runs, I can do this, do that. And so those become a little bit harder during the summer because they're but I still take advantage of those days as much as possible.

SPEAKER_05 47:17

Uh, I know you're still in your first year of figuring this out. Um is the plan for summer to keep the schedule the same? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 47:29

I yes. Yes. Nice. Okay, I have thoughts. Um and that is why, my friends, I lean on community, and that is why I go to camps. Um and that is why I go to IKEA. And also strategic play dates. So I have a few. I have a few mom friends. Like these are people that I have become friends with, and our kids are of close age or the same exact age. Like, shout out Muddy Soul, love you. Um she has no problem with me being like, hey, can we come over for a play date?

SPEAKER_05 48:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:03

And I'll just like show up and I and I can just bring my laptop and I can work.

SPEAKER_05 48:07

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:08

While the kids play.

SPEAKER_05 48:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:09

And it's not like I'm checking out completely, but we're both watching the kids, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_05 48:13

No, that's helpful. And I there are times that we do that too, and I love it. Um, there are also times that my introvert self will be like, I just need it calm and my kids to be on their tablets and to not have anything today.

SPEAKER_03 48:28

Which I can also see us doing the during the summer is like trading days even. Yeah. Where like your kids come to my house for a few hours, and then another day my kid comes to your house for a few hours.

SPEAKER_05 48:37

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

And so, because yeah, your kids have a great time at my house. And we do. They do. And and your kid has a great time at my house. I mean, your kids don't like my food, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_05 48:48

My kids don't like any food. It's not a it's not a you thing.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

It's a one thing. I think that I just what? I think I just forget what kids eat sometimes. Yeah, because you're bougie. Bougie is okay, guys. I will admit when it comes to food, I'm a little bougie. And so I'm like, I'm like admitting, I'm like, oh, you're c you you're hungry here. I have some some orzo made with homemade chicken broth and some of this with this, and the kids are looking at me like, what the hell is she saying to us?

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:22

And my child's just like yum yum yum yum yum. And I'm just like, you want cereal? Trying to think of other things that children eat. I got applesauce, I got cereal.

SPEAKER_05 49:32

I got all the things that can air fry in my house, and you're over here making like orzo from scratch. Uh, I do love orzo. I know. Orzo's great, guys.

SPEAKER_03 49:40

Shout out Cordy Brothers for having really good orzo selection. You're funny.

SPEAKER_05 49:44

Talk to me. I've I've mentioned, maybe I didn't mention, but like, how do you frame? I have my funny story of like once my son said to me, like, gosh, mom, you're just always on your phone. I think it was we I had parked somewhere like at the park or something. I said, wait, wait just a second, I gotta finish this email and then we can get out and we can go play, or whatever it was. Or we might have still been in our driveway before we left for the park. And he's like, Oh, you're just always on the phone. And I snapped at him and I was like, You're lucky that your mom is here on the phone right now because me being here on this phone means that I also get to be the one that takes you to the park. Because he was like saying, like, dad is never like on his phone all the time when he's with us. I'm like, I get to be here working on my phone and take you to the park. Your dad gets to sit at the office worth frickin' quiet the whole day and doesn't have to do this and doesn't have to mentally juggle juggle all of the things, like your mom. I think I said your mom is a superwoman. And he was like, okay, fine. Um anyway, all that's to say, how do you frame it to your kid? Is he at an age where you can start having those conversations?

SPEAKER_03 50:57

Because mine's a couple years older than me. Maybe I shouldn't do it, but I want 100% tell my child, yep, I have to go to work because that's what pays for our house, and that's what pays for the groceries, and that's what pays for our vacations. And like, I I'll tell my child that it's honest truth. I'm not explaining hardships of money, yeah, but I do explain that money does pay for these things. Right. Right. Um, and I get a lot of like he I will say that he's getting a lot better at explaining his opinions and like and his feelings than he did was earlier because before, when I was on my phone too much, quote unquote, like when I was on my phone too much, he would just start acting out. Right. But I think now he's doing a way better job and we've communicated about it a lot, but like of being like, hey, can you put your phone down and pay attention to me for a little bit? So like the fact that he's using those words now, yeah, and then what I do is like, yeah, I'm gonna pay attention to you, I'm gonna put a timer for 10 minutes. Yeah. And then I'll pay attention to him for 10 minutes straight, not looking at my phone. But then he knows that when the timer's up, I have to get back to my phone.

SPEAKER_05 51:57

I need to start using a timer with my daughter because she, like my son, I don't want to say he was easy, but like the thing that entertains him is the iPad. Yeah. Whereas my daughter would much rather be playing Barbies, and she wants people to play with her. And it's first of all, playing dolls is not my thing. Like, it's just not my thing. I I was a book reader growing up. I never liked playing dolls, and so of course I have a daughter who loves it.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

And I have a child that wants to play superheroes, and I don't I don't want to play superheroes.

SPEAKER_05 52:28

No, no. So I need to start using a timer with her because I I want to give her what she needs, what she's asking for. I want her to have good memories of her mom. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Um, but also it's a lot, and so yeah, I just I I know myself. I will start having crazy anxiety if I'm like away from like working and not actually like getting work done. Because like I said, I told before, I'm like a potato person, like hot potato. As soon as it goes in my inbox, I want it out.

SPEAKER_05 52:55

Well, I I just got a text that I have uh I have an offer in my inbox. And I like want to look at it so bad. I'm like, nope, we gotta finish this episode first. I know right, but it is.

SPEAKER_03 53:05

And so it's just setting that timer of being like, yes. Because like when a little four-year-old's coming up to you saying, Can you put your phone away? I want to spend time with you. It's like heart-wrenching. Damn. Okay, yes, I will put my phone away. Let me set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer's up, I have to get back to work. Yes. And so doing that, I think, has really helped us because before it was just it was it was jealousy over the phone.

SPEAKER_06 53:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:28

It it was, especially because people naturally think that when you're on your phone, you're being lazy or you're just like goofing off. Yeah. Whereas like my inbox in my social media is where I get work. Yeah. Like my emails are coming to my phone and I'm responding to them. I'm reviewing a document from my phone from the park. Like, I'm not just sitting on my phone ignoring the world, I'm doing something so that I can afford to sit right there and look like I'm ignoring the world.

SPEAKER_05 53:58

Yeah. For sure. Although I will say sometimes I I am ignoring the world because um because of overstimulation. So there are times that I am scrolling mindlessly just because of overstimulation.

SPEAKER_03 54:13

Absolutely. I when I get overstimulated, I take a bath. Hot take, everyone. I take a bath every day. That's good. Is that good? Probably not for the world. But I do it anyways. I mean, I'm glad. Even when we were in a drought, I was taking a bath every day. That's good.

SPEAKER_05 54:28

Oh, come on. The AI centers are the ones that are using the most water and energy. You're fine with your your little bathtub of water every day. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 54:38

I will cook my lunch and then I will eat it from my bathtub in the middle of the day. Like a fucking crazy person. I love it though. I what I do is I set up my TV tray and I have my laptop on it, and I have my food balancing on the edge of the tub, and I am just taking a bath with my laptop and my lunch.

SPEAKER_05 55:00

That does not sound remotely calming. That sounds like peak anxiety, like just like a human stew, just like sitting in the warm water, eating your food. Sometimes I have some like dream of all the things around me. I mean, at least turn off your computer for 30 minutes, give yourself a lunch break.

SPEAKER_03 55:26

Oh like right now. Okay, like right now. How many emails do I have in my inbox right now?

SPEAKER_05 55:31

I know, I know.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

And text messages. I've gotten four phone calls since we've started recording.

SPEAKER_05 55:36

I know, and it's only been like an hour. Yeah. So luckily we're almost done. So you and I can go back to hot potatoing in just a few minutes.

SPEAKER_03 55:43

Oh man. No, it just, but truly, it just spring break, summer break, winter break, sick days, they they are not for the faint of heart. No. You are going to have mom guilt no matter what you do.

SPEAKER_05 55:58

You're gonna Yeah, and there's gonna be those screwballs too. Like, for example, uh we, you know, we talked about screwballs last time. Last, no, two years ago now, I was at a family Christmas. It wasn't on Christmas, it was like the weekend before, and I was going back and forth. I had a listing agent calling me back and forth while I was at this family party about an offer that need that had just been submitted. And then last year at Friendsgiving, same thing. I was going over offers for a listing that I had and I needed to send to my client. Like it's these screwballs happen, but it's more about like being it's bad, it's the balance act, right? So like you do it, and then you gotta you gotta be able to pivot back into whatever the situation is that you're dealing with right then.

SPEAKER_03 56:51

But I think that's why communication is super key. So for instance, I love going on vacations, but I explain to everyone when I go on a vacation, I am still going to be working on this vacation.

SPEAKER_06 57:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:01

So like when I went to uh Mexico not last December, the December 4, um, I told everyone, I was like, I'm so excited for this trip. I'm gonna be working in the mornings so that I can enjoy our like excursions. Yeah. And so like explaining that and like setting up that expectation is super important.

SPEAKER_05 57:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:21

Or like even on like uh when I'm traveling, or like I'm like, hey, when we get to this, like uh when we get to this like uh layover, I'm gonna be sitting down on my laptop for like 30 minutes, guys. Yeah. And just like saying that is super important. Obviously, kids aren't gonna grasp it, but at least explaining it to the other adults around me is super important. Yeah. Um, and so I don't think that makes us bad. No. I don't I don't think that means that we're not engaged. We are engaged. It's just we also have to balance that. Also, other people get to see you working and it reminds them that what you do, right?

unknown 57:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 57:55

Uh, this is a good one. Yeah. A little all over the place, but I mean, I think that's what what spring breaks are. Spring break break, holiday breaks in school is like it's not that you stop doing real estate and have to parent full time, you just put on a different pair of shoes, you have to tackle the situation from a different angle. And that's what that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_03 58:18

And you know, it's okay to feel sorry for yourself in the situation sometimes, guys. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, have a good cry. It's okay. We all get overstimulated. I get overstimulated constantly.

SPEAKER_06 58:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:29

Um just remember that you need to set time time for yourself during all this crazy, however much time you can do or how you could do it. Um lean into what you like too. I mean, your kids are young enough that like obviously they have their own likes and dislikes, but we're still still young enough that they tend to like to do what you like to do still.

SPEAKER_05 58:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:51

And and and also don't be afraid to lean on your community and search what's out there. Like, yeah, you can cry and be angry that you're like stuck and cooped up in your house with your children, or you can look and see what kind of free or low-cost options are out there around you as well.

SPEAKER_05 59:06

Yeah. Where when is the library doing Lego Day? Or when when you know, just use the library, just go in general.

SPEAKER_03 59:17

Libraries are great, everyone. We are pro-library here for many reasons. If your kid reads a certain amount of books in in the Sacramento area, you get a medal.

SPEAKER_05 59:25

Oh, yeah, over summertime. That's such so fun. It's so cool. I collect those medals. Yeah, I get medals. I do I do. I've I've received a medal or two as well. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 59:35

Yeah. So just lean into what's around you. And so uh I mean, again, it's not gonna be its normal. Do not expect it to be normal. Yeah. Lean into its abnormal. Mm-hmm. That's what that's what it is. Yeah. All right. I like it.

SPEAKER_05 59:49

Thank you, Amanda. Well, thank you, Lenicia. Thank you, everyone. Hey, make sure that you're reaching out to us.

SPEAKER_03 59:55

We want to know who you are, please. And um, you know, if you haven't had time, um you can find us on Instagram too.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:03

You can message us at Realty Tech Podcast, but maybe message us at explore sack living or Lenny the Lone Officer, because uh we check those inboxes more than we do in the podcast wide. So we're not ghosting you if we don't respond for two weeks.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:18

And if you have an idea for a podcast episode that you want to hear, oh my gosh, please. Please let us know. Oh my gosh, that'd be so much fun. Or if you have a life experience that you want to share with us or like a funny thing that happened, like share it with us. Yeah. Other people want to hear it too.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:32

Thanks, everyone. Bye. Peace. That's Realty Check. Real lives, real estate, and the conversations most people do not want to have. We'll talk soon.