1
00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:03,040
Speaker 1: Hi.

2
00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,400
Speaker 2: This is Laura Vandercamp. I'm a mother of five, an author, journalist,

3
00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:08,039
Speaker 2: and speaker.

4
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:10,200
Speaker 1: And this is Sarah hart Unger.

5
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,480
Speaker 3: I'm a mother of three, a practicing physician and blogger.

6
00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,840
Speaker 3: On the side, we are two working parents who love

7
00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:17,440
Speaker 3: our careers and our families.

8
00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 1: Welcome to Best of both Worlds.

9
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,439
Speaker 2: Here we talk about how real women manage work, family,

10
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,760
Speaker 2: and time for fun, from figuring out childcare to mapping

11
00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,360
Speaker 2: out long term career goals. We want you to get

12
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 2: the most out of life.

13
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:34,960
Speaker 1: Welcome to Best of both Worlds. This is Laura.

14
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,720
Speaker 2: This is our first episode of twenty twenty four, So

15
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,600
Speaker 2: happy New Year to everyone. We're very excited to start

16
00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:42,920
Speaker 2: a new year of best of both worlds. Got a

17
00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,480
Speaker 2: lot of great content planned over the next twelve months

18
00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,040
Speaker 2: and hopefully all of you listening now will be along

19
00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:49,920
Speaker 2: for the ride, and maybe we'll get some new listeners

20
00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,520
Speaker 2: along the way for the year as well. So Happy

21
00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:53,680
Speaker 2: New Year, Sarah.

22
00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,440
Speaker 3: Yes, Happy New Year. This is one of my favorite

23
00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:58,600
Speaker 3: times of year. So I'm so excited that we are

24
00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,200
Speaker 3: doing an episode that's a little bit on theme right now.

25
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to be talking about how to organize

26
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,800
Speaker 2: your life and lots of different domains. But I know

27
00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 2: a lot of people listening to this are already kind

28
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,720
Speaker 2: of black belt level organizers in your career and your

29
00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,800
Speaker 2: personal life. So perhaps you won't get anything new for this,

30
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,080
Speaker 2: but I think you will, because the truth is, we

31
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,480
Speaker 2: can always be more organized. Like I like to think

32
00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,080
Speaker 2: I'm reasonably good at being organized, Sarah, I know you

33
00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,280
Speaker 2: are incredibly organized, and yet there's always things that kind

34
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,399
Speaker 2: of fall through the crack so that we could do better.

35
00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:37,640
Speaker 2: On one recent experience I had was realizing at some

36
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,600
Speaker 2: point in mid to late December that my two post

37
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:46,040
Speaker 2: holiday babies, we're going to both want birthday parties. And

38
00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 2: it turns out that January is not, in fact a

39
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,080
Speaker 2: long way in the future from December, like early January

40
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 2: is only two weeks away from say, mid to late December,

41
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:57,880
Speaker 2: and so all of a sudden, like, oh no, we

42
00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,200
Speaker 2: didn't do anything and had to last minute plan stuff.

43
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,440
Speaker 2: But you know now I know that, and so I

44
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,720
Speaker 2: went ahead and put on my calendar for December first,

45
00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,640
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four to think about what my kids are

46
00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:13,400
Speaker 2: going to want to do for their birthdays and to

47
00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,360
Speaker 2: ask them and thus have the ability to just have

48
00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,920
Speaker 2: the venue of our choice, as opposed to frantically hoping

49
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,040
Speaker 2: that the bouncy house place has a cancelation and stuff

50
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:23,320
Speaker 2: like that.

51
00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,440
Speaker 3: Love it. I mean, that trick of just pinging yourself

52
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:28,440
Speaker 3: in the easiest way possible, just ready it in your

53
00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,839
Speaker 3: planner that you know you'll turn to twelve months from now.

54
00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,000
Speaker 3: Is it is one of my favorites. It's so simple

55
00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:33,919
Speaker 3: and yet so effective.

56
00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:34,880
Speaker 1: Yeah.

57
00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,359
Speaker 2: Hello December twenty twenty four, Laura, I hope you're enjoying

58
00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,800
Speaker 2: planning that birthday party exactly.

59
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:42,120
Speaker 1: How about you, Sarah?

60
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,880
Speaker 2: Have you had any recent to near missus or things

61
00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:45,239
Speaker 2: like that.

62
00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,960
Speaker 3: I mean, I thought of two and one is that

63
00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 3: I've talked about decluttering nine million times and it's just

64
00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,960
Speaker 3: not really happening. I'll do one tiny area and then

65
00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,200
Speaker 3: I'll lose steam. And Yeah, I feel like I'm very

66
00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:06,040
Speaker 3: organized with respect to time and tasks, and luckily like

67
00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,640
Speaker 3: actual things that need to happen aren't falling through the cracks.

68
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,680
Speaker 3: But I feel like my space is not serving me

69
00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,480
Speaker 3: in the way that it could be. And kind of related,

70
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:18,919
Speaker 3: I do feel like, even though I'm able to get

71
00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,680
Speaker 3: everything done, I'm too close to the edge at all

72
00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,200
Speaker 3: times and I'd like to work on that. However, I

73
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,240
Speaker 3: was reflecting on it, and I'm like, this has been

74
00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 3: me since like high school, So I don't entirely know

75
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,280
Speaker 3: if my tendency to kind of keep adding without necessarily

76
00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 3: subtracting is going anywhere. So maybe I just had to

77
00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:40,880
Speaker 3: figure out how to make peace with it and be

78
00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,440
Speaker 3: happy that even though things have been a little close,

79
00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,720
Speaker 3: everything has always gotten done, and sometimes my version of

80
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 3: close isn't necessarily as bad as it may seem.

81
00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think it's the same version of close

82
00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:54,280
Speaker 2: that I think many other people would be.

83
00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:55,840
Speaker 1: Like, oh, oh, you plan that a long way ahead

84
00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,960
Speaker 1: of time. I wasn't close at all. Anyway.

85
00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,600
Speaker 2: This episode is all about organized in your life in

86
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,160
Speaker 2: the new year, about some of our favorite strategies for

87
00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,040
Speaker 2: managing life in four different domains. We're going to be

88
00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:11,680
Speaker 2: talking about schedules, kitchen and meals, household in general meaning

89
00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,440
Speaker 2: stuff and systems and ideas, so we'll get to all

90
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,280
Speaker 2: four of those domains in general, just remembering that complexity

91
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:20,400
Speaker 2: isn't the enemy.

92
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:21,760
Speaker 1: Chaos is.

93
00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,040
Speaker 2: So these are all about ways to calm the chaos

94
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,120
Speaker 2: so you can make time for what matters and have

95
00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,279
Speaker 2: a little bit less of your focus on the things

96
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:31,040
Speaker 2: that don't.

97
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,599
Speaker 1: So we'll start with schedules.

98
00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,919
Speaker 2: So Sarah, maybe you can talk us through your various

99
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:41,480
Speaker 2: schedule organization, habits, rituals, techniques, and maybe somebody can pick

100
00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:42,279
Speaker 2: up something from that.

101
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,520
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, I mean, this is an area, unlike the

102
00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,239
Speaker 3: physical space piece where I have very little to add,

103
00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,480
Speaker 3: this is an area where I do feel like I've

104
00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,080
Speaker 3: got a really good system. I mean, honestly, to some extent,

105
00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,120
Speaker 3: this is what a I teach a seven week course

106
00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,320
Speaker 3: on investilaid plans academy. But I'm going to do the

107
00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,560
Speaker 3: three version, which is that every morning I look at

108
00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,320
Speaker 3: my day, I think through any hiccups, look at the

109
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,159
Speaker 3: tasks I have, look at my schedule. I have a

110
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,040
Speaker 3: calendar that's kind of like ironclad one source of truth,

111
00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,400
Speaker 3: but also kind of going out from the daily level.

112
00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,520
Speaker 3: Every week I look at that week ahead and scan

113
00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,640
Speaker 3: for issues, so I'm less likely to be surprised by

114
00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,040
Speaker 3: something during any given day, like if the kids have

115
00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,080
Speaker 3: to be in opposite directions at the same time. And

116
00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,320
Speaker 3: I do some kind of prioritization at the weekly level,

117
00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,159
Speaker 3: kind of thinking about what I want to get done

118
00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:34,600
Speaker 3: based on larger scale goals. I will say that part

119
00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,560
Speaker 3: of organizing my schedule actually involves making sure I'm up

120
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:39,480
Speaker 3: to date on email, which in my mind is like

121
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,400
Speaker 3: clearing it out, because that is where sometimes things lurk

122
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,960
Speaker 3: that have important deadlines or very time sensitive information embedded.

123
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,400
Speaker 3: And I find that by making sure that I'm totally

124
00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,520
Speaker 3: up to date on that before I go plan the

125
00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,160
Speaker 3: next week, I'm in a better scenario. I use tools

126
00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,280
Speaker 3: like a whiteboard to just plan our week on the

127
00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,159
Speaker 3: board so the family knows what is coming up up,

128
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,839
Speaker 3: and I also have a larger scale kind of calendar

129
00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:05,960
Speaker 3: on paper. I know a lot of people are digital,

130
00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,400
Speaker 3: but for us, paper is the right tool right now

131
00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,719
Speaker 3: because Jenvie is not exactly going to be pulling out

132
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,880
Speaker 3: her Google calendar app. And then that's I mean, really,

133
00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,320
Speaker 3: I just have a system at each time horizon to

134
00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,040
Speaker 3: make sure I know what's coming, and by doing that regularly,

135
00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,960
Speaker 3: I'm not usually surprised by much, which is great. It

136
00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:26,800
Speaker 3: is true that sometimes when you're kind of turning the

137
00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:28,720
Speaker 3: calendar page like to a new year, it can get

138
00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,080
Speaker 3: a little dicey like in your example, but for the

139
00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 3: most part, that really helps me know kind of what's

140
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,560
Speaker 3: coming and try to deal with any potential chaos and

141
00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,440
Speaker 3: handle it so that it's just complexity using me also

142
00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,120
Speaker 3: using your freeze. I will say one thing I don't

143
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,360
Speaker 3: tend to organize is a lot of content I find

144
00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,479
Speaker 3: it with my creativity, like writing my blog posts or

145
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,839
Speaker 3: even like thinking about topics for the podcast, both podcasts.

146
00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:55,120
Speaker 3: I kind of like it to be as of the

147
00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,400
Speaker 3: moment as possible. So of course we record episodes ahead

148
00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,520
Speaker 3: of time, but I just I don't love the idea

149
00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,560
Speaker 3: of like a whole year or month or something like

150
00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,320
Speaker 3: scheduled in advance. I like to like kind of catch

151
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,080
Speaker 3: as catch can with what feels really fun to talk about.

152
00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:08,880
Speaker 3: And you and I are pretty good about, like we

153
00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,520
Speaker 3: don't schedule our recording sessions a million years in advance

154
00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,200
Speaker 3: as well, we kind of fit them in a couple

155
00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,000
Speaker 3: weeks ahead of time just when they need to happen.

156
00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:16,880
Speaker 1: Absolutely well.

157
00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:18,880
Speaker 2: We'll get to a little bit more about organizing our

158
00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,320
Speaker 2: ideas later in the episode and can talk a little

159
00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,720
Speaker 2: bit more about how each of us do that in.

160
00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:24,840
Speaker 1: Terms of schedule.

161
00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,240
Speaker 2: My three minute version with Sarah, I think you were

162
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,600
Speaker 2: actually two and a half minutes, so.

163
00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,400
Speaker 1: You were very concise. We're being efficient here.

164
00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,840
Speaker 2: So I plan my upcoming weeks on Thursdays or Fridays,

165
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,000
Speaker 2: depending on when works better for me. I generally advocate

166
00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,480
Speaker 2: doing it at least by Friday, though if people haven't

167
00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,240
Speaker 2: gotten to it by that point, and I look at

168
00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,240
Speaker 2: what is coming up and what I need to do

169
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,360
Speaker 2: and want to do in three different spheres. Broadly, that's

170
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:59,080
Speaker 2: professionally and personally, but personally encompasses both family and friend relationships,

171
00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,200
Speaker 2: and then also what I need to do for myself

172
00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:07,240
Speaker 2: in terms of my mental, emotional, physical, whatever health. So

173
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,760
Speaker 2: that core planning session is when I really think about

174
00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,240
Speaker 2: what's coming up in the very near future and then

175
00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,720
Speaker 2: take a slightly more forward glance to stuff that is

176
00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,840
Speaker 2: coming down the pike in the next few weeks that

177
00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:21,880
Speaker 2: is going to need to be addressed. And so I

178
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,360
Speaker 2: kind of think of it as like shining a flashlight

179
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,880
Speaker 2: into the dark. The stuff that is near you is

180
00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,720
Speaker 2: relatively well illumined, and stuff that is a little bit

181
00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,800
Speaker 2: further away is slightly less illumined. And it's kind of funny.

182
00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:35,959
Speaker 2: I feel like we're almost always in a kind of

183
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,680
Speaker 2: three or four week looking forward cycle, and I don't

184
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,200
Speaker 2: know why, that is, but I know what the weekend

185
00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,520
Speaker 2: dates are, for instance, of the next three to four weeks,

186
00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:47,560
Speaker 2: but in the past that it's not as clear to

187
00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,680
Speaker 2: me unless there's something really big that's happening on a

188
00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,920
Speaker 2: particular weekend. And so I've pondered, like, why is it

189
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,560
Speaker 2: that the forward motion but I don't know it does,

190
00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:00,360
Speaker 2: so then you know, also in that time, kind of

191
00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,320
Speaker 2: try to think about what the people who work with

192
00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:08,000
Speaker 2: me should be focusing on. I generally send the upcoming

193
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:13,319
Speaker 2: weekend schedule on Thursday to my husband and my older children,

194
00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,760
Speaker 2: and I try to leave space to accommodate the kids'

195
00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,600
Speaker 2: social lives, because I can tell you that teenagers are

196
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,280
Speaker 2: not planning their weekends eight to nine days ahead of time.

197
00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,000
Speaker 2: But usually if I remind them of what's going on

198
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,520
Speaker 2: on Thursday, then they can sort of talk with their

199
00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:33,880
Speaker 2: friends on Friday and hopefully make plans that fit within that,

200
00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,880
Speaker 2: and they generally do. I plan the upcoming week's activity

201
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,600
Speaker 2: schedule on Fridays, I send that to Michael and our

202
00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,480
Speaker 2: caregivers who are helping with driving. I print up a

203
00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:47,679
Speaker 2: copy for the kids to look at on the counter.

204
00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,200
Speaker 2: This way, Ruth and Alex really aren't as much in

205
00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,880
Speaker 2: digital stuff, but they can see it too. And this

206
00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,200
Speaker 2: is the master schedule of who goes where and when,

207
00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,200
Speaker 2: includes who drives them. It always gets updated to there's

208
00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,840
Speaker 2: always a pen near it because it's pretty hard to

209
00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,079
Speaker 2: anticipate everything that will happen on Thursday and Friday on

210
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,840
Speaker 2: the previous Friday, but you're usually pretty close so seldom

211
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:11,640
Speaker 2: has to get completely redone.

212
00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,960
Speaker 1: Hopefully that was also two and a half minutes, I.

213
00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,840
Speaker 2: Think, so, yeah, we're going to talk about a few

214
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:25,200
Speaker 2: household rhythms that have been helpful for us in my household.

215
00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,080
Speaker 2: On weeknights we have I generally am trying to get

216
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,040
Speaker 2: Henry down sort of between eight and eight thirties when

217
00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,360
Speaker 2: that process starts. He's been hard to get down lately

218
00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,160
Speaker 2: because he's giving up his nap and so when in

219
00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,320
Speaker 2: the days he does nap, he's up quite late, so

220
00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,120
Speaker 2: that is not as good as I would like it

221
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,559
Speaker 2: to be. But hopefully that will happen in the next

222
00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:44,640
Speaker 2: year that he will just be down between eight and

223
00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,280
Speaker 2: eight thirty. The kids need to be in their rooms

224
00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,960
Speaker 2: at nine o'clock with no devices. They can't have their

225
00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,959
Speaker 2: laptops though, because the older children are often doing some

226
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,240
Speaker 2: homework during that time. Lights out is at ten. I

227
00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,000
Speaker 2: enforce that for younger kids. The older ones sometimes are

228
00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,200
Speaker 2: still finishing up a few things, and I'm not saying

229
00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,360
Speaker 2: stop doing your social studies homework because I'm not going

230
00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,680
Speaker 2: to give you five more minutes. Also, at a certain point,

231
00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,440
Speaker 2: you don't have your mom turn out your light in

232
00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,960
Speaker 2: any way that isn't forceable if you are old enough

233
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,840
Speaker 2: to drive. All right, So exercising, I think it's really

234
00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,319
Speaker 2: about fitting it in, and I increasingly come to this

235
00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,360
Speaker 2: as life is during busy seasons. We've just came out

236
00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,680
Speaker 2: of the holidays. It's not about finding long periods of time.

237
00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,840
Speaker 2: But it does help to sort of designate a certain

238
00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,040
Speaker 2: number of windows per week that you know you will

239
00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,360
Speaker 2: do it. So I always work out with my trainer

240
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,360
Speaker 2: on Mondays at twelve thirty pm, so I've got that

241
00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,599
Speaker 2: in my calendar pretty well blocked unless it's Christmas and

242
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 2: New Years are a Monday, so I need to reschedule

243
00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,320
Speaker 2: those or I did.

244
00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:51,720
Speaker 1: I guess this is airing in the new year.

245
00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,800
Speaker 2: I tend to run on the treadmills on Tuesday and

246
00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,800
Speaker 2: Thursday morning from roughly six thirty to seven while kids

247
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,600
Speaker 2: are getting ready, and I tend to do a longer

248
00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:06,960
Speaker 2: run on Saturday mornings, and then just one other thing structurally,

249
00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:13,360
Speaker 2: trying to build in a few non working hours with childcare.

250
00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,720
Speaker 2: So we have a few hours on Saturday that Henry

251
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,680
Speaker 2: goes to his Saturday sitters, and also two Fridays a month,

252
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,480
Speaker 2: and this has really just opened up a lot of

253
00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,440
Speaker 2: opportunities for spending more time doing big kid things or

254
00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,960
Speaker 2: possibly having some date nights. How about you, Sarah, let's

255
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,400
Speaker 2: talk a few household rhythms before we go to our break.

256
00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:37,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, so a very good point about the screen time

257
00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,360
Speaker 3: and losing control over that at some certain point. For us,

258
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,480
Speaker 3: we're still in the portion where I have some well

259
00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:46,760
Speaker 3: I basically do have the ability to say we're doing

260
00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:48,840
Speaker 3: it now and we're not doing it another time. So

261
00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,080
Speaker 3: we usually have a rhythm on weekends where they kind

262
00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,520
Speaker 3: of know not to even like ask me for it

263
00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,160
Speaker 3: screens specifically until the afternoon, which is nice. I feel

264
00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,000
Speaker 3: like they've just kind of ingrained that, like we do

265
00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,000
Speaker 3: something active in the morning and then the afternoon, like

266
00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,640
Speaker 3: if we're home, we chill. That's kind of like our rhythm.

267
00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,320
Speaker 3: Yes to the non working hours childcare. For us, it's

268
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:12,120
Speaker 3: not really about weekend coverage, but it's about evenings because

269
00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,320
Speaker 3: now that I'm a travel sports parent, we just often

270
00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:20,640
Speaker 3: have more need for driving than just one person, and

271
00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,720
Speaker 3: my husband isn't able to reliably make it in the evening.

272
00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:25,800
Speaker 3: He does make it sometimes, but again it's not something

273
00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,960
Speaker 3: I can like count on. And so I mean, our

274
00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,600
Speaker 3: rhythms are kind of now. Our nanny nos like most

275
00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,160
Speaker 3: days she picks up the kids at three point thirty

276
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,800
Speaker 3: ish and then stays until the driving needs are finished,

277
00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:39,680
Speaker 3: and that might be at six, that might be at eight.

278
00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,760
Speaker 3: It kind of depends on the day. She does come

279
00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,080
Speaker 3: in earlier at least once a week to do some

280
00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,320
Speaker 3: housework type stuff and grocery shop et cetera. Well, not

281
00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,400
Speaker 3: really grocery shop but like prep food as we'll get

282
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,160
Speaker 3: to in a later segment. But yeah, so that kind

283
00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:56,000
Speaker 3: of works for us. And then I will say for

284
00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,079
Speaker 3: my exercise, I am as routine driven as it gets

285
00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,440
Speaker 3: pretty much every kind of normal morning, unless I'm on

286
00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:06,439
Speaker 3: vacation or something. I'm usually exercising beginning somewhere between five

287
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,640
Speaker 3: thirty and six am, because that is the time I

288
00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:11,160
Speaker 3: know won't get messed with, and it's that important to me.

289
00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,360
Speaker 1: So absolutely it's important not to have it messed with.

290
00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,880
Speaker 2: You want to make sure you've carved out time in

291
00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,200
Speaker 2: your schedule for things that are important to you. We're

292
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:20,720
Speaker 2: going to take a quick break and we will be

293
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:35,480
Speaker 2: back with more on how to organize your life. Well,

294
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,160
Speaker 2: we are back talking about how to organize your life

295
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:42,480
Speaker 2: in the new year. So next pivoting to the realm

296
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,280
Speaker 2: of kitchen and meals and broadly I guess this goes

297
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,400
Speaker 2: under the household banner, but because it is somewhat separate

298
00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:55,240
Speaker 2: from the idea of general household routines with stuff, we

299
00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,200
Speaker 2: thought we would separate it out. So, Sarah, how is

300
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,240
Speaker 2: your family eating and kitchen operating these days?

301
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:04,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, I mean it's evolved based on various seasons

302
00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,960
Speaker 3: of what's going on kid activity wise, But in terms

303
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,120
Speaker 3: of meal planning, almost every week we're either doing prep dish,

304
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,320
Speaker 3: which I've talked about before and we've actually think we

305
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,640
Speaker 3: had the founder on the podcast, or I do like

306
00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,560
Speaker 3: a meal kit or I do an old favorites week.

307
00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,280
Speaker 3: Old favorites tend to be reserved for like, I don't know,

308
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,640
Speaker 3: we just want to like the kids are missing some

309
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,640
Speaker 3: of their favorites, someone's asked for something, they just want

310
00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,600
Speaker 3: to eat, tacos, whatever, So it's usually one of those

311
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,760
Speaker 3: three things. I typically grocery shoping has changed, which is

312
00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:33,800
Speaker 3: why I mentioned our nanny doing it. There was a

313
00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,440
Speaker 3: time she was doing it, and every once in a

314
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,760
Speaker 3: while if we have a crazy weekend, I'll ask her

315
00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,920
Speaker 3: to shop on Mondays. But I love going to Trader Joe's,

316
00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:42,920
Speaker 3: like I actually enjoy it. So usually I go these

317
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,520
Speaker 3: days on Sunday and then I make Sunday dinner. That's

318
00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,520
Speaker 3: the one meal that I typically cook weekly. She helps

319
00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,760
Speaker 3: by cooking Monday through Thursday, and then usually we do

320
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,720
Speaker 3: leftovers or easy stuff on Friday and then take out Saturday.

321
00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,920
Speaker 3: So that's kind of our rhythm shopping wise. In addition

322
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,320
Speaker 3: to my Sunday trip, there sometimes is like a refill bananas.

323
00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:02,720
Speaker 3: That's what we tend to always run out of, like

324
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,880
Speaker 3: no matter how many I buy midweek, and she's very

325
00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:08,720
Speaker 3: good at finding like buy one, get one free deals

326
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,600
Speaker 3: at public so I appreciate that, and sometimes she actually

327
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:13,480
Speaker 3: does her own shopping at the same time, so it's

328
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,920
Speaker 3: kind of nice. Efficient and dishwasher because you mentioned it,

329
00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,960
Speaker 3: usually like it does get run every day. I feel

330
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,400
Speaker 3: like it has to, Like there's enough eaters in our house.

331
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,320
Speaker 3: I can't imagine it not needing to be run every day.

332
00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,040
Speaker 3: Often she will run it, like in the morning, but

333
00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,080
Speaker 3: we will empty it because she might be gone by

334
00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,320
Speaker 3: the time it's done, so that works. That's actually one

335
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,360
Speaker 3: of the tours. I oddly don't mind. I think, Laura,

336
00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:39,960
Speaker 3: maybe you told me to time it once and it

337
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,920
Speaker 3: was like seven minutes, and I'm like, that is just

338
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,360
Speaker 3: not a very long time. And the dishes are nice

339
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,080
Speaker 3: and warm, like it's not the worst, all right. So

340
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,680
Speaker 3: then dinner itself is often in shifts. I've spoken many

341
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,120
Speaker 3: times about how most nights we do not do family dinner.

342
00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,400
Speaker 3: That wasn't what I kind of envisioned as like a

343
00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,400
Speaker 3: twenty something, But here we are my husband's home late

344
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,200
Speaker 3: a lot of the time, the kids have sports, they

345
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,480
Speaker 3: have activities, whatever, So Monday through Thursday, there's a lot

346
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,680
Speaker 3: of eating in shifts. On Friday night, it's usually meat

347
00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,000
Speaker 3: and the kids because there are not activities. Typically that night.

348
00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,040
Speaker 3: Saturday night, it's usually the whole family, unless it's a

349
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:12,760
Speaker 3: date night, so either we're doing takeout or we're all

350
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,919
Speaker 3: going out to eat together, which my kids are now

351
00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,680
Speaker 3: at an age where that's actually pretty fun. And then

352
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,879
Speaker 3: Sunday is like our one, like traditional, I'm cooking dinner.

353
00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,199
Speaker 3: We all sit around the table and I really enjoy that.

354
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:26,800
Speaker 3: And then finally breakfast.

355
00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:28,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know.

356
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,800
Speaker 3: I don't do anything great. Like I've tried fun things.

357
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,320
Speaker 3: I've tried a rotation. I've tried getting them to tell

358
00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:37,600
Speaker 3: me the night before what they want. Nothing has really stuck.

359
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,840
Speaker 3: So it's kind of just do what you can do quickly.

360
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:42,639
Speaker 3: They do a lot of their own making breakfast and

361
00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:44,439
Speaker 3: it I'll often make smoothies. She'll make them for all

362
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,520
Speaker 3: three of them. I will say, sometimes I buy some

363
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,879
Speaker 3: baked good at Trader Joe's on Sunday so I can

364
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,960
Speaker 3: serve it Monday morning, because that's like something slightly more

365
00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:54,639
Speaker 3: fun to get out of bed. Or if I'm feeling

366
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,399
Speaker 3: really fancy, I'll buy like a muffin mix and then

367
00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,200
Speaker 3: I'll make super easy muffins, serve those on Monday morning.

368
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:00,200
Speaker 1: That's about it.

369
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:02,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that idea, and I think that's one

370
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,480
Speaker 2: I'm going to start implementing in the new year, is

371
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,520
Speaker 2: buy something on Sunday. I haven't been going to trade

372
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,639
Speaker 2: O Joe's. We have one not that far from here,

373
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,280
Speaker 2: well helthough the bridge between us and it is out,

374
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,080
Speaker 2: so it's slightly further than it would be. But in

375
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,320
Speaker 2: the parking lots nuts but vegan banana bread is something

376
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,000
Speaker 2: I could eat too, But you know the yeah, that

377
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,040
Speaker 2: would make Monday morning better. Have that with fruit and

378
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:27,000
Speaker 2: that's Monday. I've also found that pancakes are really easier

379
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:28,960
Speaker 2: than I often think they're like. To me, it was like, oh,

380
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,400
Speaker 2: that's a big cooked breakfast. It's not like you make

381
00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,119
Speaker 2: you know, the crusties mix like poor powder in a bowl,

382
00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,440
Speaker 2: pour water on it, turn on a pan like you've

383
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,639
Speaker 2: got pancakes in five minutes or less. So that's an

384
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,120
Speaker 2: option I probably do at least once a week with

385
00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:46,240
Speaker 2: the kids, and then they tend to make their own

386
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:48,159
Speaker 2: stuff on the other days.

387
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:49,600
Speaker 1: So yeah.

388
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,119
Speaker 2: In our house, the dishwasher gets run overnight, regardless of

389
00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,520
Speaker 2: how much stuff isn't it. It was an argument for

390
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,159
Speaker 2: a while between me and Michael, because he's like, well,

391
00:18:58,200 --> 00:18:59,560
Speaker 2: it's not full, we shouldn't run it. But then the

392
00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,439
Speaker 2: whole is off and then it doesn't get emptied in

393
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,600
Speaker 2: the middle of the day, and so then people are

394
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,400
Speaker 2: piling their stuff in the sink, and then you have

395
00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,399
Speaker 2: twice as much dishes. It feels like you have to

396
00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,280
Speaker 2: do at night. So just run it, like even if

397
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:14,719
Speaker 2: it's half full, just run it.

398
00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:16,440
Speaker 3: I feel like it must be mostly full.

399
00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:17,920
Speaker 1: You have a lot of eaters too.

400
00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:19,520
Speaker 2: We have a lot of eating. It is almost every

401
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,440
Speaker 2: night it's full, but some nights it isn't. And then

402
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,080
Speaker 2: when the cycle gets off, it just makes me grumpy.

403
00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:26,199
Speaker 2: But he's the one usually starting it at night. So

404
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,240
Speaker 2: this is, you know, kind of a discussion we had

405
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:33,520
Speaker 2: at one point. So that's one household cycle that sort

406
00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,119
Speaker 2: of keeps things from building up. I mean, we almost

407
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,600
Speaker 2: always do the dishes immediately after whatever meal they've been doing.

408
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,840
Speaker 2: Try to even do dishes while things are being cooked,

409
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,119
Speaker 2: Like if a pan is done, get that washed, because otherwise,

410
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:50,520
Speaker 2: again it stacks up. And there's nothing more sort of

411
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,280
Speaker 2: discouraging than a giant pile of dishes, like a couple

412
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,680
Speaker 2: dishes whatever. You know, you can get through them pretty quickly,

413
00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,880
Speaker 2: but once it start like stacking up next to the sink,

414
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:01,880
Speaker 2: you can't even fit them in the sink anymore. Then

415
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,520
Speaker 2: you feel like you may as well not bother.

416
00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:06,159
Speaker 1: I don't know.

417
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,119
Speaker 2: In general, store things near where they are used. We

418
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,400
Speaker 2: have actually moved items around to kind of make this

419
00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,280
Speaker 2: more efficient. Our silverware drawer moved from one place to

420
00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 2: another because it was slightly closer to the dishwasher and

421
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,200
Speaker 2: was an easier move to put it over there, And

422
00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,760
Speaker 2: then when you took the silver or container out, it

423
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,119
Speaker 2: didn't go in the same place the recycling was, so

424
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,760
Speaker 2: it was just it was more efficient to move it.

425
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,320
Speaker 2: But everything follows that idea, like pans are in the

426
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,800
Speaker 2: drawer under the stove sheet, pans are near the oven,

427
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,400
Speaker 2: Coffee cups are in then cupboard over the coffee maker,

428
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,560
Speaker 2: and so forth. We have a couple of meal rotations.

429
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,320
Speaker 2: We are currently doing pasta mondays, which I like because

430
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 2: pasta is easy. We boil water and cook the pasta.

431
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,840
Speaker 2: Adults and some children generally like a more interesting sauce,

432
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,680
Speaker 2: and I guess one could spend any amount of time

433
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,240
Speaker 2: making a pasta sauce, but we generally just buy rows

434
00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 2: orreos however you say it, and then veggie it up

435
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,160
Speaker 2: and put other things in it. So we usually put

436
00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 2: Italian sausage in it. Maybe spinach, maybe red pepper or

437
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,639
Speaker 2: maybe onions makes it a lot more tasty. So anyway,

438
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,719
Speaker 2: it's a very easy meal to make. It's really only

439
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,320
Speaker 2: like two or three dishes to wash afterwards, and then

440
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,440
Speaker 2: no one has to think about Monday, which is good

441
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,520
Speaker 2: because Monday is generally a busy day that everyone's getting

442
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,199
Speaker 2: back in the swing of things. We're doing make your

443
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 2: own pizza on Thursdays. This used to be Fridays, but

444
00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,080
Speaker 2: then Friday's got more complicated for various reasons. It's also

445
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:43,840
Speaker 2: a night we might go out with the big kids,

446
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,119
Speaker 2: so we moved the pizza to Thursdays, which you know,

447
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 2: generally works better. People are eating more and shift on Thursdays,

448
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 2: and it's pretty easy to put pizza dough in the

449
00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,520
Speaker 2: oven with sauce and cheese. I make it with no cheese.

450
00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 2: It's just sauce and veggie.

451
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: It's good stuff.

452
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,560
Speaker 2: And then our house manager is generally cooking on Wednesdays.

453
00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,119
Speaker 2: In the past, we've had different meal templates, like we

454
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,200
Speaker 2: did breakfast for dinner as a night. Now that's kind

455
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,120
Speaker 2: of gotten into a frequent but not weekly kind of rotation.

456
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,359
Speaker 2: I think of my back pocket meals like fajitas or

457
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,960
Speaker 2: wings and nachos during football season on Saturdays, or surf

458
00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,840
Speaker 2: and turf sometimes breakfast. I always just fry eggs. I

459
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,320
Speaker 2: don't want to think about it for me. The kids

460
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 2: can eat what they want, but I'm frying eggs, and

461
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,679
Speaker 2: that's generally how it goes. Michael does a lot of

462
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,760
Speaker 2: our grocery shopping on weekends, and then ur Nanny will

463
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 2: do a short shop during the week for whatever we're

464
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 2: out of. I sometimes go to the grocery store just

465
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:45,600
Speaker 2: for fun, to get my own special foods.

466
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:48,840
Speaker 3: It can be fun, especially if you don't go all

467
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 3: the time, like you get to see the new stuff

468
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 3: that comes out. I love the seasonality of some grocery stores.

469
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,879
Speaker 3: Like I mean you also you love Costco? Right, No,

470
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 3: your husband loves Costco. I don't know if it's Costco.

471
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,480
Speaker 2: I actually I decided one weekend our date was going

472
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,440
Speaker 2: to be there because I knew he so really wanted

473
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,440
Speaker 2: to go there, and I was just like, Okay, we'll

474
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:08,359
Speaker 2: have that be our time we're spending together.

475
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,360
Speaker 1: And it was, you know, we spent time together.

476
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,040
Speaker 3: And then he bought you a Costco diamond necklace and

477
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,320
Speaker 3: the super romantic date. I just can't get out of

478
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 3: the fact that they have like jewels there.

479
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,200
Speaker 2: They do, they do have big jewels there. It's kind

480
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,960
Speaker 2: of crazy what they sell there. I just, I mean,

481
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,960
Speaker 2: we go into this weird Costco mindset where it's very

482
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:36,639
Speaker 2: clear that everything is per unit cheaper, but then you

483
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,440
Speaker 2: buy a lot more of it, and so we always

484
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 2: wind up with these somewhat ridiculous like tallies of how

485
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:43,520
Speaker 2: much we have spent there, and it's like, well, because

486
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 2: you bought thirty six organic eggs, but that would have

487
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,720
Speaker 2: been twice as much at the regular grocery store. And

488
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 2: we do eventually get through the thirty six eggs, I

489
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,040
Speaker 2: mean pretty quickly in fact. So I just, I guess

490
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,240
Speaker 2: I just have to get my head or on the

491
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,440
Speaker 2: fact that feeding seven people is kind of pricey.

492
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:04,880
Speaker 1: It is. That's probably true.

493
00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:07,639
Speaker 3: Costco's too much for me, Like, I can't do it.

494
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,080
Speaker 1: It is a little bit overwhelming.

495
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,720
Speaker 2: I've tried to go during weekdays sometimes, but it's far

496
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:14,639
Speaker 2: enough away that I don't want to do that, right

497
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 2: because it's like twenty minutes away. You're spending an hour there,

498
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 2: twenty minutes back, twenty minutes unloading. That's it's at least

499
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 2: two hours out of my work day, and I don't

500
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 2: feel like that's probably the best use of my time.

501
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:27,840
Speaker 3: So we can start a whole discussion about their people's

502
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,240
Speaker 3: favorite grocery stores. Let us know what we're getting wrong. No,

503
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 3: I'm just kidding.

504
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like wegmn's, weg Mens is cool, Trader Joe's.

505
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,959
Speaker 2: I've may try again if I have good vegan banana.

506
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,120
Speaker 2: But we now have a McCaffrey's right by our house,

507
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 2: so that's been exciting.

508
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 3: Hmmm. All right, well enough about food. Although Laura, you

509
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,439
Speaker 3: didn't plant this, but Laura has a newsletter called vander Hacks,

510
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,720
Speaker 3: and this will have been an old entry by the

511
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,040
Speaker 3: time this airs. But my guess is if for you

512
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 3: subscribe via subseac, you can scroll back and read old ones.

513
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,919
Speaker 3: And she did a great one today as we're recording this.

514
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 3: Sorry it is a little tiny bit before it airs,

515
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,359
Speaker 3: but you get us. And it was so good. It

516
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 3: was all about food and food prep and making your

517
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 3: life easier in the kitchen. I thought she did such

518
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:10,960
Speaker 3: a good job with that. And so if you want

519
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,359
Speaker 3: more food discussion from Laura specifically, should subscribe to vander

520
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 3: Hacks and then scroll back to late December and look

521
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:18,879
Speaker 3: for her entry about food.

522
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,399
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, Sarah, thanks for that little commercial. I

523
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:28,560
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Pivoting to organizing your household basically kids stuff

524
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 2: and your own stuff and systems for that. Maybe Sarah,

525
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 2: you want to start with that. I guess I was

526
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:37,399
Speaker 2: just talking about the meal stuff.

527
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,439
Speaker 3: Well, I have not much to say about this. I

528
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 3: feel like this is an area we are just like

529
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:45,960
Speaker 3: there's like where I want to be and then there's

530
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 3: where we are and there's like a wide chasm. So

531
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,240
Speaker 3: I'm just going to share the few things that we

532
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 3: do pretty well. I'm good about cleaning out my own

533
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,119
Speaker 3: work bag, like I hate when it just builds up stuff.

534
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,480
Speaker 3: So about every week I'll like dump everything out Marie

535
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 3: condo style and like put stuff back in. And I

536
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,879
Speaker 3: also will do that about every month or so with

537
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 3: the car, and that's really satisfying. Just be like empty,

538
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 3: I don't mean wash it, but like take all the

539
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,920
Speaker 3: kids crap out of it and like clean it up.

540
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 2: Remember we are on a one time a year cadence

541
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 2: of car washing, right, and that are the resolution for

542
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 2: the year.

543
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,879
Speaker 3: Yes, that is the resolution. But you can get rid

544
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,280
Speaker 3: of your trash in the car much more frequently than that,

545
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,879
Speaker 3: because that is a much lower bar than actually washing

546
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 3: and vacuuming all the surfaces and stuff. I feel like

547
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,439
Speaker 3: I'm good about the kids kind of are. They know,

548
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,840
Speaker 3: before they get their screen time that I talked about

549
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 3: in the family routines on the weekends, they have to

550
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 3: do like a general cleanup, which doesn't mean that like

551
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,920
Speaker 3: the drawers are nice, ha ha, but like at least

552
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 3: it looks, you know, there's not like stuff on the floor.

553
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,640
Speaker 3: I'm not going to step on a lego, so that's good.

554
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 3: And I do feel like our hand me downs are

555
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,119
Speaker 3: a better game than I would have thought because I

556
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:52,880
Speaker 3: don't do a lot of it. But every so often

557
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,920
Speaker 3: Annabelle will just be like this doesn't fit, and Genevieve

558
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,840
Speaker 3: will just grab it. And what this results in is

559
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 3: her wearing a lot of oversized clothing. Because they're five

560
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 3: and a half years apart. That's not like a one

561
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,400
Speaker 3: size kind of a difference, but it's really cute and honestly,

562
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 3: oversize is in. So I saw genevieven this picture wearing

563
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,520
Speaker 3: this like I had bought two of them, one for

564
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 3: anabel and one for Genevieve, probably two years ago at Target,

565
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,680
Speaker 3: they were like these little green plaid like holiday dresses,

566
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,000
Speaker 3: and I saw Genevieve wearing it and I'm like, okay,

567
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,960
Speaker 3: She's like, like it's clearly at least a size too big,

568
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 3: but like she was rocking it, and uh yeah, So

569
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 3: we're pretty good with the hand me downs. And then

570
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,720
Speaker 3: in terms of like laundry, it works very well, but

571
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 3: I have like I don't do any of it, so

572
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 3: our nanny does about eighty to ninety percent of it.

573
00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 3: She does it pretty much all load every day when

574
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,399
Speaker 3: she is not there or on the weekends. My husband

575
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 3: usually does it and I do it like one percent

576
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 3: of the time, and I do so many other things,

577
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,159
Speaker 3: so I don't feel too bad about that. It's like

578
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 3: not my favorite. And then in terms of like heavy cleaning,

579
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 3: we do hire a cleaning service every other week. Sometimes

580
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,760
Speaker 3: it's less than that because they cancel. That's okay, and

581
00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,480
Speaker 3: that that seems to be enough to keep things at

582
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:05,679
Speaker 3: least reasonable. But yeah, I would like a more organized household.

583
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 3: I would like to have less stuff in our house.

584
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,639
Speaker 3: I actually be happier with like a smaller house, and

585
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,439
Speaker 3: then like less stuff in the house, But here we are.

586
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 2: Well you know, you have a good sized house. It's

587
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 2: not you know, too big, not too small, it's just

588
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:22,879
Speaker 2: you know in the middle.

589
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,159
Speaker 3: Oh no, it's not a huge house. It's it's not

590
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,399
Speaker 3: a giant house. But it's just like I have this

591
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,240
Speaker 3: like minimalist ideal that like I am not meeting. But

592
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 3: that's okay.

593
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I got to say so when we you know,

594
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 2: earlier in the beginning of twenty twenty three, wound up

595
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 2: hiring this house manager. Her first project was going through

596
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 2: and like decluttering all this stuff. And then I find

597
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,480
Speaker 2: it's actually a lot easier to maintain a lot of it.

598
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,680
Speaker 2: Once the boxes were out of the kids' rooms, once

599
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 2: there was a spot for everything. Then I'm not saying

600
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 2: it doesn't get slightly disastrous. I mean, some of my

601
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,120
Speaker 2: children wind up making it more just ostross than others.

602
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 2: But it's not quite as far away from being picked

603
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,280
Speaker 2: up as it would be if things weren't sort of

604
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:14,720
Speaker 2: pared down to what was actively being used. And obviously

605
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 2: systems need to be maintained. There's never a like do

606
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,520
Speaker 2: it and forget about it, whatever some decluttering experts would

607
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,360
Speaker 2: tell you. But you do smaller projects. So you know,

608
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 2: my two older boys were recently instructed to go through

609
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,600
Speaker 2: their stuff and get rid of the clothes that do

610
00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 2: not fit them right, And it just meant that there

611
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,479
Speaker 2: was a lot less stuff piled up on the floor,

612
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 2: which then there's less stuff piled up on the floor.

613
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 2: Then you know what's actually dirty, Like it mostly makes

614
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 2: its way to the hamper. The cleaning clothes aren't still

615
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:44,479
Speaker 2: on the floor like after you brought them back in

616
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 2: that they haven't put them away because they don't want

617
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,120
Speaker 2: to deal with like the overflowing drawer. I mean it

618
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 2: just it creates a nice cycle of it. So I'm

619
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,800
Speaker 2: just throwing this out there for anyone that you wouldn't

620
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,440
Speaker 2: necessarily have to hire somebody on an ongoing basis if

621
00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,160
Speaker 2: you didn't want that, but you might want to bring

622
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 2: someone in for some number of hours for a week

623
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 2: or two to jump start this process. That might be

624
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,560
Speaker 2: an affordable way to get to the place where then

625
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 2: you could spend less time maintaining it.

626
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,400
Speaker 1: So throwing that out there as an idea.

627
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 3: I will take that clip and play it for my husband.

628
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: Okay, that sounds good.

629
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 2: Speaking of yes organization, we have a pretty well set

630
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 2: up mudroom and this was by design, Like when we

631
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,600
Speaker 2: were got renovating this house, one of the first things

632
00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 2: we did was like, we need a mudroom, and we

633
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,840
Speaker 2: need it with these cubbies and hooks, and then we

634
00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,360
Speaker 2: need a pantry which is behind the mudroom. So all

635
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 2: that stuff was purposely designed in the renovating of this house,

636
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 2: but because it gets used, I mean that's how we

637
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,920
Speaker 2: go in and out of the house. I mean, everything

638
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 2: has to go there are shoes, backpacks, coats, mittens, hats.

639
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: We try not to put too much sports.

640
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 2: Equipment in there because then it gets overwhelming. So mostly

641
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 2: sports equipment goes in a different cli that's a little

642
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 2: bit further away, because usually if you know you're going

643
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,400
Speaker 2: to something, you can get your bag that's in the

644
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 2: other closet. But anything that's used daily goes in the mudroom.

645
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 2: Everyone has their own bin for their shoes.

646
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 1: They do not use.

647
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:19,160
Speaker 2: Them, but the shoes that they are not actively wearing

648
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,720
Speaker 2: every single day do wind up in there, right, So

649
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,480
Speaker 2: it's only the daily shoes that they're either wearing because

650
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 2: they're out of the house, or it's one pair that's

651
00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 2: on the floor, as opposed to ten pairs per person

652
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,440
Speaker 2: on the floor, which would be like seventy pairs and

653
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 2: that just would be crazy. We've actually built up a

654
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 2: pretty good hand me down system. We have clear bins

655
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:45,240
Speaker 2: with labels on them with the sizes, and the upside

656
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:47,560
Speaker 2: of that is that Alex is currently getting a lot

657
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 2: of Sam's old shirts. They have sort of a similar

658
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,400
Speaker 2: vibe in terms of liking, you know, like I don't

659
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 2: know video gaming related themes, and that Alex has a

660
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,280
Speaker 2: number of coat options that were from older children, which

661
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 2: is good because they get misplaced frequently. Sam is wearing

662
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 2: Jasper's old coat. We didn't have to buy a coat

663
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 2: for Henry. He actually has like three options of old

664
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,240
Speaker 2: coats he can choose from and lose as the case

665
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 2: may be, and then we have another one as a backup.

666
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 2: We only have to buy boots this year for the

667
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,480
Speaker 2: older two boys, and I bought them slightly big, so

668
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 2: I'm hoping I get at least one more year for

669
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 2: each of them out of that, and then Sam can

670
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:28,280
Speaker 2: wear Jaspers and pass them on down. I think we

671
00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 2: have pretty much every size now. In terms of picking up,

672
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 2: we pick up the house on Wednesday nights because the

673
00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,680
Speaker 2: cleaners come on Thursday morning. They do the kitchen every

674
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 2: time and they split the house the other week and

675
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 2: doing the bedrooms one week and then doing some other

676
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 2: areas like the playroom and the living room on the

677
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 2: other week. The result of this is that the kids

678
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,959
Speaker 2: need to pick up their rooms every other Wednesday, and

679
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,719
Speaker 2: the playroom gets picked up on the other Wednesday. So

680
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,840
Speaker 2: that's kind of the cadence of how the picking up

681
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:02,800
Speaker 2: happens around here. We did put labels on Alex and

682
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:07,440
Speaker 2: Henry's drawers, and this is more because, I mean, the

683
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,160
Speaker 2: older kids are in charge of their own stuff, right,

684
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,640
Speaker 2: but those are the two that other people, and more

685
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:16,800
Speaker 2: than one person are gonna be involved in, like putting

686
00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 2: their things away. So it's partly for them. I mean,

687
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 2: Alex can read, so he can see where his stuff is.

688
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 2: Henry obviously cannot. But it might be me, it might

689
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,719
Speaker 2: be or nanny, it might be my husband. You know,

690
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 2: there's lots of people who could be putting stuff away

691
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,360
Speaker 2: for Henry, and so all of us having a guideline

692
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 2: of where things need to go is actually kind of helpful.

693
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 2: In terms of laundry, our nanny mostly does the kid laundry.

694
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 2: Michael and I each do our own. We do one

695
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:45,760
Speaker 2: load a week for a while, we were doing it

696
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,360
Speaker 2: to gather and then it's just like, well we had

697
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,480
Speaker 2: too which stuff. It was like we're cramming it into

698
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 2: one load. It's just what's the point and then we

699
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,640
Speaker 2: have to separate it out as well. So I'll do it,

700
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 2: and then he'll do it, or he'll do it, then

701
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,520
Speaker 2: I'll do it, And yeah, it's actually much more efficient

702
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,040
Speaker 2: because then you can just kind of pull your own

703
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,240
Speaker 2: stuff out in a basket and don't actually have to

704
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 2: put it away if you don't want to, because nobody

705
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 2: else's stuff is in there. So I will admit that

706
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 2: some weeks that has wound up happening. And then finally,

707
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 2: in terms of organization in the playroom again, lots of

708
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,279
Speaker 2: labeled bins, just making it a little bit easier. Like

709
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,600
Speaker 2: where do the magnetiles go? Will they go in this bin?

710
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:28,960
Speaker 2: Labeled magnetiles? That's pretty straightforward.

711
00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,280
Speaker 3: I have a question, okay, because I think you're actually

712
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,319
Speaker 3: much more relaxed than the average person about a lot

713
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 3: of this stuff. Do you be cause you mentioned the

714
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 3: kids like picking up every other Wednesday, So like is

715
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 3: the stuff in the bins every day? Or are you're like, oh,

716
00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:47,000
Speaker 3: I don't care and then like every once in a while,

717
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:48,359
Speaker 3: the stuff goes in the bins.

718
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,760
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, it goes in the bins every other Wednesday.

719
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,960
Speaker 3: I think that's a really critical piece for people listening

720
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:55,120
Speaker 3: to this.

721
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, oh yeah, it's not in there every night.

722
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:58,400
Speaker 2: I don't I don't want to do it every night.

723
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,720
Speaker 2: I'd be spending my entire life clean up the playroom.

724
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 3: Well no, but Instagram, Instagram and the like are selling

725
00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 3: this vision of like a house that is like perfectly

726
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 3: picked up in every room, like before you go to

727
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 3: bed or like that. That's like, oh no, some sort

728
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 3: of standard, And I think both of us I would

729
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,600
Speaker 3: love that standard, but I recognize it's not possible. And

730
00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:22,799
Speaker 3: I don't even think you care about that standard. And

731
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 3: so sometimes when people ask about, like how do you

732
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,120
Speaker 3: keep up with everything? I think they miss the fact

733
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,880
Speaker 3: that you actually do not focus on having things look

734
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:37,160
Speaker 3: pristine on like a daily basis, Like they're functional, They're

735
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:37,960
Speaker 3: super functional.

736
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:40,439
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would. I would say that's true.

737
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 2: I mean there are exceptions to that, in the sense

738
00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:46,640
Speaker 2: of like some common areas in the house I do

739
00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:50,640
Speaker 2: try to keep relatively picked up. I also we have

740
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 2: some counters in the kitchen that I do my best

741
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,680
Speaker 2: to push all stuff. I mean, paperwork binds up, building up,

742
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:58,759
Speaker 2: but I put it to one pile on one of

743
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 2: the counters and then try to enforce with the children

744
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 2: and my husband and everyone else that the other counter

745
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,919
Speaker 2: stays clear, like it needs to be clear like once

746
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:11,280
Speaker 2: a day, partly because otherwise it just stuff attracts other stuff.

747
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,319
Speaker 2: And next thing you know, you have dirty dishes from

748
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 2: two days ago on top of somebody else's permission slip.

749
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,560
Speaker 2: That's you know, next to someone's socks that they put

750
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 2: on the counter, like please, like why did you put

751
00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:22,400
Speaker 2: socks on the counter.

752
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 1: To sort of.

753
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,319
Speaker 2: Help with that problem, I put a hamper on the

754
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,840
Speaker 2: first floor, right next to the kitchen with a sign

755
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:35,480
Speaker 2: saying dirty clothes to go upstairs, right, And that is

756
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,240
Speaker 2: where if you feel the need to take off your hoodie,

757
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,759
Speaker 2: your socks, whatever else on the first floor, you put

758
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,799
Speaker 2: your stuff in there right as opposed to leaving it

759
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 2: all over my counter, which makes me very crabby when

760
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,359
Speaker 2: there is stuff all over my counter. Yeah, I would

761
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:53,839
Speaker 2: say it's a mix because the playroom I don't have

762
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 2: to walk through all the time, right, Like it's up

763
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 2: on the third floor. It is like a converted attic,

764
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:00,880
Speaker 2: so it's not like I'm walking through there on a

765
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:02,919
Speaker 2: daily basis, like as I'm trying to go to sleep

766
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,560
Speaker 2: or go to my home office. So it doesn't bother

767
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:07,799
Speaker 2: me that that is not picked up. Once every two

768
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:12,560
Speaker 2: weeks is enough to make sure that it's not overwhelming.

769
00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 2: But when I came home from Best Laid Plans Live,

770
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 2: there was a pile I swear six inches thick on

771
00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:27,879
Speaker 2: my kitchen counter and it made me so unhappy that

772
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:31,120
Speaker 2: I was just like, because clearly nobody else was maintaining

773
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 2: it in my absence. I was like, that's I guess

774
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,919
Speaker 2: what I spend my time putting away is making sure

775
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,279
Speaker 2: that that stays at us.

776
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,040
Speaker 3: I think the big takeaway tip here is like, figure

777
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,040
Speaker 3: out which pieces of your home you want to have

778
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 3: like a really frequent cadence of clearance, and which pieces

779
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:47,720
Speaker 3: maybe you can be at peace with less. So because

780
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:50,759
Speaker 3: that is less overwhelming than thinking my house has to

781
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 3: be like an Instagram picture, Oh.

782
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:54,040
Speaker 1: Yeah all the time.

783
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I have one countertop that would be instagram

784
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 2: worthy and then other things are a lot less. So

785
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,440
Speaker 2: I aspire to keep my home office more organized. And

786
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:06,319
Speaker 2: we're actually recording this on a Thursday, And it was

787
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,920
Speaker 2: the thursday when the cleaners are here for that particular

788
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,400
Speaker 2: part of the house, and they cleaned up my office

789
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,640
Speaker 2: and I'm like, wow, it's actually looks really nice. I

790
00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,319
Speaker 2: didn't think they were going to do that, but they did.

791
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 2: I think all the paperwork is just in one pile

792
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 2: on my desk. I guess I better check that. But yeah,

793
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 2: make your peace with certain things and then other things.

794
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,719
Speaker 2: You can just be on a cadence of regular but

795
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,640
Speaker 2: not constant pick up if.

796
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,080
Speaker 1: That makes sense. Love it.

797
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:37,560
Speaker 2: So, ideas, why don't we get back to the ideas

798
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 2: you started talking about this a little of how you

799
00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:43,239
Speaker 2: organize like your blog post ideas and your best laid

800
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,560
Speaker 2: plans ideas or if you're going to introduce something into

801
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:48,160
Speaker 2: your courses. I mean, maybe you can talk a little

802
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:51,400
Speaker 2: bit about how you keep track of all that.

803
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, all of that stuff, like all of it is

804
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:59,759
Speaker 3: in Apple notes, like that is my searchable, like if

805
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,200
Speaker 3: I to say so. Tiago Forte is a writer who

806
00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:04,640
Speaker 3: wrote a book that I haven't read yet but I purchased,

807
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,840
Speaker 3: called Building Your Second Brain. I like the concept.

808
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:09,719
Speaker 2: I find books are really helpful when you purchase them.

809
00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:11,360
Speaker 2: But don't read them.

810
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 3: It's right there for me to go through after my

811
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:16,480
Speaker 3: current nonfiction read. But no, no, no, I love the

812
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,560
Speaker 3: idea of a second brain. I've heard the book maybe

813
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,000
Speaker 3: gets really in the weeds about technique, but I mean, honestly,

814
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:25,759
Speaker 3: just the concept of it like resonates with me. And

815
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 3: I will say my second brain is apple Notes, like

816
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 3: well and Gmail. Gmail's like my long term memory storage,

817
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:33,880
Speaker 3: and then apple Notes is my like projects I'm working on.

818
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,759
Speaker 3: So I do keep like all my podcast stuff, all

819
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,080
Speaker 3: the ad stuff, all the you know, when I'm brainstorming something,

820
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 3: it goes in there. I put my goals lists in there.

821
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:45,680
Speaker 3: I put tickets in there when I get like those

822
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:47,360
Speaker 3: little mobile tickets in email. But I don't want to

823
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:48,799
Speaker 3: have to like pull it off on email. Just take

824
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,520
Speaker 3: a screenshot, dump it, copy paste it right into Apple Notes.

825
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 3: My kids' health forms that I have to come up

826
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:55,239
Speaker 3: with that data again and again, Like how many times

827
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 3: does somebody want to know when my kids last TETNIS

828
00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 3: shot is? I can find it. It's in Apple Notes

829
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 3: travel stuff, like I have folders for all of those things,

830
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,520
Speaker 3: and it's that's like I would say, that's how I

831
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,640
Speaker 3: organize my ideas, but also just having a regular cadence

832
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:12,200
Speaker 3: or review of stuff coming in email, what's up whatever,

833
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,000
Speaker 3: like whatever it is that it is. I like to

834
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,080
Speaker 3: kind of have everything cleared out by the end of

835
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,240
Speaker 3: the week if I can. Sometimes it goes two weeks.

836
00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 3: It's kind of like the equivalent of like my playroom

837
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,319
Speaker 3: the email. Sometimes, like I can just as long as

838
00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:27,120
Speaker 3: I know it's going to get done, then that's fine,

839
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 3: but I do want it to be done. And then

840
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:34,520
Speaker 3: I have the world's most basic, stupid organizing tip, which

841
00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:38,839
Speaker 3: is I haven't used bookmarks, like online bookmarks, Like I

842
00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 3: just never like got into that. I don't know, like

843
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 3: bookmarks seem like they were for someone else or something.

844
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:49,480
Speaker 3: But I've noticed the frequency of like Google drive docs

845
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 3: or like sheets or something like that, and you can

846
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,239
Speaker 3: bookmark that page just like any other website. And now

847
00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:57,239
Speaker 3: I don't have to like search inside of sheets every

848
00:40:57,239 --> 00:40:59,800
Speaker 3: time I want to find like our ad schedule or

849
00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:02,360
Speaker 3: something like that, I can just click my bookmark and

850
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,000
Speaker 3: there it comes. And that's been kind of revolutionary. It

851
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,080
Speaker 3: saves a whole couple steps. So I'm into bookmarks.

852
00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:10,799
Speaker 1: Bookmarks are good. Bookmarks are good.

853
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:13,840
Speaker 2: I'll put a real shout out here for emailing yourself.

854
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:19,719
Speaker 2: I think this is another very simple, like not complicated

855
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 2: at all. Probably everyone thinks to do it, but maybe

856
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,759
Speaker 2: some people don't. Because you always have your phone with you.

857
00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,040
Speaker 2: So if you're out somewhere, like if you're running, and

858
00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:29,719
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, I have an idea for this, you

859
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 2: can pause, pull out your phone, send yourself an email

860
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,600
Speaker 2: about it, and then keep going. And the thing about

861
00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:39,520
Speaker 2: your email is I am guessing that most people listening

862
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:43,279
Speaker 2: to this do in fact process your primary inbox on

863
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:48,080
Speaker 2: some sort of regular schedule, right that whether you get

864
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:50,480
Speaker 2: to Current once a week or once a day or

865
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:54,000
Speaker 2: whatever it is you're doing, you will in fact see

866
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:57,319
Speaker 2: an email that you send to yourself. And especially if

867
00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 2: you have a time where you're doing email processing to

868
00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,880
Speaker 2: get to Current, that you're sitting at your desk and

869
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 2: you've got your calendar, got whatever other resources you have,

870
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:08,480
Speaker 2: you can then act on that email. So it's a

871
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,000
Speaker 2: way to be sure that you will get that idea

872
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,120
Speaker 2: at a time that you can act on it. You know,

873
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,360
Speaker 2: you can also put things on your calendar for random dates.

874
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:19,440
Speaker 1: This is another.

875
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,520
Speaker 2: Pretty simple but good way to trigger your brain to

876
00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:25,759
Speaker 2: remember it in the future is that if you know,

877
00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:30,400
Speaker 2: come December you're going to need to think about birthday parties,

878
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:32,480
Speaker 2: then simply put it on your calendar for any date

879
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,359
Speaker 2: in December. It doesn't mean I'm going to plan my kids'

880
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:38,040
Speaker 2: birthday parties on December first, but whatever I'm doing that week,

881
00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,560
Speaker 2: I will see that entry and I will probably put

882
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,120
Speaker 2: it on my to do list for the next week,

883
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 2: right and then it will be in that active processing

884
00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:49,440
Speaker 2: part of my brain. So you know, that's another really

885
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,560
Speaker 2: really simple, basic thing, but you.

886
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:52,359
Speaker 1: Know it was worth doing.

887
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,680
Speaker 2: I do sort of content calendars just because I'm trying

888
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,200
Speaker 2: to keep track of a lot of different I mean,

889
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:02,600
Speaker 2: between the Vanderha newsletter, between Before Breakfast episodes.

890
00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:05,200
Speaker 1: But it's not like I.

891
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,920
Speaker 2: Really have a whole huge list of future ideas somewhere,

892
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,200
Speaker 2: because when you have to come up with this, many

893
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:15,399
Speaker 2: things don't linger in the future pile very long. You're

894
00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:17,719
Speaker 2: just like, okay, that's a workable idea. It's going on

895
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,400
Speaker 2: the calendar. So those are kind of the active idea

896
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:24,759
Speaker 2: generation places too. There's not some separate idea for it.

897
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,239
Speaker 2: They just get used as soon as they come up

898
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:27,560
Speaker 2: with them.

899
00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:29,600
Speaker 3: Well, if it makes you feel better, all of the

900
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,040
Speaker 3: things we talked about that are upcoming in twenty twenty four,

901
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:35,120
Speaker 3: for best of both Worlds and Patreon are safely living

902
00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:37,120
Speaker 3: in Apple notes, so I can find them at any time.

903
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:37,840
Speaker 1: Excellent.

904
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 2: They are in Sarah's Apple notes, which is maybe that's

905
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:44,279
Speaker 2: my third brain. I don't know, need some accessory brains here,

906
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:47,120
Speaker 2: all right, So Sarah, why don't you read the question

907
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:49,080
Speaker 2: since I guess it's for me.

908
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:55,560
Speaker 3: Sure, this is a very practical organizing adjacent question, specifically

909
00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:58,800
Speaker 3: for Laura, I have no input. Okay, when your family

910
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 3: does a bike ride, what as logistics for getting all

911
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:03,799
Speaker 3: the bikes to the place where you will ride. We

912
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 3: still have one on training wheels and are so close

913
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,120
Speaker 3: to being able to take a real family big bike ride.

914
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:11,000
Speaker 3: Me too, And I'm not sure about the logistics of

915
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,160
Speaker 3: transporting the five bikes. We do have a minivan and

916
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:15,960
Speaker 3: I've put the three kid bikes in the back of

917
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:18,320
Speaker 3: that before. But what about the adult bikes. Do you

918
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 3: use one of those things where you attached bikes to

919
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,680
Speaker 3: the back of the car, and if so, any specific recommendations.

920
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,880
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, we use one of those things that you

921
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 2: attached to the back of the car. So a couple

922
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,319
Speaker 2: of years ago. I'm well maybe almost like a decade ago. Now.

923
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,360
Speaker 2: We put a hitch on the back of like attachment

924
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:37,399
Speaker 2: on the back of my Acura so that you can

925
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:41,719
Speaker 2: then stick on this. It's Fool as the brand of

926
00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:45,040
Speaker 2: bike rack. I mean it's you don't have to keep

927
00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:46,719
Speaker 2: it on all the time obviously, because then you'd never

928
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,080
Speaker 2: be able to open your trunk. But you put it

929
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:50,799
Speaker 2: on and it can fold up so it's up, and

930
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:53,000
Speaker 2: then put the bikes on it, and when the bikes

931
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:54,279
Speaker 2: aren't on it, you can fold it down so you

932
00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:58,080
Speaker 2: can open your trunk. But that's what we attach most

933
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:00,799
Speaker 2: of the bikes too. I think one we have you

934
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:03,360
Speaker 2: can get five bikes on, So that would be something

935
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:05,759
Speaker 2: that you could just look into doing just like that, right,

936
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,200
Speaker 2: you know, you'd get the if your minivan doesn't have

937
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,319
Speaker 2: a hitch, get one put on and something that just

938
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:14,120
Speaker 2: a car shop could do, and then get the fool.

939
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:18,200
Speaker 2: It comes with the little rubber things to safely securely

940
00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:20,279
Speaker 2: attach your bike on there. You can also just put

941
00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:22,200
Speaker 2: a bike clock on there as well. In addition to that,

942
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:24,239
Speaker 2: you know, if you're parking somewhere where the bikes will

943
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:26,640
Speaker 2: still be there when you're not using them. We probably

944
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:28,359
Speaker 2: want to invest in a bike clock as well that

945
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 2: is compatible with that. But you know, given that you

946
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 2: said you can get three bikes into the back of

947
00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:35,279
Speaker 2: the minivan and I guess still have your kids in

948
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:38,759
Speaker 2: the minivan with you, then you can also just could

949
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:40,600
Speaker 2: get a smaller bike rack too that would hold two

950
00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:43,080
Speaker 2: adult bikes. There's probably some that are a little bit

951
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:45,800
Speaker 2: less substantial if you are not going to need to

952
00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,920
Speaker 2: transport five bikes on something. So but for us, it

953
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:52,160
Speaker 2: actually takes two cars because you can put five bikes

954
00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 2: on a rack, you can't put seven bikes on the rack.

955
00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:58,799
Speaker 2: So and also we've had people in kid related bike

956
00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:04,040
Speaker 2: things like the Burly and the tag Along, and it

957
00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:06,319
Speaker 2: turns out that you can't put seven people in a

958
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:08,160
Speaker 2: car and put the Burley in there. You have to

959
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:10,640
Speaker 2: fold down the back seat. So it's a two car

960
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:11,879
Speaker 2: trip for us.

961
00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:13,040
Speaker 1: But that's okay.

962
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:14,960
Speaker 2: I mean, if we're all doing it together, there's not

963
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,080
Speaker 2: really a problem of driving two cars to whatever location

964
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 2: we're going to. So yeah, that's how we do it. Amazing,

965
00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 2: all right, Love the Week, Love of the week. So

966
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:33,080
Speaker 2: I got to say storage space. So I have lived

967
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:37,319
Speaker 2: in much smaller places. But one of the reasons we

968
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 2: wound up leaving New York we needed more space when

969
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:43,960
Speaker 2: we were having a third kid, and I realized that

970
00:46:44,239 --> 00:46:46,919
Speaker 2: our stuff had filled every available storage space and there's

971
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:48,480
Speaker 2: some amount you can pare it down. And I know

972
00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:52,120
Speaker 2: people live in small apartments with ten kids or something.

973
00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:54,759
Speaker 2: I mean, people make it work, right, But it was

974
00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:57,760
Speaker 2: just feeling like it was so hard to keep it clean,

975
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:01,640
Speaker 2: to get things put away, and so just having a

976
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:04,960
Speaker 2: second closet where the off season sports stuff can go

977
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:09,359
Speaker 2: to keep the mudroom cleaner like it just, I don't know,

978
00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:11,160
Speaker 2: it makes life feel a.

979
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,200
Speaker 1: Little bit less chaotic. So my love of the week

980
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:16,680
Speaker 1: is storage space. I'm a big fan.

981
00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:20,080
Speaker 3: Well mine is nothing related to this episode, but I

982
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:22,720
Speaker 3: kind of say hot beverages are so nice and so cozy,

983
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,080
Speaker 3: and since we did talk about Trader Jos a whole lot,

984
00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:27,759
Speaker 3: I will shout out to the orange Roybos tea, which

985
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,160
Speaker 3: probably will only be around for a month or so

986
00:47:29,239 --> 00:47:31,560
Speaker 3: because that's how they are, but it's really nice. It's orange.

987
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:33,400
Speaker 3: I don't think there's caffein because I think Roybos is

988
00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:37,480
Speaker 3: capeine free and it's just super cozy. So I recommend.

989
00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 1: Awesome sounds yummy.

990
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:41,279
Speaker 2: Well, this has been best of both worlds. We've been

991
00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:44,080
Speaker 2: talking about how to organize your life in twenty twenty four.

992
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:46,600
Speaker 2: Hopefully got at least one tip or idea that you

993
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,279
Speaker 2: haven't tried before. We will be back next week with

994
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:51,240
Speaker 2: more on making work and life fit together.

995
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:56,080
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah at the

996
00:47:56,080 --> 00:48:01,080
Speaker 3: shoebox dot com or at the Underscore Shoebox on it and.

997
00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:05,200
Speaker 2: You can find me Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

998
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:08,520
Speaker 2: This has been the best of both worlds podcasts. Please

999
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,200
Speaker 2: join us next time for more on making work and

1000
00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:12,400
Speaker 2: life work together.