1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: Hi. This is Laura Vandercamp. I'm a mother of five, 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: an author, journalist, and speaker. And this is Sarah Hartunger. 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: I'm a mother of three, a practicing physician and blogger. 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: On the side, we are two working parents who love 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: our careers and our families. Welcome to best of both worlds. 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: Here we talk about how real women manage work, family, 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: and time for fun. From figuring out childcare to mapping 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: out long term career goals. We want you to get 9 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: the most out of life. Welcome to best of both worlds. 10 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: This is Laura. This is episode two hundred and sixty five, 11 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: which is airing at the very end of August twenty 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: twenty two. This is going to be our summer recap 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: episode where we look back at all the things that 14 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: happened this summer, did not happen this summer, what worked, 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: what didn't work, just to think about how we plan 16 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: to do our summers in the future. So, Sarah, you 17 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: had a pretty full summer. Lots of PTO was taken, correct, 18 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: PTO was taken Hopefully I have some left, so we 19 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: knew it was a lot, but obviously the last couple 20 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: of years it wasn't as much, and so I'll list 21 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: what we did. Although I follow a blogger who put 22 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: me to shame. I mean, it's all relative. So for us, 23 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: a lot was my college reunion in Williamstown, sleep away 24 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: camp for the first time for both big kids, which 25 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: was not a trip I took other than visiting day, 26 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: but it was just a lot of newness, a trip 27 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: with Genevieve to see my parents which was super cute, 28 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: a trip to see the big kids at camp that 29 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: was supposed to be linked to a couple's trip to 30 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: Ithaca that got covided, and then finally a trip to 31 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: Universal Studios combined with Amelia Island with Kennedy Space Center 32 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: thrown in there for good measure, which we just got 33 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: back from a few days ago. And it looked like 34 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: a lot on paper. Like It's true, every couple weeks 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: we were like leaving again, but it also didn't feel 36 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: like too much, Like it was fun. I never got 37 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: tired of going on any of these trips. I was 38 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: always ready to go again. I would say, like the 39 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: biggest downside for me was that work wise, I just 40 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: always felt like I was preparing to leave or coming 41 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: back to piles of it, like from a patient standpoint, 42 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: from a residency standpoint, even from a podcast standpoint, like, 43 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,079 Speaker 1: you know, we had to batch and like when you 44 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: go away that much, there's gonna be like ripples and 45 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: like when you can get things done. And I recognize 46 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: I don't think it was my most productive season. But 47 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: then at the same time, certain things slow down anyway, 48 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: and so maybe it just is what it is. Yeah, 49 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: you know a lot of people aren't that productive in summer. 50 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: I'm sure you still got a lot done. It's all good. Yeah, 51 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: it was a full summer here too. Still going. As 52 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: we've noted in our back to School spectacular last week. 53 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: My kids don't go back to school until after Labor Days, 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: so we are still going strong. And the summer moments 55 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: at them here. But we had a couple trips. For instance, 56 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: went to the Virgin Islands in June, which was fun. 57 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: Did a lot of snorkeling and boating and beach stuff 58 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: and you know, seeing some really awesome places there. We 59 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: went to visit some cousins in Boston, you know. We 60 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: spent a week in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, on the 61 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: Jersey Shore, which is just a place with a lot 62 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: of memories for us at this point and love going 63 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: back there as every year and do similar things and 64 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: enjoy seeing how the kids have grown. Did a lot 65 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: of camps, a lot of day camps. My oldest son 66 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: went to Brown University's pre college program for a month, 67 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: which was pretty exciting for him as well, to be 68 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: on his own for four weeks. That was something he 69 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: had not done before, and I think he really enjoyed 70 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: it and gained a lot of independence from it. Another 71 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: kid went to boy Scout camp for a week, also 72 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: also cool. But you know, we survived. You know, I 73 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: did a lot of professional stuff, couple speeches, let's see, Well, 74 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: going to Las Vegas. That was kind of fun for 75 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: a speech. I'm a big fan of Las Vegas as 76 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: a conference destination. Now. I really enjoyed that. But you know, 77 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: it was little things too, like taking some kids to 78 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,919 Speaker 1: being recording the audiobook, recording videos for Tranquility by Tuesday, 79 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,280 Speaker 1: going to a farmer's market. We didn't really do that much. 80 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: Finally doing all my mommy days. I took Jasper to 81 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: New York that would see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 82 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: That was something. But yeah, there's also an element of 83 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: surviving people who've been following my blog. No, we were 84 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: you know, nobody's fault here, but we were down a 85 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: driver for the summer, and so there was a lot 86 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 1: of kids shuttling that sort of chops up the days 87 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: in ways that hadn't really anticipated on. But you know, 88 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: made it through here. We are still going strong. I 89 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: feel like that is a lot. And I'm super impressed 90 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: at your mommy days because I don't remember when I 91 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: last did them. I love doing them. But with all 92 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: that stuff, I just ran out of days. So well, 93 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: we ran in. I pointed it out by the way 94 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: they noticed. I was thinking I was going to run 95 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 1: out of days. But then they were sort of like, 96 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: at least well Sam and Ruth had mentioned things that 97 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: were relatively short, I guess, and so I realized I 98 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: could do you know a little bit and it would 99 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: be okay. And then, you know, Jaspers, we just had 100 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: to fit in and made it work. It had been 101 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: a you know, tough week, but we made it work. 102 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: And yeah, that was a week where I recorded my 103 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: audio book on Monday and Tuesday. I was attempting to 104 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: get to Tampa, you know, on Wednesday, but my flight 105 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: was canceled, so I wound up going first thing Thursday 106 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: morning and coming back on Thursday after giving a speech, 107 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: and then Friday midday drive into New York to go 108 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 1: see Harry Potter and the Curse of Child. So it 109 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: was quite the week. But you know, I just the 110 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: kids wanted to do it, and it wasn't that I 111 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: couldn't do it. It was just gonna be hard. So 112 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: you know, I'm still as we're recording this, on the 113 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: hook for a Chuck E Cheese visit that has not 114 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: happened yet, but that seems like it should be relatively easy. Yes, 115 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: you can squeeze that in. You know, just a few 116 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: hours probably is enough. I was hoping for like one 117 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: hour chuck it. Maybe we'll go to some like, you know, 118 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,679 Speaker 1: ice cream or something afterwards to make it work. Yeah. Yeah, 119 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: So what any lessons learned or anything like that. Yeah, 120 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: I mean I have down below like what worked and 121 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: what didn't. But I will say so we've been going 122 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: to the same destination a few years in a row now, 123 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: I guess. We went to Amelia Island in like twenty nineteen, 124 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, and twenty twenty two, and so it's 125 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: an interesting way to gauge like to compare your experience 126 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: with different age kids obviously the same kids, but you know, 127 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: when we went there in twenty nineteen, that was like 128 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: the infamous trip which Genevieve cried all night at a 129 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: fancy hotel and it was like basically a trip of torture. 130 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: And I have to say it's gotten more enjoyable for 131 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: me anyway every time. This time, Josh and I were 132 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: both able to go running. A lot of days, we 133 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: like took the kids to restaurants. Sometimes we had a 134 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: couple of kids that were not the best behaved at restaurants, 135 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: but we actually actively worked on it because we were like, okay, guys, 136 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: we have to fix this because no one's having any fun. 137 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: And by the end of the trip, I have to 138 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: say it was better than the beginning of the trip. 139 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: And my kids are also old enough to really especially 140 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: if given access to screens like not bother me for 141 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: a few hours on a languide summer afternoon while I 142 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: can read or rest or you know, watch TV and 143 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,040 Speaker 1: not bother Josh either. So I gotta say, like this 144 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: was probably my most fun version of this trip of 145 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: the three, and I anticipate like this is why I'm excited. 146 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: Like some family travel just gets more are fun in 147 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: my biased opinion, as your kids get older, So I'm 148 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: looking forward for what's to come as well. Yeah, now 149 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: I think about that because we're you know, about two 150 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: years behind you right on this, but that you well 151 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: and ahead of me. But but you know, until I 152 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,040 Speaker 1: have you know, we still have to watch Henry all 153 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: the time, and he, you know, his schedule kind of 154 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: dictates the amount of vacation downtime that occurs, and so 155 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: there's probably less than anyone wants. But you know, we're 156 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: getting there. We will get there eventually, and of course 157 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: then we start sending kids off into the world, so 158 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: who knows. But yeah, no, that's things work, things, don't 159 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: you know. It's it is kind of interesting to see 160 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: how our lives change year by year as we do 161 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: the same things. You know, traveling obviously to the Virgin 162 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: Islands was a new thing, but coming back to the 163 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 1: Jersey Shore do similar things every year and seeing how 164 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: the kids have changed and grown up. It is pretty cool. 165 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: There's something great about just going to the same place 166 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: year after year and having traditions there. And I guess 167 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: that's why some people choose to buy houses so they 168 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: can be anchored to a specific place. We will never 169 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,839 Speaker 1: do that, but we can still do rentals that are 170 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: close by and enjoy a similar trip each here. Yeah, 171 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: I think we talk about that sometimes. I mean, right 172 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,599 Speaker 1: the way it's been now, I mean we read to 173 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: place in Ocean Grove and I feel like a week 174 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: is good. I could probably go a little bit longer. 175 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: Some of my kids might get bored at the beach, 176 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: and I don't see us being the kind of people 177 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: who go all summer, which is what I think you 178 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: need to be in order to make it worthwhile to 179 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: have the vacation house, unless you're planning on renting it 180 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: out as a business, which is its own separate thing entirely, 181 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: because we do like to try different places, and so 182 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: I'm already thinking about, well, like next summer, you know, 183 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: in addition to the beach, where else would we like 184 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: to go? And you know, so you know, do like 185 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: to switch it up some. There's a couple of things 186 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: we haven't done this summer that are sort of tradition. 187 00:09:57,440 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: I almost always wind up at Hershey Park, and like 188 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: last summer I wound up at Hershey Park three times 189 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: because three children requested it as their Mommy Day, but 190 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: not this time. I mean, nobody has requested it. Jasper 191 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: and Sam went with the church youth group in June, 192 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: so that's been done. They got it, did that, but 193 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: nobody else's request. I guess I will not wind up 194 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: at Hershey this year. I might wind up taking Henry 195 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: to sesame place. We shall see. I think he's the 196 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: perfect age for it. But oh, I've one more quick 197 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 1: summer victory. Henry is almost completely potty trained two and 198 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: a half. Right, he's two and a half. That is 199 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: congratulations because I certainly never managed at any kid at 200 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: that age. It's been relatively I may knock on wood, 201 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: been pretty easy, and especially this week when we're with 202 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: him all the time, it's been easier still to just 203 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: sort of constantly reinforce it, and so you know, we 204 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: take him, take him to the bathroom a lot. But 205 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: he's got it. Which I had been so worried about 206 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: starting priests school, because he's going to a school where 207 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,319 Speaker 1: this is required, and we still need to get him 208 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: to the point where he can go independently, I think. 209 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,439 Speaker 1: But I'm not worried about him having frequent accidents or anything. 210 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:16,559 Speaker 1: You know, he seems to get it, and I think 211 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,199 Speaker 1: that the peer pressure of everyone else trying the bathroom 212 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: when necessary will We'll help with that. So Yo, I 213 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: was very worried about it, but I, you know, it 214 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: seems to be going great. So I'm very excited about 215 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: this new milestone that we're coming up on here. That 216 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,319 Speaker 1: is very very exciting. All right, well, let's take a 217 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: quick break and then talk about screens. All right, Well 218 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: we are back with our summer recap. What worked? What didn't? Sarah? 219 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: What you teased up screens before the commercial break? What 220 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: when I with screens in your summer? I don't know. 221 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: And this isn't about some morality at all. I've kind 222 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: of over that, honestly. It's about like, and did it 223 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: get to the point where my kids kind of forgot 224 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: how to do anything else and probably made them more 225 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: annoying children overall because there was too much screen time maybe. 226 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: I mean, Annabel and Cameron had no screens for four weeks, 227 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: which is amazing for an eight and ten year old. 228 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: And to me, one of the reasons I hope they 229 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: want to go to camp for a long long time 230 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: because I just think that, like, what a gift and 231 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: what an experience in this day and age. But you know, 232 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,559 Speaker 1: when they got back, like that's all they did basically, 233 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: and Genevieve got into a pretty hefty habit of like 234 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: come home from camp and then like roll up into 235 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,079 Speaker 1: her iPad and then TV. And I guess, I mean 236 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: some of it was laziness on my part. Some of 237 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: it was just like there's not as many activities and 238 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: there's not as many things to do, and it's disgusting outside. 239 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: This is our winter, Like I'm not going out when 240 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: it's lightning or when it's like, you know, one hundred 241 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: Well it's never one hundred degrees, but it usually feels 242 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: like one hundred degrees because it's ninety three with ninety 243 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: eight percent humidity or whatever, and it's just like that's 244 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: just going to turn my kid off of going outside 245 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: because it's like literally torture. So I don't know, we 246 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,559 Speaker 1: just kind of like leaned into it, and I don't 247 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: feel like we did it great. I think I want 248 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: to play with the timing a little bit. I'm not 249 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: have so many days with like no kids in camp, 250 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: which my big kids come from sleep away camp and 251 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: actually our big family trip the timing of that, which 252 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: is already booked embarrassingly so but whatever will help with that. 253 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: But I'm also thinking maybe like it would be a 254 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,199 Speaker 1: good time to do the trampoline slash Ninja Park membership, 255 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: so that we have something that we can do when 256 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: the weather is bad, that we can reliably just spend 257 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: a couple of hours like being active and doing something 258 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: else that's fun for the kids. Because I don't know, 259 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: I just think we tilted a little. It's so funny 260 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: because we were screen free in March because I was like, 261 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: they need to detox, and it actually was a really 262 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: good month, but it was very labor intensive, of course, 263 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: and this was a complete swing in the other direction. 264 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: And I guess I just I'm hoping to find a 265 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: little bit of a happier medium. Yeah. I mean, I 266 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: feel like when you keep the kids busy a lot 267 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: of the time, there's just fewer hours than there would be. 268 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: I mean, because there's stuff going on. I mean, that's 269 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: one of the reasons to have lots of activities. And 270 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: when they're in school, that's the various time that they 271 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: may be on screens, but it's educational, and you know, 272 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: I make them stop at some point in the evening 273 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: too as well, So I realized I can't track it, 274 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: nor do I want to put the mental energy into it. 275 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: But I if I sense that people have been on 276 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: way too long, I'd just go yell at them to 277 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: go play outside or do something else, and then they 278 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: have to go do it, and more or less, that's 279 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: how we function, rather than having particular policies on it. 280 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: There's been a lot of screen time, though what can 281 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: I say. I don't think I'm looking for a policy. 282 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 1: I think I'm just looking for more alternatives to crowd 283 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: it out, and like maybe even like just making sure 284 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: there's not two weeks of my big kids having no 285 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: camp and no nothing. Yeah, no, that could be hard. 286 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: I mean we had a week in between the end 287 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: of camp and the beach trip in which there was nothing, 288 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: but we wound it since again we were down the driver. 289 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: They were in the house for chunks of it, like 290 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: when I was gone and my husband was gone. But 291 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: it was fine. I mean they had a list each day, 292 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: like they had to read for an hour, they had 293 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: to play outside for an hour, they had to practice 294 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: their instruments, and then other than that whatever, I would 295 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: just kind of decided it could they could watch stuff. 296 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: I mean, you get bored of anything eventually, and so 297 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: sometimes people would go entertain themselves. I mean we took 298 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: a trip to a craft store and so then they 299 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: got new craft stuff and were able to do things 300 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: with that. And you know, I have certain children whould 301 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: literally never get bored of certain screenectivities, or at least 302 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: that havn't ever gotten them to them. Yeah. Well, and 303 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: it's true it's nice to have some downtime as a 304 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: parent too. I mean, I will admit that I I 305 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: Hendry is not in my care. I mean, I'm definitely 306 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: that is the time. I'm kind of like other kids 307 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: be on screens because I don't really want to deal 308 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: with it necessarily. But you know, then we try to 309 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: do some stuff too, like the Mommy days, to make 310 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: sure we have we have that time. Yeah, you know, 311 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: like let's talk about what worked and what didn't. So 312 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: what did what do you think was a real win 313 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: for you guys? Okay, so in terms of what did work, 314 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: I mean definitely love the vrbo I will you know, 315 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: or Airbnb whichever franchise you want. But having like a 316 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: home sized place, we do three bedrooms and then we 317 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: put two kids in one room and one kid in 318 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: the other room and the parents in the other room. 319 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: And this was actually the first trip in a while 320 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: we were actually able to stick to that configuration versus 321 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: splitting up the parents and some god awful whatever, and 322 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: it was great. I love having laundry, I love having 323 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: this space, so definitely that worked. I also feel like 324 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,439 Speaker 1: combining the theme park element of a trip with a 325 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 1: beach trip really suits me, rather than doing like five 326 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: days of theme park madness, which I understand why people 327 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: do that if they live far away and they're flying 328 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,479 Speaker 1: to Orlando just to go to Disney and Universal or whatever. 329 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: But since that's not our scenario, we can get to 330 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,920 Speaker 1: you know, Orlando in three four hours. The second thing 331 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 1: that worked for us, I would say, is that we 332 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 1: did a combo theme park slash beach trip. And for us, 333 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: this works far better than like we've done trips where 334 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: you do Disney for a few days in a row, 335 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 1: and I just find it gets so exhausting, and especially 336 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: now that my kids are older, that we can last 337 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: a full day at the park, Like the idea of 338 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,679 Speaker 1: doing three of those in a row gives me hives. 339 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,439 Speaker 1: And since we live fairly close. It's really great to 340 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: be able to combine those trips with a more relaxed trip. 341 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: So I really like that. I think that will kind 342 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: of become our new tradition, either combining Amelia with Legoland, 343 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: Disney or Universal, depending what we're in the mood for 344 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: in a given year. And the other thing that worked 345 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: for me is something kind of silly and obvious, but 346 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 1: I had a planner from Lisa Woodruff's Organized three sixty 347 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: five program, which unfortunately you can't just buy that, you 348 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: have to be like part of her program. But I 349 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:14,919 Speaker 1: had it, and it had this really cool page that 350 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: just showed every It was a calendar, but like three 351 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: months on the page going from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 352 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: Maybe didn't go all the way to Labor Day, but 353 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: it was like it was perfect. It had the right 354 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: amount of weeks for our summer. And I made a 355 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: whole like washy taped and written on version with the 356 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,719 Speaker 1: kids camp dates and school dates. Actually I didn't want 357 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 1: to post it on my blog when I created it. 358 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: I remember texting it to Laura and being like, look 359 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: what I made. And then I just shared it a 360 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 1: couple days ago because it's already over, so no one 361 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: can stop me for this, not that anyone probably would, 362 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: but it was really helpful to have that as like 363 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: a roadmap sitting on the fridge that kind of a 364 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: showed me where we were and like, B what was 365 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: coming up and C for the kids to reference or 366 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: Genevieve to be like, oh, that was our trip here, 367 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: and oh this is when the big kids come home 368 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: from camp. Like it just felt really centering, and I 369 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,159 Speaker 1: think I'll do that as a summer thing. Yeah, I 370 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: mean we made it through a lot of logistics. I 371 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: mean I just you know, sometimes I'm like, hey, yes, 372 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,719 Speaker 1: I actually do this professionally thinking about the logistics of stuff. 373 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: But I mean even just like you know, coming back 374 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: from Saint John at midnight and Jasper and Sam, I 375 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:22,640 Speaker 1: mean Jasper and Michael leaving the next morning for him 376 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: to go to Brown right, like making that work, and 377 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: then me leaving that day to go to Las Vegas. 378 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: I mean just everything, Like when you have this many 379 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 1: moving parts, it is a circus. But I think the 380 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: circus is a good metaphor because circuses are incredibly well organized. 381 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: I mean, people get where they're going at exactly the 382 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: right time for the act to work, and so I've 383 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: really been aware of that metaphor this summer or even 384 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: just you know, when you think through ahead of time 385 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: how things will work, it just makes them go much smoother. 386 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: I was for the you know, a couple of professional 387 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: things that happened. For instance, I've filmed all these videos 388 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: for Tranquility by Tuesday in real life life is the 389 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: name of the series, and there are time makeover videos, 390 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: which is something I'd wanted to do for a while, 391 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: and so I hired a production team. But of course 392 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: you're trying to do it in as few of time 393 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: as possible, so you only have a certain number of 394 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: days with the crew. But you know, we'd mapped out 395 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,679 Speaker 1: like how you get to each place and what we're 396 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 1: going to film there and then moving to the next place, 397 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: and it just it worked. It was like amazing, you know, 398 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: built in the right amount of time, and I was 399 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: very excited about how logistics do play out in real life. 400 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,640 Speaker 1: It can be really good when that happens. I let's 401 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,879 Speaker 1: see what else was recognizing that things can be broken 402 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: down into chunks as well. I mean, so for instance, 403 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: I've been trying out new speech material and giving the 404 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: whole speech to practice it. I don't use notes, I 405 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 1: don't use powerpoints, so it just has to be in 406 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: my head. So you have to practice a fair amount 407 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: to get it to that place. And running through a 408 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: whole forty forty five minute speech can take a while 409 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: forty to forty five minutes, as you might imagine, but 410 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: you can break it down into chunks. If there are 411 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: six five to eight minute segments, then you can run 412 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: through that eight minute chunk. On the way to pick 413 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: up somebody at fencing, for instance, or on your way 414 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: to an appointment, you can run through another chunk, and 415 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,679 Speaker 1: by doing that you can up the total volume of practicing. 416 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: I've been doing the same thing with running. We are training. 417 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: My husband and I are both training for half marathon, 418 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: and obviously getting chunks for each of us to run. 419 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: You know, ninety minutes to two hours on a weekend 420 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: is complicated, but you can break it up if you 421 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: need to. So, for instance, one Saturday morning, when I 422 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: had to bring Alex to karate, leaving at eight forty, 423 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: I mean I ran from seven to eight twenty five, 424 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: got him out the door, and then during karate I 425 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,719 Speaker 1: ran another twenty five minutes and so it's like you 426 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: add it up right and it gets to the right amount. 427 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: So that was that was something that you know worked, 428 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: you know, using care dot com, using our babysitters of 429 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: the mainline Facebook page and stuff, just to find people. 430 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:04,880 Speaker 1: I had gotten a little bit lazy about having backup 431 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: setters and having date night stuff and it's probably good 432 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: to do it. So we actually a couple weeks ago 433 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: had to sitter on both Saturday and Sunday who came 434 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: at too, and it was like, great, we could do 435 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: you know, some stuff individually as a couple, could go 436 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,680 Speaker 1: out to eat and just had that sort of sense 437 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: of relaxation. That was pretty cool and I hadn't done 438 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: that in a while, so enjoyed that. How do we 439 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: get to see these videos, Well, they will be released 440 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: around the time of the book coming out. I mean, 441 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: you know, probably they'll be a pre order incentive too, 442 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: so if you are pre ordering the book, you can 443 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: watch the videos early. But they are still being produced 444 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: as they may I may have them by the time 445 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: this comes out, but yeah, it will be short videos 446 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: that are time makeovers that you can watch and see 447 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: the magic of the tranquility by Tuesday Rules amazing. No, 448 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: I was just curious what the videos were like some 449 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: sort of like you had to have the book to 450 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,880 Speaker 1: get the videos, but they're like for everybody to watch. Yeah, 451 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 1: they'll be for everyone to watch, kind of trying to 452 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: drum up interest in the book and me and all 453 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,560 Speaker 1: that sort of stuff. I love it now. The stuff 454 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: that that didn't work, I don't know. I guess that's 455 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: or did we already do that? I forget. We went 456 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: and gutted throughout We've been coming in and out. There 457 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: have been all sorts of the attempts to film or 458 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: record anything in life in a I'm in a beach house, 459 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,400 Speaker 1: but yes there's people. Now there's construction next door. Again 460 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: they've stopped. And then we had a child wake up 461 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:32,440 Speaker 1: from an app and yeah, just all happens. But Sarah, 462 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: did you want to talk about anything else? You're like, 463 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,920 Speaker 1: are you gonna do it? Or are so? What Laura 464 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: is getting at is that I am going to share 465 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,120 Speaker 1: some pretty big news. I will plan on this will 466 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: be I guess where, and then I'll do a blog 467 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: post like the day after or something. Anyway, maybe the 468 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: same day. I am actually going to go part time 469 00:23:55,200 --> 00:24:00,680 Speaker 1: at work. I am leaving my graduate medical education role 470 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,640 Speaker 1: and I'm going to be purely clinical at sixty percent. 471 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 1: And there are many reasons this was my choice. It 472 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,639 Speaker 1: wasn't like, you know, someone I was doing a terrible 473 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 1: job and that would be a pretty bad podcast, you know. Anyway, 474 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: it was a choice I made because honestly, I want 475 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: more time to do this kind of stuff. I love it, 476 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: I love writing. I've been doing it for long enough 477 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: and it's been, you know, building surprisingly over the years. 478 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: And I also want, honestly, like a little bit more 479 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: flexibility to do certain things with the kids, because I 480 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:37,880 Speaker 1: find big kids more fun than I found little kids, 481 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 1: and so I'm more sad about missing out on certain things. 482 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,199 Speaker 1: And the GME role is so so important that I 483 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: don't want to give it less than it deserves. And 484 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,679 Speaker 1: so it just came down to making this choice. And 485 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: once I just thought about what my weeks could look like, 486 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 1: it just felt pretty obvious. So I made this decision 487 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: many months ago. But it is going to happen in October, 488 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,479 Speaker 1: and it will have been announced to everybody at work 489 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: more than a week before this airs, so I feel 490 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,160 Speaker 1: safe sharing it here. But maybe they'll be a little 491 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: bit more from me in the future in the form 492 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 1: of best of both world related projects, best laid plans 493 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: related projects, other things. And I am just super excited. 494 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: I don't know how much less I'm going to be working, 495 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: because I really do have fun plans for these things. 496 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: I'll just be replacing one kind of work with another 497 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:35,120 Speaker 1: kind of work. But I think I'll embrace the flexibility. 498 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,160 Speaker 1: Like there's like certain meetings that I'm just so I'll 499 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: be happy to have not not on my calendar anymore. 500 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: I had a little more control over my time on 501 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: the days that I'm not clinical. So yeah, and that's 502 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: very exciting to have a little bit of extra serah capacity. 503 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,880 Speaker 1: So you know, we'll see what she puts out into 504 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,199 Speaker 1: the world. We're very excited to hear about that. Yeah, 505 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: And you've been through a bunch of different iterations in 506 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: your career of the past few years. You've you know, 507 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: your clinical percentage has gone up and down, and that's 508 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,359 Speaker 1: that's kind of a cool thing about medicine, though I 509 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 1: mean that I think a lot of people don't necessarily 510 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,399 Speaker 1: know that it has that flexibility that you can be 511 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: part time in a way that may be harder to 512 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: in other fields. I think it varies by specialty, how 513 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: easy it is to do, and also by employer. But yeah, 514 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: I am glad that this is an opportunity that's available 515 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: to me. And I'm also sure it's not going to 516 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: be my last iteration. I mean, that's I'm an iterator. 517 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: I think I know that about myself by now. Something 518 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: is not working at some point. I'm not going to, 519 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: you know, just continue doing the same thing year after year. 520 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: I think I'm too obsessively self reflective to let that happen. 521 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: So I'm just really really excited. And I if any 522 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 1: of you you know, want to talk about it or 523 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: have similar scenarios they want to flesh out in a 524 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,120 Speaker 1: more private feel free to email me and I can 525 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: tell you more exactly. I always like to see how 526 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,959 Speaker 1: people are making the different pieces of their work work together. 527 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: So which brings us to our question section for this episode, 528 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:14,959 Speaker 1: So we have a listener question. She says she's a 529 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: lawyer and a mother of a four year old daughter. 530 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 1: Twenty twenty one was incredibly busy, but things have slowed 531 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 1: down this year. She's having trouble taking advantage of less 532 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: hectic time at work. She's a partner at a small firm, 533 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: so she has a lot of control over her work 534 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,879 Speaker 1: and schedule, but can't seem to give herself permission to 535 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 1: take time off that isn't vacation or kid appointments. She 536 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: seems to let her work expand into as much time 537 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,800 Speaker 1: as she has. So any advice on how to take 538 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: advantage of the slow times? So, Sarah, what would you say? So? 539 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: The first thing is, I was wondering if she has 540 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,399 Speaker 1: more vacation days, because if she has a lot of 541 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: them built up from those busy periods, maybe she could 542 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: actually just, like if she has trouble relaxing unless she's 543 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: on vacation, like take some more vacation or maybe build 544 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: some vacation into the day by just a siding on 545 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: a little bit of a shorter standard work day. And again, 546 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 1: I'm assuming, based on the way she describes it, that 547 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: she's allowed to do all of these things. It's just 548 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:11,200 Speaker 1: that she hasn't like let herself do them. She could 549 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: also focus on learning a skill that's like tangentially related 550 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: to her work but isn't directly work, Like I don't 551 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 1: know what it would be in the legal field, but 552 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,439 Speaker 1: in the medical field it might be something like, oh, 553 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: I want to learn more about alternative medicine, or I 554 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,439 Speaker 1: want to learn more about coaching, or like, you know 555 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 1: something that you're interested in that might help you do 556 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: your job even better, but isn't like exactly your job 557 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: that you're interested in. I also feel like if this 558 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: were me, I'd be like, oh, perfect, Now I can 559 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: train for my marathon. So if there's some kind of 560 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: long range physical goal that you want to do, that triathlon, 561 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: that hike up Amalgain, I don't know, this might be 562 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: a nice time to do that, and you'd feel like 563 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: you were being productive. So since you said you would 564 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: let yourself off the hook for kids appointments and vacations, 565 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: maybe you would feel good dialing back to do something 566 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: like that for yourself. And then my other ideas were 567 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: to maybe do some more mentoring or connecting more with others, 568 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: like just longer lunches with colleagues, like enjoy some more 569 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: dedicated social time, or think about whether there are other 570 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: educational or networking type conferences that you might want to 571 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: attend that normally during a busy season wouldn't be something 572 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: that you'd be able to put in. Yeah, I think 573 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:16,959 Speaker 1: she needs a hobby. I think this is my advice 574 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,239 Speaker 1: I'd give over and over again, and people like this, 575 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: you feel like we need to be doing something with 576 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,600 Speaker 1: our time, and so the work will expand to fill 577 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: whatever time you give it. And so if you are 578 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: desiring to spend less time on work because you don't 579 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 1: really need to at the moment, then put something else 580 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: active in there to fill it. So, as Sarah was saying, 581 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: you know, if you train for the marathon, or you 582 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: go on long bike rides with a friend, like if 583 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: you have a you know, biking group that bikes from 584 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: seven to nine in the morning, those mornings, you'll come 585 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: in a little later and the workday will naturally be shorter, 586 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: and there you go. Or sting at a choir, play 587 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: in a string quartet or something like that, or if 588 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: you want to volunteer. I mean you could say I'm 589 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,480 Speaker 1: committing to, you know, go work at the food bank 590 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:00,200 Speaker 1: on Thursday nights and I have to leave it five 591 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: thirty because of that. And my guess is, you know, 592 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: because you have that hard stop, you will make sure 593 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: that work fits into that time on those days. But 594 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: really you don't put some time into thinking about this, 595 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: like make yourself a list of one hundred dreams, like 596 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,400 Speaker 1: what would you like to do with your time? Because 597 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 1: when we're really, really busy, we don't think about what 598 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: we would like to do with our time, and then 599 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: when time does appear, we are not prepared to seize it. 600 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: But if you have put some active thought into what 601 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: you would like to do with this time, then you 602 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: can start working your way down the list, and you know, 603 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: putting one of these into your schedule in the course 604 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: of a normal week and seeing how it goes, and 605 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 1: just enjoying that sense that work is not the only 606 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: thing going on in your life. Because yeah, I would 607 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 1: say she probably doesn't necessarily even have vacation days. I 608 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: think as she since she's a partner in her firm, 609 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: she's the boss of it, right, so they don't necessarily 610 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,560 Speaker 1: have a certain number that they are allowed to take. 611 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: It's that you need to keep your client relationships moving forward. 612 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: But within that you have the freedom to take what 613 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: you want as long as you are making enough money 614 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: to keep the firm going. But then that makes it 615 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: hard to know how much you can take because you 616 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: always want to make sure that those relationships are going forward. 617 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean it might experiment with a few 618 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: sort of longer weekends and building more vacation into your 619 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: life that way, even if it's not an official vacation time. 620 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,200 Speaker 1: And yeah, having a hobby that would be good as well. 621 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: All right, I want to think of reading the Eve 622 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: Rodsky book Find Your Unicorn Space. Maybe that will help you. 623 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: I don't know figure out what that hobby might be exactly. 624 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: All right, Sarah, what is your love of the week? 625 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: This week? I was just enjoying perusing my family travel 626 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: ideas list, which we talked about in a prior episode, 627 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: and then it came up in our patreons, so people 628 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,520 Speaker 1: were excited about this. I had made a list a 629 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 1: couple like in twenty twenty or twenty twenty one, with 630 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: like the years, the ages of my kids, and where 631 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 1: we might go for each trip and number one I 632 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 1: didn't realize, but it was like fun to look back 633 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:00,120 Speaker 1: and like see if because I hadn't looked at a 634 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 1: while and see what we did. And also just fun 635 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: to like add ideas as I hear other people or 636 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: read like a blogg or go somewhere fabulous. I'm like, Okay, 637 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: where could this fit on my family ideas trip? Like 638 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: how old, ideally would the kids be when we take 639 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: this specific trip. So shout out to the Family Travel 640 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: Ideas list listed by year with the ages of your 641 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,720 Speaker 1: kids on it, so you can tailor your trips too 642 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: when you feel like they would be the most fun. Yeah. 643 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:25,920 Speaker 1: I love the idea. I'd love to book this stuff 644 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 1: ahead of time. My husband is way less into planning 645 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:29,880 Speaker 1: and so it's a little bit like he doesn't want 646 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: to commit to something. I don't know, something else. But 647 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: the trips are not booked. This is just no I know, 648 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: but you know, I would like to book our trips 649 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: for the next year or so. We have years sword 650 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 1: to them, and you know, but he would probably prefer 651 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:43,959 Speaker 1: not in case, I don't know, something else came up 652 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: that we might want to do. So there you go. Yeah, 653 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 1: I don't know. Let's see, what's what's my summer fun. 654 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,120 Speaker 1: I was gonna say, I do like making my summer 655 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,360 Speaker 1: fun list because it does give me a nudge to 656 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,239 Speaker 1: do stuff. For instance, going peach picking. We did that 657 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: one morning on a weekend with a couple of kids. 658 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,360 Speaker 1: I took them and it was fun. I enjoyed it, 659 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: and you know, it probably would not have done it 660 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: if I hadn't specifically listed it on my Summer Fun list. 661 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 1: And same with going Too Big. I took two of 662 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: my kids tubing down the Delaware River, and I wouldn't 663 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 1: have done it if it hadn't been on the list. 664 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:23,560 Speaker 1: It's something I had thought about, you know, we'd done 665 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: the previous summer and I thought was reasonably enjoyable. I'm 666 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: not sure if it'll make it on the next list, 667 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: but I kind of enjoyed it, so, you know, it 668 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: just it nudges me to do things. So I need 669 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: to get going on the fall list now because there's 670 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: fall things I want to do. Needs to be some 671 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: apple picking and orchards and various things, but leaf peeping, 672 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: but yeah, that's coming up, so that will be on 673 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,280 Speaker 1: the list as well. Yeah, love it lists for love 674 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: of the week, lists for love of the week. So 675 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: this has been best of both worlds. This has been 676 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: our end of summer recap, talking about what worked, what didn't. 677 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: Some update on professional news for Sarah. We will be 678 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: back next week with more on making work in life 679 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: fit together. Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah 680 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: at the shoebox dot com or at the Underscore shoebox 681 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:11,720 Speaker 1: on Instagram and you can find me Laura at Laura 682 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. This has been the best of both 683 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,560 Speaker 1: worlds podcasts. Please join us next time for more on 684 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: making work and life work together