School’s Back and Camp Real Estate is Over

Today is that bittersweet time of year when summer is winding down and the kids go back to school. In Westfield, MA today was the first day back to school and while I will miss having more time with the girls, I do like having a more determined work day schedule.

Being a single mom who is also a real estate agent, my schedule during the summertime can be a bit….interesting. The girls have a heavy dance schedule and balancing that alongside with trying to get some fun in with them can be a real challenge. Luckily, my schedule is mine to create, is flexible and the girls are now old enough to come along with me when they must. Thus was born: Camp Real Estate.

Camp Real Estate has several activities:

–Being quiet while mom is on the phone. The signal from me is two urgent finger snaps and a death stare. First one to get noisy loses, BIG TIME.
–Taking scenic rides around Western Massachusetts to exciting points of origin like showings, sign plantings and lockbox removals.
–Following along silently at showings and playing the don’t talk, don’t touch and barely breathe game. The prize of this game is getting a quiet ride home instead of the “lecture”.
–Visits to the office. Activities here include, but are not limited to: overuse of the water cooler, spinning in desk chairs, hide and seek and carrying file folders.

Even more fun (no really this time) are the other perks of Camp Real Estate:

–Impromptu stops after a house showing to swim in the Granville Gorge and then have Summer House ice cream for lunch.
–Swimming for hours while mom works remotely with her mobile office.
–Visiting houses with cool pets like chickens, goats, kittens and dogs.
–The occasional sushi lunch at K’s as a reward.
–Having a mom that can schedule her life to be there for you all the time (this one they may not get for a few years).

It is a delicate and sometimes stressful balancing act being a full time REALTOR in Western MA and raising two daughters, especially during vacation time, but I wouldn’t trade either for the world. My career allows me the flexibility and means to provide for my children and still be there for them and for that gift I am eminently grateful to Camp Real Estate!