Showing Homes with Kids: not as bad as you'd think...

I started selling homes/working in Real Estate 8 years ago. I was not married yet, I did not have kids. The luxurious days of taking my clients out in my pristine (nearly brand new) car at that time were busy busy busy, that was a crazy time in the market, but I learned a lot, I loved it, and the days flew by. And flew by and flew by. And today- I am married, and have 3 little beautiful kids to care for in addition to managing the day to day needs of my Real Estate career. I debated for about 5 minutes staying home when I had my daughter, and realized that going out and coming back to her made me a better Mommy- which is great for us all. So, to remain a good Mommy, and a good Realtor, it can be a juggle. That- is a tremendous understatement.
Today I went out to show a home to a friend/client of mine. I had seen the house earlier in the day with my son, Adam, during the Broker's Tour. Adam is 7 months old, and extremely portable as he is incredibly polite, mild-mannered and of course, cute. Broker's Tour, for those of you that haven't heard of it- is like a party that your Realtor throws for your house, catered and all (at least, they serve some food!) when your home is first introduced to the market. You put a listing (house) on the MLS, you serve fabulous food, you announce it to everyone- and just like that, Realtors from near and far come to feast on your food and check out your new listing to see if they have a buyer for it. I love Broker's Tour because it is a leisurely way of seeing the new homes that hit the market, there is great food, and I run into a lot of Realtor friends of mine that might work for other companies that I haven't seen in a while.

So.....I digress. Saw this house with Adam this morning. AMAZING HOUSE. Call my client, insist that she see it ASAP. 35 minutes later, she calls me, she is free to see it now- she does have 2 of her kids with her, but that's totally fine- Broker's Tour is open to EVERYONE! That's what's so great about it!! I am excited to show her the house, so even though I have all THREE of my kids with me, I dash over to the house from the bank where we were currently playing peek-a-boo with a random teller and with the camera that films you while you are in line.

I know the listing agent well. He has 4 kids of his own, so he doesn't bat an eye when we enter the house with 5 children. Yay for him!

So- this is how it would have gone if both my client and I were there, sans kids....

Me: "Hi! So glad you could make it so quickly! Let's check this place out!"
We walk around, I point out how cool the open kitchen/family room is, we both admire the amazing pool/backyard, we ooh and ahh over the living room that would make the best playroom ever, we ask the listing agent when they are taking offers, and we skidaddle.
My client: "Wow, I really like that house! Have to show the husband! Will call you later. Bye!"

And....here's how it goes if you happen to have 5 children with you: ages 4.5, 4.5, 3, 2.5 and 7 months.
Me: "Hi! Oh, good! So glad you have 2 of yours, so that they can entertain my 2!"

Client: "Love it already. Kid 2! Stay away from the pool!"

Me: "Great! Wait till you see the...Samantha!! Keep your shoes on!"

Client: "What's this? A storage shed?"

Me: "Looks like a storage shed, that would make an awesome playhouse" (oh why did I say that??)

Every child that can speak:
"I WANT TO SEE THE PLAYHOUSE!!! LIFT ME UP TO SEE THE PLAYHOUSE!!!!"

Client: "Let's go to the other side of the yard" (We began in the yard, that's what you do when you have kids that only really care about the yard of a house- you start with the yard)
"Kid 2 and Kid 3!!!! Don't hang from the net!"

Me, shifting very quiet, very serene- thank God Thank GOD- Adam- on my hip, all the while: "OK, we should see the house! Kids: we are going inside!"

Client: "OK kids- let's go see your new house!"

Meanwhile- the kids are running around/running amuck as if this is their first time in the civilized world. Shoes are off, shoelaces are untiled, sleeves are soaked from dangling their arms into the pool. Crumbs are spread through kitchen from feast from the Broker's Tour.

Various Kids of ours:
"Mom, I have to go to the bathroom!" "I don't want to use that bathroom, it has a spider!!" "Mom, stay right next to the bathroom so that I can hear your voice!" "Is this my room?" "Hide! HIDE!!" "Do you hear me? I'm an airplane!!" "Lookit! A closet!" (to hide in) "I want to go outside again!" "I'm hot, I want my shirt off!"

Followed by myself and my client:
"Keep your clothes on!" "Keep your shirt on." "Yes, this can be your room" "Please stay inside" "Guys, don't run out the front door" "Please stay next to me" "Go find your shoes!" "Ok, let's find a bathroom without a spider in it" "No, we cannot play balancing on the tiny wall between the spa and the pool!"

Me: "I'm going to go ask the listing agent what the status of the house is"

Client: "Ok, I'll keep the kids at bay!"

...............................In all....................................
Successful!!! Just a different kind of successful than the successful of 8 years ago. If I were to have thought that I was busy 8 years ago with the insanity of the "hot market" and 15 offers on every single house/condo/townhome/shack/ out there, I would have surely keeled over if I were to catch a glimpse of what my future held. But you know what? Driving home from that slightly chaotic(and I do mean slightly, that was EXCELLENT, even ask my client, the kids were BEHAVED!) showing, I was not even the tiniest bit ruffled/stressed or tired. It is amazing what you can adjust to. Instead of tired, I felt thankful...that I had a job that enabled me to see my kids, even in the chaos, and thankful that they are able to see their Mommy working too. But now....I am TIRED!! Still thankful. But tired. Good night!