Our daughter, Katya, was born into a family where both of her parents work together as Realtors. As such, she has no idea what it is like to have parents with “normal jobs”, where they stop working when they get home for the day, don’t answer business calls after 6, have weekends that consist of family time; all have dinner together, and other things that the rest of the world does that we don’t.
She likes driving by the homes that we have been entrusted to market and she has been known to tell her grandmother with pride, “That’s my mother’s listing.” She has told me exactly what it will be like when we move, after our house gets “old.” Clearly she does not understand that we are not moving just because moving is going on around her all the time.
Since she was born, Katya has popped in and out of the office with us when we need to pick up papers or take care of something quickly. She is quite comfortable there, and our colleagues have been wonderfully tolerant.
Today Katya told me she loves the office. When our quick stop in was nearly foiled by the construction job in our parking lot, Katya burst into tears and suggested that we park in the nearby ramp. She remembers quite clearly that last week, after her birthday, she collected cash from generous people who gifted her with dollar bills to spend as she pleased. The money was spent that night on ice cream for her family. What’s not to like about a place that gives out money just for showing up, right? I think Katya might think that people will give her money every time she shows up.
Then there is her friend “Haack.” Kathy Haack has a treat drawer that Katya feels very comfortable opening even if Kathy is not there to offer. She knocks on Sara Lipnitz’s door hoping for a chat with Sara and some gum. Will Bev McCotter have a surprise for her? Does Mike Cotter have any cookies? Is Luca Leftwich (Kathryn’s pug) around for a little fun? Does Gloria have any crackers? Is Patty going to let her type or play with anything behind the desk? Will Candace Konen share something from her locked treat drawer?
On a good day, the answers to most of these questions is yes. It really just depends who is around.
I guess I can see why a four your old thinks that being a Realtor is a GREAT thing.
PS. That picture is not Katya.
Copyright, Maureen Francis, miOaklandCounty.com
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This is touching :-) Katya is blessed to have not only a wonderful mother as a role model, but the people surrounding you both as fun companions when you are in the office.
Thank you Kris. I feel blessed to have Katya in my life, and lucky that the office puts up with us!
You taught her well...money isn't so bad either:)
Somtimes I wonder if having a spouse in Real Estate is a good or bad thing. My wife is not a Realtor, and sometimes I wish that she understood the demands in this industry. I think it would be a great situation if both members in a marriage or relationship both had the desire to be in real estate and strive to be succesful. It sounds like you both are enjoying it very much.
Same here, my husband is not in real estate either and doesn't understand that the phone can ring at 8-9 or that i'm not done faxing and reviewing things. As far as my kids, they love to go to the office. They know that Miss Linda has papers and markers for them to color while Mommy is gathering her papers. They know as soon as we get into the parking lot. Or when I have an Open House, they usually come by with Dad to see the home. My daughter will say Wow Mom this is a nice Open House! Got to love that.
Nice post! My husband isn't a Realtor, but a small business owner too, so our kids have never had the 9-5 working parents, off on weekends lifestyle either. And they frequently run work errands with me (filling brochure boxes, dropping off papers, etc) I think they learn so much! And the entrepreneurial spirit they get is priceless: my 9 yr old was famous for drawing pictures when she was younger, then putting prices on the back of them (9 cents, 15 cents, etc) so she could "sell" them to her many admirers at our workplaces! =)
I bet Katya will be even more of a great helper as she gets bigger!
Cheers,
Heather
Katya is at an age where real estate is an adventure. Different places to go and see.
I've found that the four year old with mom and dad looking for a home becomes my best friend. In fact, I recall once when a four year old would cry when the day of searching for a home was over.
When we sat down to write a contract, dad tried to tell the child that we had to "tend to some business".
The four year old said, "I have to tend to some business too", and he got his chair and sat in.
Katya is learning something that many haven't learned yet. If you show up with the right attitude and you're a joy to be around, people give you stuff. Three cheers for Katya! I think we all wish we had one in our office!
One of the many benefits of doing the job we do. I love that I can actually see the sun shine on my son's face other than on Sunday on the way home from church. You are blessed with an office full of great people. Thanks for the post it brought a smile to my face. (I'm sure Katya's even cuter than the stock photo) have a great one
My kids grew up with a mom who never stopped working...they went on showings with me a times and even an open house or two. Your post brought back memories...my kids are all grown up now but like Katya they loved being able to come along.
Maureen, your pictures weren't showing up when I was at this blog. You might want to re upload them if they were cut/paste. *C*
My own kids are constantly in and out of our office. The staff and many of our agents know them by name. We have one of our conference rooms that has a TV and video games for both client's kids and agent's kids. Thanks for sharing about Katya. She's very lucky to have such loving & dedicated parents!
I know how that goes. My son will be 5 in November & he thinks it's so kewl that I work in Real Estate. He tells me all the time that he's going to work in my office with me when he gets bigger. He sometimes comes with me to do little things at houses or drop off papers, etc at the office. He even knows to tell his friends & teachers that I'm in real estate.
I agree though, our children don't know how lucky they are to have parents on these flexible schedules.
We play Monopoly & he already understands the value in owning property & adding houses for rental income...its amazing!
What a nice article about your daughter,Maureen. Bet she is proud of both of you. I think kids can be the best sales people - they are very dirct and have no qualms about asking questions - "Are you going to buy this house?" is one I heard from an agent's daughter, and I have had buyers' kids come and say they their parents did not like the house adn they weren't going to buy it (or that the kid did not lke it and didn't think the parents should buy). From the mouth of babes...
Jeff
Like Heather and Mariana, mu husband is self-employed and our kids don't know the meaning of a 9-5 job. My 6 year old has been coming to the office with me since she was 4 (when I started) and she's very at home there! I made sure when I picked a company to work for they would include my family as well as me. We have several agents in the office who bring their kids and everyone is very accepting. Thanks for sharing - it's nice to hear other agents have the same experiences!
That's cool. Look like she might be the next Realtor in the family.
My youngest now 6 years old sounds very much like your daughter. On career day each year since 3 years old in pre-school, he goes as a Century 21 Agent. I tried to get him to try another career, he won't hear it.
Love the post, but I was seriously concerned when I read from one poster, "...husband doesn't understand when the phone rings at 8 or 9..."
It's up to you what is important. Time with your loved ones are time with your "loved" ones. It all goes back to the say, about serving your masters. I won't get too high on the soap box, because I'm guilty as well, in fact too much. I'll go as far to say, I'm posting out of guilt, that's me too! I've made efforts every year to cut down on the personal invasion from being a Realtor and it has not changed my business one bit. If anything it allows for new life to grow.
Turn the phone off at 8 at least. Tell me, what could you possibly do at 8PM that you can't do at 8AM the next morning?
Then again, I wake up very early to start the day, so maybe I have it wrong.
Take my post in fun, not in criticism. Very much enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts.
One thing is for sure, there is no such thing as Normal. And not only that, there are more people who work odd hours than those who work 9-5 I am realizing. I knew as a Real estate Agent I was going to be needed at weird hours, and I have found instead that most of my clients work strange hours like my law enforcement hubby does. That leaves them free to look for homes from 9-5. This job is more "normal" than I expected! My 4 kids love the office, but I rarely take them there.
Maureen~ I love this little tribute to your daughter, as I can completely relate. My daughter Natalie is a bright 7 year old that I catch quite often "pretending" in her office that she is an assistant for real estate.
We even made a few extra business cards for her with her name with the company logo...she loved it. That and a few fake credit cards from my pile of offers....and she was a happy camper, LOL!
P.S. I love your daughter's name..it's beautiful.
I personally grew up in a Real Estate family, It brings back memories. Maybe one day your daughter will join the business.
-Rayna
What a great post - It's great to see such a positive take on the life of a "Real Estate Family", when I feel guilty so often for my 3 year old twins - that LOVE to go to work! They have had the pleasure of meeting SOME of my clients - of whom they don't seem to forget. When I get off the phone they ask if that was Mary - or when we leave the house "Are we going to Mary's house?"
It's wonderful to see a child involved in her parent's lives in this way. So often families are separated. The kids go to school, they play with their friends and even in church they have a separate class. It can be very healthy for parents and children to share more of their lives together and for kids to understand and appreciate what their parents do.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I have been out all day showing houses and I have been enjoying reading everyone's thoughts on my blackberry all day as they came in.
Maureen,
Wow, your office sounds like the place I need to be hanging out. All I ever get when I show up at Dad's office is, "ohhh, he's so cute" and other similar lip service. I need to find this Sara lady with the gum or Candace with the treat drawer...........
I can't wait until the day I can say.................well I was going to say "hey that house is listed by my Dad's company", but right now I can't wait until the day I can say ANYTHING!!!
Maureen & Dmitry - Wonderful post. When my daughters were young they also loved coming with me to the office and I even included them in some of my advertising that they loved being a part of. Now that they are teenagers they don't hand out with dad much and would rather be with their friends. So enjoy every moment you have with Katya and be thankful that she enjoys spending time with both of you. You are wonderful parents to care so much about her and she is blessed to have parents like the two of you.
Maureen, out of the mouth of babes. Your daughter is much prettier than the little girl in the picture. Just had to throw that in.
Mariana Wagner ~ Colorado Springs Real Estate:
OMG! My kids have the same life! They point out our listings and make geographical references to their friends based off of the locations of some of our listings. They know WHO to chat with and WHO to get candy from at our office. They also have started pointing out other agents signs and asking if they know them or if we have ever worked with them. My older one has even gotten to the age where our out-of-town sellers will pay him (at closing) to maintain their yards!
They have no idea what a "normal" family is and maybe do not know how LUCKY they are that we can "work from home" during the Summer time so that they do not have to spend all their time in daycare, and we can do things together as a family during the week, when amusement parks and other events are less crowded ...
Mariana's comment got lost in the rain. I am reposting it, and we have let AR know there is a technical problem.
(Thank you. :) Now Chrissy's comment wont look so odd...)
Caleb fixed the disappearing comment thingy. Mariana is back where she belonged...
Our four year old daughter is already giving tours of properties! We keep track of all the new home communities in Chicagoland and she loves to come along when we preview new developments...
We are trying to teach her how to blog now... We're thinking of going along with a Kid Tested and Approved real estate concept!
I've heard from others why you don't post pictures of your own children. I'm impressed at far you have come over the year. Your blogs are incitefull and creative. I wish your family the best through 2007. I am fortunate that my market is strong and I hope that yours will be prosporous too.
Maureen-That is awesome! I can tell you when my kids were young they too supported my career. Our office is similiar there are a few kids that come visit...most of us have something for them. Now that is a real estate family. Love it!
Maureen, I never had children, now I know what I'm missing. Thank you for sharing!
Dena, this barely touches on what it is like, but I am glad you enjoyed the post.
Thanks again to everyone for your comments!
Maureen you gotta love someone who names their dog luca leftwich? lolol Sometimes when life is truly busy I think how fabulous it would be to be about Katya's age. With no responsibilities. Of course then I think of the teen years and say forget it I'm not going through that again!
What i love is that you make her a part of your work life.....how hard it would be on her if you did not because real estate isn't a 9 to 5 career. Very cool!
3c, the dog's name is Luca. His owner's last name is Leftwich. Katya and I call the dog Luca Leftwich. I sorta have this thing for giving people nicknames and dogs too I guess...
Thanks for the explanation...and I would say your thing is a good thing! :-)
I'll never forget the day that my 3 year old, Zoe (now 5), proudly said "IDXdirect." I had no idea that she was so clued into the details of my work life. Around our house she gets to see it all -- Mommy is the entrepreneur at her desk at crazy hours, but taking her to school in the mornings and ballet on Tuesday afternoons, and Daddy is the sane one with regular hours, but gone everyday from morning until dinner. I can't wait to see which path she chooses.
That is sweet--they really just enjoy being part of our world and to let them see it really helps them become creative little people. My kids stapled, folded, sharpened pencils....they loved being part of the scene- and yes, everyone in the office was always kind...How is Sara L. I really enjoyed her being around here more! Tell her hey for me and let your little one know she sounds like a really smart and terrific girl!
Both girls are extremely lucky to have parents that let them experience this stuff. Keep up the good work, mom!
Nice post, Maureen. My eight and five year olds are my biggest cheerleaders. My boy always says that when he grows up, he wants to be a buyer's broker.
Let's see, Stefan. If the buyers' cycle comes around about every 10 years, your son might just have time for college before the next cycle, if he's the 5 year old. =-)
Actually, Tracy, he's the eight year old. I am already trying to program him to become a doctor. I need someone to support me in my old age!