Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: And I'm Lauren, and welcome to another
[00:00:09] Speaker A: episode of the Llamas podcast.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: And so today we're going to kind of talk about something we've all been dealing with. Here is summer kids back to school, running a business.
Like, dealing with all the stress and exhaustion, but in a happy thing. First, guess who me and Lacy are going to get to see as part of our continuing legal education.
[00:00:33] Speaker A: I'm so freaking excited. I bought my tickets the next day after you told me. Literally, on my calendar, we get to see.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: So there is a South Carolina women lawyers group that you can be a member of, and they are hosting their annual conference. And this year, the keynote speaker is none other than Dawn Staley.
So we are quite excited for that.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: So if y' all don't know already, I have a Dawn Staley shrine in my office. So I have a selfie I took with her outside the courthouse, printed and framed in a basketball frame, and have a signed basketball.
Work got me, like, one of her, like, books with all her pictures. I have her book that is signed, and I met her at that book signing briefly.
So, yeah, I am very excited. I just hope I don't embarrass myself if I get a chance to talk to her.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: But, yeah, I feel like we can't embarrass ourselves that much because we've already met Brett Michaels and we did fine with that.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: So, yeah, we didn't ask for another season of Rock of Loving to put us on there. It was tempting. It was tempting. But we were both married at the time, I believe, so we stood strong.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Your mom was game to go, though,
[00:01:51] Speaker A: I think, oh, she would have hopped on that tour bus in a hot minute. In a minute.
Also, the fact that there is a man alive that both me and my mom would jump on a tour bus with is probably.
That's got to be a compliment, right? I feel like that's a compliment.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: Well, when I tell him at work, he's like, one of my celebrity crushes. They kind of go, ooh, but people do.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: I don't. He. And I feel like it's kind of like my Post Malone crush. Like, I didn't. Well, I've always liked Brett Michaels, but I never thought Post Malone was attractive until I saw that man in concert. And when I saw that man in concert, I'm like, is it hot in here?
[00:02:33] Speaker B: You know, he's only, like, 30.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: He looks older than 30.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: But literally, I saw, like, they. When his birthday came around, it was like, how I was like, Wes. I thought he was like, 45.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: I would have said 45. I felt like my age, like, 38ish.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Like, he's. He's a baby.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
Paige now, too. After the concert, she's like, when did he get hot? I was like. Like, five minutes ago when he got on stage. I didn't know it either.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: I feel like some people just have a presence, and I feel like Brett Michaels is one of those people too. Like, that's what it is.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: This is the whole Persona.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: Yes. It's not just the one. It's not just looking at them. It's like, their presence, and they make you feel good. And I will say, if you ever have the opportunity to see Poison in concert, they are amazing. Like, he brings the energy. Like, I've seen them. Well, we've seen them. Me and you've seen them. To get. We saw twice and once. And then we saw Brett Michaels. And then I went a few years ago, and I saw Poison, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard together. Motley Crue sucked, but we saw Def
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Leppard when we saw them the first time, when it was. When it was Poison and not just Brett Michaels.
But I. I kind of feel like it's Steven Tyler, too. Like, Steven Tyler. I don't, like, look at him. Not today. You know, he's aged.
[00:03:57] Speaker B: It's not a look thing for me.
I just don't like him as a person because, you know, if his underage women thing. But that's different.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: I know about that. Well, that's my mom's big crush. I mean, she loves Brett Michaels, too, but her, the love of her life has always been Steven Tyler.
But moving on from my rock crushes.
And hopefully we will not embarrass ourselves with John Staley. And now we have hope talking about today, balancing the summer. So kids being out of school, and we still have to go to work, and we still have to run our businesses. How has your summer been?
[00:04:42] Speaker B: So my kids go to camp at the school they go to. So their school puts on summer camps. And it's really cool because it's not like just, oh, we're gonna go play all day. Each week has a theme. So this week, Kylie is in French culinary school, so she made a quiche. Yesterday she's made baguettes. And, like, she was different. They had a how to ride your bike week. They've had swim lessons week. They've had, like, Lego engineers week. And, like, Maddie has done passports around the world. So she learned about different cultures, had food from different cultures. And I will Say it's really cool because at the school, like, the cultures week, one of the teachers is Mexican, and so she got to actually teach them about her culture. And it wasn't just like, let's watch a movie. So, but I will say the camps are not the same in school. So, like, the earliest you can drop them off is 7:45. And really, most they don't really want you to drop off till 8 because at 7:45 they all just go in one room together.
And then pickup is at 4, so it's not till 5. So it's a little different.
And then the camps, they took the week of the fourth off, which, you know, I don't blame them. And the camps next week is their last week of camp. And my girls don't start back school till mid August, so there's another gap there.
So it's been a little. I will say my husband gets out. He goes into work at 7 and gets off at 3, so, like, he can be there to pick them up at 4.
But it is a little harder because it's not as easy. And I will say Maddie has struggled with camp a little bit because it's not her same class. Like, because every week they have a different teacher depending on what camp they go to. They're with different students. I mean, they're all students their age. But it's been harder for her because she really likes the routine of going to class with her same class and her same teachers. Kylie loves it because she says it's the fun part of school without the hard part of school. So, like, for her, it's win.
But it's been a little bit hard this summer to balance everything. Especially, like, Maddie had a really hard day on Tuesday, and I had court that morning, and I had to go to court like, there was nothing I could do about it. But she was crying. She didn't want me to leave. She just. There was a girl that had been mean to her in this camp.
So I ended up, once I got out of court, going to pick her up, and I brought her to my office where Ms. Jill, my paralegal, has to watch her. And that's not what Mills Jill was hired to do. And although I don't think she minds it, I also, you know, she has
[00:07:34] Speaker A: a lot of work to do.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: So it's taken away from her work to bring her here. But it is at least one of those things where you own your own business, you can bring your child to work, and it's okay.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: Yeah, you have that benefit.
I We don't have camps, but we don't do a ton of camps. But we, I do try to get them. I hate when they stay in the house all day. So like first of the summer, you know, we went to Italy and my husband's a teacher so I do have the benefit of not having to have like full time care or have to find full time camps for us to work. Like he's home in the summer, he usually gets out about the same time they do.
Now he did have to go back this week and my kids don't go back until the fifth. So there's like two and a half weeks where we don't have anybody.
But like when we were in Italy, I tried to make sure that they had different stuff to do. Like Mac had a sleepover for a couple days with his best friend. They went to Chuck E. Cheese.
Luke loves my mom. I mean he loves both his grandparents, honestly.
But you know, so he got just quality time with her. But Brooklyn came in my, my youngest niece and so he had quality time with. So that was good because he still had somebody to play with and spend time with that he doesn't usually get to. And then I had like certain days that they went to Katie's to go swimming.
Both of them did swim team throughout June as well. We also went to the beach for a week.
And then July's just kind of been normal. And then Mark does coach football and basketball. So whenever they have like warm ups and stuff, they'll we have to get childcare for that.
But yeah, that's kind of our usual. I will say, you know, between now like we, because we have private care, it's very expensive those like two and a half weeks before Mark goes in. But thankfully we're celebrating Mark's 40th birthday early this week at the Firefly Stadium. And so my mother in law of course is coming in for that and she is gonna stay and then take Ma back with her.
So that'll kind of save us some money. She'll just go up. He'll just go up to Greer for three days. I think he's going up. And then I have court in Union next Thursday and then I'll meet her to bring Mac back home. And so I feel like we'll probably do that some summers too since they're getting older. Let them go stay with her.
I'm still really nervous about Luke staying overnight somewhere. I mean he has gotten better with escaping, but it still just kind of makes me nervous. And you know, our, my mother in Law is going to be 70 in January. My mom's in her mid-60s, so, you know, it's just hard for them. Like, my mom has arthritis and stuff. Like, if Luke went, you know, running out the door, she can't chase him. So it just kind of makes me. Makes me a little nervous with Luke going to spend the night. But it does just make it easier on us when we just have to find accommodations for Luke and Max gone.
But I. I don't know how to navigate that in the future with summers because, like, Mac has gone to Susan's before and Luke just doesn't really care ask. But the last time he went, he was, like, sad that he couldn't go to Mim's house. And so I don't know how to navigate that. I don't know if I just need to bite it and let him go for a short time. I wouldn't send both. I would just send him by himself. So she's not overwhelmed. But I don't know how to navigate that in future summers. So if you have any input, I would gladly take it.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: I don't really know how to give input on that because. So Kylie really doesn't like to go spend the night anywhere but home.
So, like. And Maddie likes spending the night with my mom and dad. She gets in the middle of the bed with them.
So for us, like, we don't. I just let them do what they want to do in that sense. But I will say this summer has been hard. My dad had back surgery, so he has rods and P and like, this concrete thing put in his back. So my mom's had to take care of him because it was pretty intense surgery. So we really haven't had nearly as much help.
And my aunt and uncle will help, but they are like mid-70s. And I just. I have two very active children, so I can't.
I don't mind them watching for like, two or three hours, but I feel like that's enough for them because I just don't want to wear them out. So I will say this summer has been more of a challenge than others. But as far as I. I don't have much advice on the spending the night because Kylie don't want to go and Maddie wants to go, so it works out nice.
Now, I will say Maddie is in a very clingy stage, so right now she wants Mommy, Mommy. Mommy. And Kylie kind of went through that around four, too. So I think it's just her age.
But once I'm gone, they're fine. It's just been. I will say this summer has been a lot, and I'm kind of ready to get back to school and routine and just our normal. And this school year is going to be a little different because Kylie did tennis last year and we're gonna do tennis again. But they're both girls are going to do dance this year, so that's something new added to our schedule. And I'm going to be helping with the children's choir at church.
A busier fall than we have sometimes.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Yeah, we.
So we got season tickets to the game Clock game, so we're going to that. We did decide not to put Luke in baseball in the fall because we're going to take them to more Gamecock games. And he does love Miracle League Baseball, but he equally loves games. Like, when Mark puts on a Gamecock shirt, he goes, football game, football game. Like, I'm like, no, sometimes we just wear Gamecock apparel, dude. We're not. Not going anywhere.
So it's just too much to go to the game Saturday morning and then go to the game games, like, right after.
So. Yeah, so not doing that. But Mac is doing Cub Scouts. I think I talked about that on here.
Because I'm not putting Luke and Cub Scouts. Did I tell you that?
Yeah, because of, like, I don't know how Luke would do in Cub Scouts. And because of his adhd, like, he could take off running. He's not going to pay attention to all the activities. There's a lot of redirection. And I know if I put both of them in Cub Scouts together, like, if Luke is doing something that he shouldn't do, like, Max gonna go and try to parent him.
[00:14:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: And I don't want him to have to worry about that. I want him to have his activity, like, and fully enjoy it. Like, swim is something they can do together, but with. With Cub Scouts, I just know Luke and I know it's gonna be hard. And I know Max not gonna fully enjoy it because he's gonna be too worried about what his brother's doing.
And so since Luke is already in so many activities, I'm just gonna put Mac and Cub Scouts in the fall. So I'm excited about that.
I'm excited for routine, like you said. But I'm also not because I have to get up. I'm not a morning person, but I have to get up earlier, of course, in the school year than the summer. So, you know, we're all off on sleep schedules. I'm not one that keeps the sleep schedule in the Summer, I wasn't raised that way so I don't raise my kids that way. I know everybody has their own house, but we stay up late, we all sleep in. That's our role and we enjoy it.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: So it doesn't matter if my children like they stayed up till 10 o' clock three nights in a row. I was like, please let them sleep till like 7. We're up at 5:36. So for us there is no sleeping in. They're gonna be up.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: Luke will sleep till like 10 o'.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: Clock.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: Not even kidding. I put him in bed about 9 10. He gonna sleep till like 10 o'. Clock. There are some time, like one morning he got up at 6am and I'm like, dude, what are you doing? But see this morning he had wet himself. And so he came in at like 6:30 and said that he had wet himself. So I, you know, cleaned him up and he still sleeps in a pull up. So we're almost fully potty trained during the day but not night. So I changed his pull up.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: I was like, do you just want
[00:15:43] Speaker A: to get in the bed with mommy? So he got in the bed with me and he passed back out and he was still asleep when I left.
So that's gonna be hardest getting back on sleep routine for my kids because we like I said we'll stay up late. But what I don't like about staying up late is see when Mark's out in the summer he wants to stay up late. And of course, so I don't get any downtime by myself. Like when they're in school, the nice thing is we put them to bed early. So I have like an hour to spend with Mark and just kind of decompress from the work day like catch a TV show. But because they're staying up late and I still got to work the next day, we're all going to bed about the same time. So I don't get that hour.
I don't know. So I am looking forward to my like just when they go to bed, having a minute without anything and a little bit more silence because I mean they are just chaos until I put them to bed. And that's within school. Well, I think school kind of wears them out. So they're not as chaotic in the evenings when school is in session, honestly. But summer is just a zoo. But we like it. We like to sleep in it is what it is.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: But I would like to sleep again. I just don't have that now. I will say on Saturdays, sometimes Wes will get up with them and let me sleep in some. So I will get. But I still hear all the noise happening downstairs. So it's kind of hard. But Wes functions on a lot less sleep than me. Like he is.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: He'll go to bed at west, has to get up about five to be at work.
He'll go bed 11 and be completely fine.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: To get up at five, I would be dead. I would be.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: Last night I didn't go to sleep. I could not get to sleep. And I didn't go to sleep till close to 12. And I was up about 6:30. And I'm dying already.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: I need about eight and a half hours to sleep. Eight and a half. I'm good. But I seriously do need, like, don't need a quite nine, but I need a little bit more than eight. Eight and a half, I think is my solid.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: Sleep time. But anything less than eight, I. Yeah, but Mark can too. Mark will. So my sleep. We do that too. So Mark lets me sleep in on Saturday, he sleeps in on Sunday.
So we've done that for years. And so, I mean, he'll get back from football on Friday nights and not till like midnight, not go to bed till like two. And see, that's during school. So my kids get up earlier because they're in a normal sleep cycle. So they're usually getting up about 7, 7:30. And he's good. I mean, sometimes he'll take a nap in the afternoon on Saturdays, but if we've got a Gamecock game or we're going somewhere, he's fine. And I'm like, I could not function. And I've even offered to switch days.
I've said, you know, since you get back late, do you want to sleep in on Saturday and I'll sleep in Sunday. And he's like, no, he likes it this way because then he gets. He likes staying up late. So he'll stay up late Saturday and catch up. So Sunday.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: But
[00:18:36] Speaker A: I tried. But yeah, he can. He could definitely go a lot better than I can with lack of sleep.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Wes never naps. I'm a napper. Like, if you give me the opportunity, I will go take a nap. Like, I love a good nap.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: I can nap. If I nap. I'm sick. To be honest. Like, very rarely do I need a. A nap because it'll throw off my sleep schedule. I won't be able to go to sleep at a normal time in the evenings if I take a nap.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: I know. I love my Sunday afternoon nap. Like, that is one of the joys of my week is my Sunday afternoon nap and I'm still good to go to bed. But I will say I don't sleep like here lately. They've been getting up. So, like, I need my nap to survive. But let us know how your summers have been balanced and at work kids, and how you've been able to deal with everything because. And also here in the south, it's like 100 degrees and we're all dying. So I am ready for. I don't mind hot, but I don't like a hundred degrees.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: It's. We actually bought because we have a pretty big house and it's an older house. We actually went and bought a portable AC unit for our den because we have two AC units. And it's nice upstairs because we have one unit going all the way upstairs. But it's just been so hot with these heat waves. You can't.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: The air conditioners can't keep up.
[00:19:53] Speaker A: But if anybody has advice on Luke spending the night safely with his minimum. Because he wants to, and she wants him to as well. Like, she understands why I have reservations and respects it. First off, like, she's not pushing me. At the same time, it just makes her sad that all of her grandkids can stay with her except for Luke. Like, she wants to be able to make it work as well so he can have that time with her.
But she'll respect, like, whatever decision I make, which I appreciate. So. But if anybody has any advice on what I can do for Luke to be able to spend the night with his mimmm, I would greatly appreciate it.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: We will see you all next week and let us know your thoughts and what you'd like us to talk about in the future too.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: Yep. All right, bye.
