Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign welcome back to the Confessions in the Home Office podcast, where each week I get real about running a business out of my home life and everything in between.
[00:00:15] My name is Wendy Hill, and I've been running my marketing consulting agency, Market Momentum, out of my home for 20 years now.
[00:00:22] So today's episode is one I've been wanting to do for a while because it's less about strategy and more about survival, resilience, and honestly, it's all about love.
[00:00:34] I'm calling this episode Juggling Parents, Kids and Clients the Real Work from Home Confession, because that's exactly what life feels like right now.
[00:00:44] Some days I feel like I'm spending plates in three different directions. Clients who count on me, kids who need me, and my parents who are entering a new season of needing some support too.
[00:00:55] So if you've ever felt like you're the glue holding it all together, whether at work, at home, or both, this episode is probably for you.
[00:01:04] So here's where I am right now. My parents are just starting to need a little more help. It's not 24.7care, but it's mainly navigating logistics, scheduling doctor's appointments, figuring out what specialists to see, interpreting MRI results, and coordinating next steps.
[00:01:21] So here's the part that's tricky. I never know when the next call is coming, and I know that's just life, and everybody feels that way about most things.
[00:01:30] But one evening recently, about two weeks ago, my mom called to say my dad was on the floor.
[00:01:35] He had taken a medication too early and didn't realize it and it made him sleepy. And when he leaned over to change the dog's water bowl, he fell and hit the water bowl.
[00:01:46] He was okay, but was one of those moments where everything else stopped.
[00:01:51] And then on the other side, I have two kids in college and I'm grateful for that. They're both at the same school, which makes things a lot easier.
[00:01:59] My son's about to graduate in December and my daughter just started her sophomore year. She's in the nursing program or starting the nursing program.
[00:02:08] And again, I just never know with the next call or text will bring.
[00:02:13] One day it's hey, I need these textbooks by next week and they're out of print. How do we get them? And the next is, I have a job interview in two hours. Can you help me figure this out?
[00:02:23] So rarely is it, hey Mom, I'm hungry. You want to meet for lunch instead? It's just kind of a steady stream of mini crisis management.
[00:02:33] It's nothing catastrophic, but it's always can you help me with this? What about this? I need money for this. I sent you a Venmo request for this and I know a lot of you are in the same boat.
[00:02:44] And between all this, I'm running a business out of my home office, serving clients. Loving that business is great. Managing launches for people and still showing up online for myself as much as I can.
[00:02:58] And it's a lot.
[00:02:59] I'm not complaining at all. I'm grateful I have all these people in my life I'm sharing because I think there's a lot of people out there in a similar situation.
[00:03:08] And sometimes just knowing it's not you helps.
[00:03:12] So here's kind of a snapshot of what an actual day can look like. Let's say it's 8, 8:15.
[00:03:17] I'm on a zoom call with a client working through next quarter's plan.
[00:03:21] An hour later, my dad calls because his doctor's appointment got rescheduled and now we have to get calendars in sync again because he knows I like to plan out as far as I can with doctor's appointments so I can block off my calendar so I don't get scheduled for work meetings.
[00:03:37] 10 o', clock, my daughter text about needing out of print a book out of print books for her patho class. We troubleshoot that, figure it out, get it shipped, done.
[00:03:47] So by noon, I've got tabs open for Google Analytics for clients, my chart for dad, Amazon textbooks, and still trying to figure out did I take all those vitamins that I said I was going to this morning, or do I need to take a double dose, a possible second dose, to get through the day.
[00:04:05] And none of these moments on their own are impossible at all. But together, it just kind of feels like I'm running this relay race with no baton. It's just a never ending handoff of responsibilities.
[00:04:16] But here's the twist.
[00:04:18] My career in marketing and client service has actually prepared me for this season of life in ways that I did not expect.
[00:04:25] For one, it's taught me to stay calm under pressure. And I've had clients say over the years, you're hard to rattle. Well, I'm going to make a confession here. Sometimes I'm rattling on the inside, but I don't see that there's any need to have blow up or meltdown.
[00:04:42] It's just work. And in the whole scheme of life, it's all going to work out.
[00:04:47] So when a client's tech breaks, something goes down. I don't panic.
[00:04:51] I breathe. I try to ask right questions, start Troubleshooting, get the right people involved.
[00:04:57] And now I use those same skills when my dad has a medication mishap or my son needs to talk to me about an interview.
[00:05:05] It's also taught me the value of reading between the lines. Clients don't always tell you exactly what's wrong, but you pick up on it in their tone. Maybe something's going on in their office, maybe they've hired someone and it hasn't worked out and really stressed out and it's kind of the things they don't say but maybe that are implied that you have to kind of put together to figure out what's going on. And that's been invaluable with my parents and my kids.
[00:05:29] Sometimes they're not asking directly for what they need, but you can hear it if you're paying attention.
[00:05:35] And maybe the biggest one is taught me to ask questions first before reacting. I've always been good at that in business, but clients, prospects and sales calls. But now I use it at home too.
[00:05:46] So instead of jumping straight into problem solving, I'll ask, okay, what happened exactly?
[00:05:52] What have you already tried?
[00:05:54] What do we need to do this second and then try to figure out what can wait.
[00:05:59] That one shift has made me even calmer and has given my kids and my parents space to think for themselves, which they are all capable of doing instead of me always swooping in with a solution.
[00:06:11] And of course we have to talk about that B word boundaries. Client service taught me to set them and now I'm applying them at home with family saying things like, I hope I'll help you. I know things are stressful. I will be off this call at 2 o' clock and I will call you as soon as I get off so we can figure this out. That's not easy, but it's necessary.
[00:06:31] And I know a lot of you are out there in similar situations and you don't give yourself enough credit for how much you're holding on and holding together.
[00:06:40] It's not just one thing, it's multiple generations, multiple priorities and multiple roles.
[00:06:45] And even with all those skills, this season is not easy.
[00:06:48] People will say, oh, you're an empty nester now. Isn't that great? And yes, it is great. I love my kids, but they were ready to leave home and I miss them terribly.
[00:06:58] But that still doesn't make things easy that they're not in the house.
[00:07:03] Because most of the time the calls aren't about fun or connection, they're about solving problems.
[00:07:08] And some days that wears on me because I Still need fun.
[00:07:12] I can feel like all I am is a firefighter some days putting out flames from my parents, kids, clients. And those moments, it's hard not to wonder where's the space for me. So I definitely have to prioritize that as well.
[00:07:25] So I want to be clear. This is not a look at me. I've got a figured out episode. Because I do not at all. I am learning every single day.
[00:07:33] It's a confession. There are still days when I feel drained, guilty, or like I'm letting someone down. And that's okay. It's part of being human. In the season, a lot of women, including me, went through this when we went back to work and had babies in daycare. Juggling guilt, wondering how to make it better, how can I stay home and not starve?
[00:07:54] And maybe that season kind of helped prep us, prep us for this one.
[00:07:58] So here's a few things that keep me grounded.
[00:08:01] I time block my energy. I try to do all the work I can in the mornings when I can, because that leaves afternoons flexible.
[00:08:11] And that's kind of when the chaos seems to start most of the time.
[00:08:16] But if we have morning appointments, if dad scheduled out appointments and we have stuff in the morning, I make sure that I block off that afternoon to get caught up because the last thing needs to happen is for me to ever get behind and there be some type of chaos where I can't work.
[00:08:31] So I try to block off as much time as I can to stay ahead, check on things, delegate things, and make sure everything runs smoothly.
[00:08:41] And the next thing is delegation. Sometimes that means I need to ask my kids to figure out some of their own solutions and let me know what they're thinking. Maybe I don't need to be the one in the driver's seat. And I would say they're getting really good at that. My son's 22. He's getting ready to be out of school. He's getting there. My daughter's pretty independent. She's getting there. She's doing well.
[00:09:01] Micro rest.
[00:09:02] So this sounds crazy. I try not to take naps during the day. I rarely do. But if things have been really crazy, the only way I can shut my brain off is to go to sleep. I can set the timer for 10 minutes, sit in the recliner, sleep for 10 minutes, get up and go again. I haven't had to do that much recently or in a while, but that's kind of how I do. It's like a light switch for me. Turn it off, shut it down, restart, maybe it's like removing the computer and then laughter. Honestly, group text, memes, Instagram, dms.
[00:09:36] Sometimes I think those are a lifeline. With everybody being so busy and different seasons of life.
[00:09:41] Sometimes something that a friend sends you can just kind of change your mood for the day.
[00:09:46] And then there's one more thing that I need to mention, and it's my husband.
[00:09:50] We've only been married just over a year. And here's the thing. My kids are not his biological kids, and he's never had children of his own. But you would never know it by the way he shows up.
[00:10:01] He's very quiet, he's reserved. He is not the type of man that gets in their face and says, I'm your stepdad and this is how we're going to do it.
[00:10:08] But he treats the kids as if they're his.
[00:10:12] And he helps with my parents, and he never hesitates to jump in.
[00:10:16] He did not sign up for all this chaos. He knew it was there. He was around long enough where nobody was hiding anything from him.
[00:10:24] But he doesn't really stand on the sidelines. He's in it with me. And when his plate gets full, when my plate gets full, he puts some of it on his plate and he gets on the phone and he helps to start figuring it out.
[00:10:36] He's driven over and picked up my son and taken him into the dean's office before when there was questions and we need to get things straightened out. He knew that I was busy that day. He just took care of it.
[00:10:48] And I can't even tell you how much that support means having someone in your corner, someone who steps in instead of stepping back. That is everything.
[00:10:57] So if you're in this season two, I hope you have that kind of support. If you don't, this is your reminder to let your friends and let people in.
[00:11:05] You do not need to do this all by yourself.
[00:11:09] So that's this week's confession on the Confessions from the Home Office podcast. Working from home isn't just about juggling clients and business.
[00:11:17] Sometimes it's about juggling several generations of people at once who need you at the same time.
[00:11:23] So if this resonates with you, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a DM or forward this episode to someone who's also carrying a lot.
[00:11:31] Because we don't have to do this by ourselves. And sometimes the best thing we can do is say out loud, yep, this season in life, it's hard, and we're still doing it. I wouldn't have it any other way.
