The Littlest Realtor

My son came with me to view a home with some friends this morning. He ran around and checked out the vacant house, but mostly he was just concerned with running around in circles with his friends,.

It made me think of how different the two kids are. At about the same age, my daughter was more interested in the house itself and playacting that she was just like Mommy. She was also much more verbal (first kid and girl, you know the deal). Her perspective and interest have since changed. Or maybe I should say disinterest. She declined to come with us to the house and instead stayed at home, snuggled in with her Daddy. Perhaps mommy's job has lost a bit of its allure. Perhaps she agrees with those who think it wll take nearly a decade to recover and doesn't see it as a great career option. Anyway, here is a re-post of something I wrote on Active Rain a while back. I thought it was interesting given the differences in the two kids...
I've been a working mom my daughter's entire 2 ½ years. It's part of our routine. She came with me to preview homes when she was only two months old. Every summer my husband will walk her by houses that I'm holding open.
Being able to work around and with my daughter is part of what makes real estate a great career. It provides my daughter with some special insight into what mommy does, too.
The other day I heard her playing in her room with her dolls.
"You like this house," she said to her baby.

My ears perked up and I tried to listen in without interrupting. In her little two year old voice and pronunciation, she was showing a house.

"There is a master bedroom and that's your bathroom. And you like the closet." Around Portland's East side there is a lack of master suites with good size closets. Apparently even she has noticed.

"It's a pretty house and that's the sidewalk. It's not my house but you should live here," she gave her dolly quite a sales pitch.

A few weeks back I previewed some houses with her for a client. I thought she'd be bored so I tried to hurry through. It was a vacant house with a very large living room, so I left her running circles around the room while I ran upstairs to glimpse the bedrooms. When I came down she was in the kitchen.

"Are those new, Mommy?" She asked, pointing to the appliances.

In the living room, she asked if the fireplace worked. And when I tried to leave without checking the basement, I quickly was re-directed downstairs. "You need to look down there," she insisted. "To see if there is water."

You hear all the time that kids are like sponges. I know it's true, but it still amazes me. How do they pick this up so quickly?

The same afternoon when I overheard her acting out Realtor games with her dolls, I asked her what she had been playing.

"Nothing," she dismissed it. "Just only looking at a house."

"Oh, was it fun?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's my work." She said before she changed the subject.

The best realtors I know are honest, hard working, balance work and family, and have other people's interest at heart. If my daughter wants to do that, then she has my blessing. I hope to live up to those standards myself. I get a little help daily from the smallest realtor I know.