Right there with you, @sarah_fisher49. It's like they breed in the dark. I finally gathered all my spare phone chargers, just a ton of them, and threw them in a box. Two weeks later, I find three more tangled in a kitchen drawer. It's the same with Tupperware lids, they just multiply when you aren't looking.

How does salt wreck dough structure?

Wait, watering plants at night? What's suspicious about that, it's just gardening. This stuff really has gotten out of hand.

That listening part is exactly it. You stop being a nephew and start feeling like a free therapist who has to nod along to the same script. They get the social hit of feeling helpful, while you do all the work of pretending their outdated idea has merit. What makes it so tiring is realizing you're not in a real discussion, you're just providing an audience.

Block out a couple hours on Mondays for those show cuts. It keeps the rest of your week from getting messed up. I learned that after my own toddler clip moment, like @nathan_brown59 mentioned. Clients will wait if they know you're the go-to for that style. Just be upfront about when you can fit them in. This saves everyone the headache of rushed jobs and bad results.