Joanna Gaines on the Gift of Having a 'Kid in College and a 5-Year-Old': I 'Cherish These Moments'

The couple is opening up about parenting four teenagers and a 5-year-old

Chip and Joanna Gaines are looking at life a little differently as they grapple with raising a kindergartener and adjusting to a new normal as their oldest enjoys his first year of college.

Speaking with PEOPLE for this week's cover, the Magnolia co-founders open up about how they're spending the time since the first of their five kids — 18-year-old Drake — has left the nest.

"Thankfully with my schedule, it's something we have to work out. We tackle our schedules months in advance," Joanna shares. "We have to kind of know what we're doing, and how we're working, and our businesses here in town, and what meetings we go to. So when I feel like, especially with sports with the kids, when I feel like we're moving into a busy season, I am very conscious and intentional about trying to get things off my calendar, that typically I think, 'I have to be there.'"

Joanna says that the couple is grateful that the team they've built is able to step in and help.

"If I'm saying this right, where I think for me now, it's like my team knows priority is, I've got four teenage kids that are all in four different sports," she tells PEOPLE. "And that means every night or every weekend, and so playing around that."

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Related: Chip & Joanna Gaines Joke About Realities of Raising Teens: ‘They Aren't Notorious for Compliments’ (Exclusive)

She continues, "I think it's a gift that we can adjust our schedules in some ways. And there are seasons where it's hard work, and I'm trying to juggle both, but I think again, that's my priority right now — which means some other things just have to fall off, or I have to figure out how to do it a different time, or in a different way."

The mom of five says that often "being creative with my schedule" becomes a "fun challenge," in which she asks, "how can I do the work that I love, but be super available and intentional with my kids?"

"I think the greatest gift of having a kid go off to college and having a five-year-old toddler, is kind of that perspective of it's not here forever," Joanna tells PEOPLE.

"Don't take it for granted, and cherish these moments. And that's what this five-year-old is teaching me," she said, referencing youngest son Crew.

"So anybody in between that, hopefully, feels that intention, and again we're not perfect. There are days where I don't do it well, at all, but I have to give myself the grace," she says.

Chip agrees, adding, "Something about Drakey going off to college really does make you shift your attention to Crew who's on the tail end of all this. And you're kind of living very intentionally because you know that — which is so hard to believe when you're holding a one-year-old — 'Oh, this time's going to go by quickly.'"

"Because it seems like time was standing still, at the time, but then when you see your boy go off to college for real — well then, you certainly shift your attention to little Crew, and want to really practically live as if he were going to go off to college tomorrow, so we can enjoy and appreciate every moment."

In addition to Crew and Drake, Chip and Joanna are parents to Emmie, 13, Duke, 15, and Ella, 17. When asked about the possibility of any of the kids joining the family business one day, both say it's important to them to give their kids space to "figure out your own thing."

"Figure out your own passion. Obviously, at some point, it'd be so fun to have one of our kids, or two of our kids work with us. But that's definitely not what we're saying out loud to them," Joanna says.

"I think Chip is really good at saying, 'You need your own identity, your own purpose.' He kind of set that expectation, like, 'When you're finished with college, go do some stuff on your own, and go learn some stuff. And then if you want to come back years later and teach us some stuff, we're here. We can't wait.'"

Joanna has watched her kids as "their interests change," but says that when it comes to the older four, "I see business in all four of them in different aspects. I see one maybe doing strategy and planning. I see one being an entrepreneur."

For more on Chip and Joanna Gaines, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

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