Joanna Gaines Favorite App Right Now

She may be running a media empire with husband Chip, but Joanna Gaines‘ life is just like every other mom of teenaged drivers in at least one respect.

The mother of five relies on technology to keep track of her teenagers when they’re on the road. Gaines tells PEOPLE, “All four of my older kids are driving now. I stalk them on the app Life360!” she says laughing. “It tells you how fast they’re going.”

46-year-old Gaines uses the app to track Drake, 20, Ella, 18, Duke, 16, and Emmie, 15. Drake is away at college and Ella will soon follow after graduating from high school this spring.

New Phase of Parenthood Has Joanna Changing Some Things

Joanna Gaines writes about her shifting priorities in the spring issue of Magnolia Journal.

Magnolia Journal. PHOTO Lisa Petrole for Magnolia Journal

The “Fixer Upper” star writes, “In nearly every season of my life, I have looked to balance as a benchmark, a way of measuring how well I’m holding my life together. If things generally felt right-side up, then I knew I could breathe a sigh of relief. Balance, to me, was the light at the end of the tunnel, the antidote of sorts for whatever chaos was swirling nearby.”

The decorator explains that as her life has unfolded, she’s realized that at least for her, it’s not about keeping everything in perfect balance. “As I’m wrestling with the idea of balance, I’ve started to wonder if the most important thing isn’t actually what we’re holding, or how well or how equally we’re holding it. What if the most important things are those holding us up? The things keeping us steady. The things that fortify the ground we’re standing on so we can go on standing tall when there are ebbs and flows and inevitable curves in the road.”

Having Kids Go Off to College Has Hit Joanna Gaines Hard

Having the kids grow up and move out has been harder than expected. “I was so sad,” Joanna told PEOPLE when oldest son Drake moved out. “I couldn’t believe how it hit me because Chip always says I’m not super emotional. I’m pretty steady. But, I think just the idea that I realize that one move out with that one kid, it triggers something now where it starts feeling everything goes fast.”

And it’s not getting easier with the second one. “How do I prepare my own heart for it?” she continued, referring to Ella, who will go to college this fall. “It’s like you’re losing the one that you go on the weekends to get coffee with and shop at the antique stores. I’m like, ‘Where’s my friend going?’ It’s just being okay with the shift and letting go of what was, and just being excited for what’s to come.”

Gaines strategy going forward includes focusing on making the time count despite her busy schedule running the Magnolia Empire. While Chip and Joanna rarely show the older kids on social media these days, Gaines gave a glimpse recently. A Christmas post shows them all coming in and out of the kitchen as she bakes cookies. “Knowing that [the older kids] will be gone in the next few years, I’ve made a conscious decision to create micro-moments, to feel in the now with our family, just be really more intentional with our time together,” Joanna told PEOPLE. “And hopefully, try and slow it all down a bit!”