Now That You're A Mother by Renee Siao
Now That You're A Mother is a series that started by honoring Mother’s Day, but so many amazing answers poured in that we’re continuing on. Today we have Financial advisor, Hula teacher and Hawaiian travel expert (and Christianne’s mom), Renee Siao, sharing her thoughts on the past, present, and future of her experience with motherhood.
1) What do your kids call you?
Christine and Christopher call me Mom and Christianne calls me Mama.
2) Has your perspective of your own mom or parental figure changed?
Over the years my perspective of my own mom has changed from a love/hate relationship to finally that of understanding/accepting the realities behind her actions.
3) What’s something your kids did that you’ll never forget?
Each child has a memorable story that will give you an insight as to who they will become later in life.
Christine and I were in Hawaii for the Queen Liliuokalani Keiki Hula Competition. After the competition, we extended our trip to visit Maui. We went snorkeling in Molokini, a crescent shaped partially submerged volcanic crater. Christine was adventurous enough to swim away from the ropes of the little boat to explore her surroundings and admire the reefs and fishes around the crater. At the age of 10 she already had a fascination with nature’s beauty. As for me, I hyperventilated as soon as I realized I could no longer see the surface and was escorted back to the boat. I was afraid and embarrassed. All I can remember is screaming at Christine to come back to the boat immediately. At the age of 10 Christine showed she was fearless to explore the unknown.
Christopher may be small compared to other kids his age but he certainly showed them who’s the boss. No one can mess with this little kid. I clearly remember my brother being told by the kindergarten teacher to ask Christopher what happened. Apparently his schoolmate Ryan pushed him and Christopher punched him in the face. Looks like it was a hard blow as Ryan ended up with a bruise in his face. I certainly don’t encourage hitting other kids in kinder but Christopher at the young age of 5 showed everyone he can stand up to anyone. He certainly made his mark even in pre-school.
Christianne grew up entertaining everyone. She was on stage as soon as she could walk. We had our annual dance recitals to showcase what the students learned at the studio the entire year. During dress rehearsal, Christianne gets up from her first-row seat and runs to the stage to dance with the other students. She recognized their outfits looked like hers and must have thought she was supposed to dance with them. She was not part of that class but she gracefully improvised and choreographed her own dance. She stole everyone’s heart. Definitely a star in the making at the age of 2 ½. She was a natural on that stage. Truth is I purchased the entire fabric roll to outfit 12 teenage girls. We had leftover fabric so I asked the seamstress to make a costume for Christianne. In fact, we had so much leftover fabric our seamstress managed to upholster the sofa as well!
4) What is one hope you have for your kids in the future?
I want my children to be healthy, to have a happy family, to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle and to always be there to care and support each other. My wish is for each of them to find their purpose in life.
5) What are your kids doing right now?
Christine has been living in London with her expat family for the past 3 years. She is moving back to Canada as the General Manager of a waste management firm. Her mission is to positively impact the Canadian market by bringing innovative and sustainable solutions for business growth. She has 2 boys, 12 and 10 yrs. old.
Christopher is the Managing Director of a private equity firm. He is an investment professional with a focus on FinTech (payments, tech-enabled specialty finance) and vertical software. He is an advisor and volunteer board member to organizations educating the youth and inspiring them to succeed in a changing global economy. He is a fur parent.
Christianne is an independent film producer living in LA, screenwriter, parentpreneur and co-founder of this site, a digital parenting village and resource empowering new parents, like her and her partner, Callie. She inspires others while multi-tasking with ease and grace. She is a full-time mom of 2 girls, 2 yrs. 8 months and 5 months old.
-Renee
