MANILA, Philippines - “I feel like I’m back in school all over again!”
That’s Gelli de Belen talking about how being a hands-on mom is defining her life. She wakes up early every morning, no matter how late she goes home the night before, to bring sons Joaquin and Julio to school. Then, she braves the traffic again to fetch the boys.
“Their homework is not easy,” she sighs. “They have so many reading materials, so many requirements.”
Her efforts are paying off. Unlike most children who cringe at the thought of solving Math problems, Joaquin does not.
“I excel in Math,” he reveals.
Younger brother, Julio, on the other hand, has no problem picking up a book and poring over it.
“I’m into reading and language,” the bespectacled boy says.
The boys may sound nerdy, but they’re not. They got their dad Ariel Rivera’s love for sports.
Joaquin (nicknamed Joaqui) and Julio play baseball like Ariel, who marked Father’s Day weeks back by just staying at home with Gelli and the boys.
It won’t come as surprise if Ariel even played basketball with them that day. Of the two, it is Joaquin who got into the varsity but had to quit to pay more attention to his studies.
And boys being boys, they want to play rough as often as possible. In fact, Joaquin and Julio want another brother to roughhouse with.
“I can’t play rough with a sister,” Julio explains.
The news is hardly music to Gelli’s ears.
“I’m done with giving birth,” she declares. Then, in an effort to convince her sons to forget all about having a baby brother, she tells them, “But you have each other. And you have your cousins, too.”
“But Kuya is tall,” protests Julio. “I can’t carry him!”
The boys agree on one thing though: yogurt. Joaquin and Julio gorged on their favorite chocolate flavor when they joined their parents at the grand opening of the first O My Yogurt store at Manila Ocean Park.
The 16 guilt-free flavors carry zero fat. You can even create your own sundae by choosing from 45 toppings.
“It’s yummy and refreshing,” Gelli adds in-between scoops. “It’s not enough to tell kids a certain kind of food is healthy. It must also be yummy so you won’t have a hard time urging them to eat it.”
She should know. Since Gelli has no help around the house, she herself makes sure Joaquin and Julio’s baon for school is nutritious.
“It’s only here that you find maids in the house,” she explains. This is also her way of preparing for the day when she and the family will migrate to Canada, where Ariel grew up.
For now, Gelli would rather watch her boys enjoy their yogurt, avoid soda and develop other healthy eating habits they will hopefully carry with them to adulthood.
“I’m making sure they start being conscious about what they eat this early. That’s why I make sure they eat only nutritious food. I train them to eat vegetables,” says Gelli. “I’m so glad the boys’ school doesn’t sell softdrinks in the cafeteria.”
How sure is she her boys will like their vegetables?
“It’s not enough that I tell them it’s good for them. The food must also be yummy for them to like it,” Gelli replies.
There you are. As hands-on as you can get. Figures why Ariel, Joaquin and Julio seem to have no care in the world at all.