No showbiz plans for Team Kramer kids

MANILA, Philippines - Team Kramer is easily the most-followed Filipino family on social media with over 1.2 million “likers” on Facebook. The social media attention has also translated to increasing TV appearances, advertisements and endorsement deals as a family, but it doesn’t mean it’s the start of a “showbiz career” for Doug and Cheska Kramer’s adorable children Kendra, Scarlett and Gavin.

“No, no, it’s not,” Cheska told The STAR during the launch of the Go Love Life! campaign of the iron supplement Sangobion (from the German pharmaceutical company, Merck Consumer Health).

Still, with sports-meets-showbiz parents, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they did. “Me kasi, I always believe if it’s something that my children is good at, be it acting or other things, then I will support them,” said Cheska, who’s resuming her TV hosting work soon via a lifestyle show akin to her previous project Us Girls. “But at the end of the day, I’m not just one parent. I have to consider my husband.”

And according to Cheska, the PBA cager is “parang ayaw niya,” adding, “For me, it’s a long way from now. Kendra is only four years old, she is still a baby; Scarlett is two; Gavin is one.”

It can’t be denied, however,  that their firstborn is a natural on cam. “Yeah, mahilig siya. But it’s easier for her pagkatabi niya kami ni Doug. If we’re not, you’ll not be able to get anything from her. So when she’s asked to guest, we sit beside her and she becomes more confident, especially if it’s her papa who is beside her.”

There’s already an offer for the Kramer family to do a regular show. “There is an offer but we want to be very careful because the kids are very small. No matter what you say, even on Instagram, they’re already under the scrutiny of people. The parenting style and everything, some will always have something to say about it. TV is also different. We just want to make sure we get to protect them and yet be able to enjoy the things around us.”

All this attention was the least of their expectations when Cheska started to post family photos on Instagram and Twitter, initially for the benefit of family and friends abroad. This spawned the Team Kramer (a name that originated from fans) Facebook page in August of last year. “When we started doing Twitter, Instagram, we did not think there would be a big following of people. We did it because everybody has it, at the same time, we also wanted to share photos of our family to friends and family abroad because it’s so much easier to keep in touch that way. So, it wasn’t something planned. It was also a big surprise for us that it started growing and growing.”

Now, their kids also have their own fans club, who delight in their antics and budding talents.  

Cheska talked more about her brood. “Kendra is more like me. Scarlett is siga, she’s tough. I guess she sees it from her older sister, at the same time, she’s very sweet and charming, always a smiley face. Gavin is a chilled-out boy; his personality is like a mix of Kendra and Scarlett.”

Both she and Doug make a conscious effort never to play, or even give the tiniest impression that they play favorites. “A lot of people would ask us, who is our favorite, or who’s closer to me or to Doug, but we don’t believe in that, and we don’t want to be that way. To us, we have three adorable kids, so why choose one? We really live by that, and we don’t want our kids to ever feel that we favor one over the other. Like when we buy something, we buy for all of them. We are like that because we want to break the stereotype about the middle child or that mas favorite yung eldest or the youngest, or mas naiiwan yung mas bata. We don’t believe in that.”

At the Go Love Life! event, which celebrated women as natural nurturers, Cheska was asked how she makes time for herself. She shared that the bathroom is a sacred place, it’s where she listens to music, reads her devotionals or enjoys long baths.

As husband and wife (they’ve been together for 11 years now, six years a married couple), they still go on dates, talk a lot and really work on their relationship, getting guidance and advice from the Bible, their readings, churchmates and married friends. Cheska said, “I would say, my life really took a turn when I got married and had kids. You realized so many things and you have so many things to live for.”

In showbiz, there’s no dearth of examples of broken families, but these do not discourage them. “We don’t focus on those things. We focus on our family. I’d like to think every marriage, every couple is different. For Doug and I, that’s just our job but we don’t take that at home. Our dreams are one. We plan and do things with each other’s consultation. I didn’t marry him for nothing. I married him because I know that he can  take care of me, can take care of a family, which he is very good at. I made the right choice!”

This is why they consider the interest in their social media presence a blessing — it’s an opportunity for them to celebrate love and family. Notice that they intersperse the antics of Kendra, Scarlett and Gavin with inspirational entries.

Cheska said, “Of course, because we see that there’s this love for this family, Doug and I want to make it more meaningful — it’s not just to show an intact family, but we also want to show that why we’re happy and intact because we have a God-centered relationship and we see that this is a blessing. We also see that there’s a big responsibility that comes with it. So, if we can inspire people with simple pictures, then we can inspire them more by sharing with them what keeps us strong and what are the things that we abide by in our life.”