So Aware – Of the things that matter most

This So Aware segment of our Virtual Sojourn to celebrate our 3rd year anniversary, #SoJannelle3 – consists of 3 interviews that feature interviews about the things that matter most in life.

During this pandemic, people are learning about essentials vs non-essentials – what do we truly need in life, in order to survive, and maybe even thrive? What are the things we cannot live without? For our host, she says it’s food, family and faith. And so she gathered some of her friends who are moms and with their families, as they share their thoughts and learnings during this time.

In the first part, we meet STEM and sustainability advocate Janice Lao who shares her tips on how to develop and nurture the love for STEM in our children. She says parents can take advantage of the time during quarantine when families are spending more time together at home – to teach children about science, math. She talks about “Math and Science are everywhere” – from baking (learning about measurements and halves; postal codes, and so on.

In closing, Janice also talks about how to protect and preserve our environment. She discusses her book which she co-wrote with her daughter – about two whales who are in danger of losing their home in the arctic.

The second interview features Filipino family in #Hollywood – actor JonJon Briones (Miss Saigon, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, Ratched); his actress wife, Megan (General Hospital: Night Shift, Amne$ia and The Daily Show); daughter, Isa Camile Briones (Next to Normal, Hamilton, Star Trek: Picard); and son, Teo Briones (Wind River) – as they talk about their family dynamics with us.

They share laughs as they candidly talk about the challenges of quarantining with each other – how the big yard helps, as well as headphones!

“My wife is the most important thing in my life,” says JonJon, “and we always do things together. It is important to stay together because family is everything and especially in this business, you need a strong support system.”

Megan agrees and shares that they made a pact that husband and wife wouldn’t be apart for more than a couple of weeks; which they kept until the West End revival of #missaigon in 2014. And at the time, they had been married for 21 years.

Teo admits that “being apart from each other has been good to our relationship. But now coming together in quarantine, we feel closer than ever.”

Isa says she is proud of how much of a unit her parents are – always so together – and that’s how she would want to raise her children someday. “Even when they stopped telling me what to do, I would go to them and seek their advice.”

Jon Jon and Megan also talk about laying the foundation for our children – picking our battles; allowing your children to make mistakes and learn; give an opinion, instead of telling them what to do; wording things well; and more importantly, do things with LOVE.”

The third part features #MamaBares – Jen Paz, Deedee Magno-Hall, Joan Almedilla and Ai Cheung – who open the discussion with a look back on what they were doing in July 2019 – because no one could have known then what would happen this year.

The Broadway alums share their friendship and music; and more importantly, their parenting styles and tips -especially during the lockdown.

Jen Paz recalls the first or second week of lockdown when they were “camping” in the room to make it fun, when she realized this period was going to be huge – for everyone. Ai Cheung says she made sure her children realized that this was the kind of thing that people will be talking about years from now – in school, in children’s history books, and so on.

Deedee Magno-Hall says that life in the beginning of quarantine was not much different from their daily life, except that they had their children 24/7. Nonetheless, she says she was grateful for that time together and that’s the attitude of gratitude that she tried to share with them – “to be thankful for everything and not take anything for granted.”

Joan Almedilla, a homeschooling mom also explains the change in their life in terms of not being able to go outside – to the library, to the park, and so on.

The moms also talks about dealing with stress – breaking down in front of kids, showing vulnerability and humanity to our children. Because we can’t always be “supermom”. And the best we can do is fill this time with good memories.

The group closes out the interview and the show with their song “So What” – about the journey of a mom who was busy raising her children; and then suddenly finding herself alone as they all leave the “nest”.