Mothers Finding Balance: Meet Maria

I had planned to meet Maria in her hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. When I told my children where I was going, one of my daughters insisted we not spend the night there. When I asked her why not, she told me that people disappear from there! 

Of course, I was immediately concerned and asked her when this happened. Had it been a trend? Well, it turns out the disappearance happened in 1590. As in the year 1590. What? Did she really want me to worry about something that happened in 1590? Her answer: “Mom, you can never be too careful!”

I had a good laugh and was intrigued. I had never heard of this. A quick search brought up multiple articles about “The Roanoke Colony Mystery“. 

It is quite an interesting story! 

On to my interview with Maria

Maria is a Pediatrician with 3 teenage children. She and her husband (also a medical doctor) maintain a very structured home environment. They have not had any major defiance or opposition from and of their children. She describes them as well-behaved, and everything is currently on “cruise control”.

I asked Maria how she has managed to get the children, now teens, to consistently do what they need to do without much push. Three main topics came up.

1. Culture

The children are very grounded in their culture. Maria and her husband are from the Philippines originally. The children have been raised to appreciate and immerse themselves in Filipino culture. They have been raised on a more than 50% Filipino diet.

Raising the children to appreciate their culture has been very important. The family attends all the cultural events in their city. Several Filipino families live there. They have also been taught to love the country of their birth: the USA. They have many friends from diverse backgrounds who they meet primarily at school. Maria has also been very conscious of the importance of raising the children to be comfortable with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

2. Church

The family’s activities are heavily influenced by their church calendar. This is very important to Maria and her husband. Maria feels confident that the children will continue to embrace their church roots after they leave home.

3. Purposeful engagement in children’s activities

Maria has been able to attend all her children’s school activities. She has been a helper in the lunchroom and helped with many school-related activities. As a result, she knows the children’s friends. She knows their parents. This is important to her. They have also traveled a lot as a family. Europe, South America, and Japan have been some of their destinations.

Electronics and Screen Time

The two girls have not had any problems with limiting screen time, but her son loves gaming. She and her husband needed to lay down the law about when he can play computer games. Her son has not liked it, but he has been obedient to the rules.

Kids and Careers

Maria chose to work part-time so she could be more engaged with the children’s activities. Now that her youngest son is in high school, she is planning to return to full-time work. 

She has enjoyed this phase of her life and is now ready to take on more work in her career.