Jamie Yeo talks motherhood, pursuing passions and why it's important to not feel guilty about self-care

Hosting, acting, modelling, there seem to be nothing Celebrity Mum Jamie Yeo can’t do. Now, the mother-of-two is also an entrepreneur following the launch of her jewellery label early last year.

So we can’t help but wonder: how does the 43-year-old mum keep up with her busy schedule with two kids in tow?

In an interview with theAsianparent, Jamie talks about motherhood, finding a balance between family and work, and pursuing passions.

She also talks about why women, especially mums, should not feel guilty about self-care.

On managing a busy schedule and raising siblings with an age gap, different genders

“Lots and lots of things are keeping me busy — so much so that my husband has now started helping me out as well with my collaborations with brands. I’m very blessed to be busy,” Jamie told theAsianparent when asked to describe how her days have been like lately.

“My kids keep me busy, obviously, they’re both quite active, which is really an understatement,” Jamie said, describing her kids Alysia, 9, and Luke, 3.

According to the celebrity mum, finding a balance between work and motherhood comes with a lot of challenges and she’s lucky that she and her husband’s differences in personalities complement each other when it comes to parenting, making it a lot more doable, even with a very busy schedule.

But the same cannot be said about her kids, according to Jamie. With a big age gap, as well as varied interests, Jamie said raising her two children meant two different parenting styles.

“When it comes to our kids, we deal with everything knowing that everybody is an individual person, they have different personalities so it’s not a one-size-fits-all thing,” said Jamie. The former actress and DJ shared that one of the main differences between her two children is the way they deal with their emotions.

Jamie shared that her daughter as one who will “need to be sat down and asked what is the matter,” whereas her son will often just “laugh it off and go.”

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“[Luke] is a lot more physical, a lot naughtier, and more likely to throw a tantrum. So I’ve learned that sometimes, a whack on the bum, like a hard one actually works with him. The opposite applies to my daughter,” said Jamie.

Despite this, however, Jamie acknowledges that corporal punishment isn’t always the way to go.

“I think it depends on the child,” Jamie reasons. “With my daughter instinctively, I know that I shouldn’t because she is a lot more sensitive about it and doing so might actually hurt her feelings. But with my son, when I spank him he knows that it’s because of what he did, he’d tell me ‘you spanked me right because I was naughty.’ So it really just depends on the child. Some children can take it, and some can’t.”

And when asked whether her two kids get along given how very different they are from each other, Jamie shared: “You would think they don’t because there’s quite a big age gap between both of them, but they can play together. Sometimes Aly would take her brother to his room or something and they’ll just play for an hour. I listened to them and they’d still be talking and everything. She can really get down to his level. Cause she’s still a kid, and both of them are so they still enjoy playing.”

“When you deal with two people, two little, and very different people, it teaches a parent to be more aware of what being human is, you know, and to also not sweat the small stuff, really,” Jamie added.

On pursuing her passion and helping her kids pursue theirs

If there’s one more thing we can add to describe Jamie, it’s “pursuer of passion.”

Early in 2020, the former radio DJ launched her own jewellery label Lula J Jewellery — named after her two kids Luke and Aly — after getting inspiration from her personal struggle of finding fun, casual jewellery that is made of real materials but at the same time, are affordable.

A self-confessed thrifty, Jamie said it wasn’t the jewellery that she was always passionate about but rather the ability to be able to leave a legacy behind.

“I want to be able to leave a legacy, so I don’t mind buying jewellery for myself if these pieces can be left for my daughter and my son’s girlfriend or wife or whatever,” Jamie shares. “That’s also why the name of my jewellery line is Lula J, because of my kids,” Jamie explains. “We make these pieces with the idea that you can pass them on, so your daughters or even granddaughters wear them in the future.”

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“I wanted to bring these pieces and have people get access to them. People who are not looking to spend a lot on jewellery, but they just want to spend a bit more than what they would on custom jewellery, but knowing that it’ll last. That was my inspiration,” Jamie added.

Jamie also shared that it took her a while to get the business up and running because she needed to prioritise her day-job which meant she has to drop everything related to this passion project.

“It took some time because I often get very busy with work. Every time I had a massive project in my day job, I’ll just stop working on it for a bit, and reprioritise,” Jamie said.

This is also why the new entrepreneur while trying to be supportive of her kids’ passions, have some reservations about her kids pursuing their passions.

Last year, in an Instagram post, Jamie shared that her nine-year-old daughter Aly who seemed to be passionate about public speaking, just like her mum.

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“She likes ‘vlogging,’ I’ve seen videos she recorded on her iPad, and she enjoys doing things like that, especially when it’s for my work — she gets very excited,” told Jamie. “I don’t encourage it too much, but because it is a passion of hers, I do help her with it. I’d give her some tips on how to present and things like that. I’ll help her record.”

According to Jamie, she and her husband try to be supportive as much as possible when it comes to helping their kids with what they set their interests.

“But I think [my daughter] knows that while I’m okay with her pursuing her passions, her studies are still
very important. Cause you know, you have to have something to fall back on,” Jamie said.

“For me, it’s important that while she knows we’ll support her passion, she knows that her studies is still, right now, the most important thing,” Jamie added.

Jamie also advised that parents should not stop their children from pursuing passions, rather help them “ensure they have something to fall back on.”

“With young people these days, the kids, the more you don’t want them to do something, the more they’ll do it. So you just have to go with it, but make sure they have something to fall back on. We can’t change their passions,” Jaime noted.

On keeping the romance alive and having another baby

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With all the things that are keeping her busy, Jamie makes sure she and her husband still get time for themselves as a couple through date nights and “us-time.”

“Every Friday night, unless I have a show to host or something — then we reschedule — we always go out for a nice dinner,” Jamie shares.

And when asked if she and her husband are planning for another baby, Jamie said: “Oh, no, I’m 43. So, you know, I’m pretty old,” she quipped.

“Honestly, [even] if I was younger, it’d still be a no. Because Luke, obviously he’s cute and everything, but he has been really hard to take care of. He’s very fiery and full of energy and he, honestly, tires us out. So even if I was younger, we would not have considered having another one. But now, I have age as my excuse,” she added.

On self-care and not feeling guilty about it

With such a busy lifestyle like herself, still, Jamie makes sure she gives herself some well-deserved self-care from time-to-time.

“I go to the gym a couple of times a week. I have a trainer. So for me, I realise that I only go when I have a trainer, I’ve made an appointment with somebody, I’m going to pay that person for an hour. And if I cancel, I don’t get my money back. Okay. That’s the only way to make me do it,” Jamie shared.

However, when she does not get much time to do so, Jamie said she sets aside some time for “me-time.”

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“I pick up slots in a day that are quiet. In the morning, the quietest in my house because my two kids are in school, I would just kind of come into the room and look out the window and look at the trees, you know, and just lie in bed and just, I don’t know, watch the leaves sway in the breeze, which is always quite mesmerising for me. That will be self care for me.”

Jamie also shared that it is important for women, especially mums, to set aside some time for self-care, and not feel bad about doing so.

“The most important part of self-care is not feeling guilty about it,” Jamie said.

“Some of us, when we take the time to self-care, then we’re like, ‘oh gosh, I could have spent that hour playing with my kids or spending time with them,’ or ‘I should have been more productive.’ But I don’t think anybody should feel guilty for spending time only on themselves for being so called ‘selfish’ because self-care should not be selfish,” Jamie added.

“[Self-care] is actually being selfless because when you care for yourself, you’re actually allowing yourself to be in a much better position and condition to care for others,” Jamie concluded.

This article was first published in theAsianparent.