Every parent wants their children to reach for the stars. We aspire for them to be leaders in their industry, movers and shakers of the world and strong ethical good community members.
With the 2012 London Olympic Games starting tomorrow I have added future Olympians to that long list of hopeful titles my beautiful and intelligent sons can someday acquire. (Trust me the list includes the likes of Visionary ; ) !)
My four year old Rock and 1 year old X are my pride and joy. I love them to the moon and back times infinity even on those days they throw tantrums, give me attitude or drive me crazy with their incessant questions.
There is little I would not do for my darling sons and I was so happy to have the pleasure of speaking with Ondina Lopez, the mom of London 2012 Olympic Games hopefuls Steven and Diana Lopez, and is the heart of the “First Family of Taekwondo”. Her children, Steven, Jean, Mark and Diana are at the world elite level in Taekwondo. Steven, Mark and Diana made history when they each won gold at the 2005 World Taekwondo Championships, becoming the first three siblings in any sport to claim World Championship titles at the same event, thanks to Procter & Gamble and Latina Mom Bloggers.
During the teleconference several Latina Mom Bloggers and I asked Ondina;
- How she did it all (and if she would do it all over again with all the hardships)
- Tips on raising Gold Olympians
- What did motherhood mean to her
My youngest sister studied Taekwondo for several years and for those that do not know it is a VERY EXPENSIVE hobby. There are class fees, special equipment and endless hours of practice. My mom, my middle sister and I were constantly driving my youngest sister to and from class.
Ondina spoke of all the challenges she faced with her children. How expensive this hobby was. How she was in the car more times than she was home. How she encouraged her daughter Diana to work just as hard as her brothers to reach for the stars. But most importantly she taught them that win or lose she would always love and support them. I was awestruck with the strength, love and patience this humble Nicaraguan Mami had.
She and mi Paraguayan Mama are examples of what Motherhood is to me. Being a Mami is so difficult and there definitely is no manual or blog for how to raise perfect kids. I am not perfect but I think I turned out pretty well Masters and all. ; ) And that was in large part to mi Mama y Papa who were my number one cheerleaders and sacrificed so much for the American dream and the well fair of my sisters and I. Mi Mama was my constant support though every challenge and victory. Every day I ask God for patience and strength to be such a great Mami for my little men.
In honor of the 2012 Olympic Games, Procter & Gamble (P&G) recently launched their “Thank you, Mom” campaign, which honors everything that mothers do to help their children succeed throughout life. Crest & Oral-B Complete has partnered up with Taekwondo fighter Steven López to give him the confidence to show off his healthy, winning smile. López, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and bronze medalist will be competing in the 80kg division at this year’s Games.
Check out these great videos.
Ondina Taking Care of the Kids
Steven and Ondina In Spanish
To learn more about P&G Oral Care Olympic Games partnership, please “Like” Crest on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/crest).
This is part of a sponsored campaign with Crest and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
About Divina Rodriguez
Divina is a wife, a Mami of 2 boys under the age of four and a full fledged social media butterfly with a Masters in Communications. She writes along with her husband, Eddy, about entertainment, technology, family products as well as their life in CT. In addition to DancingHotdogs.com, Divina unlocks the magic on www.TheDisneyFiles.com and is a founding mother & partner at Trumpeting Media, a social media consulting company that is dedicated to using social media for social good.
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