Janella Salvador, Elisse Joson show resilience of a single mom

With the daunting hours at work and challenging tasks of being a mother, Kapamilya stars Janella Salvador and Elisse Joson expressed how lucky they are to live the dream as artists while raising their kids.

As a single mother, raising their kids Jude and Feliz, respectively, comes with challenges but also with fruits of labor worth fighting for.

In this story, Janella and Elisse shared how they overcame the hardships of being a mother and how they are grateful for their children.

Strength of a single mom

Being a single mother, Janella admitted that there are moments that require her to be both a mom and a dad for Jude.

“In teaching moments, emotional hardships that Jude goes through as he grows up, kailangan kong balansehin ‘yung sarili ko and isipin kung paano ko siya i-mi-meet doon and at the same time, ma-meet ko all his needs, basically, as a parent,” she said.

Elisse agreed with her fellow actress, noting how she needed to find the balance between being gentle and tough in terms of disciplining Feliz.

“I actually feel for everything that Janella said kasi nga being a single parent, you have to find the balance between being the disciplinarian and also being a good friend to your kid,” she said.

“I think doon ‘yung main struggle is to on which to be on different situations kasi nga they’re growing up. Hindi naman pwedeng puro gentle parenting lang. I believe kailangan mayroon pa ring nag-di-discipline. Hindi madali na working mom din as well,” she added.

Janella also noted how they have to work extra hard for their child, and as tiring as it can be, she makes sure that her son cannot feel the burden of work.

“Kailangan kong maging strong kahit pagod na pagod ako. Siyempre, nagtatrabaho rin tayo. There are a lot of moments where, really, I was just so drained and I wanna give up but (was) being strong amidst all of that,” the actress said.

“And siyempre, ang No. 1 goal ko is hindi ko maipasa sa kanya lahat ng bigat, whatever trauma that I had growing up. Wala akong mapasa na ganoon. It ends with me. For me, ‘yun ‘yung challenge and goal ko,” she added.

Fruits of labor

Despite all the challenges, Janella said that motherhood taught her to be more patient.

“Jude and I are very opposite in terms of paano kami nung bata. He’s like a ball of energy, he has so much light. And I love that about him because he brings so much light to the room. So much happiness, laughter, very silly,” the actress said.

“And sometimes, for me, as an introverted mom, that could be draining, especially if you’re around that kind of energy 24/7. It’s really not easy, pero ‘pag mahal mo pala talaga, ‘pag anak mo, lalawak talaga ‘yung pasensiya mo,” she added.

For her, Jude is a constant reminder of her capabilities as a mom.

“You’ll be able to see things through the lens of your kid. And with so much love, I realized I have so much more love to give. He’s like a living piece of my heart extended out of my home. He taught me na kaya po talaga,” Janella said.

“Hindi siya madali, pero na-re-remind ako araw-araw na kayang-kaya ko. I’m strong and he’s the biggest blessing of my life and I would do it all over again without a doubt,” she added.

For Elisse, raising Feliz made her realize how she can also care for others.

“I grew up in a solo-household family as well and had only one child din ako. So, I think before I was just focused (on) my own well-being. So, when Feliz came to my life, she taught me to care more about others and there are other things in life other than myself,” the actress said.

“Ngayon, I realized that there (are) other people and other things to think about, not just myself. So, siya ‘yung nagturo sa akin na there is more to life and every day she teaches me how to be more of everything, more caring, more patient, more aware, and I guess, wiser now that I am a mom kasi I have this responsibility of raising a human being,” she added.

Elisse is glad for her support group and encourages other parents to not be afraid to seek help from others.

“It’s really so helpful to ask for help from the people around you. Malaking tulong ‘yung support system that’s there for you and it’s not bad to ask for help. Kasi mahirap namang akuhin lahat. ng responsibilities, especially when you’re a parent. It’s not bad to ask for help,” the actress said.

“In fact, it’s also healthy for you kasi ‘yung health mo as a parent, you really have to keep it healthy kasi ikaw ‘yung pagkukuhan ng energy ng anak mo, eh, sa’yo galing lahat. Laban lang kasi mahirap maging parent, but take all the help you need from the people around,” she added.

When she has the time, Janella ensures that she has her full attention to Jude.

“It takes a lot of bawi talaga, kapag kaya kong bumawi sa kanya talagang one-on-one. I spend time with him. I make sure it’s quality time, hindi ako nasa phone lang,” she said.

“Talagang I make sure na nararamdaman niya ‘yung bonding namin. I try my best and it’s not easy. Every time I get the chance, I get a spare day, I spend (it) with him. Pero if I can’t, bawi-bawi na lang talaga,” she added. 

Bright future

Right now, Janella and Elisse are glad that they can be with their children at work and show how they are raising their kids. The two will have a show on YouTube with a milk supplement brand.

“What I like about being a part of this show is that it gave us the opportunity to show kung paano kami. ‘Yung dynamics namin. It gave me a platform to speak out about how I would like to raise him, how I would like him to grow up and just show everybody how amazing my son is. How smart he is. How much energy he has,” Janella said.

Elisse echoed her sentiments and said, “It’s a little glimpse of how we do it at home and nakakatuwa kasi kami rin mismo as parents, when we’re watching them from behind the scenes, nagugulat din kami seeing how they are na hindi kami kasama. They’re on their own there. It’s like little grown-ups doing grown-up things actually.”

Both Elisse and Janella are not open yet for their children to enter showbiz, but they are not closing doors, with the latter saying: “Kung gugustuhin nila, why not? Pero huwag na muna ngayon.”

“Si Jude kasi sobrang bibo niya talaga, pero lahat ng gagawin niya siguro would all be with his consent. I will make sure na gusto niya ‘yung ginagawa niya and fun pa rin for him,” she added.

Elisse echoed her fellow actress’ sentiments. “Kami na muna ‘yung magta-trabaho. Huwag na muna sila.”

“But here and there, if another opportunity comes along na enjoyable and light, hindi mapapagod ‘yung bata, and also fulfilling. Why not?” she added.

Both were also asked how they are, with Elisse saying: “It takes the right person and the right timing to get into another relationship.”

Meanwhile, Janella was asked about her relationship status with fellow “Open Endings” star Klea Pineda and said: “Relationship. Kailangan ba ‘yung i-label. Obvious naman kung ano’ng meron.”

For her, it is their choice to express their happiness and people will just see if they are.

“Siguro, it’s not very easy for a young girl in the industry, especially in the Philippines, which is a very conservative country, to grow up in an industry like that,” the actress said.

“So, it took a lot of ups and downs and maturity to just realize that I can live my life, express myself freely and as long as I’m not hurting anyone, there’s nothing wrong with that, and if I’m happy recently, why not share it? Makikita niyo naman siguro kapag happy kami. We share it naman,” she added.

For now, they are focused on their children, and as Jude grows up, Janella hopes that her son will be adaptive when faced with challenges while not being ashamed to ask for help if needed and standing for himself when needed.

“So, I try to encourage him na it’s okay if you really can’t do something. You can ask for help. I also teach him to be able to stand for himself,” the actress said.

“I think that’s very, very important nowadays because you’ll never know what kind of people they might encounter. Mahirap na talagang masabi sa dami lalo ng na-e-encounter namin sa industry, marami talaga. I want him to be able to stand up for himself and fight back if he needs to, if he really needs to lang naman,” she added.

For Elisse, it’s important for Feliz to respect others’ time and space: “Lahat naman tayo gusto natin ‘yung mga good values, when we’re also growing, we’re able to pass it down to our kids and also the Filipino values that we learned growing up.”

“Once you have respect, tuloy-tuloy na ‘yun, Madadala mo rin wherever life takes you and as you grow older and ‘yung ibang values I’m sure the kids are gonna learn it as they age,” she added.

Janella is happy that she is able to experience childhood again in the lens of Jude.

“I really like to see things through the eyes of Jude para mabantayan ko siya and to really experience them with him. It feels amazing and it just gives me so much joy to see him grow up and become the person he’s becoming, have his own personality and just be developed and live life. Such an honor to be able to raise a human being,” she said.

It is fulfilling for Elisse to hear compliments about Feliz and how she is growing up, having a cathartic feeling that she is doing the right thing as a parent.

“Knowing that she’s growing up to be a very special girl and people are seeing it. ‘Yun pa lang is already a win for me. ‘Yun pa lang nakakaiyak,” the actress said.

“Hindi ko nga alam kung natatapos ba ‘yung part na kapag pinag-uusapan ba ‘yung anak, hindi ka na naiiyak kasi ako feeling ko when people say good things about your kid, it’s an overwhelming feeling, naiiyak ka na lang dahil sa sobrang proud mo,” she added.