DID YOU KNOW YOU WOULD BE A SINGER WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE? No. Actually I used to sing all the time when I was little but I hated it when my parents made me sing for people who came over. I just dreaded it. ARE YOU FROM A MUSICAL FAMILY? Well, yes. It's not that anybody made a career of it, but we have a very musical family. DID YOU HAVE A BIG FAMILY? Three daughters. I'm in the middle. AND YOU ALL PLAYED INSTRUMENTS AND SANG? No, actually we didn't My mother was a flamenco dancer when she was younger and her side of the family is quite exotic. My dad is from the south and he had this southern upbringing so we grew up with sounds of all different kinds of music in the house. It was quite diverse. From Xavier Cougat to Barbara Streisand. Kind of eclectic. WHAT DO YOU SEE IN YOUR SON THAT YOU SEE IN YOURSELF? He plays in his imaginary world all the time. Music really excites him. Six months ago I bought him Westside Story on video. Now, he's only seven so you would think he might be a little young for it, but he loves it. Then for Christmas I got him the CD. He likes to put the CD on and act out the parts. I did that a lot when I was little. DO YOU WANT HIM TO PERFORM WHEN HE GROWS UP? Whatever he wants. I think the best a parent can do is help the child discover what his or her special gifts are and teach the child to have faith in that. WHICH DO YOU LIKE BETTER, MUSIC OR ACTING? That's tough to compare. But I don't think I'll ever stop singing. Whether it's for a living or not makes no difference. Music is just a part of who I am. I will always sing. Even if it's just for my son when he goes to bed. WHAT DO YOU SING TO HIM? His favorite. Lots of different songs. But his favorite is "Someone to Watch Over Me." SO CHRISTOPHER IS SEVEN. DO YOU TEACH HIM OR DOES HE HAVE TUTORS? He goes to public school. But when we travel, the school gives me all the curriculum and I'm responsible for the tutoring. ARE YOU A TOUGH TEACHER? Sometimes. But I think I'm a fun teacher too. DO YOU WORRY ABOUT DRUGS AT SCHOOL? Perhaps I should but I don't think I do so much. It's something I educate him about. With Christopher, forewarned is forearmed. Because he travels with me a lot, he has to be more adult about a lot of things. So when it comes to drugs, I let him know what it's about and what the consequences could be. I don't ever say, "Don't do this because it's bad." I think he should understand why it's bad. It's like if you want to teach a child not to touch the stove, you let his hand get a little close until he feels the heat. Christopher understands a lot about life. It may seem like too much for a little kid but in the end perhaps that will help make better choices. I don't want him to depend on me to answer all his questions for the rest of his life. I'm trying to teach him how to make his own decisions and formulate answers for himself. YOU HAVE TRAVELED AROUND THE WORLD. WHERE'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE? Nice, France. It's rich with culture and the people are very family oriented. I love the way they live. They walk to the outdoor market every day for fresh local vegetables and meats. You see them bringing in the fish right off the boat. Whatever is available at the market that day is what you get in the restaurant that night. But our favorite place to frequent is Vancouver, B.C. Because it's our little place. The city offers a lot but isn't so overwhelming and the countryside is beautiful. Christopher feels he knows it well. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST EVENT THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE? My divorce. It helped me realize that every choice I make in life can be huge and have such a long-term effect. When I got divorced I decided I was no longer willing to just accept responsibility for whatever anyone plopped in my lap. I have choices. Choices to allow or not allow certain things and people, and people's baggage, into my life. Actually, when I realized how severely my choices affected Christopher, I learned to have more respect for the choices I made for myself. In a way, he taught me to be more particular for myself. WHAT'S THE BIGGEST ISSUE OR ISSUES FACING A SINGLE MOM? One of the things I have found is that no matter how "groovy" a mom I am, or how athletic a mom I am, I am not a man. And my son, I can teach him almost everything a man can teach him. HOW DO YOU HANDLE DATING AS A SINGLE MOM? There are so many things that have to be right. Give yourself credit. Hold a guideline. You have to say, "This is what's right for my life," but understand that the biggest thing that affects your child is whether or not you as a person are together. Set guidelines for yourself like "I will not accept this in my life," "I will accept that," "These are the good things," "These are the bad," "I'll take this," "I won't take that." You have to follow those guidelines. You know it is tough dating because there comes a point where maybe your relationship moves on a little intimately, but at what point do you introduce that person to your child. It is a lot more difficult. There's just more at stake. WHAT WOULD YOU SEEK IN A PARTNER? The minute I accept that I can do this on my own and happily, then only the right things come, the right person comes, the right people come into my life. I don't think you can go out and seek it. You have to hold certain guidelines. You can't really "look" because then you're not in the right place. If you are looking, you're dissatisfied with where you are. You have to be willing to accept the situation the way it is. I have to be willing to accept that, you know what, Christopher and I are on our own and we can do it. And even though I say I cannot give him everything, I cannot be the man as well, he has more now. Because he has more of me. And I'm willing to take him rollerblading, I'm willing to play baseball with him, I'm willing to physically do all the things that two parents would do. That's sort of "the cards that were dealt," and I'm happy having it that way. I think that once you accept it as a whole then only the right things will come. And you'll know when they do. WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT VALUES YOU WILL TEACH CHRISTOPHER? Self respect is really important, respect for other people and being responsible. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Baskin-Robbins Pralines & Cream. Doing ice cream once in a while is a lot more fun than actually having it every day. It's the fun of going to get the ice cream and sitting down and eating it and listening to him talk about what rainbow sherbet is. He said "You know why they call it rainbow sherbet? 'Cause it's made from rainbows." WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN IT RAINS? That's a piece of cake. Light the fireplace, dry him off if he's soaking wet, we have soup, read books, bake cookies-I mean that sounds really goofy because it sounds so sort of old and traditional and who really does that, but rain doesn't happen a lot in California, so when it does we grab the opportunity to do that. DO YOU GIVE CHRISTOPHER AN ALLOWANCE? Yes. He has chores that he has to complete for it. And if he does them without being told he gets twice the amount. I think it's important to teach kids how to handle money. I'll take him shopping and let him shop. The first time we went we spent an hour and a half in the same aisle, the action figure aisle, because he realized just how little five bucks would get him. But he has to learn that. Also, I've blown it in the past. Once he was going to be in a musical in school, and anyone could be in it, you just had to get up and sing or tell a joke so the teacher could decide the roles. So he was all gung ho, but when he realized he had to stand up and sing in front of everybody he just started shaking his head "No" and he realized they were getting closer to his name and he said "Not gonna do it-nope, nope, nope…" and when he gets his mind set like that you might as well forget it. So I was trying to joke with him, "Come on this guy's singing 'Happy Birthday,' you can sing something like that. You can do it!" And when I realized there was no way I was going to get him up there I said "I'll pay you a hundred bucks." Joking around right. He stopped and he looked at me with this funny look on his face and he goes "You'll pay me a hundred bucks?" And I realized I was caught and I said "Yeah, O.K. I'll pay you a hundred bucks." He goes "O.K." and then he sat there thinking about it and tapping his foot. Then they called his name. He stood up and he goes "O.K., you're gonna pay me a hundred bucks." He walks out and puts his hands in his pockets and sings the funniest little song, "Bananas in pajamas are coming down the stairs." He finished and he went and sat down and he pointed at me and he goes "You owe me a hundred bucks." WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN HE STARTS DATING? I really, really try to teach him how to respect women, how to be a gentleman. Call it old fashioned. IF DECENCY IS OLD FASHIONED WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR WORLD?
Exactly. I consider myself a very strong person, but I am a woman and there's a femininity that goes along with that and I like the masculinity that counters it. He takes me out on dates once in a while. We'll get dressed up and go to a play or something and he'll pay the bill and he likes that. You know, right now he wants to marry his mom…I think he's just getting over that. Little boys are like that-they want to marry their moms. I just hope that I've taught him all the right things. |
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