Bianca embraces change

MANILA, Philippines - Reading from the press handout about the things Bianca Gonzalez does already makes it obvious that downtime is pretty rare on her schedule. True enough, the now mom of the one-year-and-nine-month-old Baby Lucia admits setting a timetable in order to accomplish her duties as a mom, a wife and as a career woman.

“Every day is different. Every day is a struggle. Every day you try to find time to do everything you want but we sort of have figured it out already,” Bianca tells The STAR. “Ako kasi I have to stay with my baby for the daytime usually, because of the nature of the work, kaya pang i-schedule ang mga bagay-bagay. I schedule my work from afternoon to evening so during mornings I’m able to be with the baby and it works out since my husband is training for basketball in the morning and by the time he comes home, it’s time for me to be out for work.”

She notes, “As much as possible, one of us has to be at home with the baby.”

Bianca never denies that she was surprised at how life had drastically turned 180 degrees when she and husband-cager JC Intal jumped from being a twosome to a family.

“Yeah, downtime is hard because when I wake up, baby time agad until she goes to take a nap and that’s my time to go to the bathroom, answer e-mails, arrange things and when she wakes up, baby time again until I leave for work.” In her assessment, she has made a trip to the salon only five times since she gave birth to Lucia unlike before when she was still single, that it was a monthly routine. It was her choice to put aside her “me” time so as not to feel that “mom guilt” whenever she is away from home.

“That’s what I find hard, ’yung managing the mom guilt which I know I should not feel because moms deserve to have time alone but I really can’t help it probably because I’m still in the adjustment period.

“When I was single and I only thought about my career, I was already out of the house at 10 in the morning then I would return by 8 or 10 p.m. My schedule then was like work then meet up with friends or shopping. And now that I am a mom, I always find ways to be home early and spend time with my child.”

It can also be recalled that six months into her being a new mom, Bianca shared through her column 10 Things, in this newspaper’s Lifestyle section, some things she wished she had been told about motherhood. Among them were, “Motherhood isn’t like what you see on your Instagram feed” and “It’s easy to lose your sense of self when you’re a new mom.”

So far, Bianca is happily embracing the change. “I guess, you surprise yourself with a lot of things when you become a mom. Me, I never thought I was the type who (will) breastfeed at all but because I saw how good it is for the baby to have a strong immune system, I’m still breastfeeding her akala ko kasi hanggang few months lang ako.”

How about going out on date nights with JC? Bianca shares that they prefer to stay home and catch up on sleep. “But we watch a few movies sometimes or if we want some sort of a date night, we’ll just call for a delivery service of our favorite Japanese food so we will eat while watching movies at home at ’yun ang compromise date namin (laughs),” relates Bianca.

If husband and wife are too busy, Bianca says her in-laws, who live five minutes away from their home, will gladly look after Lucia. Bianca’s mom is based abroad but she flew back home when Bianca gave birth and stayed with them to assist her until she fully regained her strength. No wonder, Bianca appreciates the kind of support her mom and JC’s parents are giving them. 

Equally showing support for Bianca are her followers on her social media accounts that already ballooned in numbers. She has 6.3 million followers on Twitter; 1.8 million, Instagram; and 2.7 million, Facebook. Her feed shows a mix of her family life, home and travel, thoughts for the day and observations on issues big or small. Small wonder, she is considered as an influencer. But Bianca is not one to brag. Instead, she humbly says, “Parang it’s such a big word as in literal na big word but Tito Boy (Abunda, her manager) insists I am one probably because of the nature of my work. I think it all started with my first show, Y Speak, where I was giving my opinions then I had a morning show. Now I also write for a newspaper. I also wrote a book (Paano Ba To!? How to Survive Growing Up) at parang lahat ’yun put together, naging ganun ang tingin ng tao and then with social media, it just evolved into that.

“And I’m flattered, of course. Who wouldn’t feel that way when people think what you have to say matters. Nakakatuwa but I also look at other people’s opinions.”

With her hands full with work, Bianca is thankful that a lot of what she had wished for in her career came true. She continues to host Cinema News on Cinema One, which has been airing for nine years now, and Modern Living on ANC that is set to air its Season 8 in September.

“Siguro dati wish ko I wanted to do shows abroad mga ganun, ngayon hindi na kasi ang hirap na may maiiwan kang anak at asawa. Now I’m happy to have a stable job that can help provide for my family,” concludes the Asian Artists Agency, Inc. talent.