Juan Pablo Bertotto, known to friends as “Juampi”, has much to be proud of. He’s COO of homegrown brand, VMV Hypoallergenics, which has taken the skincare industry by storm; not just here, but overseas as well.
More than that, as loving father to Madison, 9, and Gavin, 5, he, together with his wife, Laura, have managed to instill their agreed-upon family values into their children — so much so that the kids are able to live them out in everyday situations without mom & dad’s prompting. Kudos to Mr. and Mrs. Bertotto! Find out how they succeeded in doing so, here.
Tell us about your wife.
Laura is my best and closest friend and someone that I look up to and try to emulate in many things. One of her most admirable qualities is that she is always trying to grow and improve at everything she does.
Her moral compass is really strong, she will always do the right thing, even (or especially) if it is the hardest choice. She is also loads of fun, super smart (that doesn’t work to my advantage on many occasions 🙂 ) and capable and beautiful.
Tell us about your kids!
I am blessed with awesome kids. Each has her and his own personality, but both share a sense of goodness and kindness that Laura and I try to encourage as much as we can. They have a “good heart”.
One thing that always surprises me is how well they respond to reasoning. Every time we have had to deal with a difficult issue, or a behavior that needs corrected, I keep getting surprised at how well they take it and understand it when you explain the reasons behind it.
I also love how active my kids are– they are constantly on the move and doing some sort of activity. This is exhausting for us many times, but it is so nice to see them play all day!
Gavin, the youngest absolutely worships his older sister and will do anything he can to get her attention. He is also a bit naughty. This results in lots of naughty behavior towards the sister so we do have frequent bickering between them. Fortunately the fights are brief and they make up quickly.
How far have you gone to make your kids laugh?
The truth is that I haven’t had to make much effort on that front. Our kids are always laughing, so just playing normal games with them and being with them result in lots of laughter.
What’s your favorite…
Daddy duty activity: When they were babies, weird as it sounds, I was very happy changing their diapers. It was always a time to bond with them and play and make them laugh.
Read: Bonding with the Newborn for Dads
Parenting hack: When you are dealing with younger kids, let the kid decide on what to do so they feel they have a choice, but always manage the choices that you present so that whatever they choose, it works for you (e.g. Madison, what do you prefer? To have spinach dip or to have a salad? Whatever she chooses she will get veggies).
Dad advice: We have family values, we have written them together, and they are posted very visibly in the wall. Laura and I take every single opportunity we can to repeat those values to the kids and relate them to whatever it is we are doing.
Once that is ingrained (it doesn’t take long, a couple of months), it is very easy to promote desired behavior and / or correct something wrong. We can immediately refer to the family values and ask if what happened is according to them or not.
Correcting and guiding becomes very easy, because the kids know the values by heart and can repeat them over and over again. They get it.
Tell us about your…
Most heartwarming Dad moment: I remember that Madison had a classmate in pre-school that had learning disabilities. Madison naturally made friends with her and was fiercely protective and made sure her friend was always ok.
Funniest moment with the kids: Often, at the end of the day we are all together in our room with Laura and the kids before they go to sleep. We just read and are goofy all around.
Lately we have been playing “sandwich” where we all pile up, one on top of the other. It is lots of silly fun!
Read about his proudest moment as a dad on the next page.
Proudest moment as a Dad: Anytime the kids show how nice and kind they are. For example, Gavin has invited very shy classmates to the house for play dates.
I’ve seen a few times, when they were in the house, without any kind of prompting, Gavin taking charge of helping his friend be comfortable and showing him around.
Can you tell us about the most serious problem that any of your kids have approached you with? How did you handle it?
They are still quite young, so there hasn’t been any particularly complicated problem to deal with, fortunately.
If anything, having to explain to them when their grandfather and when our pets have passed away. However, thanks to good advice we had received, since they were very young we have been explaining to them the concept of life cycle and how all plants and animals including people will eventually get to the end of their life cycle and that this is very natural. This made for a natural conversation about death with the kids when their grandfather passed away.
How has fatherhood changed you?
It is a bit trite, but now I know that I have 2 people that are my absolute responsibility at least until they graduate from college, and that reality makes me think twice about taking many of the risks that I used to take when I was younger / single. It has made me more risk averse in my personal life. I want to be around until they grow up.
When you see that your wife is exhausted from a long day, what do you do to cheer her up?
It depends. I may take over some of the things that she was planning on dealing with, or sometimes I order out food that I know she loves for a special treat, or invite her to have a cocktail at home to unwind. However, this last one is a cop-out. She is a really good bartender, so she ends up preparing the cocktails 🙂
Did you turn out to be the parent you wanted to or thought you would be?
I think that I am pretty close to what I imagined I would be as a father. Having said that, because of my temperament and attitude, I find it easier dealing with kids when they are young.
I think that I will be tested much more as they grow into adolescence and I am much more uncertain about that stage in their lives.
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