Exclusive Interview: 9 Months Host Maria Goretti Gives Tips To New Moms
9 Months is a popular web show about parenthood and childcare. Every season, a new theme is discussed on the show. After successful four seasons, the makers are back with the fifth season. In an exclusive interview with Filmibeat, host Maria Goretti opened up about the new series, shared her experience of doing the show and also gave some valuable tips to women (about how to manage during COVID-19 times) and new moms. Excerpts from the interview with Maria.
Please share your experience working on 9 Months Season 5
I have been with Dimple (director), who handled the project last time. When she called me and said that she is doing season 5, I was very excited, firstly, to work with her as she is fantastic director and she knows what works for the show and takes the show in that direction. Also, it is always wonderful to be with other women- moms, caretakers doctors, psychologists- it was a lovely session because big time we did not meet anyone face to face due to lockdown. Unlike this show where we used to go out together and have conversations, this time everything was over a video call. So, it was different, but the essence and content of the show is the same. It is about children, looking after their physical, spiritual and all aspects of them, how to keep them occupied during lockdown, what kind of food they should be eating, how the house should be kept, sanitization and everything. It was wonderful to be a part of it because there is so much to learn every time you do a show like this and interact with other mums.
What can audiences expect in this season?
There is a lot of emphasis this time on vaccines, sanitization during COVID times, emphasis on children's state of mind- the fact that children at the age of 2 were going to playschool, are now all sitting at home, so there is no interaction.
You
are
an
author,
a
food
blogger
and
host,
how
do
you
maintain
work-life
balance,
especially
during
this
pandemic?
I
like
to
stay
busy
and
like
to
be
doing
work.
I
think
i
take
plenty
of
time
to
lay
back
and
relax
also.
So,
it
is
not
too
much
and
when
it
gets
too
much,
I
kind
of
shut
everything
and
just
stay
quiet.
How
are
you
managing
things
with
two
kids
during
the
pandemic?
My
kids
are
much
older
so
it's
slightly
easier.
Having
said
that
Online
classes
are
not
a
way
to
go,
I
am
just
waiting
for
schools
to
re-open,
so
that
the
kids
can
go
back
to
school
and
are
not
always
online.
What's
sad
is
that
what
has
happened
now
in
the
pandemic
is
all
the
efforts
of
keeping
kids
away
from
being
online,
has
gone
for
a
toss.
Because
these
days,
everything
is
online
like
school
is
online,
homework
and
meeting
friends
is
online
and
this
is
not
a
normal
way
to
be.
I
feel
bad
for
all
our
kids
because
the
time
they
would
have
been
going
out,
meeting
friends
playing
sports,
they
are
losing
their
precious
time
due
to
the
pandemic.
This pandemic has somewhere exhausted everyone, especially working women. With their spouse working from home and kids getting cranky with online classes, it becomes too much sometimes. Do you have any tips for them on how to manage?
Even I am struggling to keep myself a bit sane. I don't have any rule book to share on this matter but I think what I do is, I do as much as I can, I don't force much to do things because in these times you can't. When something like this happens, I think what you got to do is to do as much as you can possibly, and not to push yourself too much.
Any
tips
for
the
parents,
especially
new
moms?
Every
mom
is
different,
every
parenting
is
different,
every
child
is
different,
you
can't
say
this
goes
for
everyone.
Having
said
that
one
thing
that
helped
me
as
a
mom,
is
that
I
kept
timing
on
when
to
go
to
sleep,
that
relaxed
me
a
bit,
as
when
they
went
to
sleep,
I
would
do
get
some
time
for
myself
like
reading
newspaper
and
sit
for
a
bit
of
time.
That
helped
me
as
I
had
a
schedule
in
place
for
them,
when
they
were
much
smaller,
but
now
of
course
if
I
make
any
schedule
no
body
follows
it
(laughs!).
On a parting note, Maria asked her fans to look after themselves, which in turn will help them look after everybody else.