Noralisa Augustin and her son Quincy
NORALISA AUGUSTIN
Sales Manager, Selected Femme
I am a sales manager for Selected Femme. I’ve been in the fashion industry for the last 15 years. I am a single mom of an amazing teenage boy. I am in my early thirties and had my son in my early twenties. I am a young mom, as they say, but with the same responsibilities that come with being a mom at any age. It does bring closeness to our mother/son relationship that I cherish everyday. He is extremely understanding of my lifestyle and supportive of all my choices. My son is Quincy, he’s is 13 years old.
Secrets of a WOWMOM
The secret of being a wow mom is being loving, caring and patient. You have to have great organizing or planning skills to get everything done. Being able to anticipate before your kids do anything that you may not be able to control or fix later.
What inspires me
My son. I am privileged to have a son who’s so kind, smart, funny. He gives me a reason to wake up everyday and want to work as hard as I do.
My sanity saviour (tips & time savers)
Communication. Always talking things through with your kids, despite their ages. I’ve always been this way with him and till this day, it is our way to solve, fix and understand things he might be going through or I might be going through. Alone time. As a single mom, you do not have a lot of alone time. Therefore, I enjoy alone time to resource myself. Appreciate me time.
My best WOWMOM advice
To not be too hard on yourself or to know that you can not do it all. Once you understand that, everything falls into place.
My WOW moment
When I surprised my son with a Chris Brown concert (pre-Rihanna incident) when he was 7 years old. Drove to Toronto without telling him and then we showed up to the concert. He only realised where he was when Chris Brown started singing. Priceless.
Another one was when I managed, one Christmas when he was young to have Santa come to our house and drop off gifts and eat all the cookies. We had a fireplace and it all happens while we were at Christmas Eve mass. When he saw all the gifts and that all the cookies were eaten and that Santa left a card, he did not even want to come to the living room for a good 10 minutes. He was terrified thinking Santa was still in the house.
Any adventures we had…plenty!!!
My not-so WOW moment
When I forget things and he has to remind me or that it ends up affecting him…getting worst as I am getting older and that he is getting older too. I don’t like disappointing him.
Keeping it WOW (how not to lose yourself)
To tell yourself tomorrow is another day. To not hold on to things that may have happened. Kids are the most forgiving creatures. And their love and trust is truly unconditional.
Favourite MOMent of the day
It happened last night. I was on a business trip. We always talk a few times a day. Before going to bed, I called my son to say goodnight but he was sleeping. My dad still gives him the phone but he is half asleep, probably doesn’t even know who he is talking to so I hang up feeling bad that he got woken up. I get a phone call from my dad and it was my son calling back just to say goodnight back. I thought it was so sweet.
Does balance exist?
Yes but you have to create that balance for yourself. And respect it. This is the difficult part. And often to create that balance, we can forget about ourselves. You have to constantly remind yourself that balance does exist and what you have to get there. As mom, there are always unpredictable things that may affect the balance you want. Wishful thinking in my world.
My guardian angel
My mother. She is no longer with us and did not get the chance to know my son. I feel that he is in some ways her. And that she does watch over us. I feel he has her soul and spirit.
The last time I laughed out loud
With my best friend Melissa last week on the phone. She was telling me a story – a slice of life – something that happened to her that day. It was so funny. I remember telling her I needed this today.
Words Of Wisdom (Mom’s message to My Kids)
My words of wisdom to Quincy would be to follow his dreams. I appreciate and enjoy everyday his excitement for things he is passionate for. To always believe in himself and to keep the same values I thought him in all aspects of his life. To continue being kind and loving person.
MY WOWMOM MUST-HAVES
Fave things, places and sanity savers for WOWMOMS!
1. Watching TV and movies (Scandal / sappy chick flicks)
2. Gossip magazines – put your reality in perspective – InTouch.
3. My son’s sports activities (basketball) – being a spectator.
4. Dinners and gatherings with friends – any bring your own wine restaurants are my favorite – L’Académie has a lot of great memories for me over the years.
5. A day at the spa – more often I wished – Le Finlandais.
6. Cooking – my son’s favorite recipes – My homemade ribs.
7. MAC Cosmetics – use them for years – which I could splurge on all their new products all the time over.
8. Home Décor – love browsing in those stores for inspiration.
