How Gelli and Romnick maintain closeness with their kids despite the distance

Parenting becomes more challenging, and painful when you’re miles away from your child. It takes a lot of bravery from both parents and children to make things work.

2 Good 2 Be True stars Gelli de Belen and Romnick Sarmenta have different stories of long-distance parenting. Gelli’s two sons are pursuing their dreams in Canada; Romnick is co-parenting with his ex-wife and also has a daughter studying in Australia. Yet they still have a lot of parenting to do, although without an actual kid present.

In this episode of Magandang Buhay The Podcast, Gelli and Romnick share how they survive the setup.

Gelli’s struggle

Listening to this podcast, you will admire Gelli’s extraordinary gift of keeping relationships. Not only is she lauded for her strong and happy married life with singer-actor Ariel Rivera, but she’s also worthy of praise as a mother to Joaquin and Julio. Her sons left for their college studies in Canada in 2016. It was a big move considering that Joaquin was only 17, and Joaquin was 15, at the time. Gelli would get misty-eyed talking to her sons over the phone during the first months. Then, she’d completely break down after the conversation. She didn’t want her children to see her pain, “Hindi ko rin ma-imagine kung paano ko nagawa. Kasi it was so hard.”

Worth it in the end

The boys remained close to her and Ariel despite the distance. Gelli also credits her in-laws for watching over Joaquin and Julio in Canada and shaping them into the good young men they are today. The family’s sacrifices are paying off as the siblings grew up into independent, respectful, and loving young adults, and achievers. Gelli proudly shares that Julio recently graduated as a Dean’s Lister.

The brothers also put up their ‘biko’ business in Canada using their grandfather’s recipe. It was just Julio’s side hustle at first until Joaquin decided to help when the pandemic hit, thus “Lolo Ben’s Biko” was born.

Romnick on co-parenting

Family breakups are devastating for children. But parents can help the kids cope by giving them emotional support and sincere explanations. How the ex-couple sustains their friendship after the separation is also crucial in the children’s moving on process. Romnick says he and ex-wife Harlene Bautista still maintain their kid-focused communication.

He makes sure the children feel nothing has changed, which is why he doesn’t want to consciously go on expensive outings with them or gift them expensive things. For Romnick, quality time is more important.

“Magmula no’ng umalis ako sa bahay, lahat ng pagkakataon na pwede o kasama ko sila, kung ano ‘yung ginagaawa ko before, ‘yun pa rin… Ang fear ko rin kasi as a father, baka ang feeling nila may nag-iba,” he opens up.

As a girl dad

Romnick’s daughter Zeke pursues her studies in Australia. For a father distanced from his precious daughter, Romnick admits he’s worried yet excited how this experience will contribute to Zeke’s growth.

He also trusts that distance will not affect their closeness, “Because she’s very open and she’s very transparent about what she goes through, wala rin akong problema. Kasi kilala ko ‘yun, eh. ‘Yun ang anak ko na kakalabit sa akin ng alas tres ng madaling araw para lang magsabi ng kung anong nararamdaman niya. So, hindi ako natatakot sa side na ‘yun kasi I know she would always reach out and talk to us.”

He further shares that Zeke has an Australian boyfriend. Check out Romnick’s reaction, and his heartwarming stories about Zeke in the Podcast!

A dad once more

The episode also touched on half-sibling relationships as Romnick opens up about his child with partner Barbara Ruaro. He knew the first step to making things work is being honest with his children, “As soon as I found out, ang unang concern ko was to tell my kids. To make it clear, before I got into a relationship again talaga, I had to talk to my kids. Kailangan kong ipaliwanag sa kanila. Kailangan kong sabihin sa kanila. I had to make them feel at masiguro sa kanila na nothing is changing. May madadagdag sa buhay ko, may madadagdag sa buhay ng Mama nila, but it doesn’t change who they are and what they are to us.”

Luckily, his five older kids are supportive of his new relationship and the pregnancy even. They just had one wish – find out in the podcast!

To cap it off, Gelli and Romnick played a game where they got to talk more about their children. Funny thing, Gelli noticed Romnick has four daughters and reacted, “All girls! Ano bang pinagbabayaran mo?”

Admittedly, he used to ask the same question to himself and ex-wife Harlene, “Na-appreciate ko ‘yung sagot niya. Sabi niya, ‘Hindi, kaya ka binigyan ng Diyos ng maraming anak na babae kasi magaling ka daw mag-alaga.’”

The celebrity guests also turned emotional over their kids’ video messages. Check out the full episode of Magandang Buhay The Podcast hosted by ‘momshies’ Regine Velasquez, Jolina Magdangal, and Melai Cantiveros.