How to Raise a Child Performer

Sheinina West: Welcome to Mom Lounge TV. I am your host Sheinina West and on today's show we have a good friend of mine Sheryl. She is the mother of three with her elder son Quincy who may have seen recently on McDonald's commercial doing his beatbox dancing, which I am please to announce he will do for us later in this show. So I invited you here to discuss what it's like to be the mother of Quincy, and to have this same detention, if you have to make some accommodation with him being a recognizable face, just like we have other children then how you accommodate the siblings and their attention. Sheryl: You are right, it has kind of happened like a world win. It happened overnight, and it's been a really great experience for us. But what I realized is that the main thing for me is I have to maintain a balance. I have to keep a balance in my house at all time. And any time I feel like it's all running away with this. I just stop everything and I keep my house in check in every area. So for example, Quincy still goes to school and a lot of parents would normally pull their children out of school, and start home schooling because the schedule get so grueling. Sheinina West: Sorry to interrupt. He is a popular kid in school I can only imagine. Every kid in the university is like I am the star. I know I want to cash too on that, let me tell you. Sheryl: You know it's only because the commercial came out, in September so the day he went back to school, the kids are already started to see the commercial. And they start to realizing even the kids are won't in his grade, they start to realizing, hey, that kid is in our school. So as the year has progressed, everybody in the school does know who he is. But Quincy being the type of child that he has, he is a very reserved and quite kid. Sheinina West: I think he didn't get to me like the teacher's pat or anything like that. Sheryl: I think he had a moment. He had a moment about it, but I think people fell off of him at the school. He didn't like too much attention directed towards him. So I think kids and the teachers fade off of him and realized that he just want to be treated like everybody else. Sheinina West: Do you have any concerns with him being a recognizable face and strangers are approaching him or and I hate to say the word, but I think his mother well, she is protecting our children and that's fear of the child abductor or I think that's the ultimate care for a parents, for me it most certainly is. Do you have those concerns? Sheryl: Yeah, absolutely. I mean as you said, I think as a parent you have those concerns anyway, but and I think as things go in the industry, and the more recognizable you are, the more people start to change around you. So we have noticed recently that we will walk down the street and people will approach Quincy and some people take more liberties than other. Some people will walk up to him regardless if I am here or not and talk to him, and ask to take a picture and we find other people actually ask my permission first. Sheinina West: Well, that's exactly what they should do. With the success of Quincy do you feel comfortable continuing -- to allow him to pursue this dream of acting? Sheryl: Absolutely, I think as I have decided that things are going to go, we wait for each situations to come up and then I carefully watch how Quincy handles it. Sheinina West: I definitely know that you have built a very strong foundation for Quincy and I know Quincy he is absolutely charming boy. He is wise and sensitive and very caring for his younger sisters. And speaking of his younger sisters, have changed wanting to somehow attend that attention or being in that spot light? Sheryl: My other daughter who is six, she wants to be an actress, when those moments of jealously do creep up, we just handle it in such a way where we let her know that this is something great that's happening to him, and we are all proud of him, but she also a special. But we think of the industry like something extracurricular. She also doing extracurricular things right now and if she gets a medal or she does well we all participate and we all cheer her. So it's very important to make sure each child gets their attention. Sheinina West: That's amazing and it's not easy with three I am sure. It's like you are flowing in three different directions. We do have Quincy in this video today, as I said. Welcome Quincy. Sheinina West: Well, Thank you Quincy. Thank you for watching Mom Launch TV today and I hope you appreciate both of our guest Sheryl and Quincy. Thank you Quincy. Let me give you a hug. Sheryl: Thanks for having us. Sheinina West: You are welcome. Thank You.