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Nana Mirdad, Andrew White highlight importance of 'me time' amid pandemic
Celebrity couple Nana Mirdad and Andrew White highlight the importance of balanced daily activity and tolerating each other’s alone time to keep the family’s days colorful despite the pandemic.
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Nana Mirdad (left) and Andrew White. (Courtesy of Nana Mirdad and Andrew White/File)
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lthough traditionally being in love means wanting to be together as much as possible, the abundance of time that couples have recently had to spend together in quarantine has proven to be a challenge for many in staying together.
Turns out, love alone is not enough to keep the passion going while being glued to each other 24/7 for months.
Celebrity couple Nana Mirdad and Andrew White, who have been married since 2006 and have two kids together, highlight the importance of balanced daily activity and tolerating each other’s alone time to keep the family’s days colorful despite the pandemic.
“We have to be structured. Amid this COVID-19 situation, instead of choosing to be stressed out we have to keep busy and maintain a schedule,” Andrew said during an Instagram Live interview session with The Jakarta Post on Wednesday night.
Nana agreed with her husband, saying that both of them would be anxious if they were idle for a long time, and always felt like it would be such a waste if they didn’t do anything for a while.
“We have to make a schedule for the next day before going to bed, such as I want to go running at six in the morning, etc,” she said.
The couple, who have been residing in Bali for 11 years, are known to be one of those rare examples of celebrity couples whose lives have never been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Many in the audience of the Instagram Live session commented that they were a dream couple.
“Of course, during the pandemic all kinds of relationships are tested: husband and wife, coworker and coworker, parent and child; and everything becomes more challenging. We have to tolerate each other and give them more 'me time'. Although we are all in a house together, we cannot always be clingy and annoying toward each other all the time,” Nana and Andrew said, completing each other’s sentences.
Andrew said his kind of me time was when he was at the gym, while Nana’s favorite me time is when she’s in the bathtub.
“If Nana’s in the bathtub I have to tell the kids to stay silent and stop looking for her: ‘ssssh … Mommy’s in the bath,'" he said.
Read also: Regions see spike in divorce rates amid COVID-19 pandemic
As celebrities with a large following, it is also important to keep a positive vibe, despite the occasional negative comments that come from internet users.
“Although Andrew never checks his DMs [direct messages], I love opening my DMs. Many of you send me kind messages and I am happy to reply. Once in a while, though, I will find nasty comments and they upset me. Everybody would feel that way if they came across nasty comments, not only influencers. Whenever I feel that way Andrew tells me to stop reading it,” said Nana, who has 2.8 million followers on Instagram.
“We must stop feeling burdened [by the comments]. We never let negative energy get in,” Andrew said.
Besides always spreading good vibes through their social media, Nana and Andrew are known to share their healthy lifestyle with their social media followers, such as sharing their sports times and the healthy food they are cooking and eating.
“I’d like to have my kids build a healthy palate, so I cook without too much salt,” she said. She said it was a challenge to introduce healthy food to their children. Sometimes, her children Jason and Sarah, did not like what she cooked.
“One day I air-fried some tempeh for dinner, and the kids said the tempeh tasted funny,” she laughed.
Nana and Andrew were both raised in public prominence as actors and models in the 2000s. Nana, first daughter of actors Lydia Kandou and Jamal Mirdad, starred in several soap operas and films alongside her sister Naysila Mirdad. The 35-year-old stopped acting after her marriage to Andrew in 2006.
Andrew also starred in several soap operas between 2003 and 2007 before dropping acting and becoming a businessman.
The Jakarta Post broadcasts Instagram Live sessions with newsroom members and public figures every week. The session with Nana and Andrew is rewatchable through the Post’s official Instagram account. (kes)
