A family of four living the savvy city life. Mama the smartly spoken PR maven and Papa the provocative visual artist. Baby boys fill in the liveliest chapter yet as they write their own enchanted story.
click on any photo below to see the gallery and get to know the Vergette family.
Tell us about your family.
We have two beautiful boys: Mauritz Caro, three years old, and Xavier Reed, who is 7 months.
Photo credit: @darcyhemleycasucci
What does a typical day in your family look like?
Each day is hardly typical! We all wake up around 6:30AM. On the days that Xavier has been up in the night (not very often these days, thank goodness) George gets up first and lets me sleep in a little longer. By 8am we’re all dressed and ready to go. Mauritz heads off to pre-school at 8:30 and Xavier goes down for his first nap around 9. I work a bit from home for that time and then head into my office. George works from home and we have a nanny who comes to watch Xavier three days a week but we still end up running around quite a bit each day, whether to pick Mauritz up from pre-school or to grab groceries. By 5pm we’re all together again for another few hours before bedtime at 7pm.
Photo credit: @shannonhethvergette
How does your family stay connected?
We try very hard to eat dinner together each night, even if it only lasts 10 minutes. It’s important to us that we start that habit early.
Photo credit: @darcyhemleycasucci
Tell us about your happy place or What brings you joy?
Speaking for myself, I feel the greatest bursts of joy when I’m standing in my kitchen, looking out to our backyard to see my husband and Mauritz playing together while I’m holding Xavier and putting dinner together for everyone. There’s usually some music playing and squeals of joy coming from the yard. Around dinner time the light is so soft and beautiful it’s as if my entire family is glowing with happiness. Sometimes I’m filled with so much joy I find it overwhelming.
Photo credit: @shannonhethvergette
What kind of memories do you want to create for your child?
George and I both love to travel so we work hard to make sure that we can take our boys with us on adventures. We firmly believe in giving experiences more than material things. Our boys may not grow up with a lot of toys but they’ll certainly have plenty of good memories.
Photo credit: @shannonhethvergette
Where do you call home? Or What does home mean for your family?
Home is wherever we are together. Whether that’s here in Vancouver or halfway around the world. If we’re together, that’s home for us.
How do you make a home for your family?
We try to have a home where our boys feel they can be capable of doing anything. As an example, George is an artist and keeps a studio at home. Mauritz is always welcome to join him there to paint, something he loves to do. The other day when he got some paint on his hand he actually said “that’s ok, I’m an artist like my dad,” which was obviously pretty awesome.
Photo credit: @darcyhemleycasucci
If you or your partner works, how does your work affect or inspire your family? Or the other way around?
George and I both work for ourselves which is a blessing from a scheduling point of view, but a curse because we never really fully disconnect. It’s hard but I try not to feel guilty about the time I spend on my work. I remind myself that my sons will grow up knowing a woman who is both an entrepreneur and a mother. I think it also shows them a different way of living: mainly that you don’t have work for someone else to make money. The world can be your oyster if you let it.
Photo credit: @darcyhemleycasucci
How do you stay connected when away from home?
Obviously an “i-” anything is a big help. I’ve traveled for work a bit this year but I was able to take George and Xavier with me while Mauritz went to stay with his grandparents. We FaceTimed almost every day. We also like to send postcards to ourselves if we’re ever away.
Photo credit: @shannonhethvergette
Describe your parenting style.
We like to describe our parenting style as loving but firm. Manners are very important to us so there’s always an expectation to hear a “please” and “thank you”. We try to teach patience, too, although that’s a little more challenging!
Photo credit: @darcyhemleycasucci
Christina is a mama, conservationist, DIY’er, vintage fanatic, dog lover and the Ergobaby director of community.
She is passionate about babies, babywearing, birth, yoga, natural living, and healthy eats. When not online reading and writing about all of the above, she can be found spending time with her daughter, creating their family story in Los Angeles.
