The Blackman Family | Smart Parenting April 2024 Cover
From creating dance videos on TikTok as an interracial couple to capturing on CCTV and bodycam their kids' funny moments, the Blackman family is constantly finding new ways to entertain their audience while sharing the joys and struggles of parenthood.
From a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, the Blackman Family—composed of Joshua, Jeraldine, and their beautiful kids Nimo, 6, and Jette, almost 4—is back in the Philippines to attend important events, spend time with their family, and of course, create wholesome and relatable content that their 8 million followers and subscribers—including parents—love.
Meeting the Blackman family in person gave us a glimpse into their dynamics as a family and as content creators. While their skits portray them as funny and relatable, they were all so warm, genuine, and tirelessly dedicated to their craft. It made us realize that their connection as a family is the reason why millions are so hooked on the content they tirelessly put out every single day.
On Jeraldine: white dress, Hey, Riley. On Jette: white dress, Peppermint. On Nimo: top and trousers, Gingersnaps. On Josh: Maxwear, Mango.
Despite their jam-packed schedule, Josh and Jeraldine Blackman shared with Smart Parenting a glimpse of their lives as parents of two and being well-loved family content creators.
Joshua and Jeraldine of The Blackman Family on parenting
Can you describe your life before parenthood?
Jeraldine: It was pretty good. It was very relaxing. I was working full-time as a nurse, and Josh was working full-time as a nurse as well. We just bought our first house before we had Nimo. We were settling in our new house, and we were just living our life as newlyweds. We didn't travel a lot because we just bought a house. Of course, we were broke. We didn't have any money. So we saved up for a house, and then we bought that house. So we were just working so much until I got pregnant.
Josh: A lot less responsibility, a lot less expensive. I used to buy computer games anytime I want, spend my time playing games, doing whatever.
I had more time to just do whatever I wanted to do and didn't have to worry about appointments. Even budgeting, to a certain extent, I mean we still had a home loan after we got married, but even budgeting was okay then because I didn't have to worry about school expenses and food for people and all that stuff, so a lot more responsibility.
What is your parenting style?
Jeraldine: I think, I am like that nice and gentle parent. Like, I'm always like the lovey-dovey. Like, 'Nimo, don't do that.' Josh is always the disciplinarian. When it was just Nimo, I was very gentle with him. But then, when we had Jette, I learned how to put up my voice as well.
Josh: Well, it's a team role. It's a team effort. When we just had Nimo, Jeraldine would be doting on him and letting him just get up and do whatever he wants. So I felt like I had to step in and make sure that he wasn't doing whatever he wanted. Being made aware that there is boundaries and he can't make a mess or have everything that he wants immediately. But then after we had a second child and I was working and Jeraldine was on maternity leave, throughout parenting, she has become tougher or more has taken on that role of setting boundaries with the two kids.
Are you raising your kids to have both Filipino and Australian culture and values?
Josh: Being a multicultural family is something that I have to remind myself of or be aware of because most of the time I'm just assuming that we're both going in the same direction. And that's probably where some of our conflict comes from because I'm just assuming that we're going in this direction and I don't take [that] into consideration. It doesn't come to the front of my mind. It only comes later that I might realize, oh, that's probably why that was a conflict situation because Jeraldine is coming from a different point of view.
On Jeraldine: yellow dress, H&M. On Jette: linen petal dress, Gingersnaps. On Nimo: linen short sleeves polo, rust shorts, Gingersnaps. On Josh: linen shirt, Uniqlo; white shirt, Mango.
Jeraldine: My goodness, my kids. Every time we have visitors, friends, even my in-laws, every time they come in my house, they have to leave their slippers outside the door. If you bring your slippers in, Jette will get really cranky. Like, 'Mama said that you're not allowed to put your slippers inside. You have to go and put your slippers outside!' They also have a little bit of Filipino expressions. Every time you do something wrong, Jette would be like, 'Hala ka 'to.' It's very Ilocano! Every time they see their titas and titos and their older cousins, they would always go and 'bless' [pagmamano]. Jette would call Nimo 'Kuya' all the time. But not on the videos because she doesn't want it. But she always calls him kuya. And because we're Ilocanos, Nimo would always address Jette as 'Ading.' And Jette would always ask for rice.
Who are your parenting influences? Are you raising your kids the way you were raised by your parents or totally different?
Jeraldine: I think it's totally different because I grew up with my grandparents. And I was raised by the siblings of my mom. My mom was overseas back then. She was in Singapore working because my mom and my dad separated. So, my grandparents had to look after me and raised me until I can remember. So, I think I was raised like, super love and all the attention was on me. Walang palo-palo. I don't palo my kids anyway. Being raised by aunties and grandparents is so different from having been raised by your own mom and dad.
Josh: I respect my parents greatly and I think that the way that they brought me and my brother and my sister up was excellent. I model my parenting on how they brought us up.
"If you are a laidback parent, I think it helps a lot too. Kasi kapag ini-stress mo yung mga bata, I think ma-i-stress ka din 'di ba?" —Jeraldine Blackman
What's one parenting advice you can share with other parents based on your experience with your two kids?
Jeraldine: Parenting, in this day and age—kasi dati diba, super strict sila. For me, if you are a laidback parent, I think it helps a lot too. Kasi kapag ini-stress mo yung mga bata, I think ma-i-stress ka din 'di ba? Kaya, ang sa akin, if you are more relaxed, for example, the kids doesn't want to go on sa mga lessons niya, like yung piano lessons, and then, you, as a mom, or as a dad, you would want your kids to be like this kasi may mga expectations ka sa kanya. Although sa bahay, may limitations pa din. Pero dapat pakinggan mo din sila para walang stress sa bahay. So, for example, sa homework, gusto mo perfect sila. Like, you know, Asian parents are all like that. I can see the difference between Asian and Western parents. Actually, my besties are all Western. Then lahat kami, same na age ng kids. So nakikita ko yung different parenting styles.
"Having people whose opinion you trust, who have more experience in parenting than you, is important because they can help you through tough times and actually tell you that it's okay. You're not alone." —Josh Blackman
Josh: The thing that I have found the most difficult or the thing that I didn't know about parenting is that you might think that you're alone and no one else knows what you're going through. But if you talk to other parents or your parents who've been through it all before, people who are more experienced than you, you'll realize that you're not alone. Everyone's actually struggling with the same stuff. So it's good to have that position where you can have people that you can speak to who are going to support you through parenting. So having people whose opinion you trust, who have more experience in parenting than you, is important because they can help you through tough times and actually tell you that it's okay. You're not alone. Lots of people go through it.
On content creation
What's a typical day in your life like?
Jeraldine: I usually wake up before six o'clock. I'm a morning person. I do a few browsing on my phone, and then I don't do editing in the morning, I do editing at night. I get food ready for the kids, their lunchbox at school. They go to the same school. Jette is in preschool. Then Nimo is in grade one. So, we drop them off at school and after that we stay at home and Josh and I do the filming. We do a lot of content in a day. He's been doing a lot of cleaning and everything because he's at home. After school, the kids go tutoring. Tapos, marami silang extracurricular activities at home. They do karate, dancing every week, yan. Iba-iba. So, Monday, they go swimming. Tuesday, they do karate. Wednesday, soccer. Thursday, free day.
How do you feel about your followers here in the Philippines now that you're here? How do you feel about their reception to your family?
Josh: Fantastic. Everyone is very supportive. Everyone has been very engaged in what we're doing. We're very appreciative of all our followers and all the support that they give us. Without our followers, we couldn't do what we do. They always say thank you for the content that we produce. But really, we are more grateful for their support. Because without them, we couldn't do it.
"What we produce is scripted, but it's taken from things that we've been through. Because you can't always catch the stuff that happens on camera. There is some of our stuff that is scripted, but it comes from experiences that we've had." —Josh Blackman on their skits
Do you have advice for aspiring parent content creators?
Jeraldine: Don't give up. If they want to be content creators, just keep on posting. Consistency is key. Hindi kami nag-viral agad-agad. We started on YouTube, nobody's there, I was there for probably six months. I was posting and editing kids' videos back then. Hindi siya nag-click. I was going to give up, but then I was like, I'm going to give myself time. I'm going to set, like, a two-year time [frame]. So, I'm going to keep on making content for two years. I'm still going to be uploading. Tapos, Josh was a very good support person back then as well. Sabi ni Josh, maybe set a timeline, and then, see how you go. And then, luckily, once I posted short videos, it went boom. Tuloy-tuloy na siya. Pero talaga, kapag gusto nila, they shouldn't stop. There would be, like, days na, 'Ano, itutuloy ko ba to? Worth it ba to?' Pero, honestly, if you keep on posting, like, consistent ka lang, you're going to get there.
Josh: It can take a long time to get off the ground. So if you really want to do it, you have to at least set... I told Jeraldine when she started, if she wants to do it, she's got to actually do it for two years. You've got to set at least two years for it to go anywhere. I think Jeraldine was kind of lucky in that she hit a viral video really early on. So she got launched really fast. And you don't really get that meteoric rise straight away unless you hit on this unique idea. It's usually a really slow grind to build your social media. So if you want to do it and you're really passionate about it and you enjoy doing it, you don't give up on it. It takes time to build.
How similar or different are your skits and content online from real life?
Jeraldine: I think people always see us, like I'm always teasing Joshua. I'm always making fun of him. I'm always like into money. It's a skit. But, I'm not like that though. I'm very loving talaga. People think that na mataray ako. Minsan, yung mga followers namin na hindi ko na napapansin sabi nila, mataray ako. Pero they don't come and say hello naman. And I always have my bags, my luxury bags. It's content. Patawa lang tayo. It's entertainment.
Josh: What goes wild on our page is that all of our stuff is very real. And it's taken from real-life situations that we have had. So what we actually produce is scripted, but it's taken from things that we've been through. Because you can't always catch the stuff that happens on camera. There is some of our stuff that is scripted, but it comes from experiences that we've had.
How do you deal with negative comments on your content?
Jeraldine: During our first year of being content creator, I used to get hurt so much. I would go to Josh and would say, 'Oh, can you just delete this comment because it really hurts?' It's getting me mentally. But then, after we had so many followers already, I'm just so used to it now because, you know, my mother-in-law, Joshua, and my dad and my mom have spoken to me even though these people are telling me that I'm like this, I would know that I'm not that. It's part of the life ng content creator. So, I feel like having a lot of support behind you really helps. If you have a very good support system, I think you're going to get through it.
Josh: I saw someone who made a post about how do you deal with negative comments. And they said, oh, I just don't read the comments. Which is not going to work. You have to engage with your follower base. So it's actually important not to take anything personally. And you can read the negative comments and take what is constructive criticism out of it and use that to improve your platform. And whatever is not constructive, you just have to ignore it. 
What do you think makes your content stand out?
Jeraldine: Yung wholesomeness ng content namin. Yung bulk ng [viewers] sa lahat ng social media platform namin, ang ages is 25 to 40. Sabi ang wholesome daw ng content. Yung walang, walang halong mga rated PG, yung mga ganyan. Pero, ang main talaga sa akin is yung relatable.
Josh: Maybe it's related to the fact that our content is always positive and wholesome. We try not to fall into the trap of getting laughs with unwholesome content. So maybe that's contributed to a good positive community.
How long do you think will you be doing content with your kids Nimo and Jette?
Jeraldine: Until they like it, I guess. We started when Nimo was three years old, it wasn't Facebook and TikTok and Instagram. It was just on YouTube back then. Tapos si Nimo, ngayong six years old na siya, he kind of doesn't like it. He doesn't like the attention that he gets, especially at school. I'd take him to school, I'd drop him off at school, tapos may mga high school girls in there, 'Hi Nimo!' Parang, nahiya siya. Tapos, tatanungin ko naman siya kung gusto niyang sumali sa video. Hindi ko siya pinipilit. Pero si Jette, as in, si Jette sobrang gusto niya kong nagfifilm. Like, sometimes, hindi ko na siya pini-film kasi nasa school siya. Tapos, sasabihin niya at the end ng school, nga, 'Mama, we didn't film yet. When are you going to film me?'
Josh: Since Jette is not in formal school, she's in preschool so she has more opportunity and more time, whereas Nimo doesn't have that much time, and he's less interested in doing it than Jette is. So I've always said, if he doesn't want to do it, don't force him into it. It's going to end up being probably just being me and Jeraldine doing it one day, because both of them will probably grow out of it. But Jette really is interested in doing it and engaged in the stuff that we do. So that's good. Nimo has some things that he wants to do on the video, but other things, when he's not interested in it, yeah, we just let them decide if they want to do it or not. We don't force it.
Follow The Blackman Family on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Shot on location at Lakbay Museo, Ayala Malls Manila Bay
Photographs by Paola Aseron
Styling by Debra Bernales
Makeup by Patricia Acejo
Hairstyling by Miggy Carbonilla
Editor in Chief: Ronna Capili Bonifacio
Interviews by Judy Santiago Aladin
Shoot assisted by Em Cruz, Yuuki Dela Cruz, and Justine Renee Cruz
Video producer: Abigail Olaco
Videographers: Micah Moleno and Rolando Pingco Jr.
Assisted by Brixter Luquing
Editor: Rolando Pingco Jr.
Art Director: Stephanie Ocampo
Socials by Zen Arganda
Marketing Specialist: Marie Bilgera
Growth Lead: Bettina Santos
Publisher: Iza Santos-Cuyos
Special thanks to Myka Sy Lin and Pia Campos
