Alexis Ohanian on having another baby with Serena Williams: 'We're doing everything we can to make sure that this childbirth goes smoothly'
Welcome to So Mini Ways, Yahoo Life's parenting series on the joys and challenges of childrearing.
As challenging as it may be going from one to two kids, Alexis Ohanian couldn’t be more over the moon about expecting a second child with his wife, tennis legend Serena Williams. The entrepreneur and Reddit co-founder says he's reveling in watching the couple's 5-year-old daughter, Olympia, prepare to become a big sis to baby #2, affectionately referred to as “Jelly Bean.”
“There's something really special about how excited Olympia is getting,” he shares. “Olympia is giving Jelly Bean little pep talks every day. She talks to her mom's belly. It's great. That's got me really fired up, because I know she's gonna be a great big sister.”
Ohanian has been coaching his daughter on how she’ll need to step up in the coming months. “One of the things I've told her is, ‘You're gonna have to help teach this little boy or girl lots of stuff and help her or him figure out all the things you love: reading and math and all the stuff you’re learning now,’” he says. He also empowers her by saying, “You're ready to be that big sister.”
And when Ohanian offers his 5-year-old particular feedback on her homework, he explains that he’s modeling something she will ultimately be able to do to help her younger sibling. “We'll do math homework together, and if she starts getting a little sloppy on some of the numbers, I want her to know I'm giving her this feedback about, like, tightening up that 8 because it's going to be important for her to then do the same thing to help her little sister or little brother,” he explains.
Creative pastimes are a must for the dynamic dad-daughter duo, as well. Ohanian, who recently partnered with Sharpie to showcase how the Sharpie S?Gel Pen supports their personal and professional endeavors, shares that he and Olympia have been doing drawing classes and watching instructional YouTube videos for kids on how to draw. “It was an extension of these custom pancakes that I started creating during COVID for her,” explains Ohanian. “As that got more and more momentum, I was like, ‘You know what, we don't have to just draw with pancakes. I can draw with markers.’”
But the family still gets artistic in the kitchen. “Mom’s gotten her into baking,” says Ohanian. And they’ll “get inspired” by beloved Australian cartoon Bluey. “We’ll dress up the house, with these homemade signs, to be like a metro station [like in] an episode with trains,” he shares. “We’ll use rolling chairs to be the ‘trains,’ and I push them."
Preparing for a second child also means that Ohanian is doing everything he can to support Williams through her pregnancy, labor and delivery — particularly because, the first time around, as Williams wrote in an essay for Elle, "being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death" for the four-time Olympic medalist. Williams suffered a pulmonary embolism after delivering Olympia via C-section, and was bedridden for weeks.
“We're doing everything we can to make sure that this childbirth goes smoothly,” he notes. “Serena knows her body better than anyone on the planet. So, we’re both doing everything we can to prepare, just getting all our ducks in a row, getting the room ready ... [We're] gonna be super-intentional and super-thoughtful once we get to the hospital, doing everything we can do, and then, the rest is out of our control.”
In the meantime, the founder of the 776 Fund makes sure Williams “gets time for herself, time to recharge.” “Serena has never been too far away from Olympia for too long, never more than even a couple of nights,” he notes. “She is an ever-present, ever-available, ever-loving mom. But [Olympia and I] go on adventures, daddy-daughter dates, I take her to go play mini golf, and Serena gets all her time to do, honestly, whatever she wants. It's usually still some kind of work or maybe a little self-care.”
Just as it’s important to Ohanian to hold space for his wife to take time for herself, he’s similarly passionate about creating an environment, as a business owner, that he “would want as a parent.”
“It's one that values autonomy,” he notes. “In 99% of cases, it actually lets folks curate their own schedule — one of the benefits of largely remote work. As long as you get it done, that's what matters. We are humans capable of doing great things for our family, and the work that pays the bills. It's a symbiotic relationship. I really believe being able to recharge myself with that time makes me appreciate why I do the work that I do and [be] the role model that I want to be.”
That philosophy goes hand-in-hand with modeling a love of business ownership for Olympia and, one day, “Jelly Bean.” “[Olympia] knows Papa's favorite princess is Tiana,” shares Ohanian. “She knows now the reason is because Tiana is the only one who's an entrepreneur. I've been subtly and not so subtly trying to reinforce entrepreneurship for her.”
At the same time, Ohanian is happy to follow his little girl’s lead. “Olympia running around in an Alex Morgan jersey helped inspire me to start a women's football club,” says the Angel City Football Club co-owner. “And then, she was really getting into golf — mini golf first and then like golf golf, and here I am now a team owner in L.A. for a golf club.”
But whether he’s showing her the ropes of running a business or drawing with pancake batter, Ohanian wants to be entirely present for his daughter. “I want to be the best at everything I do,” he says. “[That means] when I'm on the clock, and when I'm in dad mode. I really pride myself on it, because I know it means Olympia is getting a dad who's super-engaged. And hopefully she values that, and hopefully, I'm doing a good job. We'll see.”
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