Vendula Pizingerová: I am different than people think - iDNES.cz<

When I wanted to look at your Facebook before our meeting, I was the first to see the pages of another Vendula S., who wrote: "I'm moving tomorrow". It rumbled a little inside me. It didn't have to. On the one hand, I'm Pizinger and on the other hand, I don't use Facebook, only occasionally one of my colleagues puts something there. I have Instagram.

Does it seem important to you? I didn't want him at first, but my husband convinced me. He has his own, taking pictures of nature. And beautiful. I thought at the time, wasn't it a bird? But as Pepa and I started traveling a lot, I was fascinated by making short videos that I put music on. Sometimes it's on the edge, for example when we were on the island of Réunion, I was standing on a slippery pipe and about 40 meters below me… I wonder if I'm not a little crazy.

So actually a hobby. Exactly. But it's not about "hello, I'm having coffee, take a look", rather moments from travel or life.

When was the last time you moved? I know exactly that, in 2007 to Říčany. Well, I changed my address there a few more times. Before that it was Jevany and I come from Černošice.

What did you find out during the move? How many things I don't really need. And that I'm a massacre. I also like antiques like pictures, statuettes or vases. I also had to "pile up", because as little as he started walking, everything falls apart.

Have you hesitated for a long time if you hang Pepíčka's photos and videos on Instagram? Well… There are people who take pictures of their children from behind, but it seems strange to me. Although I respect their right not to disclose the child's face.

Didn't you address security? That someone would kidnap my baby? I do charity, what would anyone take on me?

The son is popular. One of your followers wrote that when she saw him on Instagram in the morning, she had a nicer day. Pepíček is still laughing, he is in a good mood. Although I don't sleep much, and at this very time separately (his teeth are growing), otherwise I have a happy baby literally from birth. Just psychomotor accelerated. When he was fourteen days old, he raised his head, turned for the first time in about three months, walked in ten months… And he was already grinding in his stomach. He really likes the world and that's probably how he shows it.

Did you want him a lot, or did you consider this pregnancy? She wanted and considered. And, of course, I didn't know that a bag of fleas would be born from hell, as my husband says. My first two children were calmer and asleep, but he didn't sleep at all for the first few months. We fly around him a lot and watch him. But such a hyperactive and unstoppable child will be challenging at any age. And when it started to look like he already had a regime, teeth came. But that's what is expected, his dad didn't sleep much either. Within three years.

Was the third pregnancy different? Not exactly. Although I was heartburn, as with all children, I did not run. And I gained about six or seven kilos.

But now you're like a lunt. Do you cook at home? I've always enjoyed cooking and I also like to make classics, even though we haven't had a sirloin steak in a long time. I'm sorry, Cuba's son loves her.

In the family, you are one woman for the three male elements. Is the predominance of testosterone known? I feel it quite a bit and I'm just learning to balance it. Guys are just different, every woman knows that. For example, the fact that there are toys everywhere in our home and it doesn't matter to my husband or Kuba. A small dog and two dogs are running into it. Sometimes it's a drone.

Are you trying to slap your family? Not exactly. Sometimes I say something, but no one listens to me much.

But you probably listen a lot, especially when your husband comes up with what adventurous vacation you go on. Going to Romania in July this year was Pep's idea. We were there there about nine years ago and again this year with the little one. It was his travel premiere, he enjoyed the adventure with us and he was absolutely fine. We took it on the way, or rather not. We have a car with a tent on the roof, we slept in nature and cooked on the fire. We also had dried meat and similar delicacies with us. And when we got to civilization, we went to the local pub.

Do you enjoy traveling on your own? Pepa loves adventure and I love him. And if it really bothers me, I won't ride with him. You know what, the sea is nice, but when I'm with him a few times, I don't remember much from such a vacation in time. However, I will never forget our offroad trip through Romania.

And what about Georgia, they said there years ago they told you that you should have more children… It was not Georgia, but Kazakhstan. My friend is a former Kazakh attaché, that inspired us. We trekked, slept in a yurt and got to know the landscape and people. There is no difference in the cities, but more earthy Kazakhs live in the countryside. And they told me that a woman should have many children so that someone could go to the Turk. As if time had stopped in their minds.

How does Kazakhstan smell? You recorded a smash for me, the aroma of the yurt is so, let's say, strong. Soaked with the scent of rams. They worship you, but I don't like ram meat, but I had to put it there so as not to offend. I also tried kumys, which is horse milk, reminiscent of smoked kefir. I don't have to either. In addition, people in the countryside drink a lot, these are literally streams of vodka. Gastronomically, Kazakhstan was really challenging for me.

Vendula Pizingerová

Do you remember when you knocked the most on the road in the cold? In the Jizera Mountains, when Pepa and I slept in a sleeping bag in the snow. It was raining, both of us soaking wet and so cold that I couldn't even take my snowshoes off with my hands folded. At such moments, I swear terribly, when over time I perceive how nice it was. Although I have to overcome many times, for example when I go uphill with a backpack on my back. After all, I've never been a big athlete.

Aren't you going against these adventurous journeys? I've been going against each other all my life.

How does your husband address you? Don't hear him tell me this morning. When everything is fine, I'm in love, but as soon as Vendula calls, it's clear to me that something is going on.

At the same time, you are Václav. My father was Václav and ours wanted to give me the name Vendula, but it was not on the calendar at the time. I was Venus for my grandmother, some people call me Vaška and others call me Vendy.

Do you still have a lot of energy? Alternately, as ever, like any human being. I don't get much sleep right now, how small the teeth grow. And who knows when I'm old, maybe I won't sleep because of my teeth. One does not choose.

I meant it differently. You will celebrate your fiftieth birthday next year. And as the years go by, the energy decreases… I don't like it. Some girls are pardoned at the age of twenty and others are still active after the age of seventy. I am getting closer to the active ones. In fact, I have never experienced any resting phase.

Do strangers address you on the street? Show. Only recently have mainly women asked me what it's like to have a child at the age of 48. That they would also want a descendant, even if they are over forty. I know what it's like now, and I have no idea how I'll feel when little goes to school. I hope that the Czech Gynecological and Obstetrical Society will not sue me for this one day.

You follow the motto: "I am looking for a compromise in the partnership and I try to meet the other." How far can you back down? Sometimes I think I give up quite a bit and it's not entirely correct. I don't give up much at work, and if we were talking about friendship, there is no duel, but symbiosis.

Are you also giving in to your son Kub? Cuba is a good boy. Only at puberty. And from the adolescent's point of view, the parent does everything wrong, he is embarrassed, he talks into everything instead of being silent. You probably know, it's not worth taking it personally.

Still playing the piano? Not at the moment, but he can, and I'd like to get a teacher for him to continue. Kub's father knew how to play the piano as a child, he started composing at about thirty. There is no place to hurry, I do not push my son into anything. All you have to do is hear from the neighborhood, "Will you play and compose as a dad, too?" That didn't do him any good. Now he has a period that he does not even know exactly what he would like to do in life, he is a sophomore in secondary agricultural, he is studying veterinary medicine. The freshman gave us both a try, Cuba is not the type of child for online teaching and I am not the type of mother for distance learning. Rare match.

Maybe he's handy. Yes, I just don't know if he should make a living from it. I see that he is moving towards art, but at the same time he does not want to do it. He has a lot of contradictions. He was a year and a half dead when his father died. Maybe I hastened a lot of things as I tried to save myself to work somehow… It was a stupid time.

Did you think to consult a psychologist? Of course, but Cuba was not ready to go. We'll tell each other once he grows up.

What helps you in difficult times? Time heals in a way, but I still have a lifelong stigma. I'm the one my little daughter died and the one my husband shot himself with. I look like a rancher on the outside, but I'm very sensitive on the inside. I just don't confide in everyone. And sometimes I can't push where I should. I'm soft. I guess there's a fear that I might lose another person I care about. But to answer you ... When I'm at the bottom, black humor helps me the most.

What are you proud of? That I was able to survive. When I look back - and that I don't do it often - I see what's behind me. It was not easy.

Do you ever dream about Klára's daughter? Yes. For me, dreams are a sign that I sleep at all, and that's fine. I had the worst dreams a few years ago in Nepal, due to an illness from altitude. It occurred to me that I was moving in some half-sleep, half-awake. Maybe it seemed to me that I was selling CDs with Jiřina Bohdalová or that the moderator Daniela Drtinová was getting married, she was taking MEP Telička and I was a witness. Do you understand that?

You have a lot of ups and downs. When was the last time you flew? Like a child.

I thought my parents were more strict. They really were. It was said in our country that my father is a colonel, but my mother is a general. What gave me life? I go on time and keep my word. I just don't reach my dad's level with that cleaning, everything had to be level with him all the time. We lived not far from Berounka, I went to fishermen and I also tried to catch fish, they always gave me a rod with a line and a pencil.

Why did you go to the fishermen? There were no other children growing up in the area, we lived on the edge of the village. I remember that next to the house there lived a family with my grandmother and grandfather, whom I also went to. I sat down on the bed next to them and they told me. I like old people.

The parents don't live. Aren't you looking for a replacement for them? I tend to older women, such as actress Eva Holubová or Dana Fischerová, the prime minister's wife.

Their life paths weren't just rosy either. That's why I go to them for advice.

Do you have more girlfriends or friends? Men used to predominate, now women predominate. I count really good friends on the fingers of one hand. And you know what? I don't have any childhood or school friends. I met them on the way through life.

What did you really want to be? I wanted to do it! An archaeologist, for example. I also told my mom to buy me a violin to be a violinist. I liked the profession of ballerina. Or the detective - and that's what I'm laughing at today, me and the detective? Eventually I went to do marketing. And from an early age, I went to help others, such as a weaker classmate, seniors. Or a sick lady from my native Černošice, unfortunately I didn't have time to realize that ...

What does working in charity give you? Honestly? My mother was very strict and critical, ours also praised me a little. I had a terrible loss of confidence. At first it was probably a finding that someone needed me. That I'm doing something that makes sense and that someone will appreciate.

You know hundreds of stories of sick children. Which one really got you? There are really many of them. While staying with Klárka in the Motol hospital, we met a family with four children. One son also had leukemia and his brother gave him bone marrow, it turned out well. Their mother was also seriously ill. And despite the big problems, they seemed happy to me.

Who came up with the name Drop of Hope? I think Janis Sidovský and I ... You may remember that there were floods in 1997. One of the forms of help with their consequences was the concert of the Bridge of Hope, in the organization of which I participated. We then derived the name "drops" from it.

We used to say that you would like to extend the help to people with Alzheimer's disease. How is it today? I still have it in my head, also because of Dad and Grandma. Thanks to them, I know what this disease entails and how it affects loved ones. I am also interested in single mothers. I find it sad that we live in the third millennium and some moms don't even have food.

Is it difficult to maintain a foundation fund today? It is a business and a highly competitive environment. Times have changed, no one will give you money for charity just like that, we have to contact donors with specific projects so that they know exactly what their money is to serve. Actually, I beg, but on a level ... So far, we are still helping sick children, and not only those with oncological diseases. Newly, for example, child psychiatry in Motol. At the time, I was walking around her building by mistake and I was struck by the environment in which psychiatry for children works. I rang the bell and looked for the head nurse or the primary to tell them, "Hello, I'm here and she, we'll probably fix it for you." They looked at me in disbelief, until I felt like they wouldn't keep me there either. And then it turned out that more people had come up with the idea to help them, and there was never anything to it. This topic is now a bit more fundamental, because during the corona the number of children with self-harm, anorexia, bulimia has increased…

I'm looking at your tattoos. You have enough of them. Which was the first? You have to bend down and look under the table, I have it on my leg. I had a ring of lilies tattooed after Klárka left. I have a wing here on my hands as a symbol of freedom, from the time I got married for the third time. And on the backs of the hands the initials of the names of the son Jakub, husband and little Pepíček.

Is there anything else you are riding on? I used to buy a lot of "shit", clothes, makeup and other nonsense ... I don't do that much anymore. Today, not so much things make me happy as people do. When someone willingly spends time with me. When someone really likes me.

Is a younger man a guarantee of a happy life? It's not. But it's neither an older partner nor an age match. You are never sure.

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What is not enough for your breath? I still have enough energy. But the fact is that when I went to compete at Fort Boyard, you probably know her, I was really afraid that bungee jumping would come out. I put somewhere, all sorts of squirrels, spiders and snakes, but I couldn't do this. My husband tried it and moved the vertebra, Cuba too, he was fifteen, and he did a somersault. It seems dangerous to me. You jump and you can have a spine in the grove. What is the point?

What else do you want to learn? I go swimming with little Pepíček and recently these caparts taught an arrow. Unreal. They show the toddlers how to put their hands over their heads, and they jump. That's not exactly what I can't do and I'd like to learn it.