Jeannie Mai Plans to Teach Monaco About Her Culture in One Special Way This Year

Sydni Ellis
·3 min read
9

Jeannie Mai is excited to teach her daughter Monaco, who turns 2 next month, more about her culture in the new year. The Real host opened up about the one special way she plans to do just that in 2024.

During dress rehearsals for the Hollywood Party of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024, Mai opened up about the exciting place she is taking Monaco to this year.

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Jeannie Mai Jenkins at the Patbo Spring 2024 Ready To Wear Runway Show at Eleven Madison Park on September 9, 2023 in New York, New York. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images)
Jeannie Mai Jenkins at the Patbo Spring 2024 Ready To Wear Runway Show at Eleven Madison Park on September 9, 2023 in New York, New York. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images)

“Traveling is a big thing for Monaco and I,” Mai said. “So, I’ve already taken her to about six different countries. This year, I want to take her to Vietnam ‘cause she’s never been and I wanna do some work out there. I wanna do some of my philanthropic work with anti-trafficking, and I wanna teach her about part of her heritage.”

How cool is that? Mai, who shares Monaco with ex Jeezy, has been very open about teaching her daughter about her Black and Vietnamese culture. “It really does take a village, and not just to help you but also to help your child just identify themselves with their family and who plays what roles. That’s big for me as a Vietnamese American — family is everything,” she told PEOPLE in June.

She went on, “Monaco is a beautiful Black Vietnamese American, and what that means is really understanding what being Black means from your grandfather, what being Black means from your cousin, what being Vietnamese means from your grandmother because she has a totally different take than what I have as a Vietnamese American.”

In a December appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the Raid the Cage host revealed another way she’s helping Monaco learn who she is: “I’m teaching [Monaco] Vietnamese, so she speaks English and Vietnamese,” Mai said. “I mean, she pretty much understands everything we say in Vietnamese, which is so cool because that’s how I learned to speak. I have to speak it fully at home, and then when you go to school, you’ll learn English like that [snaps].”

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 24: Jeannie Mai Jenkins attends Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) And Cassia's Chefs For Human Rights (LACHR) Fundraising Event at Cassia on April 24, 2023 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 24: Jeannie Mai Jenkins attends Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) And Cassia’s Chefs For Human Rights (LACHR) Fundraising Event at Cassia on April 24, 2023 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Above it all though, Mai hopes for happiness next year. In the dress rehearsal interview shared with press for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, Mai said she’s manifesting “pure joy” in 2024.

“I just want good ‘ol wholesome joy,” Mai continued. “Like that stuff that feels so calm and readily available that it doesn’t need a night out. It doesn’t need to be looked for. It just is there because you feel whole and you feel safe. That’s what I want to have. I know how to conjure it, and I want to keep it for all of 2024.”

Before you go, check out Jeannie Mai’s best quotes about being a mom.

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