4 C R Y D E R P O I N T MAY Mama Mia! In honor of Mother’s Day, the Cryder Point Courier profi led the following awesome moms who live and work here. STACEY PANKAVICH Cryder Point staff, mama manager Stacey Pankavich lucked out when she found out her job at Old Merchants Mortgage had a day care center where she could drop off her son, Sean. “I was able to bring him in and take him home with me,” she said. “I could go down and visit him throughout the day.” Sean was her first child and after her second child, Alyssa, was born, she thought she was going to be able to work and raise two kids at the same time. However, after the mortgage company shut down, Pankavich devoted all of her time to raising her kids, something she says she found to be an enriching experience. “I felt fortunate that I could be home with them,” she said. It was definitely rewarding. Not many people have that opportunity.” During this time, Pankavich had a third child, Nicholas. At the time, the sole responsibility of taking care of the kids fell on her, as her husband worked 10 hours or more a day. “Rewarding but a lot work,” she said. “On the weekends he’s good at entertaining them.” After five years of being a stay-athome mom, Pankavich said she felt the need to go back into the workforce. “I definitely wanted to continue work,” she said. “I wasn’t working for five years.” Conveniently, Pankavich’s mother retired and is now able to watch her kids as she is now an administrative manager at Cryder Point. Pankavich says her mother is the best guardian she could have to watch over her kids. “She ended up retiring to become a full-time grandmother,” Pankavich said. “I couldn’t find a better person.” Pankavich says that her ultimate joy in being a parent is that no matter what goes on in her life, she can find love and happiness from her children. “It’s the unconditional love that they give,” she said. “No matter what’s going on in their life, they bring that happiness to you.” CLAUDIA VASSALLO Working mom, beauty maven Fifteen years ago, Claudia Vassallo had just given birth to twin boys when she started to go to school to become 4 CRYDER POINT COURIER | MAY 2013 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM - BY ANTHONY O’REILLY a certified hair stylist and make-up artist. Now she is a mom to three boys. Classifying herself as a “freelance make-up artist and hair stylist,” Vassallo visits her clients at their own homes, instead of the traditional method of working out of a salon. Her specialty, she says, is working with hair extensions and bridal makeup. After giving birth to her twin boys, Vassallo said it was difficult to find the time to go to school and take care of her newborns at the same time. “I had to take the classes in order to get certified,” she said. “That was the most difficult time.” She said she relied heavily on the support of her family and friends at that time, especially her husband Chris, who would give up his free time on the weekend to watch the kids.
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