Five Minutes with a Northwest Arkansas Mom: Chang Liu -

Our friend Eileen introduced us to Chang Liu recently and we couldn’t help but be completely delighted. She’s sweet, funny and smart.

Here’s more about Chang, her family and her mom friends who all met in Northwest Arkansas through a cool app called WeChat:

How long have you lived in Northwest Arkansas and what brought you here?

My husband got an offer from the University of Arkansas for a faculty position. That’s how we moved all the way to the South from Canada in early 2016.

Daughter’s name and age:

Angeli Wang, 2.5 years old

So, would you call these the terrible 2 years? 🙂

Oh, well, for us it sounds “terrible”, for her, I guess it’s “independent”? Yeah, it’s just a little girl who takes half an hour every morning searching the whole closet to find the perfect tops and pants to wear. It’s just multiple No No No, until finally the “Yes” and it’s just mommy and daddy almost certainly will be late for work. As she says, “Not a big deal”. But if she can’t find the “Yes” dress, that’s a big deal with tears for sure, haha.

Tell us about a typical day in your life:

Wake up around 7 am, pack breakfast and lunch. Half an hour for Angeli to dress up, then Daddy takes her to the day care on campus. Daddy and Mommy both work full time. Mommy usually shops a little bit during lunch break and picks Angeli up from day care at 5 pm. When we all got home, we cook together. After dinner we play in her playroom or have fun in the bathtub. Bedtime is all about one book or two books or a three-books battle, until we all fall asleep.

What’s something funny that happened to you recently as a mom?

When I was young, my mom used to “complain” that many people called her Chang’s mom, rather than her own name. I did not pay any attention to this until recently when I got to know more local moms, people would usually refer to me as Angeli’s mom, not Chang. Then I realized my mom was absolutely right.

What are your family’s plans for the summer?

Grandpa and Grandma will come all the way from China to visit us in the summer. So much to do in the summer in NWA with a big family.

Where are your favorite places to enjoy family time in NWA?

Thanks to nwaMotherlode, we’ve explored so many different places/events. Shows at Walton Arts Center, Razorback Games, Scott Family Amazeum, the new trampoline park in Fayetteville. The list go on and on.

What’s something you cook over and over at your house?

As a typical Asian family, we cook rice every day. Angeli especially likes to roll the rice with dry seaweed sheets, like a homemade sushi.

If you had a personal chef, what would you ask him to prepare multiple times a week?

I guess being our personal chef could be a really challenging job. Our family likes all kinds of foods, from traditional Chinses dishes to Mexican, to American to European. I’d like one day Mexican, one day Chinese, one day American and etc. Oh, I know I’ve asked too much, haha.

If you could magically have a new skill, what would it be?

Maybe once I snapped my fingers, all the laundry would be done, clothes folded, floors cleaned, dinner dishes on the table and something smells so good, so I can enjoy all my after work hours with no housework at all? OK, I know I’m daydreaming again.

What’s something your friends might not know about you?

My family and I changed locations many times over the years, so we have many friends from different places. Since we are not always physically close enough, there could be lots of stuff old friends don’t know.

Speaking of friends, tell us about the mom group you met in NWA through the WeChat app:

I got to know many Chinese moms in NWA by using a popular Chinese Social Media App named “Wechat”. I’m in different chat groups, some are moms who have children at the same age as Angeli (about 20 members), and some are just Chinese ladies in NWA in general (about 100 members).

How long have you all been friends and what kinds of activities do you enjoy doing together?

We enjoy sharing kid-friendly activities/local great food/local info in the chat group. We do not see each other on daily basis, but will always meet up for different weekend activities. nwaMotherlode is the best guide and connects us together!

What’s one of your favorite guilty pleasures?

Go to AMC Fiesta alone to watch a late-night movie after Angeli falls asleep.

If you could have a whole day of pampering, what would that include?

On a beach with great sunshine and doing nothing.

What do you most want people to remember about you?

My family lived in many different places before, but in my mind, no other place can compare to NWA in terms of kids friendly environment, great work life balance, beautiful nature, etc. So trust me, NWA is the right place to be.

One word to sum me up:

Oh that’s a hard question! Easy going?

Click here to read more 5 Minutes with a Northwest Arkansas Mom interviews. Our many thanks to First National Bank of NWA for sponsoring this feature, which celebrates all the unique moms here in Northwest Arkansas! CLICK HERE to visit the FNBNWA website or follow them here on Facebook. FNBNWA is a full-service bank and has multiple branches, including: