One cool thing about being a #girlmom is the mommy-daughter dates, and Serena Williams and her daughter Olympia have pretty much nailed it. From pool time in twinning bathing suits to new normal kid games, like fake COVID tests, to a few high-fashion magazine shoots and high-profile campaign videos (personal tennis lessons, of course), the two are always together. And what are mommy-daughter moments without matching outfits, which the pair rock a lot, from tennis outfits and couture to Disney princess gowns? Not many kids can say one of their first shots with their mother was on a Vogue cover.
Williams, 39, shares Alexis Olympia, 3, with her husband, Alexis Ohanian. The couple welcomed their first child together in 2017. She says the toddler is at that age where she literally follows mommy everywhere.
“She does. She loves to follow me, and now it is to a point where she loves going to bed with me, and it is ruining a lot of my dinner plans,” she shared during a virtual interview on the Silk Speaker series with the University of San Francisco. “Otherwise, it’s quite okay.”
There’s also the “calling me mommy” issue. Back in February, Williams told the WTA Tour that she keeps having to remind her daughter Olympia that her name is "mama" and not "Serena."
“It's really weird. She'll be, like, Serena,” she said. “How do you know my name is Serena? Or she'll see me on TV and either say 'Mama' or 'Serena.' I'm like, You can't say 'Serena,' you have to call me 'Mama.”
But despite the crashed date nights, mama mix-ups and restricted private time with the hubby, Williams says she enjoys every moment of being a mom.
“My journey as a mother has been so fun,” she told UPS Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Warren during the Be Unstoppable webinar series in a March 2021 interview. “You know, it’s just, it’s really just incredible being a mom. I love every moment of it. My daughter is so fun. She’s just a joy to be around really and she’s like, you are my friend and I’m like yes but I’m your mom.”
Below is a list of the best mommy-daughter moments, so far, between Serena and Olympia. Because we are sure there will be lots more to come!
Cooking With Olympia
Olympia and Serena are quite the chefs in the kitchen. Back In September, the two baked a rainbow cake together. Well, Olympia did most of the cooking and Serena was the support and did the spectating.
“What are you making Olympia?” Serena asked her daughter in the video. “Rainbow cake,” her daughter replied.
Serena replied, “Rainbow cake? I thought it was sprinkle cake, look at our sprinkle dough,” she held up a spoon and said, “I think we need to add some more milk.”
Olympia got a little carried away with the milk and poured more than expected.
“Just a little bit,” Serena shrieked.
Their video has gotten over 340K views.
Gelato in Italy
Serena and Olympia celebrated Mother’s Day with a gelato date in Rome. Back in May, the pair were spotted in Italy getting gelato, going shopping at a Gucci store, and enjoying a carousel ride. Williams rocked an all-black athletic Nike outfit and Alexis was adorable in her black and pink polka-dots set. On another date, Serena and Olympia looked like twins in pink sneakers, walking hand-in-hand while eating their waffle cones. The family was in Rome for the Italian Open, which took place on May 8. On Thursday, she lost to Argentina's Nadia Podoroska. But it’s not stopping her from sending some much-needed family time!
Pink, pool, and Qai Qai
This date was more like a triple one with Serena, Olympia, and Olympia’s doll, Qai Qai. The tennis mom captioned a May 4 Instagram post saying, “When @nike makes a swimsuit for not just @olympiaohanian but @realqaiqai too. In another IG post, she calls their pool day one that was “covered in sunshine, just like a resort.” The picture was one of many Qai Qai cameos with Olympia. Serena was inspired by her daughter to create the Qai Qai doll. Since then, the doll has become an influencer for little girls all over and even has her own coloring book.
‘Paw Patrol’ jam session
That one time Serena and Olympia had a 23-minute jam session singing the Paw Patrol theme song. “Paw Patrol, Paw Patrol, we’ll be there on the double,” the two sang. Literally, the cutest jam session ever! Olympia is apparently a huge Paw Patrol fan. According to her dad, Alexis, Paw Patrol pancakes are a daily request for breakfast. Ironically, there’s a Paw Patrol character named Olympia in the animated children’s series. In another video posted last October by Serena, Olympia is watching the cartoon. Serena captioned it, “My paw patrol loving baby.”
Other moms related to the post. One mother commented, “My children also loved Paw Patrol when they were small. Miss O is so gorgeous.”
Shady and sweet
Nothing too shady about this throwback 2019 summer snapshot. This time the Ohanian ladies twinned in hot pink bathing suits. Serena's swimsuit read “the shady one,” while Olympia is the “wild child.” No word on where Serena got these bathing suits from but #girlmom fashionistas want to know! This photo was also around the same time Olympia made her runway debut during New York Fashion Week during her mother’s final bow at her own S by Serena Williams show. Needless to say, little Olympia is truly a mommy’s girl who loves to dress up! But she has lots of love for dad too, especially when he makes special treats like Paw Patrol pancakes. Yes, the pancakes are so cute we had to mention twice.
Princess dress and racquets
Just a glam moment in a pink princess dress. Celebrity photographer Ronald Wayne, who snapped the shot, captioned it, “If “priceless” was a picture.” Took the words right out of our mouths. Serena wore a couture, nude tulle gown from GLAUDI by Johana Hernandez. But the icing on top of the couture cake was Olympia’s matching pink tennis racquet to go with her princess gown. It makes us wonder how many racquets and color variations the toddler has! Serena enrolled Olympia in her first tennis lessons last year, so we’re sure she has quite a few. And no, the tennis pro is not her coach. “Don't even start with me, because I'm not giving her tennis lessons,” she clarified in an Instagram story video last year. “I signed her up for some.”
But having a mother as a Wimbleton champion, she is bound to have lessons at home.
Showing mommy the moves
Speaking of tennis, Olympia is proving to mom she has what it takes to fill her Nikes. In this Jan. 2021 snapshot, the toddler shows off her tennis swing. Mom was masked up standing behind her but from the looks of her eyes, the Grand Slam legend was very impressed!
“Turn, back, reach, head, follow through,” she captioned the picture. Olympia has the look of passion and determination as one person observed. “She has the spirit in her face... she is shining,” they commented.
Another requested a business venture that would really be cute and ingenious for Serena to consider. “Can you make a toddler tennis line,” one person asked, “it’s so hard to find cute tennis gear for little girls.” Hmm, please consider Serena!
Passing down the lessons
Having the GOAT of tennis as your mother, it’s only natural for her to instill valuable lessons of the game to her daughter. Back in June, Serena posted a series of extremely cute Instagram videos in which she coaches Olympia on the court. In the first video, she guides her daughter through a warmup, and in the second one, she coaches her through a series of drills. But the third clip may have been the most precious because Serena passes on some advice she learned from her own father, Richard Williams.
“You know what Grandpa taught me?" she told Olympia, “First thing you do is turn. Back, reach, hand, follow-through. That's very complicated for a 3-year-old, but you might get it.” Williams introduced his daughters, Serena and Venus to the game when they were four years old, the same age as his granddaughter. A biopic about his contributions to this daughters’ success is in the works. King Richard, starring Will Smith, premieres Nov. 19.
Double purple
And another tennis cutie! The mommy-daughter looked ready to bring home another Grand Slam in their matching purple shirts and black tennis skirts. Olympia seems to have her mother’s set pose down to a tee. The two stood a few feet apart waiting to receive a service from the other end.
This snapshot was captured in July, a few months before Serena announced her daughter was taking tennis lessons. Needless to say, the posing has only gotten better. In the final post, the two celebrated after the game and give each other a high five before walking off the court. We’re just saying, it may not be long before tennis sees another great in the game because Serena is training her well to follow in her footsteps. That’s if she wants to! Nonetheless, Olympia looks like she enjoys the game.
Campaigning with mommy
Back in March, Serena and Olympia kicked off the luxury shoe brand Stuart Weitzman’s Spring 2021 campaign. Williams enjoyed the session with her daughter and said it was a moment she would “never forget.” She called Olympia her “mini-me” and “my mini-Serena.” She wrote about the moment on her IG saying, “I love that it’s called #FootstepstoFollow because she inspires every step I take and I hope I inspire her, too. Because while I try to teach her how to be a positive influence, she in fact teaches me how to be a stronger person every day. It’s the best part about being a mom.”
Taking care of mom
Don’t worry it was a fake one! Olympia just wanted to make sure her mom was COVID-free that day when she administered her own ‘coconut covid’ test on her. And what better way to see if her mom got the fairest results than to dress as the fairest Disney princess of them all, Snow White! “The new normal kid games lol,” Serena captioned the Dec. 2020 video. It was a sad but true reality at the time when most of the country was still under a quarantine lockdown because of the pandemic. Olympia called the test “coconut” instead of covid. But she was aware that the test includes a swab up the nose and takes 10 seconds to complete. It’s just further proof that kids are always observing and knowledgeable and as grown-ups, we need to give them props for that.
Office selfies
“Bring Your Kid To Work At Home Day.” A very relatable mommy moment for those who work from home and the kids are running around. It looks like Olympia likes to make cute pop-ins from time to time when her mommy is working in their home office. But it’s not pajamas here, at least not on this home office day. The dress code seemed to be business-casual. Serena wore a navy blue, floral print blouse and Olympia wore a daffodil yellow blouse, which looks a lot like the top of her Beauty and the Beast princess gown. On top of the professional looks, the two matched with their bright smiles.
Beach superwomen
Serena and her mini-me were postcard-perfect in their matching white, caped bathing suits. “Not all Superhero women wear capes... but we do,” she captioned the moment on her Oct. 2020 Instagram post. The snap was taken by Alexis. The pair were walking on an empty pier along a sandy shore with a turquoise ocean and cloudy skies above. The serene, oasis backdrop matched their chicness. Serena talked about the heroic nature of motherhood with the TODAY show.
“I think of what they do literally every single day to support their family and to be a rock for their family,” she said. “And it helps me keep going. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think that women are just really amazing.”
One-on-one
Another example of Take Your Kid to work day, tennis champ style. In this photo, it’s just some girl talk at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, dubbed the “world’s most advanced tennis academy.” The academy, located in France, belongs to Patrick Mouratoglou, who became Serena’s coach in 2012.
“The thing that is not different is that I treat Serena like I would treat anyone,” Mourtoglou talked about his coaching style with Serenta with GQ. “I speak to her the way I have to speak to her. I tell her what I have to tell her. That's very important. Of course, I take into consideration who she is. Not who she is in terms of being famous or being Serena Williams, but who she is as a player, the experience that she’s had.”
No strawberries for mommy
Something Serena is not allowed to do with Olympia: be in her face while she watches her favorite show and eats her strawberries, as shown in this adorable IG Oct. 2020 video clip.
“Olympia can I have a strawberry,” Serena asked her in the video, in which Olympia shakes her hand no. But mom doesn’t seem to get the message as we see in another clip.
“I’m all in your face,” Serena leans in towards her daughter, who is still munching on strawberries and watching a show on her tablet. The toddler puts her hand to her face and pushes her back. She replies with some toddler gibberish but we could make out ‘your face.’ A rusty interpretation from the exchange could mean, ‘get out of my strawberries mommy!’
Dress-up time
One thing is for sure, Olympia is always going to make sure you’re looking your best. Even for princess dress-up times. In this Aug. 2020 snapshot, Olympia is helping her mom zip up her princess gown. The pair match in hot pink dresses.
“She’s got my back already. And I’ll always have hers,” Serena captioned the moment.
One viewer dubbed it, “The Queen and her Princess.”
According to her mother, Olympia likes things perfect, especially when it comes to tennis.
“She's a perfectionist on the court. I'm not quite sure where she got that from, but yeah, she loves it,” Serena shared with ET back in January. Perhaps the same could be said for fashion as well!
Belles of the living room
Another cute dress-up moment. Serena and Olympia were Belles for the day in their matching Disney gowns from Beauty and The Beast. The two twirled around the living room and sung “Little Town” from the movie. Who knew Serena had such a beautiful singing voice? Serena belted out Emma Watson’s version of Belle from the 2017 live adaptation, as Olympia waltzed around.
Olympia seems to be a huge Belle fan. During their family trip to France back in June, the tot wore a replica of Belle's golden yellow dress to the Château de Versailles. The pictures were posted on her Instagram.
We’re still waiting for Alexis to make his cameo. We think he could pull off a Gaston impersonation!
Sled time
The Ohanians brought the snow to Florida in this family-fun day of sledding back in Dec. 2020. Olympia pushed her mom down the mini snow slope.
“Push mama!” Alexis cheered on in the background. And she did. Hard.
The tennis champion screamed as she whooshed down the man-made slope. Olympia followed her mother. Both wore matching outfits, Uggs and all. Of course, living in Florida, the snow was fake but the effect was real enough.
The moment marked Olympia’s first snow day. Even their dog, Adora had a good time. Alexis shared a Boomerang of the dog catching a snowball in his mouth.
“You wish you knew this kind of joy,” he captioned it. “Adora's (and @olympiaohanian's) first "snow" came to Florida today.”
Piano Lessons With Olympia
Watch out Alicia Keyes! When Olympia is not on the tennis courts, she is on the keys. And this time she is the coach. The 4-year-old has also been taking piano lessons. In this TikTok clip, the six-time US Open winner sits beside her daughter at the piano as Olympia patiently teaches her which keys to hit.
“Sorry!” Williams apologizes to her daughter at one point when she messes up. “Are you gonna fire me,” she joked.
In the caption, Serena wrote, “I teach her tennis… She teaches me piano.”
“She is talking about chords. That’s so cute,” one person commented.
Vogue’s youngest cover star
When Olympia was only three months old she made her first magazine debut with her mother in Vogue. The appearance made her the magazine’s youngest cover star. In the 2018 feature, Serena referred to her newborn at the time as her Baby Alive doll, which she used to play with as a child, come to life.
“We’re not spending a day apart until she’s eighteen,” Serena said. “Now that I’m 36 and I look at my baby, I remember that this was also one of my goals when I was little, before tennis took over, when I was still kind of a normal girl who played with dolls. Oh, my God, I loved my dolls.”
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