Does Michael Jackson’s Kids Stay with Grandparents?
by Jackie Albanese
June 30, 2009
As the world reacts to the King of Pop’s death, Michael Jackson’s kids stay with their grandma, Katherine. After Michael Jackson’s death at age 50 on June 25, many fans around the world asked: What will happen to his children now? Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, told AccessHollywood.com that the late superstar’s three kids were staying with Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, 79, in her Encino, Calif., home, under the care of their nanny.
In a later interview with Meredith Vieira on NBC’s Today, Jackson’s longtime manager, Frank Dileo, said, “Right now, I would think that’s where they would stay.” It may not be that simple. As Oxman acknowledged, “I’m sure there will be all kinds of discussions that will take place about the kids.”
The Jackson children – Prince Michael, 12; Paris, 11; and Prince Michael II (known as Blanket), 7 – will likely stay with his mother, a grandmother of 27, for now. On June 29, Mrs. Jackson formally filed papers to be named the legal guardian of all three children. Some had wondered if Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s ex-wife who gave birth to Prince Michael and Paris, might seek custody as well. (Blanket’s mother is a surrogate whose identity is unknown.)
But then Rowe, in an interview with a British newspaper, claimed that Jackson is not the biological father of either child; she was artificially inseminated, but not by the singer, although she gave the children to him. In the same interview, she claimed to have no plans to seek custody.
According to family sources quoted by People magazine after Jackson’s death, Rowe has had little contact with the children in recent years. Jackson was raising the children on his own; they often traveled with him and they were being home-schooled by tutors.
“The sweetest, happiest kids you could imagine” That’s how the children’s godfather, longtime Jackson friend and former child actor Mark Lester, describes them. Lester told Matt Lauer of Today that he believed the extended Jackson family would play a part in raising the kids:
“I would imagine his mother, sisters [and] brothers would rally around and care for the children … The Jackson family is a very large family, and in times of need, families get together and put aside differences.” With a potentially explosive battle looming not only over their custody but over Jackson’s estate, assets, and debts, the children will need some stability and security, and hopefully their grandmother can provide that.
The death of a parent – especially, as in this case, the only parent a child knows well – can be devastating to a child. Grandparents.com’s Ask the Therapist columnist, Susan Stiffelman, says grandparents can be an enormous help in times of tragedy:
“Grandchildren’s reactions are largely influenced by observing how their grandparents and others near and dear to them cope during and after the events, and by having the opportunity to freely express [themselves].” In such situations, grandparents should resist the temptation to try to keep kids from dealing with uncomfortable emotions during this time. “No one wants children to have to face the loss of death,” says Kathleen McCue, M.A., director of children’s programs at The Gathering Place, a Cleveland-based cancer support center.
“But when it enters into a child’s life, there is an opportunity to teach him or her about grief, how to cope, and how to go on with life in times of mourning.” Karen Deerwester, a family therapist and parent educator for FamilyTime Inc., a coaching and consulting firm specializing in parent/child development, agrees, and advises grandparents, “Talk about [other] loved ones who have died – your grandchild’s great-great-grandparents, a sibling, or a friend. ” Share photos and stories that celebrate the lives of the deceased.
“By sharing your experience of getting through the sadness of death,” she says, “your grandchildren will see the love they have and the memories they share with a person can continue after death.”
Source: Grandparents
Editor’s Note: We want to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com