The holidays are coming and for families of divorce, it can be a difficult time of year -- something the Gosselin clan will have to get used to. But Jon Gosselin tells PopEater that everything will remain the same for his eight children despite his estrangement from wife Kate Gosselin, so that "they have the sense of security with everything that's going on."The 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' dad -- who will be spending both holidays with his kids -- details for us their family traditions like his apple crisp, and also discusses the foundation he set up with his brother to honor their father and help children in need. Read the Full Interview
Are you getting ready for the holidays?
I'm going to spend Thanksgiving with my kids when I get back from Hawaii, not all day, just like half the day.
What are your plans for Christmas?
Christmas Eve and Christmas day are joint-shared custody days, which means we're both in the house. So we'll be there.
Have the kids started asking for presents yet?
I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet. Don't put pressure on me! It will probably be all Internet based this year, pre-wrapped. You know, I'm a guy, when there's free gift wrap, I'm like, 'Yeah, yes please.'
It's easier that way.
Oh my goodness, doesn't your back hurt so much? And why do we sit on the floor and reach over, you can never reach the end of the wrapping paper, you need monkey arms, it's annoying. Nothing ever matches up. My mother is like the best wrapper on the planet. The pattern matches perfect and she puts Hershey kisses on top [of the gift.] I'm envious of her wrap jobs.
What are your favorite family traditions to do at this time of the year?
On Thanksgiving I make apple crisp, that's like my thing. They always ask for it. I juice up my mom's recipe, I add more sugar and stuff. So they are always happy about that. They do like apple picking and make cider, all the Pennsylvania stuff that we've been doing for years anyway. We still keep those traditions. We have an organic apple orchard that we go to. There are a couple of apple trees on my property, so we can pick those ... We do stuff outside. I have landscapers, but I still tell them to leave leaves, so we can make a big pile and jump through it ... We do stuff like that at Christmas, hanging the stockings. They do the stockings early Christmas morning. Kate makes sticky buns. We keep it all the same. Nothing has changed. That way they have the sense of security with everything that's going on. But, this year, there's a lot of paparazzi, so who knows? Every year it's different.
Do they get up really early on Christmas?
Oh yes, because they are used to school. For school they have to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning. And the parents [do, too].
You started a new foundation. What can you tell me about that?
I started the Jon Gosselin Children's foundation in the name of my father. It's something that my brother and I wanted to do, but we never had the finances to do so. And obviously this year has been a pretty good year for me financially, so I started the foundation in memory of my father. My father was a children's dentist for 30 years and he dedicated one day a week for 30 years to handicapped children for free. It never really hit my brother and I. When my dad passed away that's when we started noticing at the viewing all these handicapped patients coming in. Now ... they were adults by now, but they were so thankful for all the work he did. He fixed their cavities and stuff like that. But he dedicated full service to them. That was amazing to me and my brothers and I always thought, "That's amazing what Dad did." All the time he spent with us and all the dedication he spent with us and he still had time to help other people. And that's what I want to do. I'm not a doctor obviously and the only way we could do this was start a foundation to allocate funds to children and a few parents that need help with medical bills. We're trying to get corporate sponsorships and hopefully everything will work out and we can continue the legacy of my father.
Is there anything else you'd like to get involved with?
Once you start a foundation, then other foundations call you. Now I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel because I've never ran [one] before. But you learn from other people and what they do and sometimes you can link foundations together, which would be great. Stuff I do, I visit cancer kids, not because it's a pat on the back for myself. It was just a turning point in my life going to St. Jude's. I did a film shoot with TLC last year at St. Jude's. That was the first time I really was shocked. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. You have kids who are not going to make it. You're happy they are there because they are getting the best care in the world. But, it really touched my heart. Just because we showed up, they were happier just that one day. That's amazing you can change someone's life and attitude just by appearing. It's something that you have to realize within the public eye. People look to you and that's why I decided to change my life in recent months and started taking initiative for my actions, owning up to my mistakes and learning from them.
It must be difficult to reconcile the fact that you're in the public eye, but it also gives you the opportunity to help people.
Right. People always say to me, 'Jon, you are famous.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, OK, whatever.' They say, 'You can do two things with your fame. You can have your 15 minutes, or you can take your fame and do good for the world.' And that's what I'm trying to do.
