Goddess: Celebrity Moms and DadsHeidi Klum’s Family Ties
Heidi Klum really does seem like someone who has it all -- a loving husband, four beautiful children, a successful modeling career, and two TV shows ("Project Runway" and "Seriously Funny Kids") -- just to name a few of her many accomplishments.
In the May issue of Good Housekeeping, the multi-tasking momma opens up about how she manages to do it all, and still somehow finds time to occasionally put her feet up too!
Though she's become quite the media mogul over the past few years, the achievement Klum's most proud of is her family -- husband Seal, 48, and the couple's four kids, Leni, Henry, and Johan, and Lou. "Family comes first," says Klum, who prides herself on the fact that her kids have been well brought up and say "please" and "thank you" without being asked. "I'm very happy when I see them just doing it by themselves, because it takes a few years," she says. "For the longest time, you just sound like a broken record, but you have to be consistent when teaching kids."
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The kids all have very distinct personalities, says Klum proudly, before launching into little descriptions for each one.
Leni, 7, is "the lawyer type. She has wits and ways to manipulate anyone into whatever she wants. And you know what? Sometimes if she has a good point, I let her have what she wants."
Henry, 5, is artistic like his dad. "He lives in his own world," notes the former supermodel, who relates a cute story about her eldest son donning gigantic green, fluffy dinosaur-feet slippers for a family outing. "We went to dinner all dressed properly," Klum says with a laugh, adding, "You can barely walk in those things, but for him, it's not weird at all."
Johan, 4, is the brains of the family. "You show him any word, and he can read it," Klum brags. "He's always the one with the book under the arm, and he always wants to know, 'What is that?' He's that 'why-why-why' kid."
Baby Lou, 18-months, just wants to keep up with her brothers and sister, says Klum. "She's very observant. It's probably quite a trip being born into a family where you have three older siblings. Boy, they pull her around. They don't leave her out."
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Klum and Seal, who married in May 2005, famously renew their wedding vows every year in a private ceremony with only their kids looking on. When asked why their marriage works so well, Klum replies, "Maybe it's just because it's real. We love each other. We love our kids. We have fun with each other and in all the stages in our lives we go through together. What I wanted in a partnership is that I could still be who I am. There are many days where I don't want to put on makeup. I want to be loved just as me."
So how does the German-born model manage to juggle her busy career and a family? With lots of planning, a little discipline, and lots of family fun time. "I try to create a healthy balance in my life between juggling a thousand things and not having to do anything at all. We have days where every hour can be scheduled, and then we have days where we let the children be the boss of the day. It's fun when you don't know where the day will go, and it teaches the kids to be spontaneous. Sometimes you have to plan not to make a plan."
