Garcelle Beauvais has a ambitious schedule with her acting gigs and authorship of the ‘I Am’ children’s series. From book signings to character roles, Garcelle seems to constantly be on the go. Although she is a busy actress, Beauvais always finds time to spend with 5-year-old twin sons Jax and Jaid. Garcelle recently sat down with WebMD to talk about family life.

School days.

“Well, they just started back to school. I’m about to go pick them up from their second day in a big school. We’re going to have them in separate kindergartens next year so they can have their own space, but we didn’t want to bring them to a new school and then separate them right away. So they’re in a pre-K class together, at the same school where they’ll go to kindergarten next year. I can’t wait to hear how their day went, but it’s hard to get them to tell me anything!”

A typical day without the gigs.

“I know exactly what that is! Waking up late and not rushing out of bed. The kids don’t have to go to school, so they come into my bed until it gets a little too rough and then I want outta there. We’ll have breakfast and then we get in the pool. Sometimes we’re in the pool at 8:30 a.m.! And then just having a really great day with no “have to’s.” We don’t have to go to a birthday party, we don’t have to go to karate. We’re so scheduled these days that we just forget to sometimes stay in our pajamas and do nothing. We need downtime.”

Inspiration for I Am Mixed.

“When we go to the bookstore, which we do a lot, there weren’t many books with characters who looked like them. I’m Haitian and Mike is Irish, and I wanted them to understand the blend of what makes them who they are. So it came to me that I needed to do this. Jax and Jaid are my reviewers. They like this part, and they don’t like that part. Sometimes they’re a little too bossy about it, and I tell them to go play! But it’s been a really great process. The next book is about divorce from a kid’s point of view, because they’re from a divorced family.”

On her divorce from Mike Nilon.

“We share custody 50-50, and we’ve managed to put them first. We thought it was important for them to feel like things are stable, so we did their rooms the same in each home, with the same sheets. They have rolly backpacks that they take back and forth with the stuffed animals they sleep with.”

Advice to single moms.

“Keep your head up and put the kids first. I think people get caught up with the anger and the sadness from whatever the reason for the breakup is. But you have to remember that the kids are the most important thing, and you only get one shot at a childhood. We still do things together as a family and are doing the best we can to make great memories. We’re making it as beautiful as we can for them.”

Garcelle also has an older son named Oliver.

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