Gavin Rossdale Calls Fatherhood ‘Tiring, But Fun’

Juan Carlos/Ramey

Music is clearly becoming every bit as important to Kingston James McGregor Rossdale as it is to his famous parents, Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani. The 2 ½-year-old is “a good head-bobber,” brags dad, and his musical preferences include “anything with a good beat.” Adds Gavin,

“He’s big into drums. He likes my record. He likes Gwen’s record. He plays some Pharrell and Snoop. Anything that’s good for head-bobbing.”

Gavin doesn’t feel pressure to get Kingston — who is “chatting away like a maniac” — enrolled in preschool just yet, and says that the couple have considered homeschool. “I feel so bad for him, because school is just so relentless,” the 43-year-old singer explains. “When you’re two or three, the idea that you have twenty years of being told you have to get up and go to school…I probably went to the wrong school, because I used to hate getting up and going.” When pressed, however, Gavin concedes that it is unlikely they will pursue homeschooling, noting “social interaction with other kids is probably essential.” As for help, Gavin and Gwen have some — but use it sparingly and enjoy being “hands-on” parents to both Kingston and new baby Zuma Nesta Rock, 4 months.

“We have some excellent nannies who help us, but for the most part our attitude is, it’s fun to have them around. We don’t want them to go off to boarding schools ever. We think they’re tiring, but fun.”

Click ‘more’ to read Gavin’s thoughts on raising children in America.

The couple primarily split their time between homes in Los Angeles and London. Gavin feels that it offers his family a good balance, although he admits that he sometimes “gets nervous” because their surroundings “can be a bit Beverly Hills” — adding “I don’t like it when everyone’s so privileged.” For the most part, however, he says he’s found that Californians “are really well-balanced and smart and interesting and cool.” When asked by the interviewer if children raised in Britain are more polite than their American-born counterparts, Gavin declined to give an answer, replying “I don’t know…it’s hard to put kids into two categories, because it goes from kid to kid.” He adds,

“Different types of parents raise them differently. For example, our guitar player, Chris [Traynor], who’s an American, has this amazing kid. She’s got a really smart mum and a really smart dad and they’re really progressive parents. I look at her — her name’s Puma — and I say, ‘What did you do?’ If my kids could be like her, that’s great.”

Gavin jokes that if his children are to inherit anything from his Scottish roots, it’s a love of haggis; As for his punk rock roots, he says that there are worst things he could pass on to the boys. “It’s good to have fire in your belly,” he explains. “To me, it would be a disappointment if the kids were cookie-cutter.”

“So I want them to be rebellious in a way that doesn’t mean spitting at people or being bratty, but being individuals who question things. I want them to have input, to be smart and have an angle on things, to not be intimidated.”

Adjusting to life stateside has been easy for both the boys and Gavin, who says that he’d looks forward to playing tennis and American football with the boys, as well as practicing kung-fu! “It’s really not too difficult to latch onto the American way of life,” he says. “I mean, I love all the American holidays and everything. On Thanksgiving and Christmas I don’t say, ‘It’s goose or nothing.’” As for whether or not he has the desire to add a daughter to his family of four, only time will tell! Says Gavin,

“Yeah. I don’t know. I just have the desire to be nice to everyone.”

Source: Babble Baby